Economic hard times can be a blessing or a curse for bars and taverns. People like to celebrate good times and drown sorrows by heading out for a few drinks. While this has led to some security for these establishments in the past, lately more and more empty seats are appearing. The tip buckets get downgraded to tip jars, and everyone on the other end of the shaker and draft tap suffers. To combat the decline in patronage, a few notable local joints have taken some interesting steps in the right direction.