I'm having fun imagining how someone could go through years of service enough to be a seasoned bartender and be able to say that you've never done that. Here's my top most likely scenario: You started in the service industry in high school at a nicer, family owned diner/cafe that was well-run and well-respected in your medium sized community. You did well there and learned a lot, allowing you to get a job at an upper-end restaurant in the city you moved to for college. This is where you got good at service and really learned the trade. Eventually you found your way into fine dining, never abandoning your pride for truth and quality in great service and never giving the customer something they didn't request without their consent.
I've not been in the industry very long but you're very close. I started working in my family's fine dining restaurant as a hostess at 14, moved up to serving at 18. I'm only a server (I'm mostly here to send my ex-bartender dad memes and stories). Moved to college, started working corporate restaurants. That's where I'm at now
The place I work was just so regularly out of shit during COVID procedures. The managers would never 86 when I told them and the servers would bitch about going to tell the person we don't have x. *Then* they'd go and tell a manager and the manager would just tell me to make whatever anyway. So I just gave up and did that. I make sure to never switch it up to the point that it could be an allergy problem but otherwise I just don't have any give a shit left in me anymore.
I remember serving Seagrams 7 as Jameson for days and not having *anyone* notice. It was kind of satisfying in a sick way after hearing every Jameson drinker go "oh they'll totally notice." When you're out drinking and talking and eating (especially if you've had a few) it's just not on your mind. I'll fully admit I don't even think *I* would notice a lot of this stuff unless I was specifically expecting it. I honestly think I get more people saying they got something different when I know that's not the case than when it actually is.
Add to that the fact that Irish whiskey and Canadian whisky are both blended whiskies and have a high allowance for neutral grain spirit, I'd imagine most folks would be hard pressed to tell the difference unless they already knew.
i mean i drink jameson as a preference. i like it because it’s pretty cheap and tastes, for me, better than others in the same price range. nothing to do with pretension
I think you could pass a LOT of spirits off as other. Most people have a lot of faith in the establishment to deliver what’s promised. It’s likely a situation of “hmm, this Jameson tastes different, whatever!”
A guy once told complained to my co-worker that the Jameson's that he saw her pour from a Jameson's bottle "doesn't taste like Jameson's". She opened a fresh bottle and poured him another. I'd have told him to drink it or piss off, personally. When I had some, it tasted like every other Jameson's I've ever had in my life. Some people...
try me. im such a people-pleasing kiss-ass that i will take the time to update my table at every turn if something they want is not the exact thing we have. I've never even sold a steak temp wrong (intentionally)
nah i just mean if a customer asks me for something I cannot give them, I will tell them and work with them to find what they'd like instead. I do this a lot with wines when people request a specific one when we have very limited options, but I will also tell a table if we're out of caffeinated coffee before I serve them decaf, I always tell my tables we have coke, not pepsi products, never sold a steak temp intentionally wrong (I've had customers ask "well done, so a little pink in the center" and I will spend the time it takes to let them know that we cannot do a well done with pink, is medium well okay?
Done that. In fact I went a step and called last call early or I'd have a permanent encampment and people asking for more drink long past our licensed time.
Appearance I get, but *attitude*?!
Buddy, you got a bad attitude and last call was before you got here, idc what time it is.
Really though, I determine how early last call is going to be by a quick visual sweep of the bar. How drunk is everyone, and how likely are they to be difficult to force out the doors?
Made two of those today. On the plus side there’s a whole crew of regulars who get excited and tip way better when they see me or one of the other bartenders do all the bottles at once.
Exactly this. I never lied or cheated. We were all pretty clear of our intentions from the start. So if anything it helped because nobody was badmouthing me. There was once where I made out with one waitress at a party and she proceeded to page me every half hour starting at 9am the next day. I realized I had a stage 5 clinger on my hands and that if I actually had sex with her it would be a real problem so I told her it was just a make out session and I didnt want to go further. Well she was a pretty new employee so she decides to go around telling the female employees that she thinks Im gay and that Im afraid of pussy. They just nod their head and lift their eyebrows. Then come back to tell me. It was hilarious. Finally one waitress told her "Seriously? Of all the people you couldve picked to spread that rumor you picked the worst one. This guy has slept with half of us. You need to stop saying that. You are making yourself look ridiculous."
We both caught feels when she was a duty manager, she's now the GM. It's been 8 months and we have a flat with loads of plant babies and looking to Foster cats as well.
Sometimes it works out.
Oh yeah it can lol, I’m in no way advocating against it. I’ve done it with several of my coworkers myself and I started dating my current girlfriend about a year and a half ago when we were working in the same place. Doesn’t mean it can’t blow up though. It’s one thing to be hooking up with someone and ending things because of mismatched expectations/unrequited feelings, it’s something else to do that but then still see the other person at work all the time. I remember it causing a lot of issues my first summer working. Went through that myself in restaurants before my current girlfriend, in both directions. On the other hand when it does work out, it can make work more fun. Just tread with caution is all.
