# The perils of ordering your second drink when your entree arrives **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993 "2017-05-19T11:50:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/41 "2017-05-20T20:59:05Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > As an aside, the American habit of referring to the main course as the “Entree” is bizarre and confused the hell out of the the first time I visited the US. What? I completely missed that! ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/42 "2017-05-21T00:05:59Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > What? I completely missed that! To the rest of us, the entree is the starter or the first course - the “entry”, if we’re going to get Francophone for a moment. Then you’ve got your main course, then dessert. The Americans have “appetisers” then the “entree” (the main course) then dessert. First time I was in the US I was looking at “entrees” on a restaurant menu thinking “Who the fuck eats a hamburger as the opening gambit for their dinner? Is the main course an entire deep-fried cow or something?” The OP was lamenting their inability to obtain a beer after finishing the one you get when you’re first seated, which has been finished by the time your main meal arrives. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/43 "2017-05-21T00:08:40Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Eat at the bar. Honestly it solves this problem quite well and I swear the food comes out faster as you don’t have to wait for an overworked server. Just remember to tip your bartender as well as you would your server. This. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/44 "2017-05-21T00:11:07Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Not a good solution unless you are eating alone. You can’t converse easily among your dining companions if there is more than one other. And I hate sitting on a high stool instead of a comfortable chair with a back or in a booth even when I’m alone. That makes it the \*perfect \*solution. I don’t have to fake interest in their boring stories. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/45 "2017-05-21T00:22:38Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > That makes it the \*perfect \*solution. I don’t have to fake interest in their boring stories. You evidently go out to eat for entirely different reasons than I do. And my friends tell _interesting_ stories.🙂 You might wish to find a better class of friends. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/46 "2017-05-21T00:24:17Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You evidently go out to eat for entirely different reasons than I do. Or I hang around too many boring people. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/47 "2017-05-21T00:24:32Z")
I never want more than one glass of soda with a meal, and when they bring it right away, it sits there, with the ice melting. So I always specify “Please bring the drink with the food,” whether that be an appetizer, or the main course. Half the time they forget. Sometimes they forget I asked, and go ahead and bring the drink right away. Sometimes they forget it entirely, and I have to flag them down and remind them. So I feel for you. I would just go to the bar as soon as you finish your first beer and ask for another one, if you are in a place where you have had this problem before. Otherwise, give the server a chance, but don’t wait as long as 15 minutes. If the beer doesn’t come within a few minutes, and you can’t flag the server down, just go get it. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/48 "2017-05-21T00:41:22Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > When I go out to eat for breakfast, I usually tell the server I would like a glass of milk WITH the meal. (Otherwise, that glass of milk would just sit there get’n warm until my food arrived.) > But heck, back in my bar drinking days, I always knew to order a beer when my current beer was half full. So maybe go that route. At worst, you’ll have two beers sit’n in front of you. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. Eeewww!!! Milk? That stuff that leaks out of steak animals? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/49 "2017-05-21T06:10:38Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > If a server wants to refill your soda, she or he can just go refill it on their own. For anything with alcohol, they are at the mercy of the bartender. And if the bartender is busy, I might take a while. Especially since they tend to favor their own tipping customers. Ah, makes sense. I didn’t realize only the bartender could do it, at least, with basic beer. That does give me an idea, though. Tell the server to tell the bartender that there’s a tip in it for them if they get you your second drink within a few minutes of getting your meal. Obviously just an idea, and nothing I’ve tried. But if tips are part of the issue, then give the bartender tips. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/50 "2017-05-21T06:22:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Ah, makes sense. I didn’t realize only the bartender could do it, at least, with basic beer. > > That does give me an idea, though. Tell the server to tell the bartender that there’s a tip in it for them if they get you your second drink within a few minutes of getting your meal. > > Obviously just an idea, and nothing I’ve tried. But if tips are part of the issue, then give the bartender tips. Well, typically, servers tip their bartenders at the end of shift. But some servers are of the mindset “Screw that! I’m not giving the bartender any of my hard earned tips.” Servers like this, are gonna have to wait. Servers who make a habit of tipping their bartenders, are going to get quicker service. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/51 "2017-05-21T07:40:39Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Eeewww!!! Milk? That stuff that leaks out of steak animals? You talk to your mother like that? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/52 "2017-05-22T02:23:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Then the second beer is warm by the time the entree comes. Not if you’re tossing the first one down. You should know if you’re thirsty when you order. My favorite bar has serving issues because it’s very large and subject to big swings in clientele. It makes it tough to accurately staff on any given day. If it’s busy I order my food and drinks at the same to speed things up. If I’m thirsty I order 2 drinks. Yes, in a perfect world a waitress can cater to your every whim and nothing ever goes wrong in a restaurant. Very few restaurants charge “perfect world” prices so I order according to how busy the place is. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993/53 "2017-05-22T02:31:40Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Eeewww!!! Milk? That stuff that leaks out of steak animals? Well, I’ll tell ya. They start out as steak animals, see…? Then… one day… _ **Boeuff!!!** _ …they’re on your plate as prime rib & filet mignon… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-perils-of-ordering-your-second-drink-when-your-entree-arrives/786993.md?page=2)