Agreed. Typically, from taking my order to arriving with drinks, I expect it to take about five minutes on average. Ten if the place is slammed. Twenty is just nuts.
I have a friend who knows she is going to drink at least two beers and doesn’t want to wait for the second one, so she goes to the bar, orders two beers, and carries them happily to the table to order her food.
I will guarantee you that the proprietors of the establishment are very happy to sell your first beer right away, and as many after that if it takes a while for your table to be ready.
It sounds like the restaurant probably should have a waiting line, even if they have some tables open. It’s always a fine art trying to guess how many servers they’ll need on one night and scheduling too many consistently will result in unhappy employees.
So, have no hesitation in going to the bar yourself.
I think it’s a great idea. And is now my new MO (better tell the missus).
I thought for sure the OP was going to tell us how he gets impatient and snaps at the server for being slow, or gets demanding about needing that beer NOW.
But this way, he avoids all that by ordering at the bar.
I’ve done this at the suggestion of the host/ess when it’s a long wait. And sometimes the bartender says he’ll just put it on our dinner check. I’m assuming in that situation, he gets part of our tip.
I admit 20 minutes may be an exaggeration, but it’s not far off in many cases. Because when we go out to a restaurant (party of 4 or 5) it usually goes like this:
Hostess seats us. Hostess leaves us.
Up to 5 minutes goes by.
Server comes to our table. Asks for drink orders. Server leaves us.
5 to 7 minutes goes by.
Server arrives with all drinks except my drink (teas, sodas, etc).
After giving everyone else their drinks the server says to me, “I will be back with your beer.”
Up to 5 minutes goes by.
Server finally arrives with my beer. And then asks if everyone is ready to make their order.
So I have been in the habit of going right to the bar and ordering a beer as soon as we arrive at a restaurant. And the server always seems annoyed when I do this. They see me with the beer and say, “Oh, I can get that for you!”
Not that I advise this, but what if you had one in your pocket when you got there? A guy in my town used to do that- walk in to the bar with a half finished beer in his hand, and I know he drove to the bar.
At a restaurant right now. No wait. Party of 4. Seated at 7:52. Beer just arrived. It’s 8:09.
That is not acceptable unless the bar is slammed for Happy Hour. No, the correct play is to go to the bar first, and if it hurts your servers feelings, so be it.
You could also do what we did last night if the place allows.
Eat at the bar.
I love places where you can sit down at the bar, order a drink or two, then decide you’re hungry. The bartender takes your order, serves you, keeps the liquor flowing, and is tipped very nicely at the end.
Works best for parties of one or two.
Why don’t you just say to whoever shows you to your table, “I’d like a pint of Old Foghorn (or whatever) immediately, please.”? If you order it with your food, the server may think you want it along with your first course. Or am I missing something?
Check Post #26. That’s the usual sequence of events. Because the waitron can’t pour your drink, it adds another layer of delay waiting for the bartender, who might be slammed at the moment. Better to just get it yourself before you sit down.
Ah, I clearly had read-ahead mode off and missed that. 
That sounds like a highly unusual sequence over here (UK). Over here, we get seated and pretty much immediately presented with a menu. After a few minutes, our orders are taken, including drinks. Come to think of it, that’s pretty much what happened when I was over in America.
But it’s inexcusable for the waiter to not bring all the drinks together. And if I were waiting 5 minutes before a waiter first came round, I’d be leaving. Or at least, not returning.
An off-the-wall suggestion:
Is there some obscure law that prohibits alcohol from being served at the same time as other drinks?
I don’t think it’s very likely, but it would explain the consistency of the issue.
Typically the bartender is the only one allowed behind the bar. Servers have access to soft-drinks and water.
You are not being rude. I’m I’m thirsty or hungry, I let the waiter know as soon as I see him or her.
10-20 minutes is too long to wait for service.
No, you’re not wrong.
However, wherever I go, they ask what you want to drink first thing. If I had to wait 20 minutes for a beer, I’d never go back.
I could probably wait 5 minutes before I got a little impatient about the drinks. It’s refills that are my pet peeve (I don’t drink alcohol much). If you’re not on the ball with my refills, it’s gonna cost you in your tip (20% is my baseline but I will go down for poor service).
If you are really thirsty and are a senior citizen experiencing high ambient temperatures, maybe the 911 operator could send someone to goose your server.
/dehydration PSA
Nope. From “whaddya have on tap?” to a cold one on the table should not take more than 5 minutes. And if there is any doubt, just say to the waiter “I’m dying for a cold one, and, no offence, I know it’s going to be faster if I go grab the first one at the bar. You just bring me the second one when I’m halfway done, m’kay?”
I find it amazing one would have to wait 20 minutes for a beer in any reputable restaurant. In my experince, the server wants to get booze into us as fast as they can. I would be shocked at a 20-minute wait.