THE CG COMMITMENT TO THE
RESPONSIBLE SERVICE OF ALCOHOL
At the Charcoal Group we have always prided ourselves in being leaders in all facets of our industry. Our goal is to deliver extraordinary experiences to our Guests, our Team Members and our Community at large. We understand that being licensed to serve alcoholic beverages is a privilege and comes with significant responsibilities. The great majority of our Guests visit our restaurants to responsibly enjoy great food, quality beverages and social time with friends and family. On occasion, the onus is placed on us to ensure that consumption is moderated responsibly. In these isolated events the following policy guides our decision making.
Commitment to our Guests
Our goal is to deliver exceptional hospitality experiences to you while maintaining the very highest standards around safety. We want you to have a wonderful time, get home safely and join us again soon. On occasion, you may not agree with the difficult decisions we make with Responsible Service [MS1] in mind, but it is our great hope that you will understand that we have the very best intentions for you, our community and our Team Members while we are making them. We pledge to our Guests that we will uphold the standards of this policy with genuine caring, empathy and dignity.
Commitment to our Team Members
Our goal is to give you the training, the knowledge, the tools and the ongoing support to enable you to deliver exceptional experiences to our Guests and to work in a positive and constructive environment. A key aspect of communicating our policy around Responsible Service is to assist our Guests in understanding that the difficult decisions we make around alcohol service are in fact our legal and moral obligation. It is our goal that our service team is treated with respect and dignity by our Guests, even when they disagree with our decisions surrounding alcohol service.
Commitment to our Community
It has always been our goal to be an active and positive force in our community. We strive to operate attractive, clean and safe restaurants. There is no more immediate example of this than operating with the highest integrity on issues in keeping with the Responsible Service of Alcohol.
THE BIG 5
As a license holder, our policies for responsible and safe service focus on (but are not limited to) the following pillars that we adhere to without exception:
1. We are only permitted to serve alcohol to patrons who can prove that they are 19 years of age or older.
2. We will not allow intoxicated persons on our premises.
3. We will not allow disorderly conduct on our premises.
4. We will not serve alcoholic beverages after our posted hours of operation.
5. We will not exceed the maximum capacity of our restaurants as dictated on our liquor license.
Common Misconceptions
Whether a Guest is driving or not is definitely a concern, but it is not the legal standard that dictates our service policy. It is illegal for us to have intoxicated individuals on our premises. We monitor pace of consumption, products consumed and are vigilant about observing ‘signs of intoxication’.
Our focus has always and will always be on the QUALITY of our products - not quantity consumed. We created Beertown and all of our restaurants to provide wonderful, safe hospitality experiences. For this reason we never serve low quality products, we do not serve pitchers and we never discount alcoholic beverages.
It is against the law for us to allow an intoxicated individual on our premises. Whether the patron is ‘just drinking water’ or ‘just eating’ is not relevant – it is illegal.
All Guests must be able to provide appropriate ID when requested, which on occasion may be scrutinized for its authenticity. We are not in a position to accept an endorsement from another patron as legal proof. This is not your server’s policy – this is the legal standard and a Charcoal Group House Policy.
OUR POLICIES
- We ID everyone that looks under 30 years of age (its a compliment!)
- We may require a second, or even a third piece of ID to support your identification (e.g. G1 driver’s license or 'out of province' or ‘out of country’ ID)
- We have a book of all types of ID including ‘out of province’ ID’s to reduce the possibility of fraudulent documents.
- We may ask several questions about the ID to ascertain whether it truly belongs to the patron.
- We may still decline to serve a patron if we feel at all uncomfortable about the ID presented.
We will prevent an individual or group from entering our premises who we suspect has been drinking previously or using narcotics
We will monitor pace of consumption (number of drinks per hour).
We will monitor types of alcohol consumed (shooters, doubles, high alcohol beers are all of note).
We will diligently watch for any ‘sign of intoxication’ and react accordingly.
If multiple 'signs of intoxication' are noted we will cease the service of alcohol immediately possibly including removing unfinished beverages and refunding our Guest.
We will enquire about intended transportation home and we will assist in arranging a ‘taxi’ or ‘car service’.If a Guest who is showing ‘signs of intoxication' refuses to take an alternate form of transportation – we will contact the police with your vehicle information – WE ARE OBLIGATED TO DO SO!
Hours of Operation will be posted near the front entrance and on line.
All staff will be fully aware of our posted closing time and understand service cannot be extended to ANYONE for ANY REASON even one minute past this time.
Last call will be announced at least 15 minutes prior to the posted closing time.
All signs of service will be removed from the premises and Guests will be requested to vacate the premises within 45 minutes of our posted closing time.
Our liquor license will be posted in a conspicuous location where our maximum capacity can be clearly noted.
We will keep a ‘counter’ at the front of all restaurants in the host stand
Our managers will be aware of our maximum capacity and check intermittently throughout the evening when running wait lists.
RECOGNIZING INTOXICATION
Speech volume increases
Motor control deteriorates
Pace of speech can change
Alertness decreasesInappropriate sweating
Red eyes
Loss of balance
Slurred speech
Shallow breathing
Tiredness