Worst bar experience ever! (Greenville, SC)

I'm surprised you are planning on going back; I wouldn't. Not if I had got treated like that from the bartender, and certainly not if I had gotten mad enough to break a glass. I'd find another place to drink.

That guy is not a bartender, he is a guy who pours beer. I've worked with old school guys. Men who had 30 years of experience tending bars and they knew how to treat clients right. You come in with a smile, listen to the inane stories/bitching and you never show you have a bad day, even when serving ********. Good natured ribbing is part of the deal, but this was plain antagonistic. If even if you came in bitching every day, it's not HIS bar, unless he is the owner, wich he is not.

This doesn't mean you were right breaking a glass. Jackass moves on both parts IMHO. Chalk it up to experience.

Also, to whoever posted the bouncers story, you do know how hard it is to find boucers right ? The answer: not very hard at all.

jfr1111 said:

Also, to whoever posted the bouncers story, you do know how hard it is to find boucers right ? The answer: not very hard at all.

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Lol, i am pretty sure there are only two requirements, big and can count.

To the OP, since you already admitted you were wrong for breaking glass there's really no need to discuss that anymore. I think you understand now, just walking out would have been the best course of action (possibly with a one finger salute just to get your point across).

The bartender is a professional... he should have acted like one. Any professional needs to be able to deal with their peers and deal with their customers. The bartender failed majorly on the later.

Maybe the bartender will remember this the next time he gets all pissy with paying customers.

I grew up in Greenville and still have family there. Barley's has always been my favorite place in town for beer as well as some great food. I'm sorry to hear of your negative experience at the place. I've rarely experienced sub-par service there. But it may not have helped that you lost your temper with the guy...

A better return would have been to just tell the bartender to get better beers and you wouldn't have to whine about it. Or even better, suggest a beer they should carry. Slapping the beer off the bar just because the bartender was razzin' ya was a dick move, plain and simple.

jfr1111 said:

Also, to whoever posted the bouncers story, you do know how hard it is to find boucers right ? The answer: not very hard at all.

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So you think it is a good idea to piss off an employee enough to have him quit on the spot over a (correct) decision he made to not let a drunk ******* in? What do you think the other employees, who now have to deal with the drunk *******, are going to think of this decision? Is that really worth the 10 bucks worth of coors light you are going to get out of the guy before he pukes all over another customer? Is that totally cool because it is "really easy to find bouncers"?

RIT_Warrior said:

So you think it is a good idea to piss off an employee enough to have him quit on the spot over a (correct) decision he made to not let a drunk ******* in? What do you think the other employees, who now have to deal with the drunk *******, are going to think of this decision? Is that really worth the 10 bucks worth of coors light you are going to get out of the guy before he pukes all over another customer? Is that totally cool because it is "really easy to find bouncers"?

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In short, yes. Because the bouncer quit for one (his choice to leave, he wasn't fired). The bouncer is in the wrong, if the kid can come back with an ID and the manager says let him in, you damn well better let that guy in, you have personal feelings over it because you don't like that particular kid, then quit. Just like the bouncer did .

RIT_Warrior said:

So you think it is a good idea to piss off an employee enough to have him quit on the spot over a (correct) decision he made to not let a drunk ******* in? What do you think the other employees, who now have to deal with the drunk *******, are going to think of this decision? Is that really worth the 10 bucks worth of coors light you are going to get out of the guy before he pukes all over another customer? Is that totally cool because it is "really easy to find bouncers"?

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No, it's totally right because the manager gets the last call. When the bouncer opens up a nightclub of his own, he'll be the one making the rules. It was a dickish move to override on the spot what was probably a good decision, but thin skinned bouncers who get in shouting matches after such an incident are a dime a dozen. It was really not worth quitting for, unless it was an accumulation of different events.

And you can't deny that bouncers are easy to replace: taking crap from both customers and management is part of the game, unless you happen to strike gold and find people in the restauration industry who are not complete ********. Those people are hard to come by.

so based on the fact that he knows you brew your own beer, how do you believe he perceives your judgement of their beer selection that is "the best in town." It probably reads to him that anything you brew is better than the "garbage" they have to offer. That is certainly how I would interpret it. Being that we brew our own beer, we are subject to different emotional response than others.

OP=****** and attention whore.

