Inspired by a visit to see Tony Conigliaro at the unnamed bar at 69 Colebrooke Row in London last fall, where Manhattans are aged in glass vessels to sublime and subtle effect, the barrel aged cocktails I’ve been serving at Clyde Common this year are a decidedly American curiosity.
The rub of aging cocktails in a glass bottle is that the whole premise is built upon subtlety, as we know that spirits aged in glass or steel do so at an unremarkable pace. Being from the United States, where – as everyone is aware – bigger equals better, I pondered the following question: what if you could prepare a large batch of a single, spirit-driven cocktail and age it in a used oak barrel?
A hundred some-odd dollars in liquor later, I was nervously pouring a gallon of pre-batched rye Manhattans into a small, used oak cask whose previous contents were a gallon Madeira wine. I plugged the barrel and sat back in anxious anticipation; if the experiment was a success I’d have a delicious cocktail to share at the bar – if it was a failure then I’d be pouring the restaurant’s money down the floor drain.
Over the next several weeks I popped open the barrel to test my little concoction until I stumbled upon the magic mark at five-to-six weeks. And there it was, lying beautifully on the the finish: a soft blend of oak, wine, caramel and char. That first batch sold out in a matter of days and I was left with a compelling need to push the process even further.
Now, three gallons of Negroni might not be practical for the home enthusiast, but the average bar or restaurant should be able to afford that sort of quantity quite easily. For those of you trying this at home, try searching the internet for one-gallon charred oak casks (stay away from the fancy lacquered kind meant for display in dens and 1980s wine bars) and be sure to let us know what you find in the comments section below.
We procured a small number of used whiskey casks from the Tuthilltown distillery and proceeded to fill them with a large batch of Negronis; and that’s when the magic of barrel aged cocktails grabbed our attention. After six weeks in the bourbon barrel, our Negroni emerged a rare beauty. The sweet vermouth so slightly oxidized, the color paler and rosier than the original, the mid-palate softly mingled with whiskey, the finish long and lingering with oak tannins. We knew we were on to something unique and immediately made plans to take the cask aging program to the next level.
Negronis are now prepared in five-gallon batches and poured into multiple bourbon barrels. Robert Hess’ ubiquitous Trident cocktail is currently resting inside single-malt barrels. The El Presidente (à laMatt Robold), Deshlers, Remember the Maines, they’re all receiving the oaked treatment in a little storage room in the basement of the restaurant that I refer to as my “office”.
Once the cocktail is aged long enough for my taste, I then drain the bottle, straining out any charred bits of wood, and bottle the contents for use by my bartenders. To order, the cocktail is then measured out and poured over ice in a mixing glass, stirred, strained into a cocktail glass, and then garnished with the appropriate garnish. It’s quick and simple, as all of the real work has already been done by the barrel.
Anyway, on to the recipes. As simple as it seems to do, I figured not everyone is going to want to do the math to get started on some of these recipes, so here are a few I’ve figured out:
Negroni
Makes Three Gallons
128 oz (approximately five 750ml bottles) dry gin
128 oz sweet vermouth
128 oz Campari
Stir ingredients together (without ice) and pour into a three-gallon oak barrel. Let rest for five to seven weeks and pour into glass bottles until ready to serve.
Manhattan
Makes Three Gallons
256 oz (approximately ten 750ml bottles) rye whiskey
128 oz (approximately five 750ml bottles) sweet vermouth
7 oz Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients together (without ice) and pour into a three-gallon oak barrel (I prefer a barrel that has previously stored sherry, Madeira, or port wine). Let rest for five to seven weeks and pour into glass bottles until ready to serve.
Trident
Makes Three Gallons
128 oz (approximately five 750ml bottles) aquavit
128 oz dry sherry
128 oz Cynar
7 oz peach bitters
Stir ingredients together (without ice) and pour into a three-gallon oak barrel (I prefer a used single malt barrel). Let rest for five to seven weeks and pour into glass bottles until ready to serve.
Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below.
My problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.
One question I'm often asked is "Do you have any drink-related book recommendations?" Well, funny you should ask, I've compiled a list of the ten books every professional bartender or home mixologist should own. I keep every one of these close at hand and have read most of them several times. I suggest you do the same.
