Like a unicorn kissing noses with a flying dragon, a bar in Texas that refuses to show football was, until this point, a fantastical thing that we never thought could become reality. But one Dallas bar owner is willing to risk out on all that football money to protest the NFL’s stance on domestic violence. He says he won’t show any NFL games this season until something changes in the league. [More]
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Police: So A Man Breaks Into A Bar… (And Takes A Nap On The Kitchen Table)
By 9.9.14
I know, I know, I ruined the joke’s punchline. But that’s because it isn’t that great of a joke to begin with, it’s just ridiculous that someone would break into a business just to take a little snooze, as Pennsylvania State Police say one man did recently. [More]
Indiana Brewhouse Offers Microwaved Hot Dogs, Canned Soup To Comply With State Liquor Laws
By 9.9.14
In Indiana, also known to Midwesterners (or just me) as The Really Long State That Takes Forever To Drive Through On Road Trips, if an establishment wants to serve booze by the drink, it also has to offer a certain amount of food at all times, ostensibly to soak up all that alcohol. In compliance with that law, one brewhouse has taken a different tack with its ah, cuisine. [More]
7 Ways To Not Be Annoying About Charging Your Phone At A Bar
By 8.5.14
It’s a desperate, panicky feeling, gnawing at your insides and lighting your brain on fire. Your phone is about to die. It’s dead! What if someone texts you something important, like the score of the Brewers game or what happened on that show last night? We’ve all been frantic or something like it over a dead phone, but guess what? Not every bartender or waiter you ask has a charger, or wants you to plug your phone in while they’re trying to work. [More]
Bar Worker Returns $200 She Stole From Bar Owners She Worked For 15 Years Ago
By 7.9.14
While it’s always better to not do bad things in the first place, there’s always the “better late than never” approach to making up for past misdeeds. Like a bar worker who sent her former employers $200 to compensate for money she’d swiped from the business 15 years ago, complete with an apology note saying she regrets doing it. [More]
Researchers Offering Pregnancy Tests In Bar Bathrooms With Message On Dangers Of Drinking While Expecting
By 6.19.14
Gum, mints, lotion and pregnancy tests. All things you could likely find in bar and restaurant bathrooms in Alaska soon, as researchers will be offering the tests for free to women to see if they can raise public awareness about the dangers of drinking while expecting. [More]
Let’s All Move To Wisconsin, Land Of Plenty
By 5.30.14
Full disclosure: I grew up in Wisconsin (as some may have noticed due to frequent mentions of cheese and the almighty Green Bay Packers) but hear me out when I say everyone should just move there: According to a new report, Wisconsin has 2.7 times more bars than grocery stores. [More]
Texas Bar Apologizes For Handwritten Sign With Domestic Beer/Violence “Joke”
By 5.28.14
Here is an example of a joke: Why can’t you trust atoms? Because they make up everything. Here is an example of not a joke: Anything making light of serious crimes that can hurt and kill people, including a sign linking domestic beer to domestic violence that caused a furor after a patron at a Texas bar spotted it and posted it online. [More]
Bar That Does Laundry, Feeds You Grilled Cheese Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself
By 3.21.14
As any city dweller knows, if you don’t have laundry in your apartment (ha, who do you think you are, Donald Trump?) or even in the building, the laundromat is the sole, annoying option. It’s a hassle to drag your clothes down the street and then sit there blocking out Wheel of Fortune while waiting for your duds to sud. But it could be so, so much better. [More]
San Francisco Bar Will Give A Free Drink To Anyone Wearing Google Glass
By 3.18.14
Congratulations! You can afford to shell out $1,500 for a cyborg-ish computer that sits on your face. But you say other bars aren’t so accepting of those pricy Google Glass specs? Here’s a free drink, not that you can’t buy your own, person who owns a facecomputer. Or heck, maybe you’re tapped out now and could really use a complimentary cocktail. [More]
Just A Reminder: Leave Your Siberian Tiger At Home Before You Go Bar-Hopping
By 2.27.14
If I had a pet tiger, no doubt I would want to take him everywhere. You know, because tigers love seeing what the city has to offer. But after a man took his Siberian tiger cub out for a walk and stopped at a few bars in town, cops have decided that’s probably not the best idea, exposure to the big, wide world of human society regardless. [More]
Bartender Claims She Was Fired Over Pregnancy & For Failing To Dress Like A “California Hooker”
By 10.10.13
Even if your place of employment doesn’t have a uniform per se, many jobs like to foster a certain look. But one former bartender at a a bar in Studio City, Calif. says she was punished for not wearing risqué enough clothing, and also for the inconvenience of being pregnant. [More]
Michigan Law Would Ban Selling Of ‘Pints’ Of Beer Containing Fewer Than 16 Ounces
By 10.8.13
In some bars and restaurants, the phrase “pint of beer” is not taken literally enough, with some places drastically under-filling the glass or using a smaller glass in the belief that a tall-ish glass is a pint. But a proposed new law in Michigan would make it against the law to advertise a “pint” that contains anything fewer than 16 ounces of liquid. [More]
Bear Behaves Better Than Most Unwanted Bar Guests When Asked To Leave The Premises
By 9.25.13
Underage drinkers, rowdy customers and other troublemakers are often tossed out of bars, because many people don’t respect a polite request. But bears? Bears are okay, it turns out. Particularly one that exited a bar after the bartender told it to go out. You’d make any grandma proud of your manners, bears. [More]
Bizarre Tradition Of Taking A Shot With A Human Toe In The Glass Ends With A Predictable Gulp
By 8.28.13
The next time someone tells you it’s a tradition to let a preserved human toe touch your lips while you take a shot, just take a moment to consider the highly probable outcome. One customer at a Canadian bar legendary for offering the Sourtoe Cocktail — which yes, involves a real human toe in a shot of whisky — ended with a new bit of anatomy in his stomach. [More]
Big Spender Hands Out $7,000 In Tips In Utah Bars
By 8.22.13
Who is the mystery Big Spender who left a grand total of $7,000 in tips to three servers at Utah bars? No one is saying. He left enormous tips on relatively small tabs. This caused problems: point-of-sale systems aren’t set up to allow 1000% tips as a fraud prevention measure, and because 1000% tips are so rare that they get national news coverage. [More]
TGI Fridays Franchisee To Pay $500,000 For Selling Cheap Booze As Top-Shelf Stuff
By 7.31.13
Back in May, New Jersey officials undertook “Operation Swill,” raiding 29 restaurants and bars in the state — including 13 TGI Fridays locations — accusing them of misleading consumers by putting less-expensive liquor in bottles for top-shelf brands. Today, the owner of those Fridays eateries agreed to settle with the state and pay a $500,000 fine. [More]
13 TGI Fridays Restaurants Among Those Busted In NJ For Selling Cheap Booze As Premium Pours
By 5.23.13 — Updated: 5.24.13
You might not be surprised to find that a sketchy dive bar is refilling its empty bottles of liquor with cheaper booze, but many consumers probably don’t expect a chain restaurant to get involved in such underhanded hanky-panky. And yet, 15 of the 29 places caught in yesterday’s sting by New Jersey liquor regulators are outlets of national chain eateries — and almost all of those were TGI Fridays. [More]