As for the bartender, I spent a lot of time tending bar when I was stationed at Fort Carson. I had this group of crotchety old dudes that sat at the end of my bar drinking coors and playing NTN. They were horrible, everyday they would harass the **** out of me and the chicks running drinks. There were times that I would pull in extra tips from other customers for having to deal with them. Finally one day I had it and told the three of them if they didn't like the bar to **** off and go down the street and ***** at another bartender. One of the old bastards smiled and told me it took them a year to get the guy before me to tell them that. The relationship got better, they would *****, I would put up with their **** then tell them off towards the end of the shift. My tips from them got better and in an odd way we all became friends.

Not saying this guy wasn't wrong but you sound like a ********* and he was fed up with you. I am betting he hopes your sorry ass never comes back.

jfr1111 said:

No, it's totally right because the manager gets the last call. When the bouncer opens up a nightclub of his own, he'll be the one making the rules. It was a dickish move to override on the spot what was probably a good decision, but thin skinned bouncers who get in shouting matches after such an incident are a dime a dozen. It was really not worth quitting for, unless it was an accumulation of different events.

And you can't deny that bouncers are easy to replace: taking crap from both customers and management is part of the game, unless you happen to strike gold and find people in the restauration industry who are not complete ********. Those people are hard to come by.

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dvdanny said:

In short, yes. Because the bouncer quit for one (his choice to leave, he wasn't fired). The bouncer is in the wrong, if the kid can come back with an ID and the manager says let him in, you damn well better let that guy in, you have personal feelings over it because you don't like that particular kid, then quit. Just like the bouncer did .

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These would be excellent arguments against me if I was saying the managers did not have the authority to override the bouncer. Unfortunately I did not say this and can't for the life of me see why you think I said it.

And far from being dime-a-dozen, I think the bouncer would be the hardest person to replace in the whole restaurant. He would require a full criminal background check, a class, and a state-granted licence. No one else needed anything like that. And if they took your advice and just pulled someone off the street, they would probably get a massive fine (bad) and they would get their liquor license pulled (fatal). They can also get their liquor license pulled if they let drunk ******** who start fights in too often. And if their liquor license was pulled, it would actually be impossible to get it back. We were situated next to a college dorm, and a law came out after we opened that no new liquor licences would be issued to locations within 500 feet of a dorm, school, or church. As this blanketed the entire area, it would be impossible to open again in the city.

Unfortunately stories like this are nearly impossible for outsiders to have an accurate opinion on. There is no way that the story is accurate enough to make a fair determination. Only the OP and bartender know exactly what happened in this instance as well as the accumulation of all other times visited.

Therefore, I will just share my opinion on the bar as I've been there a handful of times or more. The bartender is going to win this argument because it is, by far, the best selection in Greenville. The "kid in a candy store" analogy is perfect. As for service, I've never experienced anything but friendly, kind and prompt service. The one bartender that I've dealt with the most is extremely knowledgeable and always willing to help with a pick and give samples.
Just wanted to share so that maybe people on this board wouldn't hesitate to give it a try if they were in the area.

Obviously thats a tough situation. Were you wrong to break a glass? yes, although you admitted it was an overreaction. Personally I would have been pissed in that situation, too. I dont think the bartender had any right to say what he did to you. I had a bartender (off-duty) complain to me about a tip I gave to another employee on an earlier night once (i wasnt happy with the treatment so didnt tip her once), so i stopped going there. I didnt feel the need to explain anything to them. Now they dont get my 50% tip anymore.

And also, from personal experience, at all the places Ive been that I dislike the beer selection, they usually ask what i dont like about it and how to make it better. I wouldnt want someone working for my business that doesnt value the customers opinions.

RIT_Warrior said:

And far from being dime-a-dozen, I think the bouncer would be the hardest person to replace in the whole restaurant. He would require a full criminal background check, a class, and a state-granted licence.

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Really? You have to license a bouncer in your state? I'd love to see the licensing exam tests

RIT_Warrior said:

These would be excellent arguments against me if I was saying the managers did not have the authority to override the bouncer. Unfortunately I did not say this and can't for the life of me see why you think I said it.

And far from being dime-a-dozen, I think the bouncer would be the hardest person to replace in the whole restaurant. He would require a full criminal background check, a class, and a state-granted licence. No one else needed anything like that. And if they took your advice and just pulled someone off the street, they would probably get a massive fine (bad) and they would get their liquor license pulled (fatal). They can also get their liquor license pulled if they let drunk ******** who start fights in too often. And if their liquor license was pulled, it would actually be impossible to get it back. We were situated next to a college dorm, and a law came out after we opened that no new liquor licences would be issued to locations within 500 feet of a dorm, school, or church. As this blanketed the entire area, it would be impossible to open again in the city.