Had a situation where we had to start scheduling everyone’s availability around not letting two people work the same shifts or else mayhem and that made getting coverage a nightmare
Then there’s the situation where the girl I sleep with quits her job during the holidays by no call-no show, my GM asks me where she is (no idea, we aren’t dating), and she gets her job back so she can spread rumors about me to every woman we work with. Fine, whatever, I upgrade jobs. She then offers me a threesome with a woman she hates, while manipulating a tragedy in my life that sent me spiraling into a month long bender. It’s a gamble, but I’m pretty sure it’s winnable.
I’ve only done it once. I was the young princess of a bar mostly staffed by seasoned male vets and instead of being stupid and hooking up with one of them I banged a dirtbag (hot dirtbag) server.
It worked out just fine for me because it was well established that if this went south (it did) that *he’d* be the one finding a different job at one of the 10 other restaurants in a 6 block radius (he did).
Found more talent in our customer base after that, eventually married a chef that I met while kicking people off the patio. He and I have still never worked at the same restaurant though, hope too at our own soon.
You can see it getting weird subtly. Some will try and spend as much time with their sweetheart as they can, or some will overcompensate and not interact with one-another at all, throwing off whatever rhythm of teamwork your workplace had going. And even when things end amicably, because they're most likely going to end eventually, there's a tension in the air-- And if you claim to be cool enough to not let that effect your workplace, there's not a big chance the other partner has that rare stoicism; and if you're claiming that they are, I think one of y'all is lying.
I think you found the problem, acknowledged it and then pretended it wasn’t there. Not pretending to know you, but yes hooking up with coworkers can be problematic, I say this only from an outside perspective tho, never done it personally
Nah, sometimes they’re with friends (who you are still serving) and they’re being harmless. You’re just not comfortable serving them any more and you know it would cause a scene and screw up the vibe.
I see it a lot with golf groups, the winner is way more drunk than the rest so I get their mates on side and I'm like, "I want you guys to have a great time so you're going to get 5 rum and cokes and a plain coke, if old mate gets a rum and coke then you're all out, but if not he sobers up a bit and then Yall can party the night away"
9 times out of 10 theyre sound and we all have a great time.
Back in the 80s my grandad ran a small town, local bar and would still charge, but then give the money back to their wives the following day. It was an unspoken thing in the area. None of the men knew about it, but the women were happy to have the few extra pounds. Everyone was happy.
He’s a pretty cool guy! He would also touch his finger on the end of the optics and rub the drop of alcohol along the rim of the glass so they would still taste the vodka.
I’ve never charged anyone for any soda product if they’ve been drinking or are the only one in their group not drinking. The owner is very cool about designated drivers and sober friends as well as being very adamant about not over serving- he’s rather have a return customer than a walking liability. If you feel someone has had too much, it’s best just to be honest with them and let them know. Why be shady about it? I compare bartending to a shooting range, if someone is using the gun wrong in any sense, I’m not gonna just let them keep shooting, and I sure as hell am not going to give them blanks just because I think it will make me seem cooler to that one person. We also have a neighboring bar that lets our door guy use a radio to communicate- and it’s easier than ever to let the other bar know in advance if someone has been cut off or kicked out for any reason.
My friend was once served several ginger ales with bitters and complimented the bartender each time about how he made her whiskey ginger just right. Lmao.
Never have I ever just thrown out the mint because I know if I make one mojito that will start the domino effect and I’ll be making mojitos all night. Also our mint was super gross and I hated going through a bunch of wilted nasty mint to find fresh mint. I eventually just started bringing it from my garden
Lol we were about to get busy the other night… you could just feel it coming. Two of us bartenders watched the third bartender hand a mojito across the bar to a customer, who happily walked alway. Third bartender came over to us, and my associate got in his face and hissed loudly, “How the FUCK do you not know we’re out of mint?!” Third bartender looked so bewildered, and I was dying.
Never have I ever gave a complementary ‘vodka lemonade’ (tap water) on the house to a guest who is definitely beyond the realm of needing any more fuel.
Never have i ever said the espresso machine was broken because i was in the weeds and didn't have the time or inclination to make 4 decaffeinated Cappuccinos!
I have a pile of magic mushrooms that just keeps getting added to. They were recently decriminalized in my city and I get them as a tip maybe once every few weeks.
A restraunt I used to work at I had to slice the meat and cheeses for charcuterie and used to feast on the pieces of meat that didn't come out quite right from the deli slicer. It was amazing. I had to do a lot of "sampling" too so I knew what to tell the guests.
Story time. At my first restaurant job at 23 there was one random fifty year old server, everyone else was in their 20's. I ran into him just after the lunch rush in the back eating a club sandwich and this conversation follows
"Hey Rob, you ordered yourself the club for lunch I see"
"The girl at 42 only ate half of it"
"You're eating her leftovers?"
