Worst bar experience ever! (Greenville, SC)

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

You wouldn't do well in Wisconsin towny-bars. So the Barkeep was a bit rude; that gives you the right to smash a glass full of beer? That's pretty nuts man. If you want to go back, bring a nice bottle of whatever it is the bartender likes to drink and apologize all day long for being such an ass.

Text never tell the whole story, but it sounds like the bartender was just telling you how you acted and that he didn't really like it. You could have said something like 'sorry, I didn't realize, I really like it here.'

Ignoring people stops working when you turn 8.

I don't mean to sound like a dick, I am just reading what you wrote and telling you what I am sure the other guys are thinking about you.

 

[jkarp]

Although I will point out that Great Divide's Fresh hop is not an IPA, but an APA.

Actually, Fresh Hop falls completely out of BJCP's APA specs. The bottle may say Pale Ale, but anyone who's tasted it would consider its 55 IBU and 6% ABV an IPA.

 

[northernlad]

At this point, I think you should have a clear, concise, emotionless conversation with the owner about the facts of the matter and let him handle his job.
Then you go back, look the bartender in the eye and say "I am sorry for my behavior last time I was in." No more, no less. He will return it, then you both can put it behind you. If not, you know where you stand.
I have a service person at a factory I work with that has recently taught me a valuable lesson: I have to deal with you but I don't have to like you.

 

[rjwhite41]

I disagree that the customer is always right; that's a pretty selfish and rude way of looking at anything. Nobody is always right. I also disagree that a customer deserves anymore respect than an employee. All people deserve the same respect until you cross a line, which you both did. By the way, the only way I can get my bar to get anything other than BMC is if I promise the owner I will drink it until it's gone. Luckily she will order just about anything for me though.

 

[TheCarnie]

At this point, I think you should have a clear, concise, emotionless conversation with the owner about the facts of the matter and let him handle his job.
Then you go back, look the bartender in the eye and say "I am sorry for my behavior last time I was in." No more, no less. He will return it, then you both can put it behind you. If not, you know where you stand.
I have a service person at a factory I work with that has recently taught me a valuable lesson: I have to deal with you but I don't have to like you.

This is right along the lines with what i am planning. I am hoping Josh can discuss this in a manner where sides are not taken. I'd rather the bartender not lose his job either, but with the way restaurants and bars run in SC, especially Greenville, I could see it happening. I've worked behind a bar a good bit, right now I'm serving tables to get the bills paid. At all the service industry places I've worked at, I would have been terminated on the spot.

Like i said, i hope he doesn't lose his job, and hopefully this gets resolved and i can return.

 

[Bartman]

I pulled out my wallet put down a $20, then slapped the full pint of great divide across the bar, breaking the glass and spilling good beer all over the backside of the bar.!

I certainly hope it was just an ordinary pint glass. Wouldn't want to break one of those nice glasses like a Guiness!

I say go back and settle things if you like going there.

 

[jkreuze]

I think the bartender has a good point. What they have on tap is what they have on tap. If you like the beers and the food, great, keep coming in. If you don't like it, vote with your feet. There are probably other places to drink in your town.

If some guy came over to your place and dissed on your beer every time he came by, what would your reaction be after awhile? "Hey man, geez why do you have that crappy porter on tap everytime I come by, can't you make something good like the people at Budweiser?"

You'd take that sitting down?

And then when you call the guy on it he smashes a glass on your basement bar?

I'm guessing you'd be kicking his ass into next week.

Think about it.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

I think the bartender has a good point. What they have on tap is what they have on tap. If you like the beers and the food, great, keep coming in. If you don't like it, vote with your feet. There are probably other places to drink in your town.

If some guy came over to your place and dissed on your beer every time he came by, what would your reaction be after awhile? "Hey man, geez why do you have that crappy porter on tap everytime I come by, can't you make something good like the people at Budweiser?"

You'd take that sitting down?

And then when you call the guy on it he smashes a glass on your basement bar?

I'm guessing you'd be kicking his ass into next week.

Think about it.

Except he's in a bar where he's the paying customer not some moocher friend stopping by to sample his swill. apples=/= oranges:cross:

Not defending the OP because he was wrong to get so butt-hurt over the bartender's tongue lashing, but the bartender has some culpability in the matter, too.

 

[TheCarnie]

I think the bartender has a good point. What they have on tap is what they have on tap. If you like the beers and the food, great, keep coming in. If you don't like it, vote with your feet. There are probably other places to drink in your town.

If some guy came over to your place and dissed on your beer every time he came by, what would your reaction be after awhile? "Hey man, geez why do you have that crappy porter on tap everytime I come by, can't you make something good like the people at Budweiser?"

You'd take that sitting down?

And then when you call the guy on it he smashes a glass on your basement bar?

I'm guessing you'd be kicking his ass into next week.

Think about it.

If i had known it had bothered anybody I would have not said a word about it. I had a friendly conversation with him the other day about my next brew, and what it was gonna be. No hint at all that i ever did anything to ever bother him. I am just thinking, "what the hell happened that day to make him blow up like that."

 

[HexKrak]

If a bartender can't take a guy complaining about something as mundain as beer, they're not equipped mentally to be a barkeep. And while I agree with rjwhite that the customer is not always right, it was a bonehead move by the bartender that sparked the whole ordeal well before the customer was ever wrong.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

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.

 

[jfr1111]

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. ******* 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.

 

[dvdanny]

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.

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.

 

[KeithMoonsLiver]

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

 

[Gtrman13]

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...

 

[ChshreCat]

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.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

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.

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"?

 

[dvdanny]

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"?

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 .

 

[jfr1111]

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"?

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 ******* 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.

 

[cockybitz]

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.

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

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 bitch 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 bitch, 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.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

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 ******* 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.

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 .

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.

 

[leapdog]

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.

 

[mychalg9]

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.

 

[mychalg9]

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.

 

[hal2814]

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.

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

 

[dvdanny]

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.

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.

 

[mixedbrewer]

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?

 

[DubbinFive1Eight]

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.

 

[jlpred55]

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.