SallyB

Firstly, please read my other posting "Thank You Chicago - Trip report", for the positive aspects of my trip!!!!

We went to Giordanos on Fodorites recommendation purely to sample Chicago's Stuffed Pizza.

However, whilst waiting for our table we decided to purchase drinks from the bar. The bartender asked my husband for ID. My husband is 43!!!! I am 38!!!!

My husband showed the bartender his UK driver's licence which shows his date of birth - the bartender said this was not acceptable and that he would also have to be shown ID from all the members of our party.

The other two members in our party are in their 60s!!!!!!!!! Our son is 15 so we were not purchasing alcohol for him.

The manager appeared and rechecked my husbands driver's licence, which he did accept. However, he still insisted on everyone else showing ID of which we did not have. Our passports were left in the safety of our hotel safe and in the UK we do not carry ID.

The whole situation was totally humiliating, ridiculous and pathetic. Obviously, we decided to eat elsewhere.

The bartender appeared to find the whole situation amusing. A very bad representative for the city of Chicago!!!!!!!!!!!

Giordano's is the most unwelcoming place we have ever ever been too! I would avoid this restaurant like Hong Kong or China at the moment!!!!!! They seem to have a code that only allows them to serve who they think deserves serving. Maybe our English accents put them off for some reason, but who knows!

Not once, in any other establishment during out 5 night/6 day stay were we asked for ID. We mentioned this to a bartender in the Cheesecake factory and he agreed it was crazy and was quite puzzled by it!

The rest of our trip was fabulous as you can read in my other posting, but not once in our world travels have we ever met such a ridiculous situation as this.

SB x

JeanH

I have no idea what is going on with Giordanos, but I've been in several airport bars recently where they card anyone who wants to buy a drink. My husband and I are in our 50's, so it certainly isn't that we look too young.

I was also 'carded' fairly recently at a grocery store. I think it's possible that Giordanos has recently had trouble with selling alcohol to under age folks, so have decided to card everyone.

Did you notice if everyone was being checked for ID, or were you singled out?

Or maybe Giordanos was just being rude for some unknown reason.

caribtraveler

SallyB, I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience with Giordanos.
But a lot of places in the U.S. (not all of course) take carding people very seriously. Both my husband and I are in our mid-30s (my husband doesn't drink) but I get carded all the time. And I don't think I look under 21 (smile).
I agree with the previous poster who suggests that Giordanos could have gotten in trouble recently for selling alcohol to minors.

SuzieQ

I am not sure if this is the situation but in some states, if not all, the law is technically that you must have your ID on you to order alcohol. It does not matter what age you look. Maybe they got in trouble for serving someone without proper ID with them.

BeachBoi

State liquor laws vary but are always strict.Most require verification of eligibility to consume alcohol on premises.It is unfortunate in your case.Most establishments are just covering their back sides.A bit overdone yes but a restaurant that has a liquor license has spent a lot of money getting one.And they dont want to lose it.I was visiting friends in Dallas last month and we went to a "pub".Getting in just to wait for a table was worse than getting thru airport security!!

JackOneill

As said, many state (and county and city) laws require "carding" no matter how frigging old we look. And it varies from state, county and city. Also, establishments have every legal right (as annoying as it is) to ask to see how old we are. Afterall, there have been a number of lawsuits in the U S in which the establishment was held liable for allowing a minor ro drink (and drive).

Also, there are some places where they "card" you before you can buy cigarettes.

JES

You didn't miss anything....I think Giordanos is overrated anyway. There is MUCH better pizza in the city.

E

While all the above points about carding in the US are well-taken, I think Sally's basic complaint is that they were so rude about it, appearing to enjoy a customer's discomfort--never a good business policy! My guess, too, is that they had run into trouble selling liquor to the underaged, and perhaps even feared the presence of a plainclothes cop checking up on them, and so overreacted with Sally and her party. The carding thing must be so odd to a European...sorry they treated you so badly, Sally!

bennie

Sally - I'm forty something with very gray hair and I got carded last night buying cigarettes from a guy at a store that I've been frequenting for 10 years!!! He didn't want to do it but it was requried of him - just doing his job ya know.

Carding everone is just a fact of life in the US that seems silly but serves a legitimate purpose. Bars in my town in Mass lose their ability to sell liquor for several weeks if they get caught selling to anyone without carding them. Most people just comply without giving it a thought now that we are used to it. But it can be a pain.

I think the fact that you had a minor in your party made the restaurant all that more caution. Additonally, the bartender may have thought that UK customs are different from US customs with regard to teenagers having alcohol with family members, thereby causing him to be extra cautious.

I would assume that visitors to the US would respect our laws as US visitors to Europe and elsewhere are expected to do even if we don't understand them.

ncgrrl

What's the legal drinking age in the UK? I remember something from a few years back Prime Minister Tony Blair's son was busted for underage drinking. And do bartenders/waitstaff every check id?

Your situation was horrible. The way you were treated was unprofessional.

If you don't carry id (weird concept for Americans) how do you prove how old you are? Or who you are. Is there a problem with idendity theft in the UK?

Chicago_Heather

Sally, I can't believe that being carded could be so humiliating but sorry for the inconvience.

Having once worked in a bar (and having visited a multitude) in Chicago, here's the deal: not only do bars get checked for violating laws regarding selling liquor to minors, but many times state agencies send an obviously (50- to 60-year-old) in with an older looking minor. The other trick the state of Illinois uses to trap those selling liquor is to send in a minor with makeup and gray wigs and get the seller that way. So, just because someone looks "of age" doesn't make it so. And, here's what happens to bars/establishments who sell to minors: after 1-2 violations, they have their liquor licenses permanently yanked. No more liquor, customers, money, or their business.