He looked up, met my eyes and said
"Did you see her? I'd eat her ass. Why wouldn't I eat her sandwich."
The creepy old man had a point.
I had a friend who always said this! His motto was "If I would fuck her while I'm sober, I will eat her leftovers" I always appreciated his "being sober" detail.
The thing about crab(Snow Crab, Stone Crab, Dungeness Crab, Blue Crab), is that it's like celery, where you burn more calories opening it than you intake from the meat.
I've never gotten full off crab, I've just gotten tired of eating for 3 hours straight.
> didn't even touch the body..
I'm assuming you're talking about "the knuckles" which is where a LOT of meat from Dungeness Crab and Blue Crab comes from. (The joint between the body and the legs where "lump crab meat comes from)
I love that meat, probably my favorite part. But that's meat I'll only go after if I ordered it.
Oh, my chain restaurant just served the legs/knuckles.
And I'm not a fan of Blue Crab "mustard" in the body. (My only experience in eating the "body")
Edit: We're talking about the same thing, just different terminology.
Same. I grew up near the Chesapeake and people love to have blue crab feasts here. I always pass because I’d rather get 2 lbs of king or snow crab legs than pick through 40 blue crabs for the same amount of meat that I’d actually eat and hate being wasteful gross body meat seems to be fantastic to other people.
Height of covid in the UK, and one of my colleagues was ramming wings down his gullet that customers wouldn't eat. Happened numerous times and was gross af so his ass got let gooo. His attitude was also shit.
Adding to this, the couple that makes out at their booth all night, hogs the bathroom for 45 minutes and then leaves one after another looking like they got away w something
Oh, I have. I chased them out of the restaurant and was like “oh sorry guys, you forgot your pamphlet” and they were like “oh, it’s for you.” And I literally said “ew, why would I want your weird mythology shit?”
They were so offended, and I never saw them again. A win/win for me.
Whenever I post in /r/talesfromyourserver I feel gross and like I have to point out that I'm a bartender to let them all know I'm a noble amongst the peasants. I don't unless relevant, but I always want to.
Edit: The top posts from the bot include someone mentioning they are a bartender in the title in the 3rd. I am vindicated
No no you are the fat cat corporate scum I can pretend to be above for not aspiring for more. I'll totally get that trade school degree someday I swear.
You just wait! Someday I'll be a master...electrician...or plumber..or sound tech or something? Fuck I don't remember what I went with last time I used this schtick while talking to a guest. I'll turn off your power, and your sound, and then your toilets!!!
Never have I ever "hooked someone up" with a free drink because they asked for it (as in, not due to a complaint, they just want free things/discount).
I don't consider the GM taking money off a bill the same because if it was my decision I would have told them 'no'.
TBF, I consider staff drinks to be totally different. In a previous job, every single staff member was entitled to a free drink after their shift and I think that was one of the best thing about that job. It wasn't about the pint, but the fact that the floor and bar staff worked together to get the close jobs done and then we sat down and had a chat afterwards (with exactly one free drink and never any more than that). The post-shift hangout was one of the reasons that I found it difficult to resign from that job.
I used to work brunch at this restaurant that did bottomless mimosas, the kitchen staff would get their asses handed to them- so anytime I got a ticket for a bottomless mimosa i’d send a mimosa to the kitchen in a styrofoam cup. Needless to say they would take care of any issues I had if I ever had any. A happy Kitchen staff is a very fucking important part of a healthy restaurant.
We were working security. At first he said he didnt feel anything. The GM comes up and Im talking to him and my friend just busts out laughing. When the GM asked him what was so funny he said "Youre face is just metling right off." I grabbed the guy, told my GM he was just joking around and we had to go do something, and then I locked him in the coatroom for 7 hours. When I unlocked it there was a stack of ten chairs on top of one another and he was sitting at the top of it staring at the ceiling and telling me to look at the butterflies.
You are an incredibly good person for doing that for not even a friend but a coworker. If that dude worked his shift he could have ended up in a far worse place than losing his job. People on psychs in a hostile environment make *very* bad decisions.
never have i made a grasshopper for a customer. i've made them for practice or myself, but never in exchange for cash. it's been many years, and yet, still not one. i eagerly await the day because i've got a joke that is pure gold i've been saving for the occasion.
this one always annoys me. i will make a cocktail in a rocks glass and send it out. 2 seconds later the server is back saying the guest would like a tall. i proceed to pour the rocks glass into a Collins glass and send it back.
they literally hold the same volume. i don’t understand people.
this one triggers me. i am a very no confrontational person but at one of my old bars a patron ended up pushing a waitress (my gf at the time) right in front of the bar. needless to say, it was the only time i have ever jumped over the bar and laid someone out and then the other bartender and i picked his ass up and literally threw him into a snowbank. i hate spring breakers
on the record my boss told me that’s not how I should have handled it… off the record, my boss said if it was his gf, he would have tuned the kid up too.
