buybacks, or lack thereof.

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bad coffee

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wtf. i order wings, then salad, then have 5 beers and the bartender can't buy one?

F that. even if she's drop dead gorgeous. 5'2, great smile, great curves... Buy me a beer every 3 or 4.

I'll be hitting that bar at the end of the night from now on.

garhhhhrr
 
used to be that 5 or 6 beers would bring a freebie, but not so much anymore. usually when the freebie came out I still would give the person the tip, but havent had that happen in a long time. think it may be due to the same laws that prevent the drown nights or at least limit them anymore.
 
Iv'e never had one. There was a time in college when my roommate and I had no cash and the bar didn't take CC. To this day we are the only college students in that town to actually let the bartender let us run a tab, and keep it open for a week!
 
Its rare a bartender doesnt buy me a beer. Usually the last time I go to them. I have a few places around town where as soon as I walk in they pour me what I want.
 
I used to get free beers and shots at Chinese restaurant nearby. Sometimes we even got free food - it was great! The bartender was a great guy. If you were running low on cash and were only getting a drink or two, he'd take care of you and keep bringing you drinks or beers and tell you not to worry about it. Unfortunately, the restaurant was sold and everyone who worked there quit because the new owners were rude money pinchin' jackasses. Same went for me and my friends and we don't go there anymore. At least the owners managed to keep from selling it long enough for me to turn 21 and spend a few years there.
 
I only get free beer at pubs if I swap it for something.
There again, it's not the done thing to tip at a pub.
You can and do every once in a while but it's not expected.
 
I was only poured a free drink once, and it was b/c I had asked the bartender to take a shot with me and a group of guys for my cousin's bachelor party.
 
I don't get free beers but if I'm at a place with a decent beer selection I'll ask for a sample and have never been turned down. I don't think getting a free beer is something you should expect for buying a few. Unless you're a regular at the place in question and tip well.
 
I've gotten free drinks before, but it's definitely rare and always involved a lot of flirting or other social interaction. It's never been a gimme and I've always been very appreciative and tipped accordingly.

Last time was at a thai restaurant with a buddy. I got a free round plus some fantastic free spicy thai soup.
 
I only get free beer at pubs if I swap it for something.
There again, it's not the done thing to tip at a pub.
You can and do every once in a while but it's not expected.

And even then you are not exctly tipping them. You are "Buying them one" up north they will usually translate it as a set amount, down south they will either accept a drink or the full price of one.
 
Getting a free drink is nice. Expecting a free drink just because you bought a few beers is *****ie. End of story.

Sirius. I mean what was your attitude ? Was it Hey NumbNuts gimme a free beer ? I'll bet you even hinted at it.
 
When I first moved to Maryland after The Big Blow (aka, Katrina), I frequented a local brewpub every Friday when my wife was at work.

During that time I only had one freebie. But it was a nifty one. The brewer usually came in on Friday afternoons to wrap up stuff, and sat with the regulars. One day, he came up behind the bar stools, and set a beer in front of me and the guy next to me. They were samples of his newest batch of Belgian Wit. Pint-sized samples.

Made me feel kind of nifty.
 
Ray McNeill gave us beers at Yankee Inebriation. Of couse, we reciprocated in kind (and then some)!

:off: proudest moment of my brewing career is when he asked for a second pint of my APA :rockin:
 
I get an occasional free beer at certain bars. Great service, conversation, and I tip well.

Once place in Pittsburgh, the lady would buy my first round. Great gal behind the bar at Smokey Bones in Robinson.
 
I only get free beer at pubs if I swap it for something.
There again, it's not the done thing to tip at a pub.
You can and do every once in a while but it's not expected.

I like this better than the under-paid, over-tipped server staffing system here. What are we up to now, 20%? Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those jip-tipping guys, but it doesn't mean I have to agree with it.

On topic, I've never expected a free drink.
 
I've never got a "free" drink. There's been once or twice where I've pointed out that they omitted to charge me for one (out of a handful total) and they've said "oh don't worry about it"... but never outright had them say "This one's on me!". And those times, I always tip 2x the cost of the beer I wasn't charged for, minimum.

