Yeah that’s what you didn’t say that I meant to add to but didn’t. Powers combined, we got there.
In Japan you can buy a bottle from at an izakaya and they will label it for you and keep it on the shelf for next time you’re there.
It does not happen in real life. Or at least in New York it doesn’t happen in real life – I realize that regulations governing liquor sales and service vary wildly from state to state.
There are bottle service nightclubs in NYC (a/k/a “models and bottles” joints), which are described above. But that’s a special case (and you have to purchase an unopened bottle anyway – there’s no “pour me a drink and leave the bottle”).
But in a bar? “Leave the bottle” never happens. Ever.
I know someone will come in and post a story about what happened after closing time when their buddy the bartender put a bottle of something on the bar, and that story might even be true.
But basically it never happes.
I don’t know if it can be done legally in the US, but I have had the bottle left at bars in other countries.
Thailand has bars like that too.
Oh, at the place where I used to show movies, we once got sent the wrong film, and it was Reefer Madness– that is, we got a print of RM when we had something else scheduled. We got the film we were supposed to show on time, but we kept RM for a while, for our own amusement.
The owner of the bar told me if I’d run the projector for free, he’d leave the bar open after closing time, for just the employees.
I was 21. 21, and not wealthy. I took advantage of the occasion to order mixed drinks I’d always been curious about. I had like, 4, and I was not at all accustomed to drinking. It’s amazing I could still rewind the film properly and get it put away, but I did.
I swear, I kept getting drunker, even after I’d stopped actually drinking.
The kitchen was closed, but before they closed it, they made 7 or 8 large pizzas for us, and kept making popcorn as well. I didn’t eat much though-- maybe one slice of pizza early in the evening.
If you’re not used to booze, and especially if you’re having mixed drinks where the boozy flavor is muted, it’s very easy to swallow much faster than the alcohol is being absorbed into the bloodstream.
So you may swallow 4 drinks, barely having 1 or 2 actually in your blood. Over the next 45 minutes the last 2 or 3 inexorably move into your bloodstream. Meantime it’s a couple hours to metabolize each drink back out of the bloodstream.
The vast majority of drink-to-barfing events are a variation on this theme. As the inhibitions drop away, it becomes easier and easier to drink more and more faster and faster. Installing a timebomb in your belly that’ll explode soon enough.
I’ve read here on the 'Dope that that’s also problem nowadays with MJ-laced snacks. It’s easy to eat a bunch before the active ingredient kicks in. And with modern high-power MJ, once it kicks in, it kicks in hard. So now a rank newbie is having the wild ride of their lives.
I’ve watched many times as people attempt what sounds so very simple; drink a shot of beer every minute for an hour. People who attempt this on a bet always lose.
You’re a far more professional barfly than I. I’d never heard of that bet. Live and learn.
If we’re talking 1 oz shots then that’s 60 shots = 60 oz = 5x12 oz beers. Getting fully through 5 cans/bottles of generic American lager sure sounds doable at first glance. But after a bit the boredom sets in and with no chance to move around since every 45 seconds it’s time to down the next one, I can sure see how the wheels fall off at about 35-40 minutes. Even sooner of course for amateurs & women.
Then again there’s this long-ago post of mine:
In America as well, although some use lockers for this purpose.
Not always. I’ve done it, as have a couple of friends. But it really is not a fun experience and as LSLGuy said, it takes experience. I couldn’t have done it in my 20s or even most of my 30s.
Most people fail because it’s done as a bar bet when you’ve already been drinking for a while.
One related concept is “corkage”, as in you bring your own bottle to the bar/restaurant/establishment and get charged an opening+service fee. Maybe that more typically applies to bottles of serious wine from your cellar than cheap booze you picked up at the grocery store on the way to the restaurant.
But if I brought a dusty bottle from my basement, it’d be a cheap Cab, and how would they know that a Château du Skenectédie only cost me $20 on sale?
I’ve read about this, but never seen it in real life. Is it an urban thing? An east coast thing? A too-classy-for-me thing?
Anyone here brought your own bottle? Or reserved a bottles-and-mixer table, like above?
Yes, but only in a “dry” town in Massachusetts where small restaurants couldn’t get alcohol licenses.
(That was at a little French restaurant in Arlington in the '80s, no longer in existence, called first “Coffee Coffee”, and then “The Gourmet Club”. Dumb names, wonderful food. I still think about that place sometimes.)
“If you stick a stock of liquor in your locker,
It is slick to stick a lock upon your stock,
Or some joker who is slicker’s going to trick you of your liquor
If you fail to lock your liquor with a lock.”
That doesn’t matter as they get theirs either way. If you bring in a $20 bottle, you pay them $15 (or whatever that restaurant charges). If you brought in $1000 bottle, you pay them $15. Two bottles, $30, etc. There are also some nice places that allow you to bring your own wine and pay no corkage. In those cases, you should typically tip as if you bought a decent wine from them.
It’s not limited to fancy restaurants, although it’s extremely common there, but you won’t typically see it at your local diner.
Your own bottle happens most often at special occasions. You want to have your 20th wedding anniversary party someplace but that restaurant doesn’t stock the particular champagne you had on your honeymoon that you want to surprise her with. So you go buy a bottle at the liquor store for $whatever, then bring it to the restaurant where they tack $something onto your bill for glasses, chilling, opening, and serving services. They don’t know, or care, what you paid for it.
Not too different from people who have birthday, graduation, or retirement events at restaurants and bring their own commemorative cake. The restaurant charges something to serve it out.
I’ve done that a few times over the years. Not something you’ll see at a sports bar or a Sizzler, but any place with white tablecloths, candles, and a multi-page wine list has done it sometime this week (pre-COVID of course).
Never did the table service thing myself, but I’m not much for entertaining groups.
Can I ask where you are (regionally)? I’ve done this more than a handful of times and never had a charge for it. Of course, we usually serve it out ourselves, but they’ll bring plates and silverware. I’m in North Florida (culturally South Georgia).
I’m originally from SoCal, then lived in Las Vegas, the Midwest and now greater Miami. With a bunch of shorter stints hither and thither in the military.
I was at a restaurant for someone’s birthday party around 20 years ago where we had to bring the cake with us and they charged a fee to serve it. This would have been either on Long Island or in NYC, I don’t remember exactly where.
I’ve done that before. It wasn’t the least bit hard for me. That’s 7.5 beers (12 oz) with 1.5 oz shots. I see someone mention 1 oz shots – that’s just a pregame. I used to slam two 24ozers before I went to the bar to start drinking.
But I used to drink way too much back in the day, as you can tell.