Do you tip your bartender?

Yes. Depends on how helpful/nice and how busy they are. For the whole bar visit. Tabs are good in a local juke. Open bar, still tip...if I enjoyed myself. A couple gallons of gas worth ... Drunk tipping has more to do with emotion than percentage, I think. Because, you have an excuse when you forget cuz they were an a-hole.

Daisy, I hope more than anything you have red hair. You could be Daisy Red Ryder, the most popular BB gun ever marketed.

Always.

If the bar is super busy I pay as I go and tip by the drink. It's been so long since I've been out drinking that I don't know what things cost anymore so I can't say how much I'd tip. A buck on a beer, two on a cocktail would be a good rule of thumb. That adds up really quick so running a tab and tipping a percentage probably works out better.

At an open bar I'd tip a buck per round for one or two drinks, more for many drinks.

I course I would tip a bartender. Why wouldn't I?

Stating up front I don't drink, I'd still leave a buck as a tip if I bought a soda or ice tea while waiting for a friend to arrive.

I don't really know how much drinks cost, but depending on the place, I'd leave a buck or two for a beer or glass of wine, or 2 or 3 bucks if it was some fancy cocktail. Basically the same 20% rule I'd apply to sitting at a table and being served.

I mean, if you eat a meal, and have a drink or two with dinner, you tip for the whole thing, right? Why would you not tip someone just because they are performing the service while you are sitting at the bar? When you order drinks w/ the meal, don't the waitstaff and bartenders have some kind of agreement as to the split for the drinks?

To me, sitting at a bar to drink for the evening, or having a drink while waiting for a table is a totally optional thing. Of course going out to eat it optional too, but eating is a necessity of life, drinking alcohol isn't. If you're going to do something that is never something that you Have to do in some form, don't be a damn cheapskate.

Re setting up a tab, I guess I wouldn't do that, and pay for drinks as I went, if I was sitting up at the bar. I'm thinking I would have a drink, probably get up with it and walk around, maybe dance, and may not end up at the same place when I'm ready for another one.

If at an open bar, yes, I'd still tip a buck or 2 a drink.

If you can't budget for being appropriately generous when going out, then stay home so not to embarrass yourself.

A buck a drink, unless of course it's a cadillac margarita from Red Mesa Cantina then it's two bucks a drink.

btw Morgan, Gigantor is the coolest.

hehe I know Antonio has a Gigantor video game, he loves it!

yes
how much? $1 or $2/drink depending on the bar/bartender/my mood
no tab
still tip at an open bar - but for some reason I tend to tip every second drink then (not that I drink enough for that to matter anymore)

I like to sit at the bar and chat with the bartender. I've found that some of my best meals result from those chats - s/he lets me know what's good and/or talks the chef/cook into making me something special. The tips payoff in their own way.

When drinking alcohol infused water I had a policy of tipping the cost of 1 drink for every 2. Seems ludicrous with the price of booze today; but, back then it was more reasonable.

My reason was simple, I wanted them to keep an eye on my glass and make sure I didn't run dry. Jamie over at Julius's when I was in the city was good for this. Never did I need to worry and that was true from the first time I went in there.

Well, maybe it wasn't the first time. It was the first time I brought a date in there...or did he bring me? We'd had dinner at a place with a waiter with chains as a shirt so it's kind of fuzzy. No, to the best of my knowledge I never drank a Fuzzy Navel. (at least not from a glass ).

When the glass had about a third left he'd check and most times I'd ask for a refill. (could have saved energy just handing me the danged bottle.) He also made the best gin and tonic I ever got in a bar (used less tonic, less ice)
Admittedly I had a thing for Jamie and am sure he was interested in me, even though he seemed to treat all (paying) patrons equally. However...

My policy with Jamie, I extended to other bars and it kept me happy as my hand never risked being empty, my mouth never dry. (needless to say, I eventually had to seek help )

These days I don't sit at a bar, ever. Too much risk for me. If there's an open bar, I request a friend to get me an unopened can or bottle of some sort of soda water. I pay theirs and mine as a way of thanks.

As to running a tab, never did. I was trained early on by my father to always pay as you went along. a lesson which served me well.

Never. Occasionally I'll buy him a drink, if he's been really good. Nobody ever tipped me when I worked behind a bar.

Are bartenders allowed to drink on the job there? it's a definite no-no here. One of the liquor licensing laws. The bar would be shut down.

I don't know if its against the law here in NYC for bartenders to drink but apparently they do. And also if you seen the latest Chivas Regal commercial on TV, they encourage the patrons of a respective bar to buy the bartender a round of Chivas Regal.

A slight variation of the commercial now running (just skip to 52 or 53 seconds on the video):

I don't know how much bartenders are paid in the UK, maybe much more than in the U.S.?

My understanding is bartenders earn most of their money through tips.

What if you are a bartender who isn't much of an imbider? A drink bought for them isn't much of a treat.

tsar, what about you? Do you tip? How much?

At a regular bar, I usually tip $1 per drink unless I run a tab then I tend to overtip (like I tip waiters) at 20 to 25%.

Yesterday at that open bar, I tipped a dollar per drink.

We don't tip barstaff as a rule. I never expected it when I worked behind a bar, and never got any. It's not a profession where you're expected to tip.

Never.

Like Izzy says, the tradition seems to be that you offer the bar person a drink now and then when you're buying a round....more of a politeness thing really, and a custom that was much more in evidence back in the 70's and 80's.
The thing you must realise is that we have probably a totally different system of serving over here in the UK.
You enter the pub/bar, probably locate a table and then sit down, before one of the group makes a mental note of the drinks required and goes to the bar.
He then usually gets ignored and overlooked a few times before the barman deigns to serve him. The barman sets the drinks out on the bar counter and you ferry them, usually two at a time (ladies first of course, unless it's a rugby night out) back to your table whereupon the group of friends all scoff and moan because you've brought them the wrong type of lager/cider/shape of glass etc.
You then stand there while the barman adds up all the drinks, tells you the total and stands tapping his fingers on the bar until you've managed to extricate not only your money but your left testicle from your incredibly tight jeans pocket.
He then snorts at the note you give him, and makes extra loud noises sorting out your change, before handing it to you in one swift pile whilst already looking and speaking to the next customer who has just appeared to your right.

Meanwhile, the three guys that have been waiting for ages to your left let out a collective sigh and slump their shoulders until their possible opportunity to grab his attention comes around again.

The barman is paid a proper salary, not dependant upon tips. If he WAS dependant upon tips, he would probably take much more notice of who arrived and when, and serve them in proper turn.

So no, I do not tip.





Humbug.

I tend to over-tip bartenders...but then again, I was a bartender for a very long time.

By the end of the night...I've definitely gone over the 20% mark.

Yeah, pretty much what everyone else in the U.S. and Canada said, you're in with the in crowd.

Curious as to why this question came up. Did someone you know say they don't tip, or had some other system?

Good question, Chai.