The problem with living in Oregon is the absence of little wooden shacks by the sea that sell cases of fresh ginger beer stacked on back porches. But with some readily-available ingredients, a recipe I've been revising for several years - and a few free minutes - I can easily transport myself to a little fishing boat on the ocean as I sip a Dark and Stormy made with fresh, house-made ginger beer.
It's always mojito season somewhere, so this advice is timely in your area about half the year. Wether you're making them or simply enjoying them, this advice will help you look like a pro in no time at all.
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You'll get a lot of snarky advice on this site about how to make a proper drink, but if you ever need to know what not to do, this is the video for you.
Not to be confused with the Spanish wine-and-fruit-based alcoholic beverage sangria, sangrita (meaning "little blood") is a traditional accompaniment to a tequila served completo; a non-alcoholic sipper that cleanses the palate between fiery doses of agave.
The world of booze can be mystifying to people that don't work in bars or around alcohol all the time. I hear a lot of assumptions about the industry I'm in that are - much like 90% of what you hear in bars - completely false. Here are a few you've probably heard yourself.
The debate rages on: Should we try to look cool and crack open the Boston shaker or be tidy professionals and use the Hawthorne strainer the way God intended? Be sure to leave your two cents in the comments section.
The traditional garnish for a Pisco Sour is a couple of drops of bitters in the foam, but I've never been particularly impressed with the way these few paltry drops of bitters sat in their little egg-white mattress and didn't play along with the rest of the drink. I envisioned a Pisco Sour with a uniformly-distributed bitters-scorched foam: slightly crisp as the fire burnt the sugars, and slightly warm as the foam insulated the rest of the frosty cocktail from the heat. A pisco creme brulée in a glass!
I get so many visitors looking for tips on how to write a bartending resume that I thought I should finally post a tutorial on how to write your own. Click the headline to read more.
I always love showing up to a party with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas, so I've decided to share my recipe. This margarita recipe is the perfect blend of strong, sweet, and sour. But be warned: this recipe packs a serious punch.
There isn't much I can say about this video that hasn't been said already. If you've read anything I've written about cocktails, you'll understand why this video symbolizes everything wrong with the state of bartending in America today. Watch and learn, but be warned: this one isn't for the feint of heart.
About Me
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the head bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.
I've been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. Mixing drinks has become something of a passion for me in recent years, and I strive to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.
The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.
(I couldn’t find an appropriate photo, and I wanted to get this out there before I head to work tonight. Sorry – JM)
Hey Bartender
I went to the bar last night with a coworker, whom I was treating to drinks on my tab. When we got the bill, it was very high, so we asked to have an itemized list of the drinks we were charged for. That’s when another bartender told us that some girl had been charging Jack and Cokes on my tab, without my knowledge.
Well, long story short, our bartender, a young girl, came right back WITHOUT an itemized list, but with a smaller bill, excluding the Jacks, I guess. While outside, her friends said, “Do you think that girl (me) knows that we drank on her tab?”
So, now I am very leery of starting tabs, especially at my local, favorite bar. Got any suggestions to prevent this from happening in the future?
Thanks,
Kat
Hey Kat
It sucks, doesn’t it? When you enter into a trust-based relationship with a professional, there is an unspoken agreement that, to me at least, feels somewhat binding. What you’re saying, in effect, when you hand your card over to a bartender at the beginning of the night is, “Hey, bartender. I promise not to get so wasted that I leave this bar without signing my tab, stiffing you on the tip, or arguing about every single drink I promised to buy.”
What the bartender is saying is this: “Hey, customer. I promise not to be a gigantic motherfucking douchebag and charge you for a bunch of shit that you didn’t ask for.”
Kat, my dear, your bartender reneged on the contract. So, yeah, I’ve got a couple of suggestions to prevent this from happening to you in the future:
1. Don’t ever set foot in that bar ever again. I’m serious. A bar that can’t be trusted with a simple thing like your tab can’t be trusted with your safety. If they can’t keep a girl from charging her drinks to a stranger’s tab, do you really think the bartenders at this establishment are vigilant enough to prevent someone from slipping something in your drink, diffusing a potentially dangerous confrontational scene or handling any of the other potentially scary situations that can present themselves to female patrons in bars? My advice is to steer clear of this joint, and any other establishments owned by the same proprietors.