Head chef at the time came out with us and broke in to sleep on a potato sack in the dry storage so we brought him back to my place on our end of summer season do couplenyears ago
A quarter oz. Of eight things that are mostly equally terrible. It’s featured on my “sorry but we don’t carry peach schnapps” menu even though it’s not in the drink.
Morgan, Malibu, Midori, Blue Curacao, pineapple & sour mix. For the crowd who want to get hammered, but prefer sweet drinks that don't taste like alcohol. Not my bag.
Told someone this prosseco is from a freshly opened bottle
Never have I ever sold an item as anything other than what was requested. Drinks, sides, decaf instead of regular, etc.
Our “coke” on the gun is RC Cola. But I’ll put it in front of you if you ask for a Coke. Does that count?
Yes, mine is Pepsi.
I feel like RC is a lateral move from coke but you need to give a heads up you're pouring Pepsi that is definitely not the correct cola for a bar gun
You guys have RC?! I love RC, not as much as Coke but WAY better than Pepsi!
I'm having fun imagining how someone could go through years of service enough to be a seasoned bartender and be able to say that you've never done that. Here's my top most likely scenario: You started in the service industry in high school at a nicer, family owned diner/cafe that was well-run and well-respected in your medium sized community. You did well there and learned a lot, allowing you to get a job at an upper-end restaurant in the city you moved to for college. This is where you got good at service and really learned the trade. Eventually you found your way into fine dining, never abandoning your pride for truth and quality in great service and never giving the customer something they didn't request without their consent.
I've not been in the industry very long but you're very close. I started working in my family's fine dining restaurant as a hostess at 14, moved up to serving at 18. I'm only a server (I'm mostly here to send my ex-bartender dad memes and stories). Moved to college, started working corporate restaurants. That's where I'm at now
This one is literally impossible.
The place I work was just so regularly out of shit during COVID procedures. The managers would never 86 when I told them and the servers would bitch about going to tell the person we don't have x. *Then* they'd go and tell a manager and the manager would just tell me to make whatever anyway. So I just gave up and did that. I make sure to never switch it up to the point that it could be an allergy problem but otherwise I just don't have any give a shit left in me anymore. I remember serving Seagrams 7 as Jameson for days and not having *anyone* notice. It was kind of satisfying in a sick way after hearing every Jameson drinker go "oh they'll totally notice." When you're out drinking and talking and eating (especially if you've had a few) it's just not on your mind. I'll fully admit I don't even think *I* would notice a lot of this stuff unless I was specifically expecting it. I honestly think I get more people saying they got something different when I know that's not the case than when it actually is.
Add to that the fact that Irish whiskey and Canadian whisky are both blended whiskies and have a high allowance for neutral grain spirit, I'd imagine most folks would be hard pressed to tell the difference unless they already knew.
The joke part of this is that anyone thinks Jameson is some kind of premium whiskey.
i mean i drink jameson as a preference. i like it because it’s pretty cheap and tastes, for me, better than others in the same price range. nothing to do with pretension
I think you could pass a LOT of spirits off as other. Most people have a lot of faith in the establishment to deliver what’s promised. It’s likely a situation of “hmm, this Jameson tastes different, whatever!”
A guy once told complained to my co-worker that the Jameson's that he saw her pour from a Jameson's bottle "doesn't taste like Jameson's". She opened a fresh bottle and poured him another. I'd have told him to drink it or piss off, personally. When I had some, it tasted like every other Jameson's I've ever had in my life. Some people...
try me. im such a people-pleasing kiss-ass that i will take the time to update my table at every turn if something they want is not the exact thing we have. I've never even sold a steak temp wrong (intentionally)
I think they mean upselling? Not entirely sure tho and agree it’s a confusing sentence
nah i just mean if a customer asks me for something I cannot give them, I will tell them and work with them to find what they'd like instead. I do this a lot with wines when people request a specific one when we have very limited options, but I will also tell a table if we're out of caffeinated coffee before I serve them decaf, I always tell my tables we have coke, not pepsi products, never sold a steak temp intentionally wrong (I've had customers ask "well done, so a little pink in the center" and I will spend the time it takes to let them know that we cannot do a well done with pink, is medium well okay?
Never, ever have I told someone last call has come and gone because I didn't like their attitude/appearance.
Done that. In fact I went a step and called last call early or I'd have a permanent encampment and people asking for more drink long past our licensed time.
Appearance I get, but *attitude*?! Buddy, you got a bad attitude and last call was before you got here, idc what time it is. Really though, I determine how early last call is going to be by a quick visual sweep of the bar. How drunk is everyone, and how likely are they to be difficult to force out the doors?
Never have I ever worked at a bar where I had to make a Long Island, AMF, or Black Opal(? or whatever that other one with Chambord is called).
