I’m a relatively new bar-goer in the US. How much do you tip your bartender on mixed drinks, shots, and beer? I feel sort of funny tipping a guy for taking the cap off a bottle of beer and handing it to me, but I don’t want to offend.
I usally run a tab all night, then tip about 20-25%, or more if they “forgot” to ring up a few.
If you’re paying cash each time, you’ll have to be a bit more judicious. If there’s one bartender, tip him $5 up front for the first drink, then more later depending how many drinks you get. That will usually get you better service throughout the night. I usally shoot for $1/drink or so, which with my $4 mixed drinks works out to about 25%.
One more thing. If you’re actually sitting at the bar, just order, get your drink, and start drinking it. If the bartender asks for money, pay with a $20 or whatever and leave the change sitting there in front of you. In my experience leaving the money there so the bartender can see it will signify (to some extent) that you probably aren’t gonna stiff him. When you order again, the bartender will take what he (or she, my fiancee is a bartender) needs from the pile, and return the change. Then when you get up, you can calculate the tip and leave what you feel is right.
Basically, try to think of it like you do at a restaurant, tip 15-20% for good service, and you’ll have no problems.
It’s important not to stiff bartenders on their tips, like waitstaff the often get less than minimum wage, and if you do it’s likely you’ll get served last every time, if ever. They tend to have more say-so than your average waitress on who they will or won’t serve.
IMHO FWIW
Up to 45 degrees, depending on the company.
Y’know, if everyone just tipped a buck per drink, I would be pretty happy.
Depends. If all s/he’s had to do is hand me beer bottles, it’ll be less than if I made em work for it.
It’s usually whatever singles I get back in change that I don’t spend on booze, cause I hate to carry cash.
Not a thing. It’s their job.
We’re talking about the U.S. and our customs here, Ciero. Try that attitude here and you might have a really hard time getting a beer the next you visit that bar. Bartenders are notorious for “selective hearing” and can also look right through you frantically waiving your money at them, turn around and serve somebody else. Not to mention, when/if you do you finally get a mixed drink, it’ll be a lot weaker than mine.
I usually try to shoot for a dollar a drink. If my change is $2 or less, I’ll tell them to keep it.
Sometimes they’ll come right out and tell you. One night while out with friends, a bartender refused to serve a buddy of mine because she said he wasn’t tipping.
In Ireland you don’t tip barmen/women. They get paid a decent wage. Waiting staff do get tipped but it’s not compulsory.
When I was in the States I usually went with the buck a drink but the one time we ran a tab I tipped around 20% just coz I knew I had to give something but wasn’t too sure what.
Makes a cheap drink normal priced though. I found this a lot in the US. Price looked great but after you pay tax and tip it wasn’t that cheap at all.
I usually tip 40% to 50% in bars i go to frequently. I always get great service and only pay for about half of what I actually drink. When I go to a new bar I tip reallty high on the fist order, then will run a tab and tip 25% to 40% depending on the service.
You get what you pay for, and bartenders are not making minium wage. They need the tips.
How can bartenders not earn minimum wage. That’s the whole point isn’t it. It’s the legal minimum you can be paid 
Not in the service industry. They get significantly less than minimum wage, and have to declare (wink, wink) their tips so that the gub’mint can tax them. Same goes for waiters and waitresses. They depend on tips to make a living. Supposedly, it forces them to provide good service or something.
GMRyujin, I’d be more than happy to carry your cash. Just send it on up. All of it. Now. Come on, quickly, and no one gets hurt. And send the watch, too. 
Oh, and put me down for buck a drink, unless they short-pour. Then nothing.
If I’m sitting at the bar, I do what Eleusis does, and make sure there’s at least $5 in the pile when I leave. I generally calculate at least $5 + $1/hour at the bar.
I usually run a tab, and tip 20%. I tip 20% in restaurants, too–but it will drop to 10-15% if I have bad service.
Sorry, wallet’s empty, that’s why I don’t carry cash. 
The waters get a bit murky as there isn’t a national standard. Some states allow what’s called “tip credits” toward minimum wage. In other words, the restaurant or bar can estimate that a server will make $4.00 an hour in tips, so they take the (say) $6.50 per hour minimum wage for that state and lop off $4.00, and pay $2.50 per hour. If it’s a slow day or they get stiffed, a server could easily go home with less than minimum wage.
Looks like San Francisco is the best place in the US to be a server - the local minimum wage is $8.50 per hour, and tip credits are not allowed.
I usually tip $1/drink, more if it’s something like a frozen something or other that they have to futz around with. It seems to keep my bartenders happy.
If I’m hanging out at a bar for several hours…
Running a tab - 20% if the service was excellent. 15% if it was adequate. I’d tip less for extremely poor service but that’s never happened on a tab.
Not running a tab - Two to three dollars on the first drink. If I get acceptable service after that I tip a buck or more on just about every drink, especially if it’s busy. At the end of the night I leave a fiver. If the service is stellar (bartender notices when my glass is empty and is right on it) the amount goes up. If the service is truly shoddy (bartender sitting on their ass talking to people all night and not paying attention at all) the tips taper off to nothing.
If you’re only stopping in for one or two drinks leave a few bucks on the counter before you leave.
That’s in neighborhood bars. I don’t know if it’s different for fancy places or places other than the midwest.
If I’m sitting at the bar or going up to get my own drinks: Typically I’ll tip a couple of bucks on the first drink, just to establish that I’m not a cheap tipper. Then it’s usually $1 plus whatever change would be left from the drink(s) each time. If the service is really good, I’ll drop another couple (up to 5) bucks at the end, especially if it’s a place I’m likely to come back to. At our usual hangout, the special is $5 mixed drink pitchers. We usually buy two at a time, and hand the tender $12.
If I’m at a table, getting served: We usually run a tab, and tip out at about 15-20%.
There was the one time though…Three of us went out and ran a tab just during the 2-hours of half-price drinks. Shots and mixed drinks were $2 or $2.50 each. Our tab added up to about $225 (we were celebrating one person getting a job). The service was unbelievable (compared, at least, to the usual level in this college bar). The waitress would come around when our glasses were down to about 1/4-1/3 full. We would order a round of shots and a round of drinks. The new round would be on the table by the time the old one was finished. Even when we weren’t on the tab, she often stopped by to chat/flirt with us for extended periods of time. She walked away that night with a tip of about $100 on the tab alone.
She seemed disappointed the next day when I came in with a different group of friends and the only table open was in another server’s area. She did manage to stop by a couple of times to chat though. I didn’t bother to explain to my friends why this absolutely drop-dead gorgeous woman was being so friendly toward me.