2. Only carry cash and never run a tab. Yeah, it sucks. Never mind the fact that you have to find an ATM, you also have to be walking around with a bunch of cash in your pocket. But think of it this way: even if you were to be robbed of your sixty dollars, or even if it fell out of your pocket onto the street or bar floor, wouldn’t that one time still be cheaper than letting everyone in the bar walk all over your tab?
3. Print this post out and hand it to the bartender in question. Then I’ll address the bartender personally. You ready? Okay, here we go:
Dear Bartender I’ve Never Met:
Hey, dumbshit. Some of us are trying to make a career out of this. And you’re fucking it up for the rest of us who actually take our jobs seriously. Did you really think it was okay to just throw a bunch of shit on my friend Kat’s tab without checking with her first? Do you think that anyone else, in any other business in the world, would let that kind of shit slide?
Here’s what advice I’m giving Kat: First, I’ve suggested that she never, ever set foot in your bar again. You’re reckless, unsafe, and a disgrace to the profession. However, if she decides not to heed my advice and does happen to pop in for a drink, I’m recommending that she pays for each drink, with cash, each time. And when she does, I want you to know that she’s only doing it because she doesn’t trust you.
Good luck to both of you. My readers and I all know you’re going to need it.
Comments
26 Responses to “Ask Your Bartender: Running a Tab”
04 Sep 2009 at 6:38 pm 1. GregBCarlstrom
Amen! When I set up tabs, only, and ONLY the person opening the tab can put stuff on it. If anyone else says, put it on, (fill in name)’s tab, I make sure to first consult the tab’s owner. That’s BS what happened, and I would second never stepping foot inside that establishment.
04 Sep 2009 at 9:08 pm 2. Jen
remind me to never cross you. nice response, well done my friend. :)
04 Sep 2009 at 10:01 pm 3. Boozemonkey
As one who has many friends who are ‘tenders, and has been behind a bar a few times myself this just makes my blood boil. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit telling people that bartenders don’t just pull a tap, they look after their customers (as you pointed out). To have a f**k like that do something like this is…Just…Gah!
05 Sep 2009 at 9:15 am 4. Kat
Hey, this was actually the BARTENDER herself putting her drinks on my tab. I only found this out when I was leaving and overheard her stating that she had put them on my tab-possibly giving them out to her friends, or drinking them herself I don’t know. Either way, I’m still pissed. But I will hand this to the bartender-I love the response!!
05 Sep 2009 at 3:11 pm 5. tkw
and as i understand it, bartending jobs are very sought after in this economy. its sad that there are bartenders who suck this much ass when there are thousands of people who would love the opportunity to do the job right.
Damn, Jeffrey is throwing down a tank sized gauntlet here.
This is awesome. Go Jeff.
06 Sep 2009 at 2:33 pm 8. DC Buck
I have been reading the blog for a while now and generally agree with Jeff, but I have to speak up on this one, cause I think he is way off base.
If you never return to this bar (or return, give her the printed out blog, and leave forever) you are letting this girl off the hook way too easy. I mean think about it. The person that has caught her in her little crime disappears while she is free to try this on the next group that comes in. This bartender could care less if you ever show your face again…in fact she probably never wants to see you again.
This bar is your favorite bar for a reason, right? Good drinks, nice atmosphere, and (usually) good service have brought you back time and again. Every single one of us in the industry knows of a bad bartender that has ruined great bar. It’s tragic! Ownership and management seemed to have made a bad decision on this particular bartender, who will probably continue to steal from guests and continue to give this place a bad name.
You have a chance…NAY!… an obligation to save your bar. Instead of printing out this blog and giving it to the bartender, I think you need to print out this blog and give it to the owner of the place. For those of us that have been in the unfortunate position of managing a bar, or anything for that matter, you know how difficult it sometimes is to fire someone. Words like “Unlawful termination” and “Discrimination” give restaurant and bar owners nightmares. You never know, her boss could just be waiting for a reason to get rid of her. YOU can be this reason.
