Grant Bryan doesn’t like disappointing customers with young families showing up at O’Hare’s Gastropub in Steveston.
And according to a provincial government announcement this week he may not have to in the future as Premier Christy Clark pledged her government’s support to allow children to accompany their parents into bars and legions.
“Every week we turn away people with children. Every week,” Bryan said.
“I’m from the U.K. I’ve grown up going to the pub for Sunday lunch. It was what you did as a family. And in the U.K., the pub is a cornerstone of the community. And neighbourhood pubs are exactly that in Richmond. They are the cornerstone, in my opinion.”
The policy change is part of a second raft of recommendations contained in the government’s Liquor Policy Review conducted by Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap.
In addition to permitting families in bars, Clark announced her government’s support for a happy hour that would set a minimum price for drinks over a certain time period.
“These changes are about updating antiquated licensing rules to reflect what British Columbians actually want, while continuing to protect public safety,” Clark said in a press release. “Families should be able to dine together in their neighbourhood pub. Consumers should be free to order whatever they want in a restaurant. These are exactly the kind of common-sense changes to B.C.’s liquor laws we promised to make — and we’re keeping that promise.”
The idea of allowing families to access pubs has not seemed to be a topic of concern for those clients of Richmond Family Place, said the organization’s executive director, Kim Winchell.
“If anything, they have expressed confusion over some (pubs) when they go for breakfast or something, and it’s a pub offering the breakfast and they don’t allow the children in,” she said.
Back at O’Hare’s, the issue over family access, while welcomed, does have its limits.
“Do I want kids in the pub at midnight? No,” Bryan said. “I think with controlled times, it can add a lot of value to the whole (pub) experience.
“As a neighbourhood pub, it’s about being inclusive and kids are part of the community,” Bryan added. “For us, if done well, it’s really good news. We have lots of young families in the area that would love to come to the pub.”
Also looking forward to having families come into her pub is Genesse Langdon, manager of the Buck and Ear in Steveston.
During the tourist-heavy summer months, Langdon said she regularly turns away three to four families a day. Most of them are from outside the country where their liquor laws are more liberal, Langdon said.
Reaction to the coming changes has been mixed among the pub’s regulars.
Langdon said some of her patrons, mainly those in the older age bracket, say that pubs are not the place for children to be.
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“But I don’t think that will affect many of those after work customers who come in here,” Langdon said, adding she expects much of the clientele with children in tow to arrive during lunch hours, especially on weekends.
From a bottom line perspective, permitting families in pubs could offer some relief from depressed revenues still felt as a result of B.C.’s changes to drinking and driving limits,” Langdon said.
“I’ve been in pubs for the past decade and seen (liquor) sales drop slowly every year. But when the drinking and driving changes came in, that drop was pretty significant.”
Langdon said her pub’s increased focus on its menu made up some ground, and the addition of a kid’s menu with the antiquated liquor law changes should help make sales figures recover somewhat.
