I'm not sure that it's "arbitrary," there's probably a reason they have the rule in place. They have a lot to lose by allowing teenagers to have the run of the place. It's a bar after all.

Their house, their rules.

Weird rules, but they are perfectly in their right.

We were in Canada a few years ago and went into this extremely divey bar that had a separate, glassed off, separate entrance area with a whole lot of brand new machines. I think they had SW and DI which had just come out.

I went in there with my son who was 7 I think at the time, and the bartender stormed in there and told us to “get out! Kids aren’t allowed in here!” Holy crap, ok. This was at about 1pm so it’s not like it was exactly a full place. So we left, and my son has not wanted to play pinball since

It's a basic guideline. I'm sure they aren't carding 14 year olds to make sure they aren't 15.

Again, they probably have a good reason for this rule, and I'd guess families aren't really their desired clientele as they don't seem to care if they pissed you off. What's their cutoff time for kids?

In Texas, minors must be accompanied by a parent/guardian to be able to enter a bar, and the bar has to also allow them to enter.

Plus, the penalties under the zero tolerance laws for serving minors or minors obtaining alcohol can be pretty severe in Texas, which can include a $4000 fine, being charged with a class A misdemeanor, up to a year in jail, loss of a liquor license, 180 day suspension of their driver's license, and liability for any damages caused by or to the minor.

I'm sure that's really not something they want to risk, especially since the revenue generated by minors would be pretty small (since a bar's main source of income would be alcohol).

Back in the day when you were 15+ years old and wanted to drink in bars, you’d procure a fake license. You might try being 19 if the drinking age was 18 or 21 if it was 21+. You could try an ad in back of magazine or call on a friend of a friend to get one made. Only discerning question asked was do you have my 20 bucks?

Flash forward 40 years. Bet there’s a thriving business somewhere that can turn your ugly 16-20 year old kid into a beautiful 12 or 13 year old innocent lamb with a fake student id provided by good ol mom and dad. In this way, the whole family dines together.

Pinless you’ve run into a weird situation regarding that barcade. Can you provide name/location of place? I want to look them up online. If they are a public entity, I’m wondering how they can age discriminate against one age group while allowing younger people.

Levi is right. there’s nothing arbitrary about it. i own a bar in Brooklyn and have my name on a liquor license. NYS SLA law specifically says (or at least last time i checked a few years ago) anyone up to 16 yo must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and no one btwn the ages of 17-20 is allowed to enter the establishment under any circumstances. it makes perfect sense. if you think about it, if some of-age folks come in with their 17-18 yo kids, it would be very easy for me or my bartenders to accidentally serve them, thinking they must be old enough to drink. they can look old enough, act old enough, and be so nonchalant about it that we wouldn’t even question it. now, a 14yo on the other hand....

whether an establishment chooses to obey this law is another thing altogether, but since my livelihood is of most importance to me, i certainly do.

I haven't run into this with a barcade but several years ago we were in Arizona and were looking for a place to eat. We stopped at a bar/restaurant (think TGI Fridays or Texas Roadhouse type places) with our two kids that were probably 9 and 12 at the time. When we got to the host/hostess stand we were told we couldn't eat there because we had children and that nobody under 18 was allowed, regardless of whether the parents were there or not. Being from Wisconsin, where kids being in bars and restaurants is an everyday occurrence, this struck me as odd. I started to ask why and she just said, it's not allowed, so we left and went to another restaurant.

I'm guessing that the local city has an ordinance regarding minors in places that serve alcohol and that it may very well be something odd like 14 and under is ok while 15 and above (both groups are still minors) is not.

We're an arcade / bar location and we are required to make any minor under 18 be with a guardian that is 18+ anytime to enter. After 9:00PM we're 21+.

It is what it is.

I remember being 5 years old and seeing a "bar box" Valley pool table for the first time . The ball return seemed so mystical, being able to see all the colorful "ooo shiney" billiard balls right there but not able to touch. I wanted to play so badly, but alas, it was at a bar and NO ONE under the age of 21 was allowed in. Period. Dot.

So, just because theres a bunch of "ooooo shiney" boxes of lights doesnt make it any more right for minors to come into "a bar". Yeah yeah, 15 and under allowed in during certain hours. Like someone else already said:

"Their house. Their rules."

I don't go to barcades for this reason. If I can't take my family then I go elsewhere. Luckily Nashville has several nice arcades that are NOT bars and kids are always welcome.

For every place that doesn't allow 16-20 year olds, there's probably a hundred or so places that will. Give them your business. I'm 43, and it's nice to go to a place where there's an adult clientle that doesn't involve lap dances.

Also, it seems like any place I go for dinner that's more on the expensive side, there's a higher & higher chance there's going to be a baby or toddler crying their eyes out, ruining my meal., But I digress.

Come to Wisconsin. It’s up to the discretion of the bar, but law allows minors to come into the bar, and drink with mom and dad if they choose.

Do you have kids?

Well you seem to be carrying on enough about it.

