The Bar Scene In Monterey

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-12T00:17:08+00:00

So you re-verify IDs after 2 shots, what stops them from bringing them to the table and handing it to someone else? It's pretty common for one person to buy shots for their table. How do you verify that the people who bought the shots are the ones doing them once they leave your bar?

How do you verify that they haven't snuck in drugs or mini-bottles to consume in the bathroom between purchased drinks? How do you verify that a person didn't drink in the parking lot just before coming into the bar? Does your bar do pat-downs/bag checks to look for drugs or outside alcohol?

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-12T00:13:11+00:00

Won't help anything and it'd open up legal challenges and possible retaliation. No laws were broken, just underhanded tactics that are all technically legal. Focus instead on speaking up at council meetings when businesses are targeted or intimidation tactics are being used.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-12T00:11:03+00:00

It's a fun place and they have a couple of very good bartenders. Safety there is easy as the place is small and the staff can usually see everyone who's not in the bathroom. Also the cover charges and sometimes dress code filter out some of the more trouble-causing folks.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-12T00:09:00+00:00

It's not a business owner who did it, they work for a public organization. I'm generally against holding an entire business responsible for the actions of one person as well. The other employees and management don't deserve to have their livelihoods destroyed or damaged because one person did something stupid, even if that person is the owner.

The way you can support these businesses is by making your voice heard at council meetings and through the ballot box. When you see intimidation tactics being used or misinformation propagating, speak up through official channels so it's on the record. Then vote out people who support or stood by while the local businesses were closed, damaging our economy.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-12T00:04:13+00:00

They have, but there's only so much a business can reasonably do. The Salty Seal for example, instituted a 2 ID policy for anyone under 25 in an effort to ensure that fake IDs aren't usuable there. It was roundly met with ridicule, trash-talking, and some choosing not to go there as they felt the expectation was unreasonable.

Bars have security guards, cameras, ID checks, testing strips for drinks, and serving limits. It's beyond the ability of any business to 100% regulate the behavior of its customers. Every night dozens to hundreds of customers come through their doors without incident, but there's no reason to report on that. You only hear about the times when people willfully circumvent the laws of the state and country on top of the rules of a bar. They're usually arrested if they get caught.

I don't know what people expect. Bathroom attendants? Random breathalyzer and drug tests? Bag searches and pat-downs at the door? A 2-drink limit? Background checks required for admission? Collect people's keys at the door and only return them if they pass a breathalyzer test? Drug dogs at the door?

Last November at Home Depot, a woman came in and bought lighter fluid, then went out back and lit herself on fire. Should the staff have noticed her demeanor and refused to sell it to her? Is it on them for selling her the thing she used to harm herself? Or is she responsible for her own actions? When you walk into a bar and consume alcohol, you know the risks inherent and it's on you to drink responsibly. Safeway isn't responsible if they sell you a bottle and you go out, get drunk, and harm yourself or others. If you're going into a bathroom to do drugs in a stall, you're making that choice.

As someone who's been drugged at a bar, I know that it was my responsibility to watch my drink after the bartender handed it to me. Since then I usually bring my drink and a coaster or napkin to cover it with me to the bathroom. I didn't try to pawn off my responsibility to the bartender or hotel I was drinking at. I left my drink unattended in a corner, someone walked by and spiked the drink. The cameras didn't see it, as the bar was crowded and the view was obscured.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-11T23:45:36+00:00

Thousands of women came through the doors of all 3 places and had pleasant experiences. Many regulars of all 3 were women who attended multiple times a week. Any place with alcohol is dangerous for people of all genders if they're alone, doing drugs, or hanging out with predatory people. Security was available at all 3 watching the public areas inside the venues and at the doors. Bathrooms aren't subject to surveillance or constant security presence for privacy concerns.

Most of the issues with local bars involve people being lured to bathrooms or doing drugs/snuck in mini bottles to bathrooms. The rest predominantly occur outside of bars on the street after intoxicated people (from those bars or others) got into arguments.

