Business phone system for drinking places

Drinking places in the United States

County Business Patterns counted 40,835 drinking places in the U.S. in 2023 (NAICS 722410, Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)). They employed 432,542 people in mid-March and paid $11.1 billion in annual payroll. The average establishment has 10.6 employees. That is 12.0 establishments for every 100,000 residents.

California has the most (3,335), followed by New York (3,314), Texas (2,996), and Illinois (2,939). Relative to population, Montana leads with 47.6 per 100,000 residents, and New Hampshire has the fewest at 2.0.

Why the phone matters for drinking places

Bars and taverns take calls about events, private parties and hours, often when the room is too loud to hear the phone. Capturing those calls helps book parties.

Calls drinking places commonly handle:

• A guest calls about reserving space for a birthday.
• A customer calls about trivia night.
• A band calls about booking a gig.
• The bar calls a vendor about a delivery.
• A customer calls about a lost item.

Texting and after-hours calls

Bars text event reminders and party confirmations.

Bars are open late, so calls during service need capture and callback.

How big drinking places are

38.7% of U.S. drinking places with employees had fewer than five people in March 2023. 66.1% had fewer than ten. Most phone decisions in this industry are made for small teams, where one shared number and sensible routing matter more than a desk phone per person.

Drinking places by state

Establishment counts for the 51 states (and DC) where Census published a figure, with the rate per 100,000 residents.

Largest metro areas for drinking places

Census published bar counts for 740 metro and micropolitan areas. The 25 largest:

Phone system pricing for an 11-person bar

The average U.S. bar has 10.6 employees, so the comparison uses an 11-person team. On a per-user plan that headcount sets the bill: $274.45 a month on Ooma Office Pro or $330.00 on RingCentral RingEX Core at list price (checked September 28, 2026). On Callata the same 11 people cost $219.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

The annual difference against RingCentral's monthly list price comes to $1,332. Some vendors discount annual contracts; the table shows month-to-month prices.

How Callata works for drinking places

Callata Office costs $99 per month for up to 5 people, and each additional user is $20 a month. That covers up to 3 local numbers, calling from a browser or your cell, transcribed voicemail, recorded calls with AI summaries, after-hours routing and E911 on each number.

Existing numbers can be ported at no charge, and team texting turns on after the one-time $49 carrier registration (10DLC) is approved.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.