Post #526989 by TikiHardBop on Thu, Apr 29, 2010 10:35 AM

I'm with Swanky on the bar menus. I often use the menu to determine if the bar knows their head from their elbow, so to speak. For example, a local bar has published this drink menu:

http://www.floridakeyspianobar.com/menus.html

You can see they have three sections of "Martinis" followed by a section of "Cocktails". What exactly differentiates the last group of drinks from the first three is beyond me, especially since most of the "martinis" don't contain any vermouth, which defines a martini in the first place.

You'll notice that they make some of their drinks with "Myers's" rum! And we once had a place called "Martinis Bar". I think they meant "Martini's Bar". Don't even get me started on possessives!

And back to vermouth, I've been in "fancy""martini" bars, that not only mislabel all cocktails as martinis, but didn't have any vermouth at all! One "martini" place in downtown Orlando had three bars in the place, none of which had vermouth. It's just awesome to go into "martini" bar and have the bartender not be able to make you a martini.

And a manhattan is made with rye whisky. Don't tell me you have rye whisky when you don't.

And just because the liquor distributor gives it to you, it doesn't mean that you actually have to hang it up. This is especially true of Tex-Mex restaurants, although I've been in a "martini" bar with a huge Bud Light mirror over the bar. Not good.

And as for customers, you have to use the iron hand in a velvet glove. We used to have a brew pub that stocked over 100 different types of beers. The head bartender used to make a big production every time somebody ordered a Bud or some other kind of swill. He would serve it, but he would give them hell about it. People would start drinking better beer just to keep out of his sights. I loved it, but I'm not sure if this is for everyone.

We have another beer place that carries over 200 types of beer. Their beer menu contains all kind of information about each kind of beer and what it tastes like. If you notice what they have for Bud and Coors: "We carry it." Love that.

http://www.brokenbarreltavern.com/About_Us/The_Beer.aspx

The best advice I heard was to give the customer what they want and allow the bartender to suggest something better for their second drink, on the house or at a reduced rate.

Don't apologize for being a cocktail snob. They only way things are going to get any better is for people to push for quality.