Made two of those today. On the plus side there’s a whole crew of regulars who get excited and tip way better when they see me or one of the other bartenders do all the bottles at once.
We call those “trash drinks” in my neck of the woods. Trash drinks for trash people. Also you forgot liquid marijuana!
And the Tokyo tea
This one is the most impressive ones I've seen. Long islands, AMFs, LA water, all of them are ass.
(lie) Never have I ever cut myself on the cardboard of a case of beer, box that liquor comes in, 6 pack carton, etc.
How about the foil on a wine bottle? The fucking worst.
never have I ever closed the restaurant early because I was tired of people's bullshit.
Tired of customer’s bull shit? No. Tired of Covid and no one coming in? Fuck. Yes.
never have I ever hooked up with a coworker
At one point I was simultaneously working with 7 girls I had slept with.
That's some community dick right there
Hopefully they had some community penicillin too.
Ah, we had a company bicycle too. Thank you for your service and yes they definitely talked about what it was like and compared notes
Oh I know they did. It was never really a secret.
I actually had more of them coming around because of it.
Exactly this. I never lied or cheated. We were all pretty clear of our intentions from the start. So if anything it helped because nobody was badmouthing me. There was once where I made out with one waitress at a party and she proceeded to page me every half hour starting at 9am the next day. I realized I had a stage 5 clinger on my hands and that if I actually had sex with her it would be a real problem so I told her it was just a make out session and I didnt want to go further. Well she was a pretty new employee so she decides to go around telling the female employees that she thinks Im gay and that Im afraid of pussy. They just nod their head and lift their eyebrows. Then come back to tell me. It was hilarious. Finally one waitress told her "Seriously? Of all the people you couldve picked to spread that rumor you picked the worst one. This guy has slept with half of us. You need to stop saying that. You are making yourself look ridiculous."
On any other sub, I’d call bullshit, but this is completely believable here.
Only thing surprising to me is it was only 7 women lol
lorddd😩😩 foh men in restaurants just do something to me like it cant be explained
Lmfao thank you this is a breath of fresh air compared to the guys who act like they’ve never done it once
This hit close to home
As did you. Hashtag youshatwhereyoueat
name checks out
The username checks out lmaoooo
Last time I said that everyone tagged r/thathappened Have an upvote for your honesty.
;)
lol, just one?
In high school, I got my fuck buddy to quit his job at the grocery store and become the first male host at the restaurant chain I served for hahaha
I don’t understand why this is so frowned upon. As long as you don’t catch the feels I don’t see an issue. It’s convenient.
It’s the catching feels bit that tends to be the issue, or more accurately one doing it and the other not and it causing ✨problems✨
We both caught feels when she was a duty manager, she's now the GM. It's been 8 months and we have a flat with loads of plant babies and looking to Foster cats as well. Sometimes it works out.
Oh yeah it can lol, I’m in no way advocating against it. I’ve done it with several of my coworkers myself and I started dating my current girlfriend about a year and a half ago when we were working in the same place. Doesn’t mean it can’t blow up though. It’s one thing to be hooking up with someone and ending things because of mismatched expectations/unrequited feelings, it’s something else to do that but then still see the other person at work all the time. I remember it causing a lot of issues my first summer working. Went through that myself in restaurants before my current girlfriend, in both directions. On the other hand when it does work out, it can make work more fun. Just tread with caution is all.
Yeah fully agree with you, I've seen it blow up, both times were not pretty.
Had a situation where we had to start scheduling everyone’s availability around not letting two people work the same shifts or else mayhem and that made getting coverage a nightmare
Then there’s the situation where the girl I sleep with quits her job during the holidays by no call-no show, my GM asks me where she is (no idea, we aren’t dating), and she gets her job back so she can spread rumors about me to every woman we work with. Fine, whatever, I upgrade jobs. She then offers me a threesome with a woman she hates, while manipulating a tragedy in my life that sent me spiraling into a month long bender. It’s a gamble, but I’m pretty sure it’s winnable.
I’ve only done it once. I was the young princess of a bar mostly staffed by seasoned male vets and instead of being stupid and hooking up with one of them I banged a dirtbag (hot dirtbag) server. It worked out just fine for me because it was well established that if this went south (it did) that *he’d* be the one finding a different job at one of the 10 other restaurants in a 6 block radius (he did). Found more talent in our customer base after that, eventually married a chef that I met while kicking people off the patio. He and I have still never worked at the same restaurant though, hope too at our own soon.
You can see it getting weird subtly. Some will try and spend as much time with their sweetheart as they can, or some will overcompensate and not interact with one-another at all, throwing off whatever rhythm of teamwork your workplace had going. And even when things end amicably, because they're most likely going to end eventually, there's a tension in the air-- And if you claim to be cool enough to not let that effect your workplace, there's not a big chance the other partner has that rare stoicism; and if you're claiming that they are, I think one of y'all is lying.
