Should Kids Be Allowed At Neighborhood Breweries And Bars?

Breweries are popular with young adults with families, with a recent Nielsen survey showing the 21-34 age group made up about 60 percent of craft beer drinkers.

Breweries took notice and designed their outdoor facilities to appeal to customers with young families. Some have built playgrounds with sandboxes, bouncy houses and arcades. Others went even further in their appeal to young parents with families. For example, in Alameda, California, the Almanac Brewing Company rebranded itself as Almanac Adventureland.

Now, some breweries are reconsidering whether the kid-friendly approach is a good idea.

Dozens of breweries have recently banned children, telling The New York Times about incidents of children throwing rocks or running around unsupervised while staff members had to step up as reluctant babysitters.

In one instance, The Times reported, a parent even brought along a travel potty for a child to use in front of other guests.

A brewery in Brick, New Jersey, even got a complaint from the parents of a toddler who crawled under the ranch-style fence and wandered into the brewery’s parking lot.

“All I could think was: We didn’t build Guantánamo, we built a beer garden,” Jason Goldstein, the owner of Icarus Brewing, told The Times. “And if your child crawled under there, how long were they away from you? How long were you not paying attention? I don’t think this is our issue.”

This spring, Goldstein implemented 21-and-older hours.

What do you think? Is it OK for parents to bring their children to breweries? What about neighborhood bars and other places where alcohol is served? We’re asking for Block Talk, Patch’s exclusive neighborhood etiquette column.

Just fill out the survey below. As always, we don’t collect email addresses.

About Block Talk

Block Talk is a regular Patch feature offering real-world advice from readers on how to resolve everyday neighborhood problems. If you have a neighborhood etiquette question or problem you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com, with Block Talk as the subject line.

Catch up on Block Talk

• What You Can Do To Stop Speeding Drivers In The Neighborhood
• ‘Poop Cleanup In Aisle 9’: Hard Pass On Dogs In Stores
• When A Neighbor’s House Tanks The Value Of Yours, Here’s What To Do
• Here’s What To Do When The Neighbor’s Dogs Bark All Night
• How To Handle Sketchy Neighborhood Situations And People
• You May Be A Bad Neighbor If You Do These Things