tipping

nope, not up that far at all iirc (i may not tbh, never spent much time in limerick city itself)

Even if you get a buyback that ends up saving you a buck or two (cost of the beer minus the extra tip you've given), it's an intrinsically risky game. I'd rather tip $1 a drink and know what I'm getting than tip $2 a drink and cross my fingers that this will work out to a free drink sometime down the road. (The idea behind the buyback also seems to assume you're at a bar where there's only one bartender, and that bartender remembers who you are every time you order a drink.)

Note: I have not read any of this thread after Max's original post about buybacks, since it infuriated me.

― Hoisin Murphy (jaymc), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 6:12 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

j i never meant to infuriate you! its just an extra dollar!

i didnt say $2 a drink!!

i think people are misinterpreting my post

$2 on the first drink, $1 thereafter

so--an extra dollar over the course of the evening

i just want to pop in and say that i now make it regular practice to tip extra big on the first drink, for good luck

― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 2:19 PM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

$2 on the first beer always!

― max, Wednesday, January 20, 2010 3:10 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

also maria i think you should still tip $2 for the first beer and $1 for each beer afterwards and if the booze is that cheap you should get buybacks every couple beers!

i interpreted it correctly but i like to pay the same every time, i like consistency

anyway the opening $2 was unrelated to the buyback thing anyway--i just do it out of habit--i was encouraging maria to do it and saying that she should be getting buybacks at $2.50 a beer so who cares about the extra dollar

i was drinking in a pretty seedy bar in mass. when i was over there, and my dad was trying to explain buybacks and stuff, but tbh i was so gobsmacked at the size of the shots i was getting that getting a free one at some stage would just have seemed ridculous.

anyway buybacks are one of those fun topics that generates as much anger as tipping does

i tip white servers less btw

I'M KIDDING I'M KIDDING

Buyback is just a free drink right? I don't think I've ever gotten one (aside from when a friend is working the bar, in which case they get BIG TIPS).

Max, I was half-kidding! I wasn't really infuriated. But I have been known to become impatient in the past when folks like Laurel or chicago kevin have advocated for the buyback, which was usually explained to me as $2 per drink.

they aren't real

I need to find new bars.

buyback seemed like a very logical system to create goodwill where there was no actual monetary difference, if you like that sort of thing. i suppose it keeps the average drinker in the bar longer?

yeah thats never been my experience. $2 on the first drink, $1 thereafter (IN MY EXPERIENCE) gets you a beer every 4 drinks or so at 75% of bars. but id tip that way anyway!

i think it is kind of a NYC thing. i only got buybacks in LA at a couple bars.

A buyback is a way of convincing an alcoholic he's actually saving money by drinking.

― Bay-L.A. Bar Talk (Hurting 2), Tuesday, November 24, 2009 12:18 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i max out at 4 drinks anyway, i'm a girl and don't really like to be too drunk. maybe i would donate a buyback to someone else if i ever got one. like max, i would give it to him.

manufactured camaraderie

Oh God, I am scum. I just forgot to tip the really friendly bartender. I'll make it up next week, I guess. (Doesn't seem sensible to walk back there.)

xposts I don't think I've ever heard of a buyback before.

i max out at 4 drinks anyway, i'm a girl and don't really like to be too drunk.

― harbl, Thursday, 21 January 2010 00:25 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

thats not too irish of you to be saying.

the bartender at the bar/pub near my work must really like me; she gives me pretty much every other drink free. i think it's cuz of the night i gave her some weed as part of her tip.

oh yeah, you don't do rounds at all

i was a waiter for 3.5 years and hated it cuz the places i worked were above crap like steak 'n shake but not upscale like ya know ruth's chris or anything. some customers didnt get the concept of not being able to occupy two spaces at once (ie, flagging you down and trying to get yr attention when yr clrly takin someone's order!), some tipped badly, many acted condescending, and in my experience almost every waiter i worked with in those types of places either had a jail record, a drug addiction, or both...hell not gon lie i smoked bud with my manager on occasion n it put me in his good graces.

but i got out. and will never go back. but have trenormous respectages for those who do it

ian you are clearly the best tipper ever

i think it is kind of a NYC thing. i only got buybacks in LA at a couple bars.

sorta, i had luck finding a few spots out here with friendly staff(also spent a lotta time in bars : /)

waiters, have any of u ever been told u weren't being tipped cuz the person didn't believe in it? just wonderin'

i used to get buybacks at the verdugo & sometimes at johnnys in highland park

xp - no, but I once got a Bible pamphlet from a five-top (too small to grat).

I think I'm still militant about the service industry because I figure it's my fallback if everything else goes to hell. I'll still be able to wait tables and I need all the karma I can get.

wait what, you americans tip bar staff?!!1!?

I tip a penny a beer, unless I'm out with Jaymc, then it's 2 dollars a beer and a shot for him each time.

tips of the day:

tipped coffee guy $0.75
tipped delivery guy $7 (guy is mad nice, gave me free brownies, hooked me up in the past etc.)
tipped bartender $2 on first drink cuz i also ordered a bowl of chilli
tipped bartender $2 on second drink cuz i also ordered a basket of french fries (table service but order at the bar, and imo if they're delivering shit to my table i am fine with giving the cute lady another dollar.)

god i spend a lot of money every day.

http://www.yorkblog.com/biz/spendthrift.jpeg

i WAS probably too generous with delivery dude, but he's super nice & always around at one of my local diners. also he's delivering shit by bike in the winter, and in addition to the free brownies we were also not charged for onion rings & a sweet tea.

ian, as a former delivery person, I can say your behavior was rad.

wait what, you americans tip bar staff?!!1!?

the roffles begin once more.

I remember a great earlier thread about tipping, where Anthony seemed to be saying that he walks down the street handing out money to everyone he meets. It was the big fat tip for his florist that got us all going. Great days.

protip: $2

omg abbott u would make a great delivery person

oh man this thread makes me feel poor and cheap! i never order delivery because i'm like "if i'm going to eat it at home i could probably make it cheaper from scratch anyway." although sometimes food tastes better when you don't cook it. especially if you live in a not-quite-kosher-but-kinda-trying house...now i'm like "where can i order some stir fried mustard greens and pork?" but unfortunately i don't know the answer.

less about tipping and way more about just being nice to the staff as a regular.

Correct! See also: asking the bartender if they need anything when you go to the pizza joint for a slice -- if you pick them up some garlic knots etc on request you might be drinking for free; busing your own table (if you're sitting at one).

To what extent do you bus your own table?

In a restaurant: not at all. But in a bar, if there's one bartender and they have to come around the bar to clear tables, I bus the whole thing & leave the empties on the bar where they can reach 'em. Otherwise they have to stop serving to clear tables, and that just sucks for them and the other customers waiting.

yeah, it is a level of consideration that's easy to forget when drinking but definitely worth remembering

In a cocktail bar where there's a barback who does the chores, I probably wouldn't bother. But in a small local bar/pub, where the bartender is alone/friendly and everything is low-key, it's a good way to show consideration and friendliness -- and helps you be remembered later.