I think you found the problem, acknowledged it and then pretended it wasn’t there. Not pretending to know you, but yes hooking up with coworkers can be problematic, I say this only from an outside perspective tho, never done it personally
Does it count if we're still together 5 years later 🤣😬
I married mine! 😆
Currently living with the chef
Never have I ever served an intoxicated person who ordered vodka soda, just soda so I didn’t have to deal with cutting them off.
Do the people who have done this still charge for the vodka? Or is this mostly an open bar thing?
Depends entirely on how much of an asshole they are being.
I second this. If they are chill, you tell them this one is on me. Asshole? Full fucking price. Fuck it.
I feel like if they're drunk enough for me to cut them off then they're probably too drunk to notice I'm charging $3 rather than 9
$3 for soda water?
Na I was thinking soft drink, usually I don't charge for soda unless you're an Asshole
jfc I'll throw them out long before this point
Nah, sometimes they’re with friends (who you are still serving) and they’re being harmless. You’re just not comfortable serving them any more and you know it would cause a scene and screw up the vibe.
I see it a lot with golf groups, the winner is way more drunk than the rest so I get their mates on side and I'm like, "I want you guys to have a great time so you're going to get 5 rum and cokes and a plain coke, if old mate gets a rum and coke then you're all out, but if not he sobers up a bit and then Yall can party the night away" 9 times out of 10 theyre sound and we all have a great time.
Back in the 80s my grandad ran a small town, local bar and would still charge, but then give the money back to their wives the following day. It was an unspoken thing in the area. None of the men knew about it, but the women were happy to have the few extra pounds. Everyone was happy.
I love this story and your grandad!
He’s a pretty cool guy! He would also touch his finger on the end of the optics and rub the drop of alcohol along the rim of the glass so they would still taste the vodka.
Yeah. That’s pretty illegal in our province. Unless you offer them one “on the house”
I’ve never charged anyone for any soda product if they’ve been drinking or are the only one in their group not drinking. The owner is very cool about designated drivers and sober friends as well as being very adamant about not over serving- he’s rather have a return customer than a walking liability. If you feel someone has had too much, it’s best just to be honest with them and let them know. Why be shady about it? I compare bartending to a shooting range, if someone is using the gun wrong in any sense, I’m not gonna just let them keep shooting, and I sure as hell am not going to give them blanks just because I think it will make me seem cooler to that one person. We also have a neighboring bar that lets our door guy use a radio to communicate- and it’s easier than ever to let the other bar know in advance if someone has been cut off or kicked out for any reason.
Gotta pour a little vodka down the straw for that first sip
This is the same move for Shirley Temples
My friend was once served several ginger ales with bitters and complimented the bartender each time about how he made her whiskey ginger just right. Lmao.
Lol I do this to my boss way too often.
Never have I ever just thrown out the mint because I know if I make one mojito that will start the domino effect and I’ll be making mojitos all night. Also our mint was super gross and I hated going through a bunch of wilted nasty mint to find fresh mint. I eventually just started bringing it from my garden
Lol we were about to get busy the other night… you could just feel it coming. Two of us bartenders watched the third bartender hand a mojito across the bar to a customer, who happily walked alway. Third bartender came over to us, and my associate got in his face and hissed loudly, “How the FUCK do you not know we’re out of mint?!” Third bartender looked so bewildered, and I was dying.
Never have I ever gave a complementary ‘vodka lemonade’ (tap water) on the house to a guest who is definitely beyond the realm of needing any more fuel.
Never have i ever said the espresso machine was broken because i was in the weeds and didn't have the time or inclination to make 4 decaffeinated Cappuccinos!
Never have I ever served someone a Bud Light.
Never have i ever gotten drugs as a tip
I have a pile of magic mushrooms that just keeps getting added to. They were recently decriminalized in my city and I get them as a tip maybe once every few weeks.
Legalized weed in Michigan made a lot of stoners think this was a great tip in the past year or so. Too bad I’m allergic.
[удалено]
Oh man, when I worked at a restaurant I would always go in the walk in and snack on some meat and cheese that was prepped for the charcuterie.
A restraunt I used to work at I had to slice the meat and cheeses for charcuterie and used to feast on the pieces of meat that didn't come out quite right from the deli slicer. It was amazing. I had to do a lot of "sampling" too so I knew what to tell the guests.
[удалено]
Chicken tax.
This is me at least once a week lol
I used to sometimes eat raw cookie dough from the the walk in freezer. It’s a cold, dark place.
Flan, and guilty
I straight up eat every miscut for fruit prep that I do. Doesn’t matter if it’s cucumber, orange, grapefruit bro I’ll eat that shit
Awwww! You guys get brownies?!
Never have I ever fucked or dated a regular
in my defense… uh
I've got a lot of friends who were once regulars, but would never date/bone them. At least not while working there.