Maybe that will put the whole incident in perspective.

I would highly doubt that in was the English accent nor would I imagine that one person was "representative" of all of Chicago. We're a pretty diverse - and pretty darn friendly - city.

Having said all of that, how was the pizza? ;-) Hope you weren't here for the snow.

SaraL

I was "carded on my 30th birthday in Chicago airport thought this was hilarious, but maybe not after reading these posts.
The legal drinking age in the UK is 18 but you rarely get asked to prove it. My friends started going drinking at 13 and no problem getting served. Nobody asks for id in the UK, the nearest they get is asking for your date of birth.

rjw_lgb_ca

This thread speaks volumes on the differing cultural attitudes toward liquor consumption, doesn't it? Living in the US, I accept the reality of "carding" (although I was never carded when I was drinking at 19, but get carded now at a bald 38!...)-- it seems to reflect both this Puritanical idea that The Demon Liquor must be kept from the virginal eyes of the young, and the sad reality that, as a result of that attitude, many Americans have difficulty holding their liquor.

In other countries, alcoholic drinks are just part of the cultural landscape (well, Europe anyway). Then again, driving isn't so prevalent in Europe that great numbers of drunk drivers are weaving down their roads all the time-- are they?

The dork at Giordano's shouldn't have hassled SallyB's husband about the UK license. That ID should have been sufficient, and I hope he gets canned for his rudeness (NOT for his diligence). SallyB, however, has learned a lesson about the necessity of carrying some kind of government-issued ID in most major US cities to do things like buy cigs or order a drink at a bar. A huge hassle, but hey, like I said, we Americans seemingly can't hold our liquor....

travleis

Oh puuhhlleeeaze!!!
Who twisted your panties all up in a bunch, Sally?
If being carded in a restaurant (and probably acting all indignant while the staff simply acted in accordance with state law) is sufficient grounds for your inflammatory title and summary judgment against a restaurant you didn't even eat at, all I can say is, then stay in home Britain.
Just because the US doesn't have the same lax attitude about alcohol that the UK has does not give you the right to decry restaurants who simply comply with the law.
Hopefully you have more important things to be upset about.
Shheeesh.

ezron

Here's the real deal. Owners of clubs, restaurants, bars etc are tired of getting busted by Liquor Control agents. They feel their employees are not qualified to judge who "to card" and "not to card". So they made it simple--CARD EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF AGE. The owners reenforce it by telling the employees that it is the law. So, the staff takes it seriously and card everybody. My 50 yr old policeman friend said he understands why the owners do it, but what he thinks is funny is that some employees are so brainwashed they actually "look" at the license to check the birthdate of people who are at least 60 yrs old(most servers just give those license a token glance.)So, like it or not, its here to stay. And if you owned a carryout and had a 23 yr old kid working for you.................

Patrick

Many years ago a friend of mine who was 37 at the time and I were having lunch in a bar and grill in Detroit. They carded him, but not me (I was 21 at the time). When he pulled out his draft card (remember when we had to carry those?) which showed his age, the waiter became hysterical and insisted it was phoney. He called over the manager who also looked at it and finally said, "if you're going to carry a fake ID it should at least just say you're 21, not 37, you might have gotten away with it". They actually refused to serve him a beer with his sandwich. We left. He may have looked younger than his 37 years, but to insist that he couldn't be old enough to buy liquor was absurd. He also showed a driver's license, but by then their minds were already made up.

jor

I think one of you told him that in ENGLAND you don't have to carry or show ID to get into a place which serves alcohol. He has probably seen his share of Brits with a speech about jolly old England.

Travelnick

I do not disagree at all with the over-thorough checking of obviously over-21 drinkers. In my 3 mths living in Chicago it was extremely common to be checked for night clubs etc sometimes with overhead cameras taking a record of your ID. The over zealous policy also reminds me of the rather ludicrous questions asked on US visa forms - ie "are you a terrorist" , has anyone ever filled out yes? But SallyB think of the other extreme in the UK - the tons of under aged kids getting pissed in pubs and causing all sorts of hassles (check out stats for violence after closing from the under 21 year old age group after pub closing). I hate going in to pubs and seeing obvious 14-15 year olds , the boys without even bum fluff on their chins, getting hammered and would like a lot more rigorous carding to cut it out.

gail

I passed your post by several times and now just reread it carefully. You seem to have 2 stated issues - one, that you were ID checked, and two, that the bartender seemed to find the situation amusing.

The first, I agree, it is really a US thing, and at age 48 I have been "carded" several times recently. In many states bartenders and other servers must go to training and are tuaght to check IDs on everyone. And most people over driving age in US are accustomed to carrying ID at all times. Some establishments have signs posted that they will only accept IDs from that particular state - these are usually places where college kids hang out and they are trying to avoid fake IDs

Your second issue - the bartender seemed to be amused by it all. Obviously, I was not there, but is it possible that what he was amused at was the ridiculousness of it all and that now his boss had to go through a silly pre-ordained procedure, perhaps set up by restaurant owner, that was not practical or logical. That could also explain why servers at other restaurants were not familiar with that specific procedure.

Sorry, I doubt that they were put off by your accent - that seems a real stretch to me.

Glad the rest of your trip was enjoyable.

Austin

Am I the only one that would HUG anyone that would ask me for my ID????