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In california you don't need a license to be a bouncer, I've had a few friends who were bouncers for nightclubs as a little side money to work through college (I guess bouncer is the guy version of strippers then? lol). They told me bouncer's get rotated easily because they work such a liable job, if they don't think you can handle yourself, they'll can you and get someone bigger or more confident. The main point of the bouncer (at least here) is not to be big enough to man handle people, it's to be big enough that no one else wants to find out if you can. The only screen procedure I know of are drug test.

I wasn't implying that you said that, I believe your point (correct me if I was wrong) was for the manager to just respect the bouncer's opinion and back him up. But thats just a personal call, professionally, the bouncer should have been the one that respected the manager's opinion and not throw a hissy fit over it, of course i wasn't there, maybe the manager was really insulting the bouncer, just going on the info that was presented.

I don't really see anything unusual here. Everybody reaches their boiling point now and then. You guys got on each others nerves, and it came out. Its not like you punched him in the face. I have seen far worse happen at bars. And knowing its a bar and people get a little worked up sometimes, this should be let go. I would just go back and see what happens. If that same beer server is there and he complains, then say you're sorry. What else can you do?

I have several friends who have come back from fighting the war in the middle east, and a good deal of them (those who have seen combat) are on edge atleast some of the time... So if this is the case, he has the right to have a shorter fuse than the rest of us.... And if you think otherwise, go witness war first hand and prove that you can remain totally normal afterwards.

I don't agree with the pint smashing, but haven't we all, at some point, hit something? Thrown something? You're probably lying if you say you haven't...

Where I come from, part of the bartenders job is listening... You make eye contact when the customer speaks, nod and agree, and go about your business. The OP gave the bartender 3 chances to shut his mouth, and he didn't...

Thats just my point of view... I disagree with most of the responses here for those reasons and a few others.

Bottom line, the OP realized he was out of line in throwing the glass, which is the first giant leap... The next is that both parties find their testicles, man up, and leave it in the past. The customer gets to drink beer, and the barkeep gets to get paid.

Nothing dramatic happened here... If you want real drama, stop by Schenectady NY where people don't just get pissy at the bar and get kicked out, but come back 5 minutes later and shoot a shotgun into a crowd of people because the one guy he was mad at, was in it.

I laughed when I read this post. First I though that bartender was a real jackwagon. Then I get to the part where you talk about slapping the beer across the bar after he throws a few barbs your way. Then you go down and try to state your case to the manager. If that was your reaction then I am guessing this bartender got sick of you and drove you out.....since I am sure you must have been a great guest in the bar. Sounds like it worked and you played right into his hands.

I wouldn't show my face there again if I were you. There's absolutely no excuse for throwing a glass like that. It sounds like the bartender was an *******, but that doesn't come close to justifying your response.

TheCarnie said:

I've got an appointment to talk to Josh, the owner. I'll update afterward, but I have not given up. I will be going back after this is resolved.

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Just out of curiosity - How old was the bartender? How old are you, OP?

DubbinFive1Eight said:

I have several friends who have come back from fighting the war in the middle east, and a good deal of them (those who have seen combat) are on edge atleast some of the time... So if this is the case, he has the right to have a shorter fuse than the rest of us.... And if you think otherwise, go witness war first hand and prove that you can remain totally normal afterwards.

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I think otherwise. Going on a deployment doesn't give you the right to be a ****** bag. So, he doesn't get to have a "shorter fuse" and at the very least should have learned some form for of discipline. If he has a legitimate issue there are programs available to help him deal with his anger issues.

mychalg9 said:

Obviously thats a tough situation. Were you wrong to break a glass? yes, although you admitted it was an overreaction. Personally I would have been pissed in that situation, too. I dont think the bartender had any right to say what he did to you. I had a bartender (off-duty) complain to me about a tip I gave to another employee on an earlier night once (i wasnt happy with the treatment so didnt tip her once), so i stopped going there. I didnt feel the need to explain anything to them. Now they dont get my 50% tip anymore.

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Recently I went to Australia. It is not common practice to tip your server so imagine my satisfaction to leave a little extra to someone who truly appreciated it.
Servers, bartender, doormen, bellhops, baristas and the feckin mailman all take it for granted. If someone bitched at me regarding a tip, I''d have his job. End of report.

Frankfurtvr4 said:

I think otherwise. Going on a deployment doesn't give you the right to be a ****** bag. So, he doesn't get to have a "shorter fuse" and at the very least should have learned some form for of discipline. If he has a legitimate issue there are programs available to help him deal with his anger issues.

