“No Single Entry”: Manchester Bar Bans Solo Drinkers

As many of us gear up for a fun night with a few drinks on New Year’s Eve, you better show up with a date if you want to go to a particular pub in the UK. You are not allowed into the pub after 9pm if you are solo. When the pub owner showed the sign he placed on the front door explaining the policy, it sparked debate around the world. Is it discrimination against singles, or is it protection of patrons?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, folks, it is Tuesday, December thirtieth, and the waitress
is practicing politics as the businessman slowly gets stoned. They're
sharing a drink they called loneliness. But it's better than
drinking alone. But you can't drink alone and at least
one particular bar in the UK, and it's pissing people

(00:23):
off right now. And with that, welcome to this episode
of Amy and TJ look Robes. Drinking alone is something
generally speaking, we shy away from. We don't everone to admit.
Nobody wants todmit they drink alone. But it's kind of
old pastime going to a bar and having a drink byy.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
So being a barfly, you actually do this and have
done this. I'm not a fan of it, but to
each their own. If you like to drink on your own,
it doesn't mean you have a drinking problem or that
you're friendless. Some people actually prefer it, they enjoy it,
and I think you're among them.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, drinking at home alone stumps off a little differently
been drinking at a bar alone. But this is something. Look,
it's a favorite pastime. It's how people meet other people.
You go, you sit down after work, You have a drink,
you have a pint, you could say in the UK,
but ropes this really got people's attention, started making headlines.
There's a bar in the UK Manchester. Do I have
it write in particular? This has a rule no solo

(01:20):
drinkers after a certain time.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yes. So the funny thing is this has been the
rule at this bar. It's called it's a pub, it's
called the Alibi since it opened in twenty twenty two,
and it wasn't a big deal until the owner I believe,
posted something about an unruly patron and had the sign
and was reminding folks, hey, here is the sign on

(01:42):
the bar. It reads no single entry after nine pm.
Alibi does not permit single entry. And that is when
the world chimed in. It became an international debate should
a bar be allowed to discriminate against single patrons?

Speaker 1 (02:01):
See before we get into his reasons and the logic,
tell me, what was your reaction, just on the surface,
a bar that says we don't want solo drinkers in
our establishment after nine pm?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Just that my reaction would be that seems strange. I
don't understand that. I probably wouldn't go in. I would
just move on to the next pub. So that's just
and I do think that as a business owner, my
first reaction is you get to do what you want
to do to an extent. You're not singling out a
race of people, a religion of people.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
You're just saying, we've seen this.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Be a problem in our bar, and so for the
safety of our patrons, this is our rule.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
And I feel like that's kind of his right to
do that.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Okay, one more thing before we let you move on.
Another question here? Would this turn you off to the
bar as a drinker, not a solo drinker, You're not
a solo drinker at all, but hearing the idea that
this place doesn't want solo drinkers, does it not sound
more appealing or is it turn you off because you
might think, Wow, I don't have to worry about maybe
some guys in there being unruly or hitting on all

(03:12):
the women in the place. Kind of a thing.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
I guess what you would do is maybe I would
think it would keep I hate to say this because
you might think of this as a woman, like a
creepy guy alone at the bar ogling women. But I
would argue that men in groups can behave just as
badly or men who are alone, Yes, perhaps even worse,
because they go to each other on I get some
liquid courage.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
And they like, yeah, go for it.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
So yes, I don't feel any more safe in this
situation where single drinkers aren't allowed.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
But that is part of the argument that's being made.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
So yes, he says that this is literally a matter
of one thing.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
It's about liability. That's what he said.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
He said if a lone customer, this is what he claimed,
if a lone customer. So someone who's alone has say
a medical emergency such as a fall or a seizure,
staff may not notice it quickly in a packed environment.
He also does point the fact that solo patrons, he
says this is his term, sometimes mither or bother groups
because they have no one else to talk to. So

(04:14):
those are his two reasons.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, what the safety one? I thought it was a
safety thing. What was the first one? They might have
a medical You can't be here because you might have
a medical emergency and you don't have a family member
with you.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
That's a little it seems like a stretch.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
That one's alright, alright, I was okay, And what was
the second one again, but the other.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
One is that solo patrons sometimes mither or bother groups
because they have no one to talk to. He said
situations occur once or twice a month, and often around midnight,
So he doesn't understand why his policy is controversial at all.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Now I want to leave space for if this is
his experience in his bar, it might be he might
have had a lot of problems with solo drinkers, maybe
had some frequent some regulars in there that were solo drinkers,
and he's keeping out fine. It brought up an interesting
debate versus I'm not mad at this guy for his policy,
but it brought up an interesting debate. Why would you

