Owners at a Tampa brewery say they've been forced to post rules regarding kids' behavior after children have repeatedly run around unsupervised, destroying property.
Southern Brewing & Winemakingrecently posted this to their Facebook page about new guidelines they had to put up on the patio of their Bier Garten.
"We at Southern are reaching out to our customers in response to so many of you who have voiced concerns about the disruptive behavior of children in our bar and Bier Garten. The comfort and safety of ALL of our guests are paramount to us, and so we’ve established some guidelines for parents who visit us with their children. We ask everyone to please be considerate and understanding of the following:
1) No running
2) No yelling, screaming or excessive noise
3) No throwing rocks or other objects
4) No tampering with the fire pit or fountains or damaging any other property.
General Manager Kelly Fenstermacher said in the past year, unsupervised children have destroyed their fire pit, taking out pieces of the grill and damaging the rock.
"We've had customers complain that they were standing on top of the firepit, and throwing lava rocks out into the parking lot at the cars," she said.
She said they have also been caught jumping up and off of several of their stone walls, causing several safety concerns for the kids and patrons alike.
They've also seen several of their stones on the patio damaged by crayon and also written on with chalk.
Their bamboo trees have also been scratched, damaged and other plants have been pulled right out of the ground by unsupervised children, Fenstermacher said.
Southerm Brewing & Winemaking said some customers told them they would not be returning until the issue of unsupervised children was addressed. Fenstermacher said many parents were sitting inside the brewery while their children were running around the Bier Garten with no one watching them.
Many parents and customers support the new posted guidelines for kids.
"As a dad with 3 kids who regularly visits Southern with them, I have no problems with these rules," said one parent. "These four rules shouldn't have to be written down in the first place."
But others say they won't be returning to Southern.
"I am understanding of these concerns, but at the same time, this does mean that my child is unable to join on trips to Southern because I cannot foresee everything that is going to occur and will not be kicked out of an establishment. I will not be returning nor will my husband," said one parent and customer on Facebook.
The owners later added this to their original post, wanting to clarify that people are allowed to bring children and that children are welcome, however, parents need to abide by the posted rules or they could be asked to leave.
"Our intention for posting the sign on our social media was to reach the largest number of our customers as quickly as possible," the post states. "As with any public forum, people will express their opinions, but not all the opinions expressed in response to our post reflect our sentiments. As we stated, parents are welcome to bring their children. We just ask that they adhere to the guidelines for the safety and comfort of all of our guests."
