Recognizing Intoxication
Because serving a visibly intoxicated guest is illegal, reading the signs of impairment is a core supervisory skill. This chapter covers how alcohol affects the body, why the same number of drinks affects people differently, and the behavioral cues that signal it is time to slow or stop service.
How the body processes alcohol
The body metabolizes alcohol at roughly one standard drink per hour, and that rate cannot be sped up by coffee, water, food, or fresh air — those help comfort but do not sober a person. When a guest drinks faster than the body can process, blood alcohol concentration rises and impairment deepens. Understanding this is why counting drinks over time and pacing service matter: a guest four drinks into a first hour is on a very different trajectory than one who spread them across an evening.
Why people differ
Two guests who drank the same amount can reach very different levels of impairment. Body weight and composition, whether and what they ate, drinking rate, tolerance, medications, fatigue, and biological differences all affect blood alcohol concentration. That is why staff must judge each guest by observed signs, not by a fixed 'safe' number of drinks. Noting a guest's condition at arrival also helps — someone who pre-drank elsewhere may already be intoxicated before the first order.
Reading the signs
Behavioral and physical cues of intoxication include slurred speech, impaired coordination or balance, glassy or unfocused eyes, and changes in behavior — becoming unusually loud, argumentative, overly friendly, careless with money, or sleepy. Staff should watch the room for these signs and act on them by slowing or stopping service. Ordinary behaviors like ordering food, paying by card, or asking for the wine list are not signs of impairment and should not be mistaken for them.