Stupid Babies Being Banned From Bars Is Ruining Mommy Cocktail Hour

babies-banned-from-barsAnother Brooklyn establishment has made the decision to ban babies. The only reason this keeps happening is because entitled parents have no idea how to act.

Hot Bird is a Brooklyn bar with a nice outdoor patio set-up and a food truck available so people can get some bites with their booze. The owner had to post a notice telling parents with children they weren’t welcome because there had been too many incidents of kids getting out of hand. Some parents were letting their kids run loose like it was a playground. It just seems like this is one of those cases of the actions of a few spoiling it for everyone.

The owner released a statement about the ban, explaining some parents let their kids run wild and even go as far as asking for the stereo to be turned down so their kids can sleep:

Some parents have a sense of entitlement when they come to the bar, like asking us to turn down the music because their 5 month old baby was trying to sleep. Again, something we wouldn’t do for anyone else.

We are a fairly busy place and my staff is there to serve drinks, not to watch over children and deal with unreasonable demands from the parents. It’s sometimes difficult to turn away responsible parents that we wished were welcome as customers, but it’s easier just to ask everyone not to come in with their kids, and avoid the headache of selecting who is well behaved and who is not.

I used to live a few blocks from this place when my family still lived in Brooklyn. Places like this with outdoor spaces are pretty great spots to bring kids in the early opening hours. You can roll in with your stroller, grab a bite and a beer and go. Something about being outside makes it less likely for other patrons to give you the side eye for having a baby there.

Any normal, thinking adult with a child recognizes that a place like this isn’t “family friendly,” but if you are a respectful person and know how to handle your kids it’s really not a problem to pop in for a meal. It’s those people who can’t grasp that it’s just not cool to have your kids running around a bar that give restaurant and bar patrons an aversion to parents being around. It sucks.

I used to bartend at a bar not far from Hot Bird. The place where I worked didn’t serve food, it was just a bar. Some parents would roll in on the weekends and proceed to let their kids run wild – some even without shoes on. I don’t like to babysit other people’s kids or deal with oblivious assholes, so rather than policing the behavior, I had a baby playlist I would blast. It started with Biggie‘s I’m Fucking You Tonight and moved on to Cody Chesnutt’s Bitch, I’m Broke. Parents were usually gone by verse three.

If you are one of those people who can’t understand why a restaurant would have to go to these measures, you’re probably part of the problem. If you can’t keep your kid at your table or don’t understand that a bar is a place where many adults go to escape children, don’t be surprised when you’re asked to leave.

(photo: Nicholas A./ Yelp)

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