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I never said going to Iraq gave him the right to be a ''****** bag'', I said experiences over-seas can make it highly difficult (and sometimes impossible) to resume civilian life. Yes, there are medications and therapy which can help, but there are always pieces left with you.

Something about your profile tells me you'll find out soon enough...

DubbinFive1Eight said:

I never said going to Iraq gave him the right to be a ''****** bag'', I said experiences over-seas can make it highly difficult (and sometimes impossible) to resume civilian life. Yes, there are medications and therapy which can help, but there are always pieces left with you.

Something about your profile tells me you'll find out soon enough...

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DubbinFive1Eight said:

I never said going to Iraq gave him the right to be a ''****** bag'', I said experiences over-seas can make it highly difficult (and sometimes impossible) to resume civilian life. Yes, there are medications and therapy which can help, but there are always pieces left with you. And you, sir, don't have the right to disagree since you clearly don't know what war is like. That would be like me telling someone like you about AG brewing

Not being disrespectful to you... Not trying to be a tough guy... Not even my $.02..... Just fact.

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We will go back to your pre-edit post. This is my 5th deployment, I still say it doesn't give anyone the right to abuse civilians when they return.

Frankfurtvr4 said:

We will go back to your pre-edit post. This is my 5th deployment, I still say it doesn't give anyone the right to abuse civilians when they return.

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Fair enough then, to each their own.

lol and I don't think anyone was abused..

RIT_Warrior said:

These would be excellent arguments against me if I was saying the managers did not have the authority to override the bouncer. Unfortunately I did not say this and can't for the life of me see why you think I said it.

And far from being dime-a-dozen, I think the bouncer would be the hardest person to replace in the whole restaurant. He would require a full criminal background check, a class, and a state-granted licence. No one else needed anything like that. And if they took your advice and just pulled someone off the street, they would probably get a massive fine (bad) and they would get their liquor license pulled (fatal). They can also get their liquor license pulled if they let drunk ******** who start fights in too often. And if their liquor license was pulled, it would actually be impossible to get it back. We were situated next to a college dorm, and a law came out after we opened that no new liquor licences would be issued to locations within 500 feet of a dorm, school, or church. As this blanketed the entire area, it would be impossible to open again in the city.

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Seriously dude, people get thrown out of clubs for being pissy, too drunk or starting fights on a daily basis. Nobody loses their license for that, at least around here. Serving minors or seriously intoxicated people is what gets you. We had a bar that was told by the city council to stop selling wine and hard alcohol because there were too many damn fights in the place. It stayed open and sold gallon pitchers of beer. 15$, 4 liters of beer. The police was there once a week. It took a decade for them to finally lose their license for good. Also, there weren't ANY bouncers there. Not one.

Bouncers are like pro athletes: they never stay long at the same place and they just go through the bars/restaurants until they finally graduate from college or get tired of the job. Maybe not if they need a license and a clean criminal background, but up here, an employer can look at your criminal history but cannot refuse to hire you because of it unless having a criminal background means you are unfit for the job. This pretty much only applies to jobs where you either handle large sums of money and have been conficted of theft/robbery/embezzlement (such as a banker) or where you are in a position of authority (policeman, judge, etc.).

So yeah, bouncers are very expendable up here. There's a always a younger, bigger guy willing to take the job.

Frankfurtvr4 said:

I think otherwise. Going on a deployment doesn't give you the right to be a ****** bag. So, he doesn't get to have a "shorter fuse" and at the very least should have learned some form for of discipline. If he has a legitimate issue there are programs available to help him deal with his anger issues.

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DubbinFive1Eight said:

I never said going to Iraq gave him the right to be a ''****** bag'', I said experiences over-seas can make it highly difficult (and sometimes impossible) to resume civilian life. Yes, there are medications and therapy which can help, but there are always pieces left with you.

Something about your profile tells me you'll find out soon enough...

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Frankfurtvr4 said:

We will go back to your pre-edit post. This is my 5th deployment, I still say it doesn't give anyone the right to abuse civilians when they return.

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Wow this whole string of comments made me rage a little. Although there is a PTSD issue going on within our ranks it DOESN'T give you "I get to act like a jackass card". And another thing son I would watch how you pipe off about war and your experiences. Not trying to turn this into a "no **** there I was.." thread. We are not ticking time-bombs in need of special pats on the head a meds shoved down our throats. ON TOPIC. There are wolves and there are sheep. Should've used your words and pulled his punk card...mental victory is yours. Psywarops 101.

