This comes after bar owner and former mayoral candidate Olivier Lequeux said the city's bars routinely served drunks and needed to take greater responsibility for improving Dunedin's drinking culture.
Ra Bar manager Finn O'Connor said bars in the Octagon spent "thousands" on security and were extremely careful not to let people in if they were intoxicated.
"If anyone looks as though they are slightly intoxicated we kick them out right away.
"We get $10,000 fines. It's just not even worth [breaking the rules]," he said.
He said the bars in the Octagon helped contribute to an improved drinking culture by not serving intoxicated people and by "looking after" people if they had too much to drink.
"The problem at the moment is the supermarkets selling their loss leaders. People can buy booze for a dollar a can and drink it in an uncontrolled environment."
Bars in town constantly dealt with the problem of "pre-loading" [drinking before going to town].
"I've been here for 12 years now and the whole drinking culture has changed unbelievably.
"It's a really tough industry and when people [make comments like Mr Lequeux's] ... it's what the Octagon does not need. It's tough enough as it is."
