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How To Get a Drink at a Busy Bar
 

Edmundo Braverman's picture
ST
(Human, 14,359
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 7:30am
Busy Bar.jpg

Andy note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from April 2010. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

Some of you older guys might be wondering why I would post something like this. The answer is that the younger guys need to hear it. That, and there is far too much shit being directed at Goldman for me to choose from, so I'll default to my second favorite topic.

As a former bar owner and "sufferer" of hereditary alcoholism, there is little more frustrating to me than waiting at a crowded bar behind some dipshit playing "Stump the Barkeep" with orders like Pink Ladies, Grasshoppers, Appletinis, and other brainless concoctions. The only thing worse, I think, is the asshole ordering for a party of 8 who gets to the bar without knowing what everyone wants.

It is for these reasons that you're more likely to find me at a dive bar than at 1Oak. Whichever your preference, bar etiquette is not something to be ignored, especially when the place is slammed. With that in mind, the good folks over at Art of Manliness published this guide to getting a drink at a crowded bar. The advice is written by a bartender, and is correct across the board.

The best tip of the bunch is the first one. Tip, and tip big on the first round. Your bartender will be on the lookout for you whenever you get near the bar after that. Pick one drink and stick with it. That way, you just have to catch the bartender's eye and hold your drink up, and he'll have another one ready for you by the time you make it to the bar.

The only thing I would add to this guide is the advice to drink like a grown up. Experiment at home if you have to, but decide on a signature drink and stick with it. It doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, the less complicated the better. It can be beer or wine, or a single liquor (either by itself or with a single mixer). As soon as you start mixing liquors in one drink (or multiple mixers), you're tying the bartender up and making things miserable for everyone else. Long Island Iced Teas, Fuzzy Navels, Zombies, etc... just make you look like a jackoff.

For those curious, my drink is a rum on the rocks - preferably Mount Gay or Goslings. The advantage to hard liquor on the rocks (or neat) is that you receive a "rocks pour". This is something pretty much unknown outside of bartender circles, but when someone orders a single liquor on the rocks, the bartender will always pour you more liquor than would go into a mixed drink. Usually, they'll fill a tumbler for you, which is the equivalent of two drinks mixed.

It's undeniable that booze is a part of Wall Street culture, so you're better off learning how to do it right and taming your inner sorority girl sooner rather than later. Forget about the appletinis and man up. If you can't stand the taste of liquor stick with beer or wine. But for God's sake, don't make me wait behind you at the bar while you try to pull your head out of your ass.

That is all.

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Comments

Convert Your Bond's picture

Never thought of the first

ST
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 5:38am

Never thought of the first tip trick, but have been using the same drink method since college. I like to mix it up tho, and sometimes add a head nod to the drink raise.

http://convertyourbond.com
Free market commentary and trading insights to help with interviews

ReadLine's picture

if you're paying cash hold

O
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 7:09am

if you're paying cash hold your money/tip out for the bartender to see. Little known trick. People gravitate towards money they can see.

someotherguy's picture

Exact change (+tip of

HF
(Orangutan, 278
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 9:26am

Exact change (+tip of course). How I take the fast lane to getting a drink- hold up my empty beer bottle, with exact change for my next one + a dollar or two for tip, and then wait for the obnoxious little bitch next to me throw a shitfit while the bartender pops one on the bar for me while he is watering down her popular martini of the month that Carrie Bradshaw drank on a 10 year old episode of Sex and the City.

My million dollar idea for a bar in NYC: Have a beer express lane. Have a bottle or draft special on one particular type, and just have a bar back or other low wage staff member serve those up constantly all night. It must violate some laws though- the idea seems way too obvious for no one to have done this.

Convert Your Bond's picture

someotherguy wrote: My

ST
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 9:44am
someotherguy:

My million dollar idea for a bar in NYC: Have a beer express lane. Have a bottle or draft special on one particular type, and just have a bar back or other low wage staff member serve those up constantly all night. It must violate some laws though- the idea seems way too obvious for no one to have done this.

Why not go one step further? Just have beer vending machines

http://convertyourbond.com
Free market commentary and trading insights to help with interviews

mxc's picture

When I was in the nightlife

O
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 9:45am

When I was in the nightlife industry, I realised that being well-known amongst your peers is the best way to get drinks, and you don't even have to walk up to the bar.

adapt or die's picture

the worst thing is people

(King Kong, 1,231
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 10:10am

the worst thing is people ordering 1 drink with a card and asking to close the tab

usually women are most guilty of this

Go Native's picture

Quote: The advantage to hard

IB
(Monkey, 33
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 10:51am

The advantage to hard liquor on the rocks (or neat) is that you receive a "rocks pour".

FYI, getting a drink "neat" means sans ice, not on the rocks.

Convert Your Bond's picture

Go Native wrote: Quote: The

ST
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 10:58am
Go Native:

The advantage to hard liquor on the rocks (or neat) is that you receive a "rocks pour".

FYI, getting a drink "neat" means sans ice, not on the rocks.

Pretty sure he meant that it works with no ice hard liquor drinks as well.

http://convertyourbond.com
Free market commentary and trading insights to help with interviews

MoneyKingdom's picture

The Best Advice... This is

IB
(Gorilla, 626
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 11:07am

The Best Advice...

This is what I do when I go out, I give the bartender my AMEX and $20, and as I am telling him/her my drink order(s), I say "take care of me, and i'll take care of you". I have literally had nights where my tab is $50 bucks for 15+drinks in a trendy nyc bar. Amazing.