(05:06):
want to keep these people out? And isn't it a problem?
By singling out, you're almost not discriminating, but you're you're
some kind of way putting down or making it taboo,
this idea of being alone, of being by yourself, or
something's wrong with you, or you're a potential threat to
the rest of the patrons.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
And you just nailed it. People got offended.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
People took it personally, and especially people who do like
to go out for a drink on their own and
some people work later ships. Some people don't get off
work until seven or eight, and by the time they
go are you going to get kicked out of the
bar if you go in at seven to have a
drink and then at nine, are they going to say
you have to leave? So it's funny, but people took
this very personally, and you just nailed it because it

(05:46):
felt like somehow it was pointing the finger at people
who drink alone, that somehow you're a problem, or you
have an issue, or you're not wanted here.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
Exactly what he's saying. That's exactly what he's saying. I
never and I don't do obviously, I don't do this
in New York because we're together, we got people all
around us all the time. But on business trips when
I traveled along, even when I traveled with groups of people,
I wouldn't hang out with him afterwards. I'd go down
to the bar, sit by myself. I have a drink,
watch a game, eat a stake. So I can't imagine

(06:20):
but to think that anyone else in an establishment might
look at me and think because I am sitting alone,
then there's a conclusion you jumped to because of that,
and your idea about the other people in groups. I mean,
good God gropes. I mean he's making an argument that
the groups are safer, But also doesn't he make it

(06:43):
an argument that the groups police themselves and they don't
act up as much correct? How do you buy that?

Speaker 2 (06:48):
No? I mean there's a whole I mean I remember
taking psychology classes in college and learning about groupthink, where
actually it can lead to very bad behavior. So when
you're around people, you tend to go with the crowd,
even and if maybe you know better. So I don't
think that's a logical argument to make that people behave
better when they're in groups versus when they're on their own.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
Is that it's been a part of this conversation all
the idea you just spoke up across so many things
in society now, group think like mob mentality, to where
we're isolating other folks, you're different, you're outside of us.
It seems to perpetuate that a bar of all places
is communal, is it right?

Speaker 3 (07:25):
I know it, and you just nailed it.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
That is because I was so fascinated, not even necessarily
by the sign or the rule, but by the reaction
to it, And you just nailed it. You just hit
that's the chord that it hit. Like for so many folks,
it was like a rush to judgment. Or you're saying
something about people who prefer sometimes to be on their
own or to enjoy a drink on their own, and

(07:50):
to say that somehow you're not appropriate, or you're not safe,
or you're not wanted. That feels like an attack, a
person attack, right. I think that's why it hits such
a chord. That's so interesting. I actually have some of
the comments. There were a lot of comments for this
business owner saying, as a mom of two young adult daughters,

(08:12):
I welcome your policy safety in numbers. So there's a
woman who believes that it's better for her daughters to
be in a bar. Yeah, this is what she said,
as a mom of two young adult daughters. I welcome
your policy safety in numbers. Yeah, that's what she said.
And then someone else said, it's your venue. You make

(08:33):
the decisions that if people don't like it, then tough onwards.
Probably get that. Other people wrote I would never come
into your bar, you're pathetic and narrow minded. Then people
going out and like again they take it personally. Someone
going out of saying I've never once mithered anyone, and
I'm happy in my own company and I often go

(08:53):
to Yes, I go to drink alone after a late
finish at work all the time, like I will never
come to your establishment, and I'm I'm sure the business
owners like cool because you weren't welcome anyway after nine
pm period. But he did make a point, Hey, throughout
the day, it's no problem if you come in it's
just after nine pm. But that also means I don't
trust you to police yourself as an adult as to

(09:16):
know when to stop drinking and how to behave in public.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
Cannot base it on his experiences, But it's tough to
think that he's judging everyone that walks in based on
having a companion or not. That's again, it's based on
his experience. But that's what we do in so much
of our lives, whether it's skin color, height, You look
at someone and you come to a conclusion about weight,
hair or whatever. You just look at them and you

(09:41):
make a judgment to think that you're not with somebody. Therefore,
that is a It's tough, it's I mean, it sucks.
I'm not personally offended by it, but that's it's a sucks.
It sucks that as a society we're going about anything
that weight that we're not giving anybody, even somebody wants
a damn beer benefit of the doubt.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
That that is absolutely a very fair statement and speaks
directly to the outrage that is there. And this has
made international headlines, international headlines. He's gone back on social
media and just said this has bananas. But he's got
more attention for his pub than he ever could have otherwise,
and this is interesting. When we come back, we're going