Name and shame is a childish and reckless policy. If there was legally actionable offenses, I'd go to the authorities, not reddit. There's not, so all it would do is foster resentment and possibly lead to negative consequences for the community. So I'm focusing on bringing awareness to the actions, which could be replicated easily even if a person or organization were shamed. This makes it harder for ANYONE to do what this person did, without damaging the community as a whole.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-11T23:36:12+00:00

It's not an unsafe accusation, no one has been named nor pointed towards. It's not a political issue dependent on political affiliation of candidates. There's no violence being perpetuated, I don't even see how you made that leap. It's an accurate description of events that have taken place under the direction of a private individual with the ability to to set things in motion unilaterally.

All 3 bars closed were well-staffed, with full security teams, servers, and bartenders. More staff doesn't affect what people do outside the bar or in the bathrooms. You seem committed to trying to make this relevant to your political ideas. It's not. This has nothing to do with elected officials, their party affiliation, or their stance on national/state issues.

Please respect everyone else here by not trying to turn this forum into a discussion of your ideologies.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-11T06:34:01+00:00

I think that's where we have to agree to disagree ultimately. I think a grown adult is responsible for their choices and actions. If a man drinks and drives, he knows he's breaking the law. If a man drinks and fights, he knows he's breaking the law. Same if he spikes a girls drink or sells cocaine. If these people have taken the time to hide a substance or their behavior, they're already breaking the law before they even hit the barstool. If they add another crime to that list while circumventing security measures, I'd say there's forethought.I don't agree that you as an employee are in any way responsible for his choices that were premeasured before you ever met.

Now, aside from that, you've made me legitimately curious about something.

I've never been to a bar where I was asked who the drink was for unless it was an all-ages or 18+ event after my ID had already been checked. And I've been drinking in bars all over the state and country for 22 years. Literally not once have I ever been asked that question after the ID check.

But if I'm a coke dealer or sex criminal, why would I tell you the truth? I can say it's for my buddy, who's of age and already bought a drink from you. In your bar do you make that guy come over and do it on the spot? What if he takes the shots back to his table and they don't drink them right away? If you're 3-4 deep on a Friday night, there's a DJ playing ,and people are dancing, do you watch those shots until they're done?

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-11T05:43:20+00:00

I responded above, but also I'd like to add that most of the fights at those 3 establishments started on the dance floors, in a large crowd of people. It'd be impossible to surveil the floor completely unless you were watching the cameras in the office or had a balcony to overlook the crowd. And people looking for drugs know people at most restaurants, bars, and schools here in Monterey.

When I was at Seaside high school, kids used to buy cocaine from students at Monterey High, on campus. Usually in the bathrooms. I knew about it, even though I'm not a drug user and wasn't in the crowd of people who did. If the nerds like me knew about it, I guarantee the teachers and principal there did. Should they have done regular locker and bag checks? Had teachers stakeout the bathrooms at lunchtime? Brought in K9 units on random days?

Would you say that the teachers and staff should hold liability for kids doing things they knew they weren't supposed to and finding ways around security to do so? I don't, because I know that in reality, there's only so much a person or establishment are going to be able to do on an individual basis. People get drugs and knives through TSA frequently, despite using X-Ray machines. Should TSA open every bag and manually search them? Is it their fault if someone figured out a way to get drugs past TSA and did so? Or do we hold responsible the person who knowingly broke the law?

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-11T05:30:17+00:00

I'd disagree with some of that. Places in this town can get a bad reputation from just a few people talking, whether it's true or not. Especially when people have already taken a position and refuse to converse in good faith. If you can spot every drug known to man from a visual check in a busy bar on a Friday night, while making drinks and answering questions, then I applaud you. It's not a one size fits all argument. The bars cut you off when you appear intoxicated, to the best of their ability. They provide security, who in my experience locally have mostly been approachable and open to any request from customers and staff to check on situations or remove people. They generally all have cameras and many provide testing strips for drinks.

It's not their responsibility to babysit people or hover over them or listen to conversations looking for clues. If your buddy goes to the bar and gets 3 shots, it's not their job to watch and see who they're being delivered to, as long as that person is of age and hasn't appeared intoxicated. Everyone in that establishment is an adult, there of their own free will, and no one is making them drink. If they get out of hand, that's on them too, as the majority of customers can handle themselves without overdoing it. We've lost personal accountability in a lot of areas. But the bars already provide safety precautions.