I usually tip 20%-30% at bars, but I'm a needy customer. I drink 'em quick, so they do a lot of walking back and forth to my table. Last weekend I killed 3 hours in a great little local-brewpub... Tab was around $60 including beers, chicken fingers, a cheeseburger, more beers, a shirt, a pint glass, more beers, and a 50# sack of grain. I tipped an extra $20. What can I say, the service was top-notch and the beers were to die for. :D 33% ain't so bad.
 
no way, free beers only come from friends behind the bar. or possibly soon to be friends! ;) free beers also come when people show up to my house. so everyone quit complaining and come over and have a beer! :mug:
 
Last weekend I killed 3 hours in a great little local-brewpub... Tab was around $60 including beers, chicken fingers, a cheeseburger, more beers, a shirt, a pint glass, more beers, and a 50# sack of grain. I tipped an extra $20. What can I say, the service was top-notch and the beers were to die for. :D 33% ain't so bad.

Damn, beer must be cheap in Nebraska. I'm thinking you've got $30+ worth of non beer stuff. Three hours of "drink 'em quick" beers for 20-something bucks? That's gotta be about $2 and change for a beer. You lucky bastidge!

EDIT: I'm not usually the guy who over analyses someone's post but damn, that's cheap beer!
 
It was somewhere around there. I didn't see the "actual" receipt - maybe my deal was better than I though. Huh. Oh well, that's why I tipped so high! They inspired me towards another new brew to try to clone though. They did a Brown Ale with Rye in it that was very nice. It reminded me of my Rye Hobgoblin but less hoppy. So I think I'm gonna try to replicate it.

3 hours = either 7 or 8 pints, I don't recall. Good thing the hotel was only 4 blocks! I took a nice nap. :D
 
Frankly, I find the attitude that regulars 'deserve' free beers simply because they decide to patronize a certain bar/restaurant to be more than a little arrogant.
 
I used to let me bartenders "buy" their regulars a drink through comps. It's good for business and actually helped prevent the bartenders from stealing. There were rules of course. Anything they wanted to do out of their pocket was up to them.
 
Free drinks after drinking a few? I've never heard of such a thing, nor has that ever happened to me. No wait, that happened one time. I was at a beer festival and the guy from Rogue gave me a free pint because I was wearing a Metallica shirt and a NASA hat.
 
Frankly, I find the attitude that regulars 'deserve' free beers simply because they decide to patronize a certain bar/restaurant to be more than a little arrogant.


I don't think anyone implied that regualrs "deserve" a free drink. It's just one of those things that come along with being a regular. I grew up in a bar/restaurant with a bartending father. All the regulars didn't get freebies nor did they expect them. Good customers / regulars get those type of things in bars all the time.
 
In Indiana it is illegal to comp alcohol from a bill, I am sure it is illegal in other states as well. I have still gotten free beers at the local brew pub where I am a regular, but I don't expect freebies. I don't like the attitude of people who think they bought so much that they are entitled to a free round. I buy alot of CD's at Best Buy does that mean I should get a free one ? Odds are if you are cool and tip your bartenders well they will occasionally reciprocate.
 
I don't think anyone implied that regualrs "deserve" a free drink. It's just one of those things that come along with being a regular. I grew up in a bar/restaurant with a bartending father. All the regulars didn't get freebies nor did they expect them. Good customers / regulars get those type of things in bars all the time.

I disagree- see the OP. I bartended my way through grad school, and while I'd occasionally not charge some of my regulars, they certainly didn't expect it.
 
I frequent a brewpub in the area that if i go in when they are not very busy the bartender will refill my glass, most times without asking!!!
 
I've never heard of this. Should I start beign nice to my bartender in case he might give me free drinks?

(Ok, I actually don't go to bars anyway, so that might be why I don't get free drinks.)
 
I frequent a brewpub in the area that if i go in when they are not very busy the bartender will refill my glass, most times without asking!!!


Completely different ... Gals vs. Guys is completely different. Way more common place for a woman to get free drinks than a guy.
 
Never happened for me either. Once in a while Mark will give me a sample of something in the works, but I've never gotten a free drink anywhere.
 
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