I’m only 22 and like to go to bars and enjoy a couple cocktails and go home. I’m quite confused though and would like some guidance!
Typically, I drink gin cocktails. Most of the bars I’ve been going to lately claim to not know how to make a gin cocktail and claim they can look one up, or I’ll ask for something specific like a French 75 or a Clover Club (clover clubs are harder to get due to most bars not carrying eggs in my area it seems).
After being shut down on my specific requests, I’ll typically give them a flavor profile and be like “can you make me a fruity or herbal gin cocktail without whatever ingredients I don’t like” most times I end up with a fabulous drink, but other times… not so much.
This happened the other night and I told them I wasn’t a big fan of the drink because it was a bees knees but with triple the amount of gin (had 1.5 oz of two gins) so barely any honey or lemon juice. Even though I didn’t drink it and didn’t like it, the bartender made me another drink and charged me another $12. So I paid for two drinks and only drank one (the other was completely full and handed to another bartender to drink). Is that normal? In my head, I feel like they should have just remade the drink, but I’m also new to this so it might just be privilege! Please let me know.
SECOND: I had another experience that made me question bar etiquette as well. I had gone to this bar and was hanging out with a friend that I had met. He was buying our first round and when he got the receipt, the bartender looks at him and goes “I’m not working for free. Make sure to tip or that will be your last drink of the night”
It rubbed me the wrong way? I understand that bartenders don’t make much but demanding a tip like that felt very entitled and abrasive to me and I decided that I wouldn’t be returning to that bar due to it. With full transparency, he did tip 20% on both of our drinks, but she said it before he even had a chance to write anything down on the receipt. Is this a normal thing bartenders do? And how would I go about handling these situations or asking about them in the future? Any help or insight or critique on my part is appreciated. Thank you!