...and you could get a liquor license then (was thru the Brit Embassy, and prices -- and selection -- were a lot less; to give you a sense of the change: back then my limit was QR 500 and that bought about 2 boxes of cheap liquor; now my limit is almost QR 3000 and can buy a helluva lot more!).
You have never been able to import/export alcohol from Qatar as long as I've been here. And I've never known Qatar to sell pork (tho if you have a contact on the US base here, you can get it as they sell it at the PX there). Back then, people would make a run to the UAE, hit Spinneys, and have them label the pork as "veal", which they kindly did.
The rugby club didn't have a liquor license initially; you purchsed alcohol using your personal license and made a "donation" or contribution to the club's stash...and that was their supply.
There was a big black market for booze back then, too -- you could sell a box of vodka for almost $1000 USD.
Now the Qataris have taken over selling the alcohol thru QDC. Prices have increased, selection is better, but there are also more bars and hotels you can go to (back in '93 you only had the Doha Sheraton and the Gulf Sheraton (now the Marriott)).
Garveys and Rugby Club have always been unique in that they are the only non-hotel institutions that sell alcohol (Amigos was affiliated with the Al Dana Club which was run through the Qatar National Hotels Assoc. or whatever it's called).
Garveys is a great place -- low key, low maintenance, cheap prices, good food. While MOST bars here have generally started out with a bit of racial profiling (they have tried to not be overrun by Arabs/locals, at least initially), I have always managed to see a mixture of people in nearly every place I've gone to, including Garveys, so I don't think you can call them racist. I've seen all colors and nationalities in there.
That said, I will add that as a woman here, I get a very different vibe and feel from Arab guys than from western ones in bars here (so I haven't been tremendously upset when I've heard that a bar has engaged in a little racial profiling). Generally speaking, I end up feeling like a piece of meat, visually devoured by the Arabs...and it's not that the western guys aren't checking you out, but they somehow manage to do it in a way that feels less violating, if that makes any sense. Maybe it's the whole "Arabs don't have easy access to women in their culture, and they think all western women are whores" thing...but it's not a comfortable feeling as a western woman, and truth be told, I generally avoid bars that have a high percentage of Arab male regulars because you get tired of all the married, middle-aged guys staring at you...
But I digress....just wanted to add a little historical perspective to the "alcohol in Doha" conversation.
...and you could get a liquor license then (was thru the Brit Embassy, and prices -- and selection -- were a lot less; to give you a sense of the change: back then my limit was QR 500 and that bought about 2 boxes of cheap liquor; now my limit is almost QR 3000 and can buy a helluva lot more!).
You have never been able to import/export alcohol from Qatar as long as I've been here. And I've never known Qatar to sell pork (tho if you have a contact on the US base here, you can get it as they sell it at the PX there). Back then, people would make a run to the UAE, hit Spinneys, and have them label the pork as "veal", which they kindly did.
The rugby club didn't have a liquor license initially; you purchsed alcohol using your personal license and made a "donation" or contribution to the club's stash...and that was their supply.
There was a big black market for booze back then, too -- you could sell a box of vodka for almost $1000 USD.
Now the Qataris have taken over selling the alcohol thru QDC. Prices have increased, selection is better, but there are also more bars and hotels you can go to (back in '93 you only had the Doha Sheraton and the Gulf Sheraton (now the Marriott)).
Garveys and Rugby Club have always been unique in that they are the only non-hotel institutions that sell alcohol (Amigos was affiliated with the Al Dana Club which was run through the Qatar National Hotels Assoc. or whatever it's called).
Garveys is a great place -- low key, low maintenance, cheap prices, good food. While MOST bars here have generally started out with a bit of racial profiling (they have tried to not be overrun by Arabs/locals, at least initially), I have always managed to see a mixture of people in nearly every place I've gone to, including Garveys, so I don't think you can call them racist. I've seen all colors and nationalities in there.
That said, I will add that as a woman here, I get a very different vibe and feel from Arab guys than from western ones in bars here (so I haven't been tremendously upset when I've heard that a bar has engaged in a little racial profiling). Generally speaking, I end up feeling like a piece of meat, visually devoured by the Arabs...and it's not that the western guys aren't checking you out, but they somehow manage to do it in a way that feels less violating, if that makes any sense. Maybe it's the whole "Arabs don't have easy access to women in their culture, and they think all western women are whores" thing...but it's not a comfortable feeling as a western woman, and truth be told, I generally avoid bars that have a high percentage of Arab male regulars because you get tired of all the married, middle-aged guys staring at you...
But I digress....just wanted to add a little historical perspective to the "alcohol in Doha" conversation.