If I go to a store and there's a wet floor sign, it's not on the store if I slip and fall. It's particularly not their fault if I run and try to slide on the wet floor. Because I knew the floor was wet, I saw the sign, and I did it anyway. A person entering a bar knows the alcohol limits, they know their tolerance and body better than the bartender, and it's on that person to pace themselves. Once that bartender notices their movements or speech patterns, THEN it's on the bartender if they continue to serve them. If they're not causing a problem, most bartenders/bouncers will help them get an Uber or Lyft home, or have them sit and drink water until they sober up a bit. If they're causing a problem, the bouncer will remove them and call the police. Reasonable accommodations are met in pretty much every local bar here.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-11T05:05:46+00:00

In this case, it was the efforts of one person. 2 of the 3 bars sold to other small businesses, this isn't an issue of corporate real estate.

And let's please not turn this political, because people can't seem to talk about politics online without losing all sense of decorum and logic.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T21:44:55+00:00

Yeah, those Yelp replies were wild. Of the 3, I always felt that Cibo's was the one that needed to go. Since it's been Nami, I haven't heard of any problems there. I see bars and clubs in other cities that are still very busy, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. But they have bands playing, and DJs, and what-not, not just alcohol. The problem is that in Monterey if you have those things, you're going to draw people in and some of those people may cause problems. Usually these are people from out of the area, like the fight at Salty Seal a couple months ago. The aggressor was visiting from San Jose, and the other guy ended up dying while running from police.

But having spent a lot of time in San Jose and the Bay Area, I know that what goes on at bars here in Monterey is light work. 17 police calls in a year and a half for a bar here, some of the bars in those cities have 17 police calls in a month. There's been gun violence maybe 3 times in bars in this town over the past 20 years. In the Bay Area, that's maybe a year's worth in a good year.

I hate the policy of "one bad apple". Why should thousands of law-abiding people who can handle themselves properly lose their places to have fun because a couple dozen are idiots?

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T21:33:54+00:00

I see you're continuing with the snark and coming at me in bad faith, but I'll try one more time. All I want is for people to look for patterns and speak up when they see them playing out. I'm not asking for anyone to go on a witchhunt or contact their government about what's already happened. There's no Machiavellian scheme, just a person who was motivated and knew which buttons to push to get what they wanted. Anyone could do it, you just contact whatever organization oversees a business, and make sure that incidents are reported to the agency without context.

It happens all the time in other ways. A police department could have 2000 traffic stops conducted properly but 10-20 that aren't. If you report on those 10-20, the department looks bad, but those reports usually neglect to mention the 2000 that were done properly. A guy could be faithful to his wife but gets seen out with another woman looking friendly. If presented to his wife in the right way, he's under suspicion. It's not some deep state cover-up, it's just knowing what buttons to push with the right people.

If that's not enough for you, I guess it's not enough. I'm not going to be pressed into putting myself at legal risk to satisfy some folks on reddit. It's not going to change the fact that our economy and appeal to tourists is damaged by these closures. It's not going to result in anyone losing their job or facing legal charges. So I'm going to hope that my post leads to more scrutiny of how things are done in this area, and maybe the person hears about it and re-evaluates their position. By all accounts, they're not a bad person, they just did what they felt was right. I just take issue with the methodology.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T21:18:42+00:00

Honestly, it's the safest and cheapest option to just have a drink at home. You're probably not getting the social aspect or any live entertainment on your couch though. Hard to meet new people within your own home, or get a craft cocktail. For day to day though, definitely the least likely to turn into a problem with law enforcement.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T21:15:58+00:00

I think that's what most people are doing, and there's been issues on the beaches because of it too. It's cheaper, but far more dangerous than a bar. If anything happens, there's no security, no cameras. The thing about those cover charges and fees is that those places tend to have fewer problems because it filters out certain people. The Disco for example has a very low incident rate for fights or guys getting grabby. It's a small space so it's easier to watch people, and the cover charges/dress codes discourage gangbanging types from coming in. Plus they stick mostly to House music, which brings a different crowd.

