How do bars work? (Paying for drinks specifically -- yes, I'm serious)

Factual Questions
1

Yes, this is actually a question; for some reason this is an issue that has bothered me for some time. A quick Google search suggests I may be the first person, in the history of ever, to ask this particular question.

Anyway, I’ve only been to a few bars since I turned 21 a little over a year ago, but I’m still confused on how the whole “pay for a drink” thing works. Am I supposed to pay for the beer before I get it? After? Does the bartender tell you the cost when he brings it?

At the couple of bars I’ve been to, they ran a tab, then you paid for it at the end. Do all bars work this way? I suspect not for some reason, though I can’t cite why exactly.

2

Some bars run tabs, some don’t. In my experience, it depends how big/busy the place is. In a college town bar that’s packed, I’ve never seen a tab run for anyone. On the other hand, if you’re one of five or ten people in the place, they usually don’t mind. Sometimes they take your credit card (to keep behind the bar while you’re there), other times they don’t.

If you’re paying by the drink, my experience has been that you tell the bartender what you want and then you pay when he or she brings you the drink. Again depending on the place, they’ll tell you how much at any time during the process (and of course there are usually chalkboards or signs with the specials on them with prices listed, so you already know how much those are).

This is based on my experience of 8-10 bars in a few different places. I’m not a frequent bar-goer and there are still things about “bar terminology” or pricing which confuse me as well.

3

If you expect to order a lot, you can request a tab (most prefer credit cards, I believe). In my experience, you pay when the drink is given to you. And the price is usually quoted when it is brought to you. You can usually see the prices on the wall and specials for the day as well.

4

Thanks for the responses so far. Couple questions/clarifications:

How do I know if they’re running a tab or not? The places I went to prior didn’t explicitly say so; I just didn’t pay the bill until I left. If they’re not running a tab (unbeknownst to me), will the bartender specifically ask for the payment, or withhold the drink until I pay? Also, do most bars take credit cards for a single drink?

Oh, and tipping…you are supposed to tip the bartender, right? How would that work with a credit card, particularly if you’re paying on a drink-by-drink basis?

Thanks again.

5

I’ve never been to a place where it wasn’t clear if a tab was being run after I ordered my first drink. They’ll say something like “That’s $2, or do you want me to start you a tab?” and then ask for a credit card if that’s what they do.

Yes, you’re supposed to tip the bartender, but I’ve never paid with a credit card for a single drink so I can’t answer the other questions.

6

IME, they will ask if you want to open a tab; to me it’s rather unusual that you weren’t asked that explicitly. They will then take either your CC or your ID. When you pay at the end, you add in the tip and they charge your CC to the amount you specify.

Please note though that the preferred way of tipping is in cash. I try to keep a few fivers and singles in my wallet for such occasions if I must use my CC. I find though I get better drinks if I give the bartender a note a bit above the cost of the drink, smile generously and tell him or her to keep the change. Pretty soon your G&Ts will be more G than T. A happy bartender is a happy you.

It has also been my experience that you have to order a certain minimum dollar amount to use a CC - usually $20.

7

I think it may have been because, from what I recall, we were playing pool at the bar. Would that be a factor?

Also, in the case of having to order, say $20 minimum, to pay with a CC, does that mean some places only accept cash (for single drinks), or would they open a tab?

Thanks for the response.

8

Playing pool can change things. My pool hall usually just takes your ID and assigns it to a table. Then the table rate and all the drinks you order go to your table. If someone else from the table orders something though they’ll either pay up front or be asked to open a tab. My hall usually takes one person’s ID for the table, then checks the IDs for everyone else if we’re ordering pitchers of beer (typical evening); at the end you are charged hours played per person and the drinks. Then (hopefully) everyone pitches in at the end. At first blush it sounds as if you could get away with underage drinking, but the pool hall watches the tables *very *closely. I got a few warnings for sneaking beer out of the pitcher before I was legal. Probably would have been 86’d except my husband was a regular.

Yeah, a lot of places won’t accept a CC for under a certain amount. Using the CC costs the bar money per transaction, so they’d rather do one big one than a ton of little ones. If you just want a well drink or a Bud or something and want to use a CC, pool with your friends.

9

Almost every bar I’ve been in has asked, when I got my first drink, if I wanted to run a tab or not. Even the few I’ve been in that don’t normally allow tabs have allowed them for people paying by credit card, but they have physically kept the card until the tab was paid.
As for tipping with a credit card on a drink by drink basis; usually, the credit card receipt in bars and restaurants has a line below purchase amount where you can write in the amount you want them to add for a tip. If a drink costs four dollars and you write in a two dollar tip, they’ll just run your card for a total of six dollars.

On a side note,

While I’m not saying this isn’t a normal practice in bars and stores, I’ve read several things on-line that state this is most likely against the contracts between the merchants and CC companies. Every one I’ve ever seen specifically forbid the merchant from requiring a minimum purchase amount. First link I found

Peace - DESK

10

Bar etiquette can be really confusing when you’re travelling. In the UK, in most places you order at the bar, pay and get handed your drink over the bar. In the rest of Europe, sometimes you order at the bar and collect it, sometimes you order at the bar and then they’ll bring it to your table, and sometimes they’ll come over to your table, take an order and then bring your drink – and then either take the money straight away, or bring a receipt with each round of drinks, which they then total up when you ask to pay. (This last approach seems most common.)

However, it seems there is no way of knowing which system is in operation, so you have to judge how long you sit at a table gazing hopefully at the bar staff before you get off your backside and order at the bar. Perhaps some European Dopers could help explain the etiquette…?