(10:22):
to talk about the UK newspaper The Independent, who gave
another reason why they are against this solo drinking ban,
the loneliness epidemic, and.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
Welcome back everybody.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
We are talking about this controversial drinking alone ban. In
one UK pub in the Manchester area. This guy opened
up his pub in twenty twenty two and from the
get go he has had a sign on the front
of his door that reads no single entry nine PM.
Alibi does not permit single entry and in town, I

(11:05):
guess it was just known and didn't seem to be
a big deal, but then when he posted something online,
people saw that sign and outrage ensued around the world,
and so everyone was weighing in on what they called
this man's discrimination.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Look, also, can we stop letting outrage be our default
reaction to everything? Like, even if you see that, I know,
it's just what we are now, it's what we do.
You see something in outround, ask a question first, he
did it? Let me let me figure out why didn't
ask another follow up and try to have some understanding
instead of just we immediately right attack of guys for

(11:39):
simple policy. Again, even if I don't agree with it,
we can calm down a little.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yes, all the solo drinkers out there got really deeply
personally offended. Yes, and I say solo drinkers, but people
like you said you go to a bar to not
drink alone. In a way, even if you might not
have a companion with you, you're a part of something.
You're being communal, you have people around, and people go
to coffee bars and drink alone. That's a huge place.
I mostly see people alone in coffee bars. But you

(12:06):
can't do it when it's alcohol. Apparently that's so weird
to discourage this. I mean people meet people all the
time at bars, sitting every bar. You ever go dumb
theyn't even talk about the airports. But people are at
bars everywhere you go to sitting by themselves, an individual,
and they're striking a conversation with someone else. That's the
thing that discourages me from going to a bar alone,

(12:28):
because I don't want anybody to part of the conversation
with far farthest corner from any other person you can
possibly find. So The Independent wrote a actually really interesting
article in response to all of the response to this
bar owner, and they were saying, They wrote that barring
or banning solo drinkers adds to the loneliness crisis. And

(12:51):
they cited the twenty twenty four Center for Social Justice
poll that finds a third of eighteen to twenty four
year olds report feeling lonely often or most of the time.
And so when you start singling people out for being
single or for being alone, it only adds to that epidemic.
And so this is what the article went on to say,
which is very similar to what you were just saying.

(13:12):
Whatever happened to this spontaneous solo adventure, the thrill of
being able to walk into an unknown watering hole, your
heart in your mouth, with the vain hope that maybe
the beautiful strangers inside might truly be the friends you
haven't met yet. Making friends as hard enough as it is,
those who are brave enough to face the night without
a socializing safety net should be applauded, not shamed.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Well, wow, that is interesting to see they have they
feel what was a presentage again? Twenty how many reports?

Speaker 2 (13:45):
They said a third of eighteen to twenty four year
olds report feeling lonely, often er most of the time.
I actually went into that study and it is it's
alarming and scary, and I think, look, I have girls
that same age, and I can say that I've seen
signs of just being as connected as we all are.
It disconnects us so many ways, and people don't feel
like they have the maybe even the social connections we did.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
Man. That is so I know we've used this quote before.
It's one of my favorites. That cell phone can bring
you closer to somebody three thousand miles away, but take
you so far away from the person sitting right next
to you, and we do. We have seen this plenty
and our experiences in some recent sitting next right next
to someone, there is a table full of people and
they're sad because of something that takes place on a

(14:30):
cell phone.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
We've seen it, feel.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
Connected to that individual somewhere else, like look, put the
phone down and look at the person in front of you.
And you're right about the loneliness part of what do
they call the loneliness epidemic epidemic the number of kids
these days that go into the room with a cell
phone and we don't see them for ours.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
That's not good.

Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, and we think they have a community in there. No,
that's loneliness. You could argue, get out, go have a beer.
So far by yourself.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
I know.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
We're doing stories.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
In fact, we up on doing some stories lately about
people talking to chatbots and then having the chatbot reinforce
their depression and can lead to really dangerous tragic events.
So yeah, we need to do something, and having someone
go out and be a part of something is a
good thing.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
I will say this.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
In a lot of the articles, they pointed out that
other neighboring pubs in response to this guy are now
saying all singles are welcome at our pub. So yes,
they're making a point to say, well, you might not
be able to go in there, but you can sure,
come in here. And it is like taking advantage of
the fact that people now know there's this bar that
won't let singles enter after nine pm, so they're opening

(15:38):
their doors wide open, saying come all, come many, come one,
come in groups however you'd like.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
The next day, I would have had a sign up
in my bar singles night, of course.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
That sounds about right, and again good business.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yes, and with that everyone, we appreciate you listening to us,
whether you're drinking alone or with a friend, and we
certainly hope you have a wonderful New Year's because that
is approaching so there will be drinks on a lot
of folks minds. But certainly thank you for listening to us.
I made me Roeboch alongside DJ Holmes. We'll talk to
you soon.