This sounds to me like a “bad apple” (and some poor oversight) instead of an institution wide problem. If you say nothing, you allow her to continue screwing others and allow the management and ownership no chance to rectify the situation. You walk away in a huff and bad mouth this bar all over town. All this really does is hurt all of the other bartenders, servers, bussers, and barbacks that have made this one of your favorite places to come.
Give the ownership of the place a chance to make the situation right…if they fail to do anything and this girl continues to be employed there, then you boycott it.
DC Buck – I’m also a dumbshit, but not the kind who tries to steal from people. I’m the kind of dumbshit who hastily cranks out a volatile blog post half an hour before heading to work.
Kat, DC Buck is totally right. Don’t even bother showing this to the bartender in question and instead take your story straight to the owner or general manager. If you really love this bar, don’t let anything like a bad employee or a crummy blogger ruin the experience for you.
Good luck. And thanks, DC Buck. It’s that kind of audience participation that makes maintaining this website worthwhile for me.
A very cool thing I first saw many moons ago at AKA bar in London was this: you start a tab, hand over the card, and get a plastic numbered tag in receipt, like a coat-check tag. This is your tab’s number, but – here’s the cool part – you or whoever is ordering has to show the tag every time they order, no exceptions. This means anyone in your group can order – just give them the tag – but no-one else. Genius for the larger, busier, more hectic type of bar.
06 Sep 2009 at 4:15 pm 11. Tokyo Tea
Don’t be so hard on yourself JM! That is why you oversee this communal forum where we all learn from each other. For all the stupid sh#t I have said in the past, I’ve always been grateful when someone opens my eyes to a different hitch in the trail than previously traveled.
07 Sep 2009 at 9:49 am 12. timmy
+1 on give it to the manager: they will appreciate the insight into the integrity of their employee, someone stealing from patrons is stealing from the business.
I like the tag idea for a busy bar: another solution that I have seen is a handheld card reader carried by the bartender: the patron’s card never leaves their hand and each round is settled individually.
BTW this is one of the many reasons why my bar is cash only. We provide an ATM in the bar.
We have a local pub in town that only accepts cash. They have an ATM as well, and offer the additional incentive of giving customers back the $1.00 fee when they bring their withdrawal slip to the bar.
While we’re on the subject, what are others’ thoughts about tipping? Do you tip per drink, tip up front for a night’s service, or at the end of the night? How much does tipping influence your level of service? Should it?
Blair
Goodspiritsnews.spaces.live.com
08 Sep 2009 at 3:34 pm 14. Marcel van der Ben
There are a lot of people out there who are making a career out of bartending (Including me!). I think it should be normal for every person who is working behind the bar that the person who opend the tab is the only person who can put things on the tab.
Well at least that is the policy that I learn my bartenders.
Hey Kat, i ‘ll tell you one thing for sure. If this crappy bartender did this to you, it is most likely a trick that they play out quite often on unsuspecting guests. I would say that this is no longer just about what happened to you on that particular night, this is about saving other people from getting taken advantage of while they are out on the town having a good time. I don’t know about actually printing the blog out, but I would most defiantly get in touch with the manager -or- owner and let them know what happened asap. That bartender needs to be effing canned!
Amen. Nicely done. Handling a tab should be the easiest part of being a bartender. I would fire any bartender who couldn’t handle that (as a consumer, the only way I would fire that bartender is by never frequenting their establishment again, or sitting somewhere in that bar such that I never needed to buy drinks from that particular bartender ever again).
Again, amen.
13 Sep 2009 at 5:12 am 20. Bernhard
Jeffrey I like you answer, after 15 active and some 10 passive years in the business, I’d just like to add: Give the owner of this Bar the chance to react. If an employee cheats the guest the owner should know that. And it is highly likely that not only the guest was cheated.
Anyhow his only reaction can be to apologise and get rid of the employee.
