my letter...

Thanks AJ for the link!!!

Here's the letter I submitted to Applebee's.

I recently visited your location in White Bear Lake, MN. Upon arrival we seated ourselves in the bar and were greeted by a server asking if we would like a beverage. I ordered one of your specialty martinis and was carded by the server. I recently lost my driver's license so I produced my US passport and copy of the yellow slip from the license bureau. The server informed me that it was against the law to accept that as a form of identification and refused to serve me. The server was extremely rude and told us that if we wanted to argue with the government we could, but he couldn't serve me. We were so frustrated by the way he treated us we walked out. When I called the manager the next day I was told that their policy is to accept everything BUT a domestic passport as identification and he apologized, but said since we didn't talk to the manager he couldn't do anything for me. Now what I don't understand is why I can gain entry into foreign countries using my passport, but I cannot order an adult beverage at a restaurant and use that as a form of identification. Please see the following link regarding the liquor laws in the state of MN (for this specific instance see pg. 11). I called the state to verify that these laws are current and was assured that they are.

http://www.dps.state.mn.us/alcgamb/alcgamb/LawBook03web.pdf

While I understand that you can refuse to serve anyone for any reason, I would appreciate it if the policies of the restaurant accurately reflected the local laws, or at the very least that the servers and management were educated that it is NOT against the law to accept a domestic passport as identification, even though it may be against company policy.

Thank you for your time,
Randi Woodward