Originally Posted by Frankfurtvr4 View Post
I think otherwise. Going on a deployment doesn't give you the right to be a ****** bag. So, he doesn't get to have a "shorter fuse" and at the very least should have learned some form for of discipline. If he has a legitimate issue there are programs available to help him deal with his anger issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DubbinFive1Eight View Post
I never said going to Iraq gave him the right to be a ''****** bag'', I said experiences over-seas can make it highly difficult (and sometimes impossible) to resume civilian life. Yes, there are medications and therapy which can help, but there are always pieces left with you.

Something about your profile tells me you'll find out soon enough...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankfurtvr4 View Post
We will go back to your pre-edit post. This is my 5th deployment, I still say it doesn't give anyone the right to abuse civilians when they return.

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Uh, wow, is this gonna turn into a "My drill instructor is harder than yours" argument?
Crap like this is why I can't mention being a vet to anyone. Once again i should have omitted that part here. I don't think i have ever pulled the "I'm a veteran, you can't do that/say that to me" card.

Anyways, thanks for your opinions everyone, good, bad, and absurd.

TheCarnie said:

Uh, wow, is this gonna turn into a "My drill instructor is harder than yours" argument?
Crap like this is why I can't mention being a vet to anyone. Once again i should have omitted that part here. I don't think i have ever pulled the "I'm a veteran, you can't do that/say that to me" card.

Anyways, thanks for your opinions everyone, good, bad, and absurd.

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No, it is a you should know how to act like an adult thread.

shamrockdoc said:

Agreed you say that "Vet" word and people look at you like you're at any moment gonna start crackin' heads and pull your secondary weapon and start jerkin' rounds into people.

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lol I thought this wasn't ''that'' thread? Off topic and such..?

DubbinFive1Eight said:

lol I thought this wasn't ''that'' thread? Off topic and such..?

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Agreed I didn't follow my own advice deleted and I give a pic of Awesome Puppy who can't spell.

Phenominal substitute lol

Gents: enough playing the "my military experience was more horrifying than yours" cards already. If you want to talk about experiences, you're more than welcome to PM me about my EMT career in a major metropolitan city for 4 years. Here ain't the place.





Now then!

OP is asking if his actions were nothing but a simple misunderstanding or a major social faux pas. I agree that, while bartenders are forced to deal with a lot of crap which they realistically shouldn't have to, it's up to the person behind the bar to both A) know their product, B) know their clientele, and C) market those products to the right client(s). In this case, the bartender was obviously put off by OP's lack of, shall we say, speediness in ordering. There's absolutely no reason for him to go off on a paying customer, especially one who, up to that point, had frequented the bar several times.

scrambledegg81 said:

Gents: enough playing the "my military experience was more horrifying than yours" cards already. If you want to talk about experiences, you're more than welcome to PM me about my EMT career in a major metropolitan city for 4 years. Here ain't the place.

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Maybe I am missing something here. The only person that made this an issue of the OP being a ****** bag because he deployed is someone that is not in the military. Please go back and quote something other than a response to that outside looking in thinking.

If this is what you are talking about go back and read the post that it is in response to.

Frankfurtvr4 said:

We will go back to your pre-edit post. This is my 5th deployment, I still say it doesn't give anyone the right to abuse civilians when they return.

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I don't think anyone here has said anything about what their service entailed or the extent of what combat they may or may not have experienced. My arguement since this started has been one of general ******-baggery of the OP. I don't care if he is a 30 year vet or works for the TSA it still doesn't make his piss poor behavior anymore acceptable.

Defend him all you want, there are standards of acceptable behavior in any culture. In just about every case I can think of if I had witness such a childish display I would have thought, "Wow, what a ****** bag."

Frankfurtvr4 wins.

I have several friends who have come back from dropping acid and going to see Avatar in 3d and a good deal of them (those who have seen tracers) are on edge atleast some of the time... So if this is the case, he has the right to have a shorter fuse than the rest of us. Don't do drugs, kids!

bknifefight said:

Frankfurtvr4 wins.

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Whoops +1

TheCarnie said:

Bartender:You complain about that every time, we have the best beers in greenville!

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Ok, did he say this in displeasure, or was he just giving you a little ****, as guys tend to do at the bar?

Because then you turn around and basically asked him if he was being a jerk because he was having a bad day.

In any event it sounds like he might have been a little unprofessional, and you acted like an 8 year old who's mommy didn't buy him the toy he wanted and now everybody at WalMart is staring at the bawling kid get dragged out of the store.

Next time if you think the staff is treating you wrong, go talk to the manager first, like an adult.