Pub refuses to serve girl, 5, juice in a champagne flute

A mum has criticised a pub that refused to serve a five-year-old girl apple juice in a champagne flute.

Renée Hoenderkamp, an NHS doctor who hosts a show on TalkTV, was at the Old Bull & Bush in Hampstead, London on New Year’s Eve when she ordered the drink for her daughter Alice.

The family wanted to toast the coming year at around 7pm and Dr Hoenderkamp asked if the young girl’s apple juice could be served in a champagne glass.

She was apparently told by the manager this wouldn’t be possible because it could ‘encourage her to drink alcohol’ and ‘doesn’t give a good impression to the pub.

A spokesman from Mitchells & Butlers, which oversees the pub, has since told the Metro it is their policy to never serve non-alcoholic drinks to those under 18 in a way that could be mistaken for alcohol by other staff or customers.

Dr Hoenderkamp posted about the incident on X, formerly Twitter.

She wrote: ‘Me and OH [other half] take Alice, aged five, to a local restaurant Bull and Bush Hampstead to celebrate New Year as a family.

‘We have a glass of champagne and ask for Alice’s apple juice to be served in a champagne glass so that she can feel she is cheering in the New Year with us.

‘Manager tells us she cannot have her apple juice in a champagne glass because it may encourage her to drink alcoholic drinks (she’s five and has no money or means to get to shop/restaurant on her own) and it “doesn’t give a good impression to others in the pub”.’

She said she and her partner were the only parents at the pub interacting with their children, while the rest were ‘planted in front of screens’, before adding: ‘We are quite able to make our own sensible decisions for our child re her alcoholic intake (we were asking for her apple juice in a glass, not actual champagne).’

Several people in the comments below her post agreed the pub should have allowed her daughter to drink the juice from a champagne flute.

Emma Rock wrote: ‘Sigh … I would have downed my champagne and poured her apple juice in it and ordered myself another.’

While Cheryl posted: ‘I would have left right then.’

But some said they understood the pub manager’s point of view.

Neal posted: ‘I imagine any photo of a 5-year-old drinking what looks like alcohol in his restaurant, could cause him issues he doesn’t have time to deal with.’

Caroline Belle, meanwhile, wrote: ‘Maybe they put this in place to protect themselves from accidentally giving alcohol to a minor? Restaurants use glasses to help waiters know which drink to refill. All it takes is one “bad” refill and they get sued while the baby is in the hospital for alcohol poisoning.’

A few also said champagne glasses can break easily and cut the child.

The Mitchells & Butlers spokesperson said: ‘As a responsible retailer of alcohol, we do not allow the sale of alcohol-free beer, lagers or ciders to people under the age of 18, or drinks that could perceived by our team or other guests to contain alcohol, for example a fizzy drink in a champagne flute.

‘Such drinks are instead served in plain, smaller glasses with a wider base, to make them more manageable for our younger guests, and less likely to break or spill.

‘Our position was explained to the guest at the time and, it appeared to have been accepted without question. No complaint was raised at the venue.

‘We were therefore surprised to subsequently receive a complaint via our Guest Care Team which will, as is normal policy, be responded to within three working days.’

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