I took a friend out to a bar for a drink at my favorite drinking establishment last weekend. We both ordered bottled beer. After I paid for it, I tipped the bartender two dollars. I normally tip 1 dollar for each beer or drink that I buy. My friend recoiled in horror and said, "You tip for beer? Nobody does that. “He’s just opening a bottle”
So, that got me to thinking. Do you tip for beer? I don’t plan on stopping. I like the bartenders a lot. When I go to the bar, I don’t even have to say anything, they just grab a beer, open it and hand it to me.
Heck yeah. Maybe he is just opening a bottle… but he’s opening a bottle for you. Tell your friend to become a bartender and let’s see if he has a change of opinion.
Tip, definitely. He’s opening your bottle for you, with no significant delay. Next time you and your friend go there and it’s a little busy, he’s going to be just opening bottles for you a little faster than he is for your friend.
“Nobody tips for beer?” Where does your friend normally drink?
Anyway, to answer your question, it doesn’t matter what I’m drinking (bottled beer, draft beer, or something more complicated), the bartender always gets a tip.
One more thing… a buck probably isn’t too much for a beer either because in reality you’re paying him for more than just that beer. Your paying him to be there at your beck and call regardless of what you want to order or when it might be. He’s not there? You don’t drink. Tipping more for drinks that require more effort is of course appropriate but I sure won’t short a bartender for something easy because, in reality, he’s doing more for you than just opening a bottle.
Well said. As a former bartender, I can tell you that those who tip will get their next beer before those who don’t. I good bartender knows who’s at the bar and in what order they got there. They will get served in that order unless they are good tippers or non tippers - that changes their place in line.
Tip the bartender a dollar for every drink you buy, or every drink the house gives you, and every time you win at threes. I don’t believe your friend didn’t know this.
I don’t tip a whole buck per drink (beer included) usually, but if a drink is $5.50, I leave them the change and then add a paper tip of the appropriate amount when I leave.
What the hell? Where did he get this idea from? I always tip the bartender, my husband always tips the bartender. Whether it’s for bottle of beer, a draft, a drink, a water - doesn’t matter. I’ve been drinking in bars and clubs for 20 years and I’ve never had someone act shocked at my tipping a bartender (for beer.)
I have a rather extensive (sadly) amount of knowledge of San Francisco bars, and I can confidently state that you better damn well tip at all of them.
And this was your favorite bar? I would have recoiled in horror that any guest of mine at my favorite joint would say such a thing. I’d be praying that the bartender was out of earshot.
If you’re running a tab, then it’s fine to tip at the end. If you’re paying for each drink individually, you should tip each individually. YMMV or course. Obviously tipping at the end is better than stiffing him, but if I saw 50 cents on the counter, I’d assume that was all I was getting.
If you’re going to get more than one drink, why not run a tab? Why waste your time paying for each drink?
I’ve been in bars everywhere in the country & have never met anyone surprised at a beer tip. Also, am a San Franciscan and notice that a dollar tip per drink is pretty much expected. I think the OP’s friend is just a cheap skate trying to pass off his miserly tendencies as social norms.