Wanna know why your drinks suck so bad?

I guess there are auditors who make a living by measuring how much liquor is "wasted" at a bar or restaurant.

Liquor Auditor Article.

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2003-01-21 13:18 ]

Oh yea! The last bar I worked in had this very service. Most bars do inventory every month and can figure pour cost by that. Some also have measured pour spouts or use jiggers.

Having worked in bars far too long, it really gets irritating having people order mai-tais, sex on the beach, Malibu and anything or even Midori sours and complaining that they can't taste the alcohol. Plllllease people. These drinks weren't made to taste like alcohol. Order a real drink. I always say, "the bartenders are on camera and will get in trouble if they overpour (which is true). If you'd like a double I'll bring one" The cheep-o's always say "No thanks" I especially love the Malibu and Midori drinkers because Malibu has 1/2 the alcohol content as regular rum. And Midori drinkers get "If there wasn't alcohol in your drink it wouldn't be GREEN!"

Everytime I go to Bahooka (which is pretty much the only time I drink fru-fru drinks, I'm a bourbon girl) and order a bowl of anything I say "I don't think there's alcohol in this" (Not to the waiter just to my friend) but I always end up with a nice buzz. It's become a joke now.

And the most ironic thing is that it seems to be the most expensive "exotic" drinks are the worst ripoff! It's kind of like:"Oh, these people are ordering Mai Tais, let's just fill some fancy glasses with some fruit juice, a 1/2 shot of house rum, some pineapples, cherries, a paper umbrella and a cute little straw...and they'll fork out $6.50 per drink, give us a ten spot and say "keep the change". These are usually "chain" restaurants with high visibility and a large advertising budjet. On the unfortunate occasions I find myself winding up in one of these places I'll order a bottle beer, or a "straight forward, simple, hard to screw up or water down drink" like Scotch Rocks!!!

Makes me even more glad to have our regular bar where from 9-10 it's Animal Hour. 3 for 1 drinks. And that's an underestimate. Kiliki and I are such regulars, they extend Animal Hour for us indefinitely. I am glad, but yet, is that good? Sit at that bar long and we're toast!

Ah, for the good old days when I could walk home from there. Well, stumble home.

I notice this article is from the Philly area, where I remain convinced that the overpriced drinks are watered. This is why I only order beer when Im out.

Because they make a lot of their money from tips, bartenders are sometimes a little too generous with the booze.

WOW you tip your barmen, I thought all us barpeople deserved was abuse and violence.

When i worked for the biggest chain of pubs in scotland (scottish and newcastle) as a manager we had to keep check on every shot (25ml just under 1oz) and the auditor only allowed you one missing shot per dozen bottles. If through spills, over-pours or staff stealing drinks you were down a bottle you as manager got charged the full price for the replacement bottle and i don't mean how much the bottle costs but the by the shot amount so a missing bottle of vodka could cost me £60 to replace.
No wonder the chain i worked with was the largest, the tight fisted bastards.

On 2003-01-22 15:37, atomictonytiki wrote:

WOW you tip your barmen, I thought all us barpeople deserved was abuse and violence.

In my experience, if you don't tip the bartenders they will verbally abuse you!

No, you don't tip bartenders in the UK. According to an interesting Economist article, tipping is a tradition that actually came from the UK in the 19th century, but then gradually dissapated over there. It remains strong here, but, what has always puzzled me about it is it's inconsistency. Why tip in certain service sectors and not others? Why don't we tip dentists?

confused,
martin.

On 2003-01-24 14:22, martiki6 wrote:
Why tip in certain service sectors and not others? Why don't we tip dentists?

It seems like the only people we tip are service workers with low salaries -- hotel bellmen and maids, waitstaff, bootblacks, skycaps, etc. It's assumed that dentists don't need the money, I guess.

If you go on a cruise with Holland America, you're told that tipping is not necessary. Is tipping frowned upon in the Netherlands?

--cindy

Yeah, but you don't tip at McDonalds. And, I thought that no tipping was the policy on most cruise lines. Correct me if I'm wrong.

-martin

On 2003-01-24 14:49, martiki6 wrote:
Yeah, but you don't tip at McDonalds. And, I thought that no tipping was the policy on most cruise lines. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You're right -- there seems to be this unwritten rule that you don't tip the servers behind the counter (fast food, cafeterias, delis, etc), but if a server brings your lunch to your table, a tip is expected. This rule does not apply to bartenders.

Tipping policy on cruises varies by cruise line. Sometimes it's expected, sometimes not.

cynfulcynner wrote:

Tipping policy on cruises varies by cruise line. Sometimes it's expected, sometimes not.

Going on a cruise? Make sure you find out about the tipping policy for bartenders on the ships deck!

I didn't read the handy little packet that was given to me on my cruise, which said that the drink prices served on deck already include a gratuity and no addition tipping was required. Well, I kept seeing drinks being served and NO ONE was tipping the barkeeps and I thought "what a bunch of jerks!" So here I am signing for my drinks and cash-tipping left and right, and come to find out at the end of the day, I was double-tipping the barkeeps since my drinks already had the gratuity included!

Come to think of it...I didn't necessarily get better service than anyone else on that cruise.

TippyCaddyDaddy

No, you don't tip bartenders in the UK.
yes you should, in my nightclub if the bar is really busy it makes the diffrence from being served quickly to not getting served at all, we once kept a rude non-tipping customer waiting for two hours even when he was the only customer at the bar.
POWER, POWER, SUCH PETTY POWER BUT SO CORRUPTIBLE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

The reason why you tip service workers is because they get paid BELOW minimum wage because it is assumed by the Government that they will make up the rest in tips.

It's the only profession where making below minimum wage is perfectly acceptable.
Bosses exploit that too. It sucks. Or I should say sucked - I got out of the industry 6 years ago.

That's why I laugh at those Starbucks wankers who put out their wee 'tip jars' on the counter. Dude, you're already making your 8 an hour. Give it a rest!

tikifish wrote:
"That's why I laugh at those Starbucks wankers who put out their wee 'tip jars' on the counter. Dude, you're already making your 8 an hour. Give it a rest!"

$8 x 40 hours = $320 x 4 weeks = $1280 minus at least $400 in taxes = $880. I don't know how much rent is where you live but I pay $735 in Oakland, CA. That's darn cheap because I moved in over 4 years ago and I leave in a neighborhood that isn't very desirable. In San Francisco rent is a minimum $1000. You see the point I'm making. $8/hour is pitiful.

Your comment surprised me coming from someone who worked for tips in the past.

In Cancun, everyone has a tip jar. Bus drivers, everyone. But us tourists can tip more than they make in a day very easily. When minimum wage is $4 a day, even a dollar makes a difference.

On 2003-01-26 12:05, thejab wrote:
In San Francisco rent is a minimum $1000.

Yeah...for a studio. Average 2 bed 1 bath apt. is still hovering around $1900-$2000/mo. despite all the vacancies. Rent control is the only thing keeping us here.

As for the tipping, all I'm saying is that it's a curious tradition. It would be nice if there wasn't any, and people were just paid higher. But I suppose the argument is that it encourages better customer service. But, of course, we all know that that isn't always true. And most people don't generally adjust their tips down for only so-so service. It's funny, that's all.