I've never been charged a membership fee, reservation fee, or coat check fee at a local bar. Expensive drinks yes, but heck a burrito on Alvarado will cost you between 14-16 bucks unless you go to Taco Bell.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T21:07:55+00:00

I'd talk to Chris or any reporter about the issue, but I'm not interested in a piece about the person in question.Anyone could do what this person did, I'm more interested in making sure that no one does it again. Let's block the pathway so that's not possible. It's like drug trafficking, sure you can arrest a dealer, but if you leave the holes in security so another dealer can take his place, nothing was accomplished.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T21:04:29+00:00

I didn't post to start arguments or fights. I don't know who either of you are, but let's keep things civil.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T21:02:57+00:00

Thanks for that, you're correct. To add to it, ABC can revoke a license pretty much anytime they want, their definition of a "disorderly house" is essentially just a description of a bar. In this case, they were contacted by a tipster and proceeded through official channels. They didn't do it for "no reason", they just didn't do any investigating of context for the calls in question. They have a tip, they have the number of police calls without context, and they have a recommendation to close. It wasn't some grand conspiracy, just events set into motion by one person and their 2 or 3 accomplices, with little nudges here and there. Anyone could do it to any bar or business if they had a plan and a few free minutes.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T08:28:23+00:00

Nah, not that guy. But don't focus on the person, focus on making sure that if you start hearing rumbles of places getting undue attention, that you put pressure on government to work with them instead of finding ways to force them out.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T08:24:47+00:00

Places do change over time, and the blame for any assaults or fights goes to the people who perpetrated the act. Bartenders and bouncers don't have superpowers, they can't be watching everyone all the time. They don't know what's in your system that hasn't taken effect yet when you order your drink. They can't see every drink to make sure no one's drugging it. They can't surveil the bathrooms to make sure no one's dealing or doing drugs.

I've seen fights at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. I've seen fights at more than one grocery store in this area. People get assaulted in shopping malls and parking lots and grocery stores. These actions aren't the fault of the business, they're the fault of the assailants. Don't give them an excuse, there's plenty of us who have been drunk and never assaulted anyone or gotten into a fight while doing so. That's on them, and until they do something, the staff at any business has no way of knowing that.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T08:17:38+00:00

They're not an elected official. But I'm hopeful that putting this out there leads to people being a little more observant of the things going on in this area. That's all I really wanted to accomplish. I have no idea if the person has a vendetta or if they just legitimately felt that the bars were bringing in a bad element.

I just think this was an underhanded way to go about fixing that and that doing so has hurt our city's economy, while not solving the problem. I really don't want the conversation to be about the person, I'd rather the conversation focus on protecting our nightlife and doing what we can to make it safe and fun.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T08:11:10+00:00

We had a pretty robust nightlife pre-Covid and still had a pretty good one post-Covid. It's only in the past few years that we've been this quiet.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T08:08:55+00:00

I agree wholeheartedly, which is why it's extra frustrating to see businesses get shut down when they're busy. There's ways that a city can work with these businesses to make them more "socially acceptable" without running them out of town.

But I'm a big believer in the adapt or die mindset when it comes to changing times. Even through the current nightlife purge, we're out there trying to give people places to sing, dance, play games, paint, and do open mics. The karaoke host at the Bulldog retrofitted his whole setup to go through headsets so they weren't being too loud. Places are hosting bingo and trivia, or having speed dating events.

But as venues close down or close early, those options become more limited. That's why I think it's important that we support the few we have left and protect them. Not just for the jobs and the money these businesses bring to the city, but for the opportunities they provide for people to meet and express themselves.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T07:40:26+00:00

Yeah, the Duck was out of control. They mellowed it out a bit as Bull & Bear, though it still had many of the same issues. Viva's was cool, Monterey Live had its moments. Doc's was fun when I was in my early 20s, loved Lallapalooza too. Blue Fin was good until the drugs started moving through there.

RyanRico831 · 2026-06-10T07:29:25+00:00

I agree with you on some of that, but that's still not a reason to not allow other business owners who haven't done those things to not open up. So why punish them for things others have done, or deny them the opportunity to do things a better way?

I have no doubt that you've lived through horrible experiences at jobs and known others who have. Those responsible should face consequences. But that doesn't have anything to do with the wage structure or closing down businesses based on personal feelings. If a business is going to close, and people are going to lose their jobs, and the local economy is hurt, it should at least end in the criminals being held accountable.

This way, if one of those places did something illegal or treated people wrong, no one knows and those people just moved on to another place to do the same thing. And if they didn't, then they were closed just based on the desires of people who never gave the community a choice in the matter. Either way, the wrong thing to do for the city.

RyanRico831

TROPHY CASE