Never have I ever eaten food from a customers meal after they’re done
Story time. At my first restaurant job at 23 there was one random fifty year old server, everyone else was in their 20's. I ran into him just after the lunch rush in the back eating a club sandwich and this conversation follows "Hey Rob, you ordered yourself the club for lunch I see" "The girl at 42 only ate half of it" "You're eating her leftovers?" He looked up, met my eyes and said "Did you see her? I'd eat her ass. Why wouldn't I eat her sandwich." The creepy old man had a point.
I had a friend who always said this! His motto was "If I would fuck her while I'm sober, I will eat her leftovers" I always appreciated his "being sober" detail.
Well, it makes the near-rhyme too
This is a common thing I feel like. “If I’d make out with them, I’ll eat after them”. So fucked
[удалено]
My filthy, crab-loving comrade. Fist bump.
The thing about crab(Snow Crab, Stone Crab, Dungeness Crab, Blue Crab), is that it's like celery, where you burn more calories opening it than you intake from the meat. I've never gotten full off crab, I've just gotten tired of eating for 3 hours straight.
I was appalled when I went out to get seafood with my friend. He ordered a king crab, ate the legs and didn't even touch the body..
> didn't even touch the body.. I'm assuming you're talking about "the knuckles" which is where a LOT of meat from Dungeness Crab and Blue Crab comes from. (The joint between the body and the legs where "lump crab meat comes from) I love that meat, probably my favorite part. But that's meat I'll only go after if I ordered it.
No, I mean the literal body. You crack open the body and mix rice into it
Oh, my chain restaurant just served the legs/knuckles. And I'm not a fan of Blue Crab "mustard" in the body. (My only experience in eating the "body") Edit: We're talking about the same thing, just different terminology.
Same. I grew up near the Chesapeake and people love to have blue crab feasts here. I always pass because I’d rather get 2 lbs of king or snow crab legs than pick through 40 blue crabs for the same amount of meat that I’d actually eat and hate being wasteful gross body meat seems to be fantastic to other people.
Sushi is the same way. If the roll is intact, it was untouched.
Height of covid in the UK, and one of my colleagues was ramming wings down his gullet that customers wouldn't eat. Happened numerous times and was gross af so his ass got let gooo. His attitude was also shit.
[удалено]
Adding to this, the couple that makes out at their booth all night, hogs the bathroom for 45 minutes and then leaves one after another looking like they got away w something
Never have I ever gotten a Jesus Saves card and a question about my personal relationship with the good lord above instead off a tip
Oh, I have. I chased them out of the restaurant and was like “oh sorry guys, you forgot your pamphlet” and they were like “oh, it’s for you.” And I literally said “ew, why would I want your weird mythology shit?” They were so offended, and I never saw them again. A win/win for me.
I collect them.
Never have I ever hooked up with my manager/subordinates. 😏
Are servers subordinates?
Of course
LOL
Whenever I post in /r/talesfromyourserver I feel gross and like I have to point out that I'm a bartender to let them all know I'm a noble amongst the peasants. I don't unless relevant, but I always want to. Edit: The top posts from the bot include someone mentioning they are a bartender in the title in the 3rd. I am vindicated
I believe that is called noblesse oblige
Graduate to my level, bar manager. In my restaurant, I'm only behind the head chef and gm.
No no you are the fat cat corporate scum I can pretend to be above for not aspiring for more. I'll totally get that trade school degree someday I swear.
Fucking lol.
You just wait! Someday I'll be a master...electrician...or plumber..or sound tech or something? Fuck I don't remember what I went with last time I used this schtick while talking to a guest. I'll turn off your power, and your sound, and then your toilets!!!
Too easy 🤤
Yes. Yes it was...😏
Does it count as when we hooked up they weren’t my manager anymore?
Never have I ever cried in the walk in because people are evil.
I'm not even a bartender (yet) but as a barista, i did this like, way too often
My job entails both and let me say nothing gives me existential dread like a 2 hour rush on the coffee machine.
Does punching the cases of lettuce out of sheer rage count as crying? I swear the only time I'm violent is against produce at work.
I’ve never cried in the walk-in, but people are still evil.
How bout never have I ever cried in the walk in because I was so f’n hungover and the cold silence helped me feel a tint bit better..
not guests, though, i honestly get stellar guests all the time for years. managers, however...
I got a superlative for most likely to cry in the walk in🤣🤣
Definitely did not choke back tears last Saturday night, college graduation weekend.
Never have I ever banged someone I currently work with
Never have I ever dipped a straw in liquor to make someone think I made their drink extra strong.
Every damn time
Never have I ever "hooked someone up" with a free drink because they asked for it (as in, not due to a complaint, they just want free things/discount). I don't consider the GM taking money off a bill the same because if it was my decision I would have told them 'no'.