11

If they don’t ask you for money when they give you the drink, they’re running a tab. I’ve found that nicer places run tabs…the dumpier joints, not so much.

When you get the bill, add whatever percent you normally tip. I tip 20% on just about everything, but I admit that’s considered high for some folks.

Not all bars accept credit cards (well, not if you drink in the same class of dive I used to drink in). I’m sure the ones that do will take a card for one drink but they’ll probably think you’re a bit odd.

12

Australian bars are like the UK ones. You pay for your drinks as you get them, just like you would pay for a newspaper or a packet of chewing gum. If you are a very well-known regular at some pubs, they still won’t open a tab as such for you, but they will run a “book” - under this system, they will just lend you $20 or $50 etc in cash, just like an individual might as a friend, and then you continue to pay for your drinks in cash as you order them. If you feel like tipping, then you just do it on one of your trips to the bar. There is usually a ‘tip jar’ by the till - most often in the form of a beer glass with a “thank you” label on it.

13

There is no one, simple, unified answer to the OP. That’s what makes bars so fun (by bar, here, I don’t mean chains of nationally licensed franchises, but, rather, places locally owned). You choose the bar you drink at on the basis of how you and the bar fit in together. How it treats drink orders and payment goes into that calculus.

As a rule, if a bar isn’t willing to offer you the courtesy of running a tab, it’s because they believe that you aren’t particularly trustworthy (mebbe you are relatively young, never been in the bar before, and have that ‘dine and dash’ look), or they simply have too much trouble with people in general stiffing them that they won’t take the chance, at least under certain circumstances. My recommendation is that you become a “regular” at one or two places, and you’ll likely never be bothered with per-drink payment. :slight_smile:

14

I’ve worked in two different bars in Europe, and they were both quite different so I’ll give you a little insight into how things work.

Normally, someone places an order, I go and make whatever it is they want, I bring it all in front of them, and then they pay. They leave and on I go to the next guy.

Really, in the end, it’s up to the bartender whether or not to open a tab. The owner might have an opinion that overrides this but it’s up to the man behind the bar to decide. In my first job I rarely did it, in my second we ran tabs all the time.

Many people would have thousand dollar bar-bills. Unless I was explicitly told not to let them add to it I would simply keep adding on to it.

Bars are sort of an old-fashioned business in this way. Or they can be. Obviously a chain-style bar won’t be doing this but a locally owned bar might depending on the clientele, and especially who you are!

That’s the thing. Locals. People that visit the bar often, or have done for a while. Locals will often get reduced prices, and believe it or not, there is usually a certain way to reduce the price on the register. Running a bar is based a lot on trust. I was lucky in that my boss trusted me. Whenever I made mistakes there was no suspicion. On the other hand i also worked for another boss who didn’t trust me. That sucked because every single mistake you made was a problem. I never stole anything FTR.

It’s a bit of a code, in a way. If you buy a drink, and don’t offer any money, and the bartender walks away, that means you have a tab. You might not even need to ask, but rest assured he’s got you remembered. If he brings you the drink, and waits on you, he’s expecting money. If you want a tab then, you have to ask. Of course he might say no, depending on whether he trusts you or management, etc. I usually asked for credit cards from people who I didn’t know.

On tipping. Yes you are expected to tip in the US. I believe the norm is usually ten percent. If you have a tab, you can add this at the end on the credit card receipt. You simply add it in the column. If you’re paying cash for each individual drink, pay with on extra dollar bill (assuming your drink is less than 5 dollars. In fact, if you buy a 5 dollar drink, and give the barman a 10, he’ll give you back five singles even if he has fives in the drawer.

15

There seems to be regional differences in the US. When I lived in L.A., the only way you could run a tab was if you offered a credit card; otherwise, each round was paid for as served. Or if you were sitting down to dinner, drink orders would be automatically added to the dinner tab.

But in the small town atmosphere I am now, it’s very loose. The heavy drinkers and local regulars usually slap down a large bill on the counter as the beer is being poured and the bartender takes out the amount after serving each drink, putting the change back on the bar where it sits there until the next round. Only a newbie would ask “how much?”

It also seems to be common practice for one guy in a group to pay for all drinks in one round, then the next guy gets the next round. I doubt if anyone gets cheated, as I think in the long run it would be the same cost per person if they paid individually. It does make it easier for the bartender, and it seems to be a male or female bonding type of thing.

I’ve found that if no cash is offered when the drink is served, the bartender automatically starts a tab without asking, which may be carried to your dinner tab if you subsequently sit down for dinner. Since all the bartenders and waitpersons know me here, I can’t be sure if this happens to unknown patrons, but I think it does.

16

It was a strange thing…

I worked in a pub in a very working class town. It had a frontier town feel to it. It was a coal mining town, and there was also a cement works operating there and a power station being built nearby. This meant that there was a mix of folks on social security, unskilled labourers, and also tradesmen and miners on very high incomes.

We’d generally rather open a book or line of credit for the unemployed or the unskilled. They could be counted on to pay up regularly and quickly. The higher a person’s income was, the more we had to chase them to pay.

17

Don’t forget comp drinks. If you are a regular and open a tab in some bars, when you get the bill, it may be short one or two drinks. You aren’t supposed to say anything because the bartender did you a favor and it is nice to take some of that discount and give it to the bartender. That isn’t unethical. As a boss of mine once said in an elegant establishment, “It is impossible to lose money on the liquor itself. We buy a bottle for $20 and make over $100 dollars worth of drinks. Just make people happy.”