Edmundo Braverman's picture

Go Native wrote: Quote: The

ST
(Human, 14,359
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 11:14am
Go Native:

The advantage to hard liquor on the rocks (or neat) is that you receive a "rocks pour".

FYI, getting a drink "neat" means sans ice, not on the rocks.

You don't say. Did you miss the part where I said I owned a bar???

Go Native's picture

MoneyKingdom wrote: The Best

IB
(Monkey, 33
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 11:16am
MoneyKingdom:

The Best Advice...

This is what I do when I go out, I give the bartender my AMEX and $20, and as I am telling him/her my drink order(s), I say "take care of me, and i'll take care of you". I have literally had nights where my tab is $50 bucks for 15+drinks in a trendy nyc bar. Amazing.

i call bullshit. you know, unless you consider mj armstrongs a "trendy nyc bar." pegu, D&C, mlkhny, angel's share, rose, etc. are all 15 bucks a drink. and who the fuck drops their amex for a fifty dollar tab?? makes you look like a wet bag of douche.

Go Native's picture

Edmundo Braverman wrote: Go

IB
(Monkey, 33
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 11:18am
Edmundo Braverman:
Go Native:

The advantage to hard liquor on the rocks (or neat) is that you receive a "rocks pour".

FYI, getting a drink "neat" means sans ice, not on the rocks.

You don't say. Did you miss the part where I said I owned a bar???

Hah, yup that's my bad - no harm intended

Banker88's picture

MoneyKingdom wrote: The Best

IB
(King Kong, 1,650
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 12:47pm
MoneyKingdom:

The Best Advice...

This is what I do when I go out, I give the bartender my AMEX and $20, and as I am telling him/her my drink order(s), I say "take care of me, and i'll take care of you". I have literally had nights where my tab is $50 bucks for 15+drinks in a trendy nyc bar. Amazing.

So he keeps the $20 tip upfront, and then only charges you for 5 drinks on your card while actually pouring you 15 drinks? Yea right...

dorsia reservations's picture

I dont post much on these

O
 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 1:34pm

I dont post much on these walls, as I dont have much to contribute, Im not even out of school yet. That being said, I do go to school in a fairly large city and have done the types of bars and clubs here everyone is talking about.

But I agree with Edmundo about the $20 upfront thing.

Also, get your girlfriend/girl youre seeing/fairly attractive female friend to go get a drink for you: any male bartender is going to go to her before the less attractive girls: that's half the population you're going to get in front of right away. Might prove chivalry is dead, but were talking booze here...a serious thing.

Scrambles's picture

Banker88 wrote: MoneyKingdom

 
Points)
 on 4/20/10 at 1:51pm
Banker88:
MoneyKingdom:

The Best Advice...

This is what I do when I go out, I give the bartender my AMEX and $20, and as I am telling him/her my drink order(s), I say "take care of me, and i'll take care of you". I have literally had nights where my tab is $50 bucks for 15+drinks in a trendy nyc bar. Amazing.

So he keeps the $20 tip upfront, and then only charges you for 5 drinks on your card while actually pouring you 15 drinks? Yea right...

This absolutely works, he just didn't finish the explanation. It is implied to the bartender that a reasonable portion of the $150 he saved you is coming back to him. He's not going to hook you up for $20 when he would make more on a 20% tip. It's symbiotic, you save a bunch, he gets tipped extra.

Also, this works much better if you've tipped the guy pretty big before and he remembers you. You're probably going to get fucked over pretty often if you try this on a bartender you don't know at all.

nutsaboutWS's picture

this is funny. my family

IB
(Gorilla, 642
 
Points)
 on 4/21/10 at 3:56pm

--
"Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say."

IlliniProgrammer's picture

You folks are making this way

ST
(Almost Human, 9,233
 
Points)
 on 4/21/10 at 8:27pm

Work hard, play hard.

Edmundo Braverman's picture

IlliniProgrammer wrote: It

ST
(Human, 14,359
 
Points)
 on 4/22/10 at 4:35am

big unit's picture

I usually just stumble up to

IB
(Gorilla, 590
 
Points)
 on 4/22/10 at 8:25pm
jet's picture

@Edmundo - Where is this

(Chimp, 12
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 8:23am
markhobbus's picture

Edmundo Braverman: Andy note:

(Baboon, 138
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 10:05am
Bondarb's picture

In New York I find tipping to

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,283
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 11:45am
AQM's picture

Good thread unlike all of

IB
(Orangutan, 330
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 2:59pm
GS's picture

Just the tip?

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 3:58pm
General Disarray's picture

Just have tits, you'll get

IB
 
Points)
 on 8/4/12 at 8:05pm
redd's picture

tipping big the first time

(Chimp, 3
 
Points)
 on 8/5/12 at 3:46am
KeepCalm's picture

Great tips!! Will have to get

IB
(Monkey, 54
 
Points)
 on 8/5/12 at 4:55pm
Senvik's picture

GS: Just the tip? heh.

 
Points)
 on 8/6/12 at 11:29am

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." - IlliniProgrammer

See_ya's picture

Useful thread. Im going to

O
 
Points)
 on 8/6/12 at 3:31pm
aempirei's picture

ReadLine: if you're paying

IB
(Gorilla, 726
 
Points)
 on 8/9/12 at 1:34pm

My name is Nicky, but you can call me Dre.

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