Tightened rules to curb intoxication at Windsor-Essex restaurants

One local restaurant has stricter rules for serving drinks, saying Smart Serve does not go far enough. CTV Windsor’s Stefanie Masotti reports.

A local restaurant owner is working to curb intoxication, putting guidelines in place. He has enforced stricter guidelines on the number of alcoholic beverages a guest can be served.

“Every day we open the news. We hear a drunk driver hit some family,” said Karthikeyan Subramaniam, owner of seven Chuck’s Roadhouse and Grill locations.

“As a businessman, I’m here to make money. But at the same time, I don’t want to be an unethical human being. To ignore the safety of my staff, customers, and public just for another few drinks.”

Subramaniam distributed an internal note to staff last week called the “Drink Reduction Rule” of only three drinks per person. If a guest wants a fourth drink, these rules need to be followed strictly without any excuses:

• Order a food item after the third drink
• The time between the first drink ordered (rang in) and the fourth drink (rang in) in the till should be a minimum of two hours apart
• A schooner is considered two drinks
• A pitcher should never be served to one person
• If you serve a pitcher to two guests, consider it as two drinks per person

The change is meant to promote responsible drinking.

“We could eliminate 95 per cent of the problem by implementing this one simple policy,” said Subramaniam.

According to Windsor police, in 2024 there were 257 incidents related to impaired driving. As a result, 389 impaired driving related charges were laid. Of those, one charge of impaired causing death was laid.

Since the start of 2025, Windsor police have recorded 69 incidents related to impaired driving. As a result, 108 impaired driving related charges were laid. No charges of impaired causing death have been laid.

The new policy means fewer tips for servers.

“To me, that’s totally irrelevant,” said Arianna Belanger, longtime server at Chuck’s Roadhouse and Grill.

“I think we’re going to save a lot of lives this way. We just want people to get home safe to their families.”

This article is part of a three-part series. Part two, Smart Serve struggles, will air on Thursday. CTV news spoke with the executive director of Smart Serve Ontario to discuss current rules in effect and whether the mandatory program goes far enough. Part three will air on Friday.