I like the OP's statement about his kids being "stunned" about having to change their behaviors when they travel to different countries. Spoke volumes.

A 5year old thread!

Kids are cut off after their third formula

ianbrettcooper opens an antique thread to post something that is categorically untrue: "The idea that there's a law that doesn't allow kids in bars or to sit at the bar is nonsense."

The US has 50 sovereign states, each of which has its own laws and regulations (agency rules with the force of law) regarding who and where and when one can drink.

In heathen, ultraliberal Massachusetts, very few supermarkets can sell wine or beer and none can sell it before noon on Sunday. In Christian, family-and-gun friendly, conservative Virginia, Kroger sells beer and wine from the time they open on Sunday morning at 8.

You don't know what you are talking about.

Those examples have nothing to do with ianbrettcooper's statement.

I know this is an old thread, but I'd bet that in many if not most states ianbrettcooper is right, that there is no law against minors simply sitting at a bar.

I've experienced many restaurant employees misquoting state laws - two that jump to mind are whether you can get a medium rare burger in NC and whether you can take a re-corked bottle of wine home.

California law prohibits minors from ENTERING a bar or tavern (not a restaurant) other than for a lawful purpose, such as making a delivery. Nothing prohibits minors from entering a "bona fide eating establishment" even if it has a bar.

Many if not most restaurants, though, make their own rules to prohibit minors from sitting at the bar.

Since this thread is 5 years old, the students are now 23 and will be allowed in anywhere

Go back to the Lounge, Brian in Charlotte.

The point is that every state has its own laws about drinking and alcohol and licensed establishments, so any categorical statement ("I'd bet that in many if not most states . . . ") is by definition wrong.

I'll buy that there are laws prohibiting minors from entering establishments that only serve drinks (what some think of when they hear "bar"), but in places that also serve food, I doubt there are many (if any) states with laws prohibiting kids from being in the bar area or even sitting at the bar.

Of course, as mentioned, establishments may make their own rules about such.

"I doubt there are many (if any) states with laws prohibiting kids from being in the bar area or even sitting at the bar."

Assuming, of course, that food is served in the bar and it's not legally walled off from the rest of the restaurant.

In Indiana, there has to be a wall between the bar and any table that seats someone under 21. We lived there for a numbe of years and our daughter who was 20 and not drinking because she was pregnant, could not sit in the lounge of Chi-Chi's with us.