As a member of the NYPD and frequent filler-outer of ID Theft reports via credit cards at bars. I highly highly recommend cash. Sure it sucks to drop the 100 cash on the floor. But consider the alternative, your card goes missing it could be much more expensive. Perps have caught onto the hide-under coats trick. Perps also take the purses from under the table, walk down to the subway and purchase hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of Metro cards(subway) and then in turn sell them. So, before you even know it, your credit card has been removed and you just bought 5oo bucks worth of subway rides.
19 Sep 2009 at 4:57 pm 23. KMAPLC
I agree with many of the previous comments and feel for Kat. I assume you love this bar and feel somewhat safe as a female in that establishment. As a former bartender I know people are thinking I was tyring to screw them. I had the benefit of working Sundays, giving me time to get to know my regulars and be more detailed on the tabs I would write out by hand. And whenever a large group does come in and drinks under one tame I always do a detailed list of their orders to help them and myself at the end of the nite. This is the same advice I have given to new bartenders and waitresses at my old bar.
As a cusotmer, I never start a tab in a place I have never been before or don’t know a bartender or manager personally. If I feel the must b/c of the crowd I use Amex. It seems this Credit Card company is more helpful to their members when issues of fraud arise.
I suggest you DO GO BACK, insist on using a waitress and paying cash for each drink. Or sit at the bar and use another bartender if possible. Get to know the rest of the staff, you can quickly tell who there are friends or just plain co-workers. Seek out the manager / owner and start up a conversation and breifly mention the situation but not the person unless they push upon you to point out the person.
This post is simply awesome. Just found your blog from the Foodbuz awards and proceeded to tweet this and send the link to my husband. I very much agree with you, but also think DC Buck has a wonderful point. It is outrageous what that bartender did.
I’ve been in London quite a bit for the past couple of months and the tab system works a bit different over here (at least at most of the pubs I’ve been at). When you start the tab you get a card with a number on it. When someone wants to order and put it on the tab they just have to bring that card up. That seems like a pretty easy solution that works well (especially since most of the time when I’m doing this its a company thing where one person is paying but they won’t be responsible for ordering for everyone all night).
I absolutely hate it when someone sends me a box full of sex toys in the mail. Sure, it might sound like fun to some of you (you know who you are), but receiving a big box of free sex is much more trouble than it’s worth. Believe me. So I get a [...]
04 Sep 2009 at 6:38 pm 1. GregBCarlstrom
Amen! When I set up tabs, only, and ONLY the person opening the tab can put stuff on it. If anyone else says, put it on, (fill in name)’s tab, I make sure to first consult the tab’s owner. That’s BS what happened, and I would second never stepping foot inside that establishment.
04 Sep 2009 at 9:08 pm 2. Jen
remind me to never cross you. nice response, well done my friend. :)
04 Sep 2009 at 10:01 pm 3. Boozemonkey
As one who has many friends who are ‘tenders, and has been behind a bar a few times myself this just makes my blood boil. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit telling people that bartenders don’t just pull a tap, they look after their customers (as you pointed out). To have a f**k like that do something like this is…Just…Gah!
05 Sep 2009 at 9:15 am 4. Kat
Hey, this was actually the BARTENDER herself putting her drinks on my tab. I only found this out when I was leaving and overheard her stating that she had put them on my tab-possibly giving them out to her friends, or drinking them herself I don’t know. Either way, I’m still pissed. But I will hand this to the bartender-I love the response!!
05 Sep 2009 at 3:11 pm 5. tkw
and as i understand it, bartending jobs are very sought after in this economy. its sad that there are bartenders who suck this much ass when there are thousands of people who would love the opportunity to do the job right.
05 Sep 2009 at 7:10 pm 6. blair frodelius
Jeffrey,
You used the word “gigantic”. I’m offended!
Blair
PS – Just kidding.
05 Sep 2009 at 7:59 pm 7. Dan
Damn, Jeffrey is throwing down a tank sized gauntlet here.
This is awesome. Go Jeff.
06 Sep 2009 at 2:33 pm 8. DC Buck
I have been reading the blog for a while now and generally agree with Jeff, but I have to speak up on this one, cause I think he is way off base.
