ST. LOUIS – Jon Vieluf has seen it all in nearly 25 years at Big Daddy’s in Soulard and his bar’s New Year’s Eve party package has it all.

“All you can drink. Food buffet and champagne toast at midnight,” he said.

But earlier this week, something grabbed his attention that he hadn’t seen in the past. Vieluf said other neighborhood bar owners told him about a Soulard New Year’s Eve pub crawl being promoted online.

According to the event page, your $35 ticket will get you into several bars from 6 p.m. to close, drink tickets, a free appetizer buffet, and more. Big Daddy’s is one of the bars listed as participants in the event.

“We had one years ago that we dealt with, and it was all planned out. This one, no one knew about,” Vieluf said.

In a message to would-be ticket buyers on the invite page, the event organizers, listed as NYE Bar Crawls, note, “We have worked directly with every bar owner listed below for over 10+ years, and any other event on NYE is not affiliated with us or these venues.”

Vieluf said Big Daddy’s is not affiliated with this event or the company promoting it.

“It’s obviously a red flag,” he said.

Vieluf told FOX 2 that he spoke with a man who identified himself as the owner of the company promoting the bar crawl. He said the company is based in Boston and hosts parties across the country. Jon

The man told Vieluf he’s worked with other Soulard bars in the past, but Vieluf left the conversation feeling suspicious.

“There’s been some scam pub crawls out there,” Vieluf said.

It’s best to check directly with any bar or club being advertised as part of an event to confirm their involvement before paying money for a ticket, Vieluf said.

“All of our bars, like Big Daddy’s, D’s, Grizzley Bear. We all do our own events, and we don’t want customers being upset,” he said.

FOX 2 also spoke with the alleged owner of the company promoting the bar crawl. He told us the St. Louis event was now cancelled. When Colombo pressed him with questions about the event and the company, he hung up. If you or someone you know bought tickets to this event, we’d like to hear from you. Email Mike Colombo at mike.colombo@tvstl.com or call him at 314-213-7869.