Chinese restaurant slapped with ban over ‘unlimited beer’ promotion
A Chinese restaurant in Sydney has been ordered to halt its $9.99 promotion offering “all you drink beer”.
Liquor & Gaming NSW has banned Yummy BBQ restaurant from serving “unlimited beer” after finding a “sold out” sign in front of a beer tap linked to the promotion and four empty beer kegs behind the bar.
The restaurant licensee, Liming Ma, has decried the ban, despite facing disciplinary action if he ignores it, saying “there’s no fun in Sydney anymore”.
“I’m not so happy, our customers like the $9.99 beer and now they’ve cancelled it. What can I do?” Ma told the Daily Telegraph.
“The state government is too strict. They ban all the fun in Sydney, not all our customers drink more than five pints - if they do we lose money. It’s schooners, not pints, but we have to follow the ban otherwise we will get a penalty.
“Last night three groups of people went into the next street, bought a box of 24 bottles and drank it BYO - they still got drunk. Now I have to watch what they bring in as well as run my business.”
Liquor & Gaming NSW director of compliance operations, Sean Goodchild, said the drinks deal posed an unacceptable risk of excessive alcohol consumption.
“While Liquor & Gaming NSW recognises that offering discounted products and promotions are popular with customers, it’s vital such promotions don’t encourage misuse or abuse of alcohol,” he said.
“The aim of the guidelines is not to stifle creative and vibrant industry or healthy competition; rather we want to ensure promotions meet community standards and don’t encourage harmful behaviour.”
Sheridan Randall, 9th October 2019
