Bar & Pub Opening Checklist

Three groups of checks. First, legal: licence, licence summary, permitted hours, price list and measures notices displayed and current. Brief the shift on the ID policy, and keep the refusals log open on the bar. Second, accuracy: optics, thimble measures, jiggers and lined glasses verified as the correct legal capacity and undamaged. Trading Standards found 96 short measures in 137 test purchases across 77 pubs and bars - 70% overall, with 86% of beer and 43% of wine short measured. Third, service readiness: fill ice wells with the scoop stored outside the ice. Prep, date-label and chill garnish and dairy to your own chilled band (the pack defaults to 0–5°C / 32–41°F). Pull every tap first to confirm it runs clear, cold and with the right head.

Brief the ID policy at every shift start, and record every refusal. The gap between checking ID and proving you checked it is the log. NHTSA's Countermeasures That Work cites young buyers successfully purchasing alcohol in 44% to 97% of attempts without showing identification. A review of 8 high-quality studies found compliance checks reduced sales to minors by an average of 42%. External enforcement will not catch your gaps for you. Only 35% of local law enforcement agencies and 67% of state ABC agencies conducted compliance checks at all. Fewer than 10% of those checked every establishment 3–4 times a year.

Usually not, unless the refusal has been trained. Toomey and colleagues tested 340 licensed establishments in one Midwestern metropolitan area. They found pseudo-intoxicated buyers able to purchase alcohol at 82% of them. An earlier study across 24 bars found actors portraying intoxication served at 68% of first attempts and 53% of second attempts - 62% of 106 attempts overall. Servers explicitly acknowledged the intoxication in only 5 of 66 cases (8%) where alcohol was served. A non-alcoholic alternative was offered in only 18% of refusals. That is why the checklist briefs both the refusal and what to offer instead.