Buy Backs (Drinkin' Related)

batmon

Does your local spot participate in buybacks?

I was drinkin at my local close to the job bar the bill had me pay for 3 outta 5 glasses of tap joints.

Old dude in the diner this morning said it was mandatory in the 70's & 80's.

I recall this fading in the earl/mid-90s sometime.

If your a regular, I'd bet the bartenders take care of ya.

asstro

Depends on the bar and bartender. My wife bar tends and at her place the management frowns on buybacks but she does it occasionally for her super-regulars. At most places I drank in regularly the general rule was a buyback every 3rd round. 2 freebies out of 5 is pretty good.

Rockadelic

I wouldn't say it was mandatory bitd but if you were a regular and tipped halfway decent every 3rd drink or so was on the house.

The biggest mistake drinkers make at a bar is tipping at the end of the night.

If you are going to spend the night drinking tip the bartender with a $20 when you buy your first drink.....by the end of the night you'll come out ahead.

Big_Stacks

Hey

My local spot takes great care of me, but then again, I take care of them too on the tip. Usually, the bartenders buy me one on the 3rd round. Those Hennessey side cars are the business. :real_headz:

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

parallax

Rockadelic said:

If you are going to spend the night drinking tip the bartender with a $20 when you buy your first drink.....by the end of the night you'll come out ahead.

This. Always.

Additionally, never forget to say please and thank you.

james

Rockadelic said:

The biggest mistake drinkers make at a bar is tipping at the end of the night.

If you are going to spend the night drinking tip the bartender with a $20 when you buy your first drink.....by the end of the night you'll come out ahead.

I hear you, but I'd encourage folks to not sleep on the third way: Rather than tipping outlandishly at one end of the evening or the other, try tipping large-ish all night. It goes down well, that.

And of course,

please and thank you

is a must.

....

Also, I'd be interested in opinions regarding tipping on free drinks. Some people I know say that it's the menschy thing to do, some people say that it's ungracious toward the bartender, who's trying to do something nice for you. What do y'all think?

HarveyCanal

A free drink screams: tip me at least twice as much as you normally do for a non-free drink.

tokyobeats

yeah, the free drink def ain't gonna hate on a tip..... it's not a competition, just shows your'e acknowledging and appreciating

tokyobeats

yeah, the free drink def ain't gonna hate on a tip..... it's not a competition, just shows your'e acknowledging and appreciating

batmon

I tip well on top of paying. Im not tipping again on a FREE one. That's her showing ME love.

ppadilha

I remember buybacks dying down a bit in NYC, like it was standard practice at every bar but at some point newer bars weren't doing it as often. One bar where I was a regular I felt like I had to earn the right to buybacks when I started going there.

I always thought twice the tip on comp drinks was the right thing to do. Maybe that depends on the type of tipper you are. I always preferred opening a tab at my regular spots, the bartender wouldn't charge for all the beers I had and I would leave a generous tip without having to go through the whole "how much do I tip now?" conundrum.

Frank

HarveyCanal said:

A free drink screams: tip me at least twice as much as you normally do for a non-free drink.

batmon said:

I tip well on top of paying. Im not tipping again on a FREE one. That's her showing ME love.

Harv is right here and you not tipping for comped drinks might be the reason why this practice in your particular case seemed to have been "fading in the earl/mid-90s sometime"...

In most cases it is generally generous tipping plus the doubled tip for the comped beverages which motivates the bartender. Definitely not always in the best interest of the bar owner.

Brian

tip on comp drinks seems rude to me
if you really feel the need to tip then just bake it into the next

HarveyCanal

Aren't you already holding the money in your hand when the bartender informs you that this round is actually free? How is it rude to then put some of that money into the tip jar instead of all of it back into your pocket?

Horseleech

Always tip on the comped drink. there's no legitimate reason not to.

Frank

Having had no clue on tipping customs when I first arrived in NYC in 1996 I had some dedicated and experienced drinkers fill me in on the customs and I specifically remember the "tip double for comped drinks" rule. Worked for me, in most of our regular hounds we never had to pay more than half our drinks, some places we just got shitfaced and before stumbling out put whatever we thought appropriate onto the bar. If you intent to be a regular you can't tip too much.

james

Horseleech said:

Always tip on the comped drink. there's no legitimate reason not to.

I don't know, man. That has been my policy, too, and ordinarily I wouldn't think twice, but at least a couple times in the last couple years I've gotten the hairy eyeball from bartenders when I went to tip on a free drink.

I was talking with some folks about this at some point, and one of my dudes said that he felt like when a bartender hits you off with a free drink, 1) it's a social/personal gesture, and 2) it puts them in the magnanimous position; and when you bring money into it, that 1) drags it back into being a business thing and 2) reminds the bartender who's working for who. Another dude's counterpoint was that the bartender/patron relationship is always business, and acting like a free drink has anything to do with friendship is (forgive me--these were his words, honest) "like believing that stripper when she says you're special." That's a somewhat ugly way to put it, but I get what he was saying.

