<p>DS is 17. He loves live music. Many places near our home that are bars with live music he can go to if it serves food (waitstaff and bartender card when ordering drinks - otherwise it is zoned like a restaurant).</p>
<p>Anyplace in Tuscaloosa like that or is it ALL bars must be 21 to enter?</p>
<p>My DD is 17 and was still 17 when school started. If you are 18 you can go to the freshman bar which is called Harry’s…of course you cannot drink. Some other bars require that students be at least 19. The students figure this out pretty fast. lol</p>
<p>I also know that when there are private events at local bars…sponsored by either a sorority or fraternity, you can go in if you are 18. Again, the drinking age is 21 in all of Alabama, but you can go in to these places and enjoythe music.</p>
<p>Found out during BB that on Sundays last call is at 9:00pm and at 9:30pm they must remove all alcohol from the tables even if you have not finished your glass. The waiter at Bob’s (formerly Wings U) told us this tidbit of info.</p>
<p>For adults, the happy hours are great. <em>cheap</em></p>
<p>Poor D won’t be 18 until Aug 2014. She will likely finish her BA the following spring.</p>
<p>Went to Cheddars last night…their $3.50 Sangria Margarita…yum!</p>
<p>“If you are 18 you can go to the freshman bar which is called Harry’s…of course you cannot drink.” </p>
<p>Really?!? Is that why my son had a $99 bar tab on his credit card this spring. He had a grand old time buying all of the pretty girls and some of his fraternity brothers drinks. I’m not sure it was worth it after the phone call he had with me when I saw the bill. Let’s just say that he heard his mama say some words that have never come out of my mouth before…</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Interesting.</p>
<p>If people are sitting together and the “over 21” crowd is drinking, and the younger ones aren’t drinking (or are sneaking), and the bill comes, I don’t know if the server checks to see if the Visa is coming from an Over 21 person. I think they just take the credit card and ring up. </p>
<p>I’ll ask my younger son. He’s working as a bartender this summer.</p>
<p>(And, I’ve seen kids use a credit card to pay for everyone while pocketing the cash that the others put forth. Did your son get cash from others or was he just being generous with your money? lol )</p>
<p>Longsx3, my DD can empathize with yours! She will have just turned 17 when she starts her freshman year. I am more worried about her ability to buy some medicines though! I am confident she will find a way to drink!</p>
<p>My son (who insists he does not drink) told me about the freshman bar. He implied that they are a bit lax about checking IDs, but told me he wasn’t going to tell me the name of it since I might decide to report it to the excise police.</p>
<p>When we went to Bama Bound last summer, we stopped at the Mexican restaurant on the strip, El Rincon?, and there were a couple tables filled with presumably students, none of whom looked older than my son who was still 17, that were being served. I realize that some people look young for their age, but it’s hard to imagine there was a group of around 10 people who ALL happened to look young for their age. I think they’re a little lax on checking those IDs too.</p>
<p>Of course it may be that the kids just come with good fake IDs, on last years class of 2016 Facebook page there were a couple conversations about which websites were best to purchase fake IDs. I reported the links to the FCC and later heard the sites had been shut down. I realize kids are going to drink, but perhaps openly discussing committing felonies on a publicly accessible Facebook page isn’t the best idea to start their college careers.</p>
<p>jrcsmom - agree with you on that. i know most kids are going to stupid things, but their need to talk (and brag) about it on facebook and twitter really crosses the line with me.</p>
<p>yesterday i saw someone post a picture of a “birthday blunt.” really!?!</p>
<p>Wondering if I’m the only one who just had to google ‘birthday blunt’!</p>
<p>I just googled it too!</p>
<p>No bar in Tuscaloosa is lax. ABC is very strict, especially here because it is a college town. A server who is caught not checking IDs by an ABC agent (undercover) is liable to pay a hefty fine and will likely be fired.</p>
<p>ABC…the most feared name in T-Town. Feenotype you are right and the kids are fearful of being caught by ABC. That in and of itself I think keeps things more in line. I know that we have told D that if she gets stopped and ticketed by ABC she will be coming home. And not to visit.
Using fake ID’s, underage drinking and DD (drunk and disorderly) will all get you a ticket. From what I have heard getting a ticket from ABC is worse than the same ticket from T-town police or campus police. Can someone clarify why?</p>
<p>I know that last year D told me that ABC came into a few bars during private parties and checked ID’s and wristbands. I for one am glad that the kids are in fear of them, it will hopefully keep them thinking straight.</p>
<p>lovemykids2 - when I was in school one of our friends would fill-up your car for $10 while using his daddy’s credit card…he usually had a line of 5-10 cars on “fill up” day 
Of course that only lasted a couple of months until his dad’s accountant caught onto it and turned him into his dad…</p>
<p>I know most bars have different age shows and different armbands - My oldest will be 21 in September but I get to start over with a freshman at Bama and he has been warned ALOT about the police, ABC etc…</p>
<p>For some reason, ABC officers are not able to give out tickets for underage drinking and instead take offenders to the local jail. Police departments and the state patrol are more likely to issue tickets or just have the alcohol destroyed and let students off with a warning.</p>
<p>Remember that Alabama grants statewide commissions, so the out of area police and sheriff’s officers on campus during gameday can ticket and arrest people if necessary.</p>
<p>I forgot that Harry’s was 18+ as bars in Alabama are typically 19+ or 21+, most music venues being 19+.</p>
<p>El Rincon was cited for serving minors a year or so ago, but was just placed on an ABC watchlist IIRC.</p>
<p>Alabama is also very strict about what constitutes valid ID and does not recognize Federal ID cards ( ie the passport and trusted traveler cards), Tribal ID, or Canadian drivers licences. Bring a state ID, passport, and/or military ID.</p>
<p>The Tuscaloosa Amphitheater is all ages and has a pretty extensive bar selection. Police officers do escort employees who will take all alcoholic beverages after 9:30 pm on Sunday. </p>
<p>If your student chooses to drink underage, make sure they know how to be safe when drinking, will refuse to drive after drinking or with someone who has been drinking (this includes bicycling), and understand their rights in regards to what RAs and police officers can and cannot search without a warrant.</p>
<p>re: the blunt. One of D’s former friends (back in elementary thru 7th grade) will regularly post about being “in need of a blunt”. And her mom is her friend on FB! To which I commented to D that they probably do it together. </p>
<p>If Alabama and Tuscaloosa are anything like other states and cities, they take the whole serving and selling to underage pretty seriously. It is not worth losing your future just for a drink or two, imho.</p>
<p>*When we went to Bama Bound last summer, we stopped at the Mexican restaurant on the strip, El Rincon?, and there were a couple tables filled with presumably students, none of whom looked older than my son who was still 17, that were being served. I realize that some people look young for their age, but it’s hard to imagine there was a group of around 10 people who ALL happened to look young for their age. I think they’re a little lax on checking those IDs too.</p>
<p>Of course it may be that the kids just come with good fake IDs, .*</p>
<p>I think they all have fake IDs.</p>