Although a city ordinance banning drink buffets has been in place for more than a year, Ames bars continue to offer specials that supporters of the ordinance find questionable.

“We have a great concern with bars offering irresponsible drink specials,” said George Belitsos, executive director for Youth and Shelter Services, an Ames-based nonprofit organization.

Belitsos said a different city ordinance banning more drink specials would discourage both binge and underage drinking.

“We want to be a community that has less availability of alcohol to minors,” he said.

Drink specials like “any coin, any drink” deals, he said, especially concern Youth and Shelter Services because they allow bars to get around an ordinance enacted in March 2003 banning “drink buffets” where customers pay one cover charge and don’t have to pay for drinks the rest of the night.

Belitsos said Mojazz, 2518 Lincoln Way, came under fire in July when police who were undercover discovered bartenders there were not taking any coins for drinks.

“It’s just a way of working around a good ordinance,” he said of the “any coin, any drink” specials.

Currently, he said, Youth and Shelter Services is committing its resources to push for the Story County ordinance for keg registration, and it will not campaign for a drink-special ordinance for some time.

“The only ordinance we’re pursuing right now is the keg ordinance at the county level,” Belitsos said. “We’re taking these things one at a time.”

Lloyd Flanders, manager of Club 8, 216 Stanton Ave., said drink specials play an important role in attracting patrons to his bar.

“Drink specials can bring people into the bar that normally wouldn’t be there,” he said.

He said Club 8 offers a variety of drink specials, including “bladder busters,” where patrons pay a $3 cover charge, then drink Budweiser draws until one participant leaves the bar or goes to the bathroom.

He said the drink specials Club 8 offers don’t violate the current drink-buffet ordinance.

Other Ames bar owners say drink-special restrictions would have little effect on their businesses.

Terry Cullen, owner of Es Tas, 120 Welch Ave., said he doubts such an ordinance could ever be enacted.

“My personal bet would be that this will never happen,” he said.

Es Tas offers a variety of drink specials, he said, including $1 draws and two-for-one margaritas, but he doesn’t think specials promote irresponsible or underage drinking.

“I think people encourage irresponsible drinking, not drink specials,” he said.

He said a drink-special ordinance would have little impact on his business.

“The nice thing about the city of Ames is everything is equal,” he said. “If there’s an ordinance, everyone would have to rethink their specials to work within the law.”

Josh Jacobs, manager of Cafe Beaudelaire, 2504 Lincoln Way, said he would support an ordinance restricting drink specials.

“I’ve seen fights in front of the bars every weekend, and some of them end up right in front of Cafe Beaudelaire,” Jacobs said.

A drink-special ordinance, he said, might discourage overconsumption, the root of most violent altercations.

Sara Kellogg, program coordinator for substance abuse and violence prevention at Iowa State, said she supports an ordinance restricting drink specials.

“Research suggests that high-risk drinking significantly increases when drinks are priced under a dollar,” Kellogg said. “If it decreases binge drinking, then I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

Kellogg said a survey conducted in March 2003 found around 40 percent of ISU students had participated in binge drinking during the two weeks before the survey.

“We’re not on the same level as some schools,” she said, “but any amount of high risk drinking has to be of concern. You don’t want to lose students to alcohol poisoning or drunk driving.”