If you never return to this bar (or return, give her the printed out blog, and leave forever) you are letting this girl off the hook way too easy. I mean think about it. The person that has caught her in her little crime disappears while she is free to try this on the next group that comes in. This bartender could care less if you ever show your face again…in fact she probably never wants to see you again.
This bar is your favorite bar for a reason, right? Good drinks, nice atmosphere, and (usually) good service have brought you back time and again. Every single one of us in the industry knows of a bad bartender that has ruined great bar. It’s tragic! Ownership and management seemed to have made a bad decision on this particular bartender, who will probably continue to steal from guests and continue to give this place a bad name.
You have a chance…NAY!… an obligation to save your bar. Instead of printing out this blog and giving it to the bartender, I think you need to print out this blog and give it to the owner of the place. For those of us that have been in the unfortunate position of managing a bar, or anything for that matter, you know how difficult it sometimes is to fire someone. Words like “Unlawful termination” and “Discrimination” give restaurant and bar owners nightmares. You never know, her boss could just be waiting for a reason to get rid of her. YOU can be this reason.
This sounds to me like a “bad apple” (and some poor oversight) instead of an institution wide problem. If you say nothing, you allow her to continue screwing others and allow the management and ownership no chance to rectify the situation. You walk away in a huff and bad mouth this bar all over town. All this really does is hurt all of the other bartenders, servers, bussers, and barbacks that have made this one of your favorite places to come.
Give the ownership of the place a chance to make the situation right…if they fail to do anything and this girl continues to be employed there, then you boycott it.
06 Sep 2009 at 3:34 pm 9. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
DC Buck – I’m also a dumbshit, but not the kind who tries to steal from people. I’m the kind of dumbshit who hastily cranks out a volatile blog post half an hour before heading to work.
Kat, DC Buck is totally right. Don’t even bother showing this to the bartender in question and instead take your story straight to the owner or general manager. If you really love this bar, don’t let anything like a bad employee or a crummy blogger ruin the experience for you.
Good luck. And thanks, DC Buck. It’s that kind of audience participation that makes maintaining this website worthwhile for me.
JM
06 Sep 2009 at 4:00 pm 10. Philip
A very cool thing I first saw many moons ago at AKA bar in London was this: you start a tab, hand over the card, and get a plastic numbered tag in receipt, like a coat-check tag. This is your tab’s number, but – here’s the cool part – you or whoever is ordering has to show the tag every time they order, no exceptions. This means anyone in your group can order – just give them the tag – but no-one else. Genius for the larger, busier, more hectic type of bar.
06 Sep 2009 at 4:15 pm 11. Tokyo Tea
Don’t be so hard on yourself JM! That is why you oversee this communal forum where we all learn from each other. For all the stupid sh#t I have said in the past, I’ve always been grateful when someone opens my eyes to a different hitch in the trail than previously traveled.
07 Sep 2009 at 9:49 am 12. timmy
+1 on give it to the manager: they will appreciate the insight into the integrity of their employee, someone stealing from patrons is stealing from the business.
I like the tag idea for a busy bar: another solution that I have seen is a handheld card reader carried by the bartender: the patron’s card never leaves their hand and each round is settled individually.
BTW this is one of the many reasons why my bar is cash only. We provide an ATM in the bar.
07 Sep 2009 at 10:32 am 13. blair frodelius
We have a local pub in town that only accepts cash. They have an ATM as well, and offer the additional incentive of giving customers back the $1.00 fee when they bring their withdrawal slip to the bar.
While we’re on the subject, what are others’ thoughts about tipping? Do you tip per drink, tip up front for a night’s service, or at the end of the night? How much does tipping influence your level of service? Should it?
Blair
Goodspiritsnews.spaces.live.com
08 Sep 2009 at 3:34 pm 14. Marcel van der Ben
There are a lot of people out there who are making a career out of bartending (Including me!). I think it should be normal for every person who is working behind the bar that the person who opend the tab is the only person who can put things on the tab.
Well at least that is the policy that I learn my bartenders.
