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As a non-American outsider, one thing I find so strange when visiting the States is the, how shall I say, "attitude" of bartenders. Everything else is extremely
by ginko 5y ago
As a non-American outsider, one thing I find so strange when visiting the States is the, how shall I say, "attitude" of bartenders. Everything else is extremely customer focused, but for some reason ordering a beer at a bar feels like having to play a constant game of favorites.
This hasn't happened to me anywhere else. And I try to be polite and tip well in the US.
- soneil 5y agoI used to work in a coffee shop in a touristy town, in the great white north. There was a theme - milk the tourists but butter the locals. That guy that comes in for the same simple drink at the same time every morning, is worth more than someone who buys all the foof and never comes back. Plus he's going to keep us going all winter, and you're not. So there is a game of favourites - that local is near-on a thousand bucks a year. Plus tips. So if I get the chance to start his drink the moment I see him out the window, I'll take it. You might wait an extra 30 seconds. The change he drops in the jar will probably add up to a car payment over a year. I can easily imagine bars are a similar situation but more so. The regulars are probably spending a little more than $20 a week.
- xyzzy_plugh 5y ago> That guy that comes in for the same simple drink at the same time every morning, is worth more than someone who buys all the foof and never comes back. I'm this guy. The interaction with a coffee shop changes once they start treating you as a regular. The arrangement is somehow more mutually beneficial than the simple exchange of money for goods. Sadly, I find fewer and fewer shops have this attitude. In my current city, I notice the hot shops have a wild rotation of baristas such that by the time they remember my order (it's a black americano, not rocket science) they've moved on. Small, family owned-and-operated shops are by far a better experience than any chain, even of their coffee isn't quite as good as a Blue Bottle or a Philz.
- tclancy 5y agoI wonder if it's a timing or location thing. A neighborhood bar on a rainy Wednesday afternoon in a smallish city is going to be really different from a large bar in a big city on Friday/ Saturday night. I'm wondering, given you were visiting the states, if you'd be more likely to be in the latter. I think it's interesting how the meaning of "dive bar" has changed in the couple of decades I've been legally allowed in them. When I was in college, a dive bar was a place that you were taking your chances visiting and half the point was the frisson of "danger" to go along with shitty beer. Now it seems to often mean a good place you call a "dive bar" because you don't want it getting popular. I miss our local in our town. It got popular, moved across the street to a larger building and started to be a full restaurant and then, fairly unsurprisingly, died because they weren't ready to be a different thing. Some of it was probably managing a larger staff, but I think a lot of it is dealing with the "General Public". A good dive bar is/ can be like an extended family and regulars sense the pace of the place and adjust accordingly, whether it's too let the bartender(s) grab a breath when it's busy or to be patient with the new bartender while they learn the ropes or usher a fellow regular out on a day they've lost the plot. To abuse an overused cliche of our times, there are no Karens in dive bars. Not for more than a minute or two anyway, because the entire place will let them know exactly what the world thinks of them in a way McDonalds' patrons will not.
- ardit33 5y agoI agree. This is the case for busy bars and especially the clubs. It is like being an arsehole is part of a job requirement for the bartenders. The fact is that in the US people tend to congregate around the same time (happy hour or at night)in bars/clubs and the bartenders get overwhelmed and don’t care much about service. It is all about volume and who looks like is going to tip well. At quiet times they tend to be chill and friendly though. It is a pure supply and demand thing (of their services)
- MeinBlutIstBlau 5y agoIt's because of tipping culture. I've had bartenders ignore me because I didn't tip after getting drinks. I know it's a total douche move but when doing a pub crawl I don't always know if I'm sticking around and I really don't wanna break out the credit card and make a commitment.
- alisonkisk 5y agoIt's because the physical bar is small and crowded because it serves all the people in the room, not just the people sitting at the bar. At table service, the server can circulate across tables checking on people for orders.
- ginko 5y agoIt's not like small crowded bars are an exclusively American thing you know..