Rave: Getting hooked up at bars

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Last night I went out for my g/f's friend's bday. It was pretty sweet. Had a couple pitchers of beer and bought a couple shots for the bday girl and had a pizza and some salads. When I got the ticket, it was about a third of what I expected. I looked at it and there were 1) No shots 2) 2 pitchers were left off 3) a salad was left off. I told the guy making sure he didn't put it on the wrong ticket or anything and he just said he took care of it. F-in sweet. A 90 ticket was actually 38. I gave him a mundo tip.

Seriously, best idea ever. Why more people don't do this, I'll never know. It's not like the pizza place didn't make money and he made a [expletive] load of it. Plus it just makes me want to go back....

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Last night I went out for my g/f's friend's bday. It was pretty sweet. Had a couple pitchers of beer and bought a couple shots for the bday girl and had a pizza and some salads. When I got the ticket, it was about a third of what I expected. I looked at it and there were 1) No shots 2) 2 pitchers were left off 3) a salad was left off. I told the guy making sure he didn't put it on the wrong ticket or anything and he just said he took care of it. F-in sweet. A 90 ticket was actually 38. I gave him a mundo tip.

Seriously, best idea ever. Why more people don't do this, I'll never know. It's not like the pizza place didn't make money and he made a [expletive] load of it. Plus it just makes me want to go back....

I'm new to the bartending thing, but yes, I do this. You just have to gauge the person you're hooking up and whether or not they'll leave a good tip.

[Leroy]

I've never heard that term used that way.

[cards2468]

I've never heard that term used that way.

yea, the title was very misleading...

[heyzeus]

I think the reason more waiters don't do that is because yes, the establishment is losing money off that transaction, and the waiter will be fired if it's discovered. A good manager will notice that his invoice expenses aren't matching his register receipts.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I don't know about that. I used to hook people up all the time and it still seemed ridiculous how much the bar was making. Bottles of rail booze are pretty inexpensive and they're selling the shots for $5 a pop and there are 18 shots in a bottle....you only need to charge for 4 shots to roughly double what you paid for the booze and cheap mixers. Same with kegs....sell about 12-15 pitchers and you've paid for the keg. Obviously that doesn't take into account any overhead costs. But, you get the idea.

The guy I worked for was a lifer in the restaurant biz and never said anything to me. Of course, I worked for tips and he didn't pay me so he might have figured I was going to give a little bit away. ONe thing is for sure, you don't want to get caught giving away too much.

[phins]

I don't know about that. I used to hook people up all the time and it still seemed ridiculous how much the bar was making. Bottles of rail booze are pretty inexpensive and they're selling the shots for $5 a pop and there are 18 shots in a bottle....you only need to charge for 4 shots to roughly double what you paid for the booze and cheap mixers. Same with kegs....sell about 12-15 pitchers and you've paid for the keg. Obviously that doesn't take into account any overhead costs. But, you get the idea.

The guy I worked for was a lifer in the restaurant biz and never said anything to me. Of course, I worked for tips and he didn't pay me so he might have figured I was going to give a little bit away. ONe thing is for sure, you don't want to get caught giving away too much.

You'd be shocked at the amount of overhead. There's a reason bars and restaurants change about as often as JC changes his "undershirt"

[haltz]

Most waiters don't do it because you make less money killing your cover averages for people that aren't paying attention. You're better off getting the bill as high as you can every time and giving good service.

Bartending is different for whatever reason. People think that's part of it and will overtip if they notice free stuff. Some people will, anyway. Mostly it's just an industry thing, where you'll find groups of bartenders that frequent each other's bars not having to pay for much of anything.

Part of it is that it's simply not possible for servers, at a lot of restaurants. Try and get a steak or a jack and coke without a ticket. Not going to happen. Hooking up someone's cup of coffee isn't going to get you very far.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Most waiters don't do it because you make less money killing your cover averages for people that aren't paying attention. You're better off getting the bill as high as you can every time and giving good service.

Bartending is different for whatever reason. People think that's part of it and will overtip if they notice free stuff. Some people will, anyway. Mostly it's just an industry thing, where you'll find groups of bartenders that frequent each other's bars not having to pay for much of anything.

Part of it is that it's simply not possible for servers, at a lot of restaurants. Try and get a steak or a jack and coke without a ticket. Not going to happen. Hooking up someone's cup of coffee isn't going to get you very far.

I think you pretty much nailed it. I usually won't make anything for servers if it's not on a ticket. Bartenders notice who is nice with their tip outs and those who give the minimum. If a group of people sit at a table in my section that look like they're gonna have a few drinks apiece, when I take the drink order I often times tell them the first round is on me. More often than not, they tip me what the drinks would have cost them.

[Radbird]

Just when I get the latest meaning of "hooked up" down pat, it changes again.