Table Top Beer Taps in Atlanta sports bar

[KingsGene]

Anybody been to this place?

http://www.bugsandcranks.com/the-clubhouse/possibly-the-greatest-invention-of-this-millennium/

"The AP reports that 26-year old Jeff Libby has created and sold what will probably be looked back on as the first great invention of the 21st century. Stem cells are cool and all, but this guy has really done it. He has created and sold the first “Table-Top Beer Tap” system to a sports bar in Atlanta. It cost the bar $50,000 in total, but they’ve got 30 of them installed in the place. Isn’t this on the level of flying cars and rocket packs? As kids we always wished we could just somehow rewind live TV and up stepped TIVO to make our dreams a reality. Jeff Libby is 2008’s version of TIVO. Thank you Jeff.
The system measures your pourage and charges you by the ounce. Makes sense to me."


From Digg comments:
"The place is called Stats, it's pretty upscale for a sports bar. I have only been there once but it is a cool place and the food is great. The menu said it's only the 2nd place in the world to have beer taps at the table. If you ever go to a Falcons/Thrashers/Hawks game, definitely stop by this place because it is within walking distance of both stadiums. Also, the only downside, you have to reserve a beer table before you go, one time my friends did not and they wouldn't give them a beer table even though there were plenty open."

 

[Kenneth R.]

This is cool. It'll help when everyone who wants a beer won't be at the bar when I'm at the bar waiting to get liquor.

 

[rockyracoon]

Sounds like a great novelty for any type of sports/college bar. But I don't think I wanna see any old hole in the wall joints(that actually have some character) retrofitting their bars with this thing. Not everyone likes to drink at TGI Fridays.

I'm guessing bartending at this place is no longer such a lucrative job.

 

[booB]

This is a terrible idea... now we won't have an excuse to go up and chat with the cute bartender.

 

[Wandrail]

This is a terrible idea... now we won't have an excuse to go up and chat with the cute bartender.

j/k

Th article doesn't say where this is at, but its probably somewhere I wouldn't go by the looks of it. I don't know what to think about this concept. I can't imagine they would put any decent beer I would actually care to drink on a table tap. It will probably be like Bud and Bud Light. Let me know when I can get my own Guinness tap, though.

 

[Stingray11214]

This is a horrible idea for one very serious reason....lack of control of the alcohol. Any bar owner that goes for this in this day and age has a business death wish. All one knucklehead has to do is drink to his hearts content, get in his car, and kill a family. Watch the lawyers and media pound that owner into submission. Jesus Christ, they crucified Aramark in Jersey for a drunk driver putting a kid in a wheelchair to the tune of $110 MILLION. And, Aramark has CONTROL of the liquor supply AND trained their workers on alcohol service. Do you have any idea what a jury will do to Joe's Sports Bar if they did NOT have control?

 

[Wandrail]

This is a horrible idea for one very serious reason....lack of control of the alcohol. Any bar owner that goes for this in this day and age has a business death wish. All one knucklehead has to do is drink to his hearts content, get in his car, and kill a family. Watch the lawyers and media pound that owner into submission. Jesus Christ, they crucified Aramark in Jersey for a drunk driver putting a kid in a wheelchair to the tune of $110 MILLION. And, Aramark has CONTROL of the liquor supply AND trained their workers on alcohol service. Do you have any idea what a jury will do to Joe's Sports Bar if they did NOT have control?

Welcome to the USA. I swear, even though I work in a law firm, most lawyers should be hung. Its absurd to put the responsibility for that on the bar instead of the drunk driver just because the bar has money to pay.

 

[KingsGene]

This is a horrible idea for one very serious reason....lack of control of the alcohol. Any bar owner that goes for this in this day and age has a business death wish. All one knucklehead has to do is drink to his hearts content, get in his car, and kill a family. Watch the lawyers and media pound that owner into submission. Jesus Christ, they crucified Aramark in Jersey for a drunk driver putting a kid in a wheelchair to the tune of $110 MILLION. And, Aramark has CONTROL of the liquor supply AND trained their workers on alcohol service. Do you have any idea what a jury will do to Joe's Sports Bar if they did NOT have control?

I believe the tap is cut off at a certain amount of ounces...it's not an "all you can drink" concept.

 

[KingsGene]

The article doesn't say where this is at, but its probably somewhere I wouldn't go by the looks of it. I don't know what to think about this concept. I can't imagine they would put any decent beer I would actually care to drink on a table tap. It will probably be like Bud and Bud Light. Let me know when I can get my own Guinness tap, though.

Reread my first post...."The place is called Stats, it's pretty upscale for a sports bar. " Address is 300 Marietta Street NW, ph: 404.885.1472. It looks like they have more options than Bud and Bud Light as the accompanying picture ( http://statsatl.com/bar.php ) shows a Newcastle tap and maybe Harp...?

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

This is a horrible idea for one very serious reason....lack of control of the alcohol. Any bar owner that goes for this in this day and age has a business death wish. All one knucklehead has to do is drink to his hearts content, get in his car, and kill a family. Watch the lawyers and media pound that owner into submission. Jesus Christ, they crucified Aramark in Jersey for a drunk driver putting a kid in a wheelchair to the tune of $110 MILLION. And, Aramark has CONTROL of the liquor supply AND trained their workers on alcohol service. Do you have any idea what a jury will do to Joe's Sports Bar if they did NOT have control?