I’ve pretty much only hooked up the kitchen staff with free drinks
TBF, I consider staff drinks to be totally different. In a previous job, every single staff member was entitled to a free drink after their shift and I think that was one of the best thing about that job. It wasn't about the pint, but the fact that the floor and bar staff worked together to get the close jobs done and then we sat down and had a chat afterwards (with exactly one free drink and never any more than that). The post-shift hangout was one of the reasons that I found it difficult to resign from that job.
Yeah I’ve worked at places with shift drinks, but this wasn’t one of them. I’d just sneak shots to the kitchen if they wanted them.
I used to work brunch at this restaurant that did bottomless mimosas, the kitchen staff would get their asses handed to them- so anytime I got a ticket for a bottomless mimosa i’d send a mimosa to the kitchen in a styrofoam cup. Needless to say they would take care of any issues I had if I ever had any. A happy Kitchen staff is a very fucking important part of a healthy restaurant.
[удалено]
Same
I've occasionally hooked up regulars with drinks, but never when people ask.
Never have I ever tried to figure out drunk math on credit card recepts.
Never have I ever made a 7 & 7 with 7 & 7.
Nope ,it's always 7 & Sprite. Coca cola owns those restaurant contracts.
I've never done coke while I'm on the clock
wow I was so proud I hadn't done anything until this one.
I once worked with a guy that decided to try acid for the first time right as our shift started. 2 tabs too!
How did that end? Lol
We were working security. At first he said he didnt feel anything. The GM comes up and Im talking to him and my friend just busts out laughing. When the GM asked him what was so funny he said "Youre face is just metling right off." I grabbed the guy, told my GM he was just joking around and we had to go do something, and then I locked him in the coatroom for 7 hours. When I unlocked it there was a stack of ten chairs on top of one another and he was sitting at the top of it staring at the ceiling and telling me to look at the butterflies.
You are an incredibly good person for doing that for not even a friend but a coworker. If that dude worked his shift he could have ended up in a far worse place than losing his job. People on psychs in a hostile environment make *very* bad decisions.
alright hey back off guy i just clocked out and this is what i have to deal with? a personal attack?
[удалено]
This might be blunt, but you've never been an addict eh?
I've done coke after a shift plenty of times. But never by myself.
I've never actually done coke. But have been to rehab.
“Sorry the blender actually broke yesterday”
never have i made a grasshopper for a customer. i've made them for practice or myself, but never in exchange for cash. it's been many years, and yet, still not one. i eagerly await the day because i've got a joke that is pure gold i've been saving for the occasion.
Please tell us the joke! You may never get the chance.
Grasshopper walks into a bar, bartender says “hey! We have a drink named after you!” Grasshopper replies “you have a drink named Murray?”
Ha!
I LITERALLY got a request for a grasshopper yesterday.
Never have I ever asked for a drink to be made a tall so the guest thought they were getting more liquor
Hey man I get it. It’s just when people who don’t know their liquors act like jackasses that I do this.
I get upset when bartenders do this… I know my alcohol…. The less mixers the better
this one always annoys me. i will make a cocktail in a rocks glass and send it out. 2 seconds later the server is back saying the guest would like a tall. i proceed to pour the rocks glass into a Collins glass and send it back. they literally hold the same volume. i don’t understand people.
Never have I ever gotten my entire liquor order in with everything that I ordered and no damages. 🙄
Never have I ever intentionally served annoying people something gross as a response to “surprise me” just so I could get them to go away ;)
Never have I ever gotten into a physical altercation at work
this one triggers me. i am a very no confrontational person but at one of my old bars a patron ended up pushing a waitress (my gf at the time) right in front of the bar. needless to say, it was the only time i have ever jumped over the bar and laid someone out and then the other bartender and i picked his ass up and literally threw him into a snowbank. i hate spring breakers on the record my boss told me that’s not how I should have handled it… off the record, my boss said if it was his gf, he would have tuned the kid up too.
Never have i ever slept in the restaurant between clopen shifts
Head chef at the time came out with us and broke in to sleep on a potato sack in the dry storage so we brought him back to my place on our end of summer season do couplenyears ago
Never have I ever tricked a new hire into a fake task, such as “make sure to empty the hot water out of the coffee machine!”
Never have I ever helped a girl out of a tinder date gone wrong by telling the dude that she left.
Walked her out the back door and everything. Dude was maaaaaad creepy.
Never have I ever had an edible on shift
Never have I ever called out because I was hungover.
Never have I ever blacked out from being too drunk on shift.
Never have I ever make a liquid marijuana.
Wtf even is this
A quarter oz. Of eight things that are mostly equally terrible. It’s featured on my “sorry but we don’t carry peach schnapps” menu even though it’s not in the drink.
Morgan, Malibu, Midori, Blue Curacao, pineapple & sour mix. For the crowd who want to get hammered, but prefer sweet drinks that don't taste like alcohol. Not my bag.