How to Deal With Drunk Customers

By Lorri Mealey, About.com

If you are planning on serving liquor at your new restaurant, than you should be familiar with all the laws and responsibilities that come with it. While liquor laws vary from state to state, in most cases if a person is involved in an accident while drunk you, as the owner of the establishment that served them, may be held liable as well.

The best way to avoid any potential lawsuits stemming from drunkenness is to not serve a customer who appears inebriated. Of course, some people can hold their liquor very well, and your staff may not realize the patron is drunk until it is too late. If you are faced with a customer who has had too much to drink, here are some tips for handling them:
• STOP serving them immediately. If the customer has wandered in from another bar or restaurant, you can refuse to serve them. They may claim you’re acting illegal, but your not. You are acting responsible.
• Offer the customer some coffee and some food, as an alternative to a drink.
• Call a cab or another ride home for the customer. Do not let them drive!
• If a customer becomes belligerent or angry, escort them outside of the restaurant and call the police, who can look after the customer, until he or she is safe and sober.

Remember, protecting your assests is the number one priority! You must make sure that every one of your employees understand the severity of this issue. Many establishments get sued every day in the results of over serving a patron. To most bartenders, a healthy tip is more important than saying "no". But the bottom line is that you need to protect yourself and your business!

A good idea would be to have an incodent report log for situations just to cover this area. Something with a description of what the customer was wearing, his actions, as well as the precautions your employees took.

I was at a small local place with a friend of mine this past Saturday evening and there was a fairly larger gentleman bellied up to the bar that looked to be extremely intoxicated. I motioned the bartender over and suggested he no longer serve this fellow, he sort of just nodded, but proceeded to pour this guy shot after shot. The guy was buying everybody drinks, leaving a large tip for every order. The next thing I know, his chair falls backwards into everybody else. He can't get up on his own strength and it takes two large employees to literally drag him out to the sidewalk. This could potentially be a big problem for the owner of this place if this gentleman hit his head or was to injure himself in any way...or worse, if he drove home. Over serving is a very important topic for you to cover with your employees, a topic that could save you a lot of hassle.