1up arcade bar

I live in the Chicago suburbs, A City based Barcade attempted to open in the burbs near me. They tried an over 21 rule that lasted 6 months then they gave up and opened up to all and were gone by the end of the first year.
When they opened I was there and they were turning away families that wanted to patronize every other minute.

I doubt that's why they failed.

What does a Barcade get out of allowing kids there? Kids don't drink. And parents of kids don't drink much, if they are at all responsible. So families aren't really bringing in the cabbage for a place like this.

All kids do is annoy older patrons who want to drink and carry on without having to worry about being annoyed by kids or annoying kids' parents by acting like adults.

It's a conundrum!

But the coin drop Levi, the coooooiiiiin drop!

Right. It's nice going into a place to play a few games where there are no screaming kids running all over like a Chuck e Cheese. However, I rarely visit such places because I have kids. Even if I could get my teenage kids into a barcade, not sure I want them hanging around a bar environment. Guess that's why I love having pins at home.

exactly. don’t get me wrong, i love kids, and would love them to be able to come in and play. but my rent gets paid from the Black Label, not the Black Knight.

Stupid rules, I’d take my business somewhere else. If they won’t even let teenagers go with their parents thats strange. Oh well, their loss, as you can take your money somewhere else

Ouch!

Played pinball at a barcade yesterday. I have no idea if they turn anyone away, but they card for alcohol. Tons of 10-14 kids were there and quite frankly they were a pain in the ass. One kid was so dumb that after I explained how he could check for machine credits without touching the machine by looking at screens with a single glance. He seemed dubious. Also explained that in ten minutes since he walked around corner I was the only one playing and I was always on one machine. Didn’t stop him from pushing start button three or four times on all games. When he’d get close to my machine I’d growl, just to warn him away and he repeated every ten minutes for a few hours. I would have welcomed more 15-20 year olds.

Thanks for doing this!

and i should mention, other than after dark, Jackbar allows kids 16 and under in all the time. as a matter of fact, we hosted a 6yo birthday party here, just last Saturday! (though, rare).but it’s just the 17-20yo range we have to be careful about. if any member here came in w/their 20yo, and bought or shared their beer w them, how would i notice? and am i supposed to have to go up to that person, reprimand them and confiscate it? i don’t even want to get myself tied up in all that.

Meh, not really. If I ran a bar, I wouldn't want to deal with the potential risk/liability that would come with letting teenagers in during serving hours. They typically don't have much buying power to make it worthwhile.

Ahhh a fine choice indeed

1961-carling-black-label-beer-ad-they-like-it (resized).jpg

I always wondered what happened to Mabel....

I stopped in an Ohio barcade Sunday afternoon. It looked like a Chuck E. Cheese with all the kids on every machine. I guess if families need a playground...

I'm mostly confused by the practicality of enforcement. Once you learn that they don't allow 16-20 year olds, just have your kid say he's 15?

Also, some states allow under-21s to drink alcohol if it's provided by their parents and present while they drink it. This is the case in TX and NY. Not sure whether this applies to homes only or what though.

Seems reasonable to me. Anything that opens up opportunities that jeopardize a liquor license (as I assume allowing ANY minor in might) is scary for a business. Allowing younger children in sometimes is nice enough and already going out on the line, why quibble?

Not dealing with these issues and playing all da pinball I want is a perk to not having kids and not being a 12-year-old pinball prodigy wunderkind I enjoy immensely!

I personally like the establishments that allow a family up to a certain time and then 21 and over. Allows adults to have their time as well as family time. But it’s there establishment and they can run it the way they see fit.

Just because there is a line that exists, it does not follow that the rule is arbitrary.

Arbitrary would be not allowing red-headed teenagers named Karl, but allowing all others, for example.

Levi is correct, it could be that they've had problems with that age group in the past, meaning there's good reason for the rule, ergo totally not arbitrary. And "what you've seen" doesn't really matter much here does it? You arent the business owner, and you certainly have seen a lot less of what goes on at this business I reckon.

Just because you may not like a policy it doesn't make it a bad, arbitrary one.

I allow all ages until 8 PM every day we are open. 19+ after 8 PM.

Make it a $20 donation to the finder and then we got a Where in the World Is Carmen Sanddiego here and I'm in the hunt!!

this is getting dumb.

What are you trying to do here?

I know there's no drama, but like, what's the point?

My local pinball bar doesn't allow kids under 15 without adults and not at all after 8pm. Yet another place opens to all ages at noon on the weekends. Same liquor license. Some places just don't want the potential liability.

Take your teenager(s) somewhere else. Barcades are bars, it's right there in the name. TWIPY award-winning favorite location in the world Logan Arcade is strictly 21+.

Just consider it a bonus you found one that allows 0-15 year olds.

really? that's news to me. and i'm living in NY all my life. not saying it's not corrct, just never heard that before.

edit: i just looked it up, and it appears you're correct. "There is no law prohibiting persons under the age of 21 consuming alcohol that was given to them by their parent or legal guardian.". makes no mention that i see regarding them being with their parents while consuming it. interesting!

New revenue source!

Neverland Ranch had an arcade, didn't it?