09 Sep 2009 at 1:16 am 15. David
Hey Kat, i ‘ll tell you one thing for sure. If this crappy bartender did this to you, it is most likely a trick that they play out quite often on unsuspecting guests. I would say that this is no longer just about what happened to you on that particular night, this is about saving other people from getting taken advantage of while they are out on the town having a good time. I don’t know about actually printing the blog out, but I would most defiantly get in touch with the manager -or- owner and let them know what happened asap. That bartender needs to be effing canned!
09 Sep 2009 at 1:21 am 16. David
Um… defiantly? Sorry as I defiant as this post might make me feel, I actually meant to say definitely.
Cheers
09 Sep 2009 at 3:02 pm 17. Scooter
Wow. That bar looks really clean and well organized. Must be a Wednesday or Thursday.
10 Sep 2009 at 8:32 am 18. Jason
I’d refuse to pay for the whole tab to be honest.
12 Sep 2009 at 7:37 pm 19. Bbq Dude
Amen. Nicely done. Handling a tab should be the easiest part of being a bartender. I would fire any bartender who couldn’t handle that (as a consumer, the only way I would fire that bartender is by never frequenting their establishment again, or sitting somewhere in that bar such that I never needed to buy drinks from that particular bartender ever again).
Again, amen.
13 Sep 2009 at 5:12 am 20. Bernhard
Jeffrey I like you answer, after 15 active and some 10 passive years in the business, I’d just like to add: Give the owner of this Bar the chance to react. If an employee cheats the guest the owner should know that. And it is highly likely that not only the guest was cheated.
Anyhow his only reaction can be to apologise and get rid of the employee.
15 Sep 2009 at 7:33 am 21. TwoBlindPigs
Please do hand it to the bartender and let us all know what the response is!
15 Sep 2009 at 12:04 pm 22. Brian12566
As a member of the NYPD and frequent filler-outer of ID Theft reports via credit cards at bars. I highly highly recommend cash. Sure it sucks to drop the 100 cash on the floor. But consider the alternative, your card goes missing it could be much more expensive. Perps have caught onto the hide-under coats trick. Perps also take the purses from under the table, walk down to the subway and purchase hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of Metro cards(subway) and then in turn sell them. So, before you even know it, your credit card has been removed and you just bought 5oo bucks worth of subway rides.
19 Sep 2009 at 4:57 pm 23. KMAPLC
I agree with many of the previous comments and feel for Kat. I assume you love this bar and feel somewhat safe as a female in that establishment. As a former bartender I know people are thinking I was tyring to screw them. I had the benefit of working Sundays, giving me time to get to know my regulars and be more detailed on the tabs I would write out by hand. And whenever a large group does come in and drinks under one tame I always do a detailed list of their orders to help them and myself at the end of the nite. This is the same advice I have given to new bartenders and waitresses at my old bar.
As a cusotmer, I never start a tab in a place I have never been before or don’t know a bartender or manager personally. If I feel the must b/c of the crowd I use Amex. It seems this Credit Card company is more helpful to their members when issues of fraud arise.
I suggest you DO GO BACK, insist on using a waitress and paying cash for each drink. Or sit at the bar and use another bartender if possible. Get to know the rest of the staff, you can quickly tell who there are friends or just plain co-workers. Seek out the manager / owner and start up a conversation and breifly mention the situation but not the person unless they push upon you to point out the person.
Best of Luck
07 Oct 2009 at 2:04 pm 24. Nicole
This post is simply awesome. Just found your blog from the Foodbuz awards and proceeded to tweet this and send the link to my husband. I very much agree with you, but also think DC Buck has a wonderful point. It is outrageous what that bartender did.
07 Oct 2009 at 2:15 pm 25. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Thanks, Nicole. And don’t forget to vote – wink.
09 Nov 2009 at 9:51 am 26. Mike
I’ve been in London quite a bit for the past couple of months and the tab system works a bit different over here (at least at most of the pubs I’ve been at). When you start the tab you get a card with a number on it. When someone wants to order and put it on the tab they just have to bring that card up. That seems like a pretty easy solution that works well (especially since most of the time when I’m doing this its a company thing where one person is paying but they won’t be responsible for ordering for everyone all night).