By Marta Daniels of How To Be A Better Restaurant Customer - Reprinted with permission.
If you order a cocktail with no ice because you don’t want your drink watered down, I get it. That’s smart. If you order your drink with no ice because you don’t like drinking cold beverages, I get that too. But if you order your liquor with no ice (ie. straight up) that’s a shot! You’re not going to receive a glass full of liquor.
People do the same thing with long island iced teas and margaritas. “Oh, hold the ice,” they’ll say. Then when I bring them a cocktail in a smaller glass than the margarita with ice, they say, “Oh no, I want the other one, the big glass!” So we bring them a margarita goblet 2/3 full and they say “Where’s the rest?” To which I reply “The rest would be ice!” You can’t cheat the system and get another half a drink worth of liquor by asking for no ice because, well, we’re not stupid, and my restaurant would actually like to make money.
The same applies if you order a salad with light lettuce and no onions. That’s perfectly acceptable if you don’t like onions and a whole lot of lettuce. But don’t expect me to bring you a bowl of cheese, tomatoes and homemade croutons either. There are specifications for the amount of each item the salad guy puts in our salads. He may toss in a little extra to compensate for the lack of overall volume in the bowl, especially if you ask for extra cheese and croutons. But let me reiterate, you’re not going to get a bowl of cheese. Period. You really don’t need all that cheese anyways, do you?
People, stop trying to cheat the system with clever little “Hold the this and light that” requests. Of course you could get a whole fifth of Jack for $15 or $20 and we’re charging you $5.75 a shot. I also know you could make our house salad at home for about 83 cents and we’re charging $2.75. But we are neither a liquor store, nor are we a grocery store. You’re paying for the ambiance, the service, all that jazz. That’s how restaurants make money!
Related Information
December 5th, 2009 | 
Marta,
Great point as a waiter, there are few people who want to get something for free. These consumer ruin it for everyone make it hard on the waiter the restaurant and its not fair for the rest of the consumers who do everything the right way. The restaurant bizz would me that much better off if they listen your tips. Great post! Marta
It is also worth mentioning that when you order something “neat” it doesn’t mean you get an entire glass full of booze. While your drink might come in a glass larger than a shot glass it doesn’t mean it will be more than a shot.
When you order a drink (with only one liquor) it should contain 1 shot. If you order a double it should contain 2 shots and you will be charged for 2 shots – double the amount of the original drink. In Vegas one shot of booze costs an average of $9 – order a double and that’s $18.
My personal favorite is when people order a shot and then ask for a side of ice and a side of coke/juice so they can make their own drink.
Haha, I love it when waiters and bartenders think customers should conform to some ideal behavioral paradigm. The reality is that in North America, the restaurant industry offers unsanitary food at unreasonable markup from uppity servers. No thanks — I’ll eat at home. You clowns have ruined the experience. And even the title of this website is offensive to customers. You want 20%? … then earn it.
Barney,
Sorry you are offended by things like website names, but I believe one of the main points of this site is in fact to teach servers how to EARN 20%.
Please do eat at home, doesn’t seem like you would be to pleasant to wait on anyway.
My website address has changed, so the link under my byline is no longer effectual. New address http://www.howrc.com Thanks! God bless!
I have changed the link on your byline to reflect the new web address.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Heather Downey, Tip20.com. Tip20.com said: Whiskey No Ice is a Shot – Not a Glass Full of Liquor http://bit.ly/dou3jv [...]