A guest is drunk. Do I have to stop serving them?
The short answer
Step by step
Say a guest at the bar is slurring and asks for another round (illustrative).
- Don’t pour the next one yet. Say something neutral: “Let me check on that for you.”
- Get your manager or the bartender in charge. Know who makes the call under your house policy, and don’t argue with a guest alone.
- Offer water or food while the manager comes over.
- If the guest is getting aggressive, step back and let the manager handle it. If anyone is in danger, call 911.
- Afterward, tell the manager what you saw and when, so it’s on record.
Not tax or legal advice. Your state’s alcohol rules and your restaurant’s policy decide what you must do. Ask your manager what training your state requires.
Plain English
Where the rules come from
We didn’t find a federal rule that tells servers when to stop serving a guest. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of NIH, runs the Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS). It tracks laws on responsible beverage service, often called server training, as state laws. APIS says these programs aim to prevent alcohol sales and service to minors and to intoxicated people, and cover signs of intoxication, checking ID, and ways to step in.
APIS says some states make training mandatory for servers, managers, or licensees, and others make it voluntary with incentives. Those incentives can include protection in lawsuits over serving a minor or an intoxicated person, and lighter fines or protection of the liquor license for such sales. That tells you the stakes are real for the restaurant, and they vary by state.
What to ask at your restaurant
- Does our state require me to take a server training course, and by when?
- What’s our house policy for cutting someone off, and who makes the call?
- How do we log it when we refuse service?
Your state’s alcohol control agency publishes its own rules. If your manager can’t answer, that agency can.
If someone is in danger
If a guest passes out, can’t be woken, or is about to drive and the situation turns unsafe, get your manager and call 911. Don’t physically restrain anyone.
Common mistakes
- Pouring “one more” to avoid an awkward moment.
- Cutting someone off alone, in front of the table, without a manager.
- Assuming the rules are the same as at your last job in another state.
- Not logging a refusal the way your restaurant asks.
Official sources
Last verified:
Checked the APIS “About This Policy” page for Beverage Service Training and Related Practices (period covered January 1, 2003 through January 1, 2025).
Still open: We didn’t find a primary federal source that sets a rule for servers on intoxicated guests; the absence of one is our reading, not a statement from an agency. Each state’s rules on sales to intoxicated people and server training are not checked here.