I don't know. I just think it's maybe muddier than I've been thinking.

vintageinfants

when a bartender pours you a drink and doesn't charge you for it, it's a gesture not a business proposition. every bartender knows that if you are giving someone a drink in exchange for a tip you are essentially forcing that person into "accessory to theft" unbeknownst to them, and you might as well just be charging full price and pocketing the dough. it's a sign of gratitude for either previous tipping, being cordial, having interesting stories or because he feels bad for nailing your chick without you knowing.

bassie

I've never heard of the term buy back.

If s/he pours us both a drink - no tip.
If the free drink feels friendly - or is clearly an act of camaraderie/appreciation - no tip
If the bar is busy and they wave off my money - big tip.
Free DJ drinks - always always tip, I usually do it at the end of the night in relation to how much I drank and how liberally they poured.

It's case by case. I guess I look at it, generally speaking, that if tips are associated with 'service', free or not, the work behind the bar is still happening and should be acknowledged.

GatorToof

Sometimes there is a no tipping policy, the employee can get fired for accepting tips, because gratuity is included in the price. Otherwise, I think it is courtesy to tip once at the end of the service.

I have a tip jar on my DJ table. It is separate from the bar tip jar and helps me measure my work. Additionally, it allows me to offer my services at a much lower price than the competition from out of town.

:balla:

Controller_7

GatorToof said:

Sometimes there is a no tipping policy, the employee can get fired for accepting tips, because gratuity is included in the price. Otherwise, I think it is courtesy to tip once at the end of the service.

I have a tip jar on my DJ table. It is separate from the bar tip jar and helps me measure my work. Additionally, it allows me to offer my services at a much lower price than the competition from out of town.

:balla:

Everytime I read one of your posts I think "who is this guy?" You're style of speak is like bot mixed with sincerity.

Are you the only dj in town? You have no in town competition? If your tip jar is low, how do you respond? Break out the good songs?

LokoOne

Big_Stacks said:

Hey
Those Hennessey side cars are the business. :real_headz:

Horseleech said:

Always tip on the comped drink. there's no legitimate reason not to.

Cosign on both

Yo Stacks - sugar rim or no sugar rim?

Rockadelic

vintageinfants said:

when a bartender pours you a drink and doesn't charge you for it, it's a gesture not a business proposition. every bartender knows that if you are giving someone a drink in exchange for a tip you are essentially forcing that person into "accessory to theft"

Frank

GatorToof said:

I have a tip jar on my DJ table.
:balla:

That's gotta be the saddest thing I heard all year.

Big_Stacks

LokoOne said:

Big_Stacks said:

Hey
Those Hennessey side cars are the business. :real_headz:

Horseleech said:

Always tip on the comped drink. there's no legitimate reason not to.

Cosign on both

Yo Stacks - sugar rim or no sugar rim?

Hey Loko,

Usually, I get mine with the sugar rim. How about you?

Peace,

Big Stacks from Kakalak

vintageinfants

it should maybe be noted that a draft beer is less of a cost to the bar than a bottle. bottles get counted and paid for at the end of the night but draft pints don't so much. even if a bar tries to measure volumes or weights before and after a night there is always a standard deviation called 'spillage' which accounts for foam or over pour, which is exactly what that 'free drink' gets filed as. keep in mind then, the more or less taps a bar has running, the more or less of a gesture that free drink is based on volume. if the bar has one keg hooked up and dude is pouring you free ones, he's either stealing, looking for tips, or owns the bar. be similarly cautious of free bottles.

HarveyCanal

I'm pretty sure that the bartenders are there to make money and not friends.

batmon

HarveyCanal said:

I'm pretty sure that the bartenders are there to make money and not friends.

Rockadelic

HarveyCanal said:

I'm pretty sure that the bartenders are there to make money and not friends.

The bartenders that make the most money are the ones whose customers think they are friends.

GatorToof

Controller_7 said:

GatorToof said:

Sometimes there is a no tipping policy, the employee can get fired for accepting tips, because gratuity is included in the price. Otherwise, I think it is courtesy to tip once at the end of the service.

I have a tip jar on my DJ table. It is separate from the bar tip jar and helps me measure my work. Additionally, it allows me to offer my services at a much lower price than the competition from out of town.

:balla:

Everytime I read one of your posts I think "who is this guy?" You're style of speak is like bot mixed with sincerity.

Are you the only dj in town? You have no in town competition? If your tip jar is low, how do you respond? Break out the good songs?

T,

I am not a bot (I just have one to make posts on SS.... j/k).

No, I am not the only DJ in town. There is a FB group, I am not on FB, called the Sacto Alliance of DJ's with 222 members. I live outside of Sacramento and here it is very competitive to get a gig. Even on the nights when there is no other performance, some of the resident DJ's try to prevent other me from playing records and talking directly to the bar owners.

If my tip jar is low, then I introduce myself and describe how I acquire my records with care and that what they offer would be fine. The jar clearly says, "Dj Donations."

Controller_7

I wonder how many people think your name is DJ Donations. Is it? I feel content knowing this information.