Open bar tab for party

If you had a party at a restaurant (private room/catered affair) and ran an tab for drinks instead of doing a per person price, about how much was the final bill at the bar?

I'm trying to figure out if its more cost effective to pay approx $19 p/p for unlimited beer, wine and mixed drinks for 39 adults OR to just open a tab at the bar for those who choose/can drink.

Thanks for your input.

Re: Open bar tab for party

I think it depends on who is invited, and the day and time of the event.

I did a tab for a christening, it was $100. That was a Sunday morning with 30 people.

Re: Open bar tab for party

I did a tab for a christening for 70 adults and put two carafes of wine on each table the bar bill came to $175 (with the wine)

ETS: You need to know your people though. Are all 39 of those people going to be drinking? Is it at night? How long is the party? Where is the venue? Two mixed drinks could ultimately cost you $19 but is EVERYONE going to be drinking two mixed drinks?

Message edited 6/3/2012 12:58:45 PM.

Re: Open bar tab for party

Good points to consider... 39 adults but someone has to be a driver so they all cant get boozy right?

Plus its Sunday early afternoon.

Your estimates of $100-175 are WAY lower than paying $700 or so to include it in the per person price.

I'm guessing based on our family and friends- they'd probably have a glass of wine or a bottle of beer, maybe a few would have mixed drinks. Maybe a tab would be better.


On another note- we have a cousin who is working on his sobriety- 100 days clean so far- is it inconsiderate to have alcohol at all and seemingly tempt him or flaunt it?

Re: Open bar tab for party

we did this at my daughter's christening. we had about 50 people and the bill came to $400.

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Ours was late Sunday (3-7) and my goodness, if we ran a tab we would have gone broke! Ask the place how much a glass of wine is and then think about how much you see your family drink. For us, 2 glasses of wine each would have made it not cost effective for the tab

Re: Open bar tab for party

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Just did this yesterday!

46 people, 3 hour luncheon party, bar tab $290. But out of 46, maybe 20 were drinkers.

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Can you do just beer and wine and run a tab for mixed drinks? We have done that and most people only drink wine or beer.

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Depends on the crowd if it is all drinkers that is one thing, but I think on a sunday morning the tab would be less than the $700 you would pay if you did PP, so I think I would do a tab.

Re: Open bar tab for party

Find out how much the drink prices are and then do a comparison.

Does the open bar include soda and soft drinks?

Some small restaurants are charging 2-3 per soda with no refills. Your guests could easily ring up a big bill with refills of softdrinks. Same thing with coffees, etc.

Once you know the cost of a basic glass of wine, cocktail, beer and soft drink, determine how many drinks per person would make it worth it. Then compare that to the habits of your crowd.

Re: Open bar tab for party

we did this for my sis engagement party....big mistake for us lol

people who never drink drank...bill was 700 bucks..we had to cut the last hr off

we also did not know they would include a large tip..think it was 150 bucks or something..and everyone tipped when they brought the drink over

also idk if this was just our place but every drink that was ina glass they charged for ice!!!!!! yes u read that right! we were pissed at the end of the night

Re: Open bar tab for party

Just wanted to add regarding your cousin - it's not inconsiderate AT ALL to host an event serving alcohol. If he's working on it (i.e. in a program) he's already learning how to live in a world full of alcohol a day at a time. If he arrives late or departs early, don't take it to heart, that's an oft-recommended strategy too.

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are there going to be lots of drinkers there? people in my family at my niece's christening kept ordering 1 long island iced tea after another... my sister had an open bar tab.. ended up with over a 2k bill. So they regret not going w/ the package.

Message edited 6/4/2012 9:33:14 AM.

Re: Open bar tab for party

I think it all depends on the amount of drinkers there. It's a gamble if you go wight he tab.

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I always get a package. People here open bar and make pigs of themselves.

Re: Open bar tab for party

Posted by DMT

I always get a package. People here open bar and make pigs of themselves.

Re: Open bar tab for party

Depends on the crowd, does the place offer a beer and wine only package? We usually do that bc that is what most people drink anyway, and then run a tab for the mixed drinks.
But it really does depend on your group.