I guarantee that it be a timed pour. Like for instance in terms of liquor a shot is a four second pour from a standard liquor pourer. So a standard beer pour would be approxmiately 48 secs (accordingly to the previously stated rule) and then the tap shuts off. Its probably on a pre-pay function or something. Like pay a waiter or something 20 dollars and then your table is allowed to pour 6 beers or what ever.

Once someone goes to this place let us know how it is.

 

[KingsGene]

from http://statsatl.com/bar.php :
"The state-of-the-art technology is turned on once the table's legal identification has been verified and then guests are allowed to pour their own beer. Two taps will be at each of these stations with matching glasses for each draft to customize the selections. Beer is regulated by the system to ensure that guests are not beyond the legal limit. Then when guests are ready to leave, the system calculates the number of ounces that have been poured so that a bill can be generated. "

 

[Wandrail]

Reread my first post...."The place is called Stats, it's pretty upscale for a sports bar. " Address is 300 Marietta Street NW, ph: 404.885.1472. It looks like they have more options than Bud and Bud Light as the accompanying picture ( http://statsatl.com/bar.php ) shows a Newcastle tap and maybe Harp...?

Ah, I read the linked article and not your post. I know where that place is...they'd have to be giving the beer away to get me to go there. I do like the idea of not having to tip a bartender or server so much for some beer that is already really expensive. As far as the system goes, here are some answers that beget more questions:

http://www.thetabletap.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=7&Itemid=41

So I could drink a whole keg at my table? Not exactly. There is actually a limit to the amount of beer dispensed at each table. The Table Tender System will dispense up to 180 ounces per table at which point the tap shuts off and the flow of beer is disabled. A server is then required to return to the table with a key to reinitiate pouring after determining whether or not the party is suited to continue drinking.

180 ounces? Depending on the beer, the person, what they've eaten, their height and weight, how long it took them to drink each drink, you could easily be over the limit after a couple pints. Even if each particular establishment can set their own limit on the number of ounces it pours, it isn't going to keep people from getting drunk. Far from it. I mean, the very nature of judging when someone is intoxicated is subjective anyway, and there is no way to gauge the legal limit per table - it can't even take into account how many people are drawing from the tap, just the total amount.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

I can't tell you how many times i've been Shithammered at a bar, very visibly, and ordered more alcohol. It's up to the individual to cut themselves off. I understand, we live in america and no one is responsible for themselves, i'm just saying that most bars won't even bother to cut off when there's money to be made.

 

[rockyracoon]

I can't tell you how many times i've been Shithammered at a bar, very visibly, and ordered more alcohol. It's up to the individual to cut themselves off. I understand, we live in america and no one is responsible for themselves, i'm just saying that most bars won't even bother to cut off when there's money to be made.

Bartenders and bar owners can be held liable for the actions of a bar patron if they've "overserved" them and they do something harmful after leaving. Any GOOD bartender has no problem taking control and cutting someone off. Sorry, but in most cases these shitfaced people aren't viewed as "money to be made," but rather as a fucking annoyance.


That said, I love my alcohol and have certainly been the asshole who needs to get cut off. However, it's a shared responsibility between drinker and bartender regarding cutting someone off. Which is why, they could both be held liable in say, a DUI related accident that hurt/killed someone else.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

Any GOOD bartender has no problem taking control and cutting someone off. Sorry, but in most cases these shitfaced people aren't viewed as "money to be made," but rather as a fucking annoyance.

To be fair, I'm not a high-class dude... I pretty much go to dive bars where someone has to be about 2 seconds from passing out at the bar before the bartender will take their drink

Good times.

Also, i WILL say the one time I almost got cut off was we were shitfaced and it was last call and we ordered more shots. The bartender wasn't going to serve us but we let them know we were NOT driving, we were walking the 3 blocks back to our place. At that point she served us and took our money... I actually did appreciate the concern there though.

 

[rockyracoon]

To be fair, I'm not a high-class dude... I pretty much go to dive bars where someone has to be about 2 seconds from passing out at the bar before the bartender will take their drink

Good times.

Also, i WILL say the one time I almost got cut off was we were shitfaced and it was last call and we ordered more shots. The bartender wasn't going to serve us but we let them know we were NOT driving, we were walking the 3 blocks back to our place. At that point she served us and took our money... I actually did appreciate the concern there though.

It's a tough sometimes. There's times when I get hammered and act completely fine in regards to normal bar etiquette. If you can do that, and you're clearly with a group that includes a sober voice of reason, then cutting someone off isn't always necessary. But of course, you never actually know if someone gets behind the wheel when they leave. But I mean, yeah, I don't like when someone tries to regulate my drinking if I'm not doing anything stupid.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

It's a tough sometimes. There's times when I get hammered and act completely fine in regards to normal bar etiquette. If you can do that, and you're clearly with a group that includes a sober voice of reason, then cutting someone off isn't always necessary. But of course, you never actually know if someone gets behind the wheel when they leave. But I mean, yeah, I don't like when someone tries to regulate my drinking if I'm not doing anything stupid.

You're absolutely right. I've actually only been cut off once in my life, and it was at a restaurant (go figure) and i had... this is no joke... 2 regular (not doubles) gin and tonics over the course of 2 or 3 hours. I wasn't even buzzed off of them. I had just met up with some friends whom i hadn't seen in a long time. one had a single beer, one had 2 martinis, and the last only had water, but regardless we were laughing and having a wonderful time bullshitting and catching up, and the waitress cut us off. She probably thought we were the biggest group of lightweights ever

In regards to the article though, i do definitely agree that the cause for problems is there, and the "auto cut off" thing is far from foolproof. Plus, how fuckin' lazy do people really need to be?