Introduction
Bartenders are often seen as the life of the party, but they can also be guilty of telling a few white lies to their customers. From exaggerating the quality of a drink to making up stories about the bar’s history, bartenders have been known to stretch the truth. In this article, we’ll explore 8 lies that bartenders admit to telling customers. We’ll look at why they tell these lies, and how customers can spot them. So, if you’re looking for a more honest experience at the bar, read on to find out what bartenders are really up to.
8 Lies That Bartenders Admit to Telling Customers
Bartenders are often seen as the life of the party, but they can also be the source of some pretty big lies. From telling customers that their drinks are free to claiming that a certain drink is the best, bartenders have been known to stretch the truth in order to make a sale. Here are 8 lies that bartenders admit to telling customers.
1. Your Drink is Free
This is one of the most common lies that bartenders tell customers. They may tell customers that their drinks are free in order to get them to stay longer or to encourage them to buy more drinks. While it may seem like a harmless lie, it can lead to customers over-consuming alcohol and getting into trouble.
2. This Drink is the Best
Bartenders may tell customers that a certain drink is the best in order to get them to buy it. While it may be true that the drink is good, it may not be the best. Bartenders may also exaggerate the taste of a drink in order to make it sound more appealing.
3. We Have the Best Prices
Bartenders may tell customers that they have the best prices in order to get them to buy more drinks. While it may be true that the prices are good, they may not be the best. Bartenders may also exaggerate the prices in order to make them sound more appealing.
4. We Have the Best Selection
Bartenders may tell customers that they have the best selection of drinks in order to get them to buy more. While it may be true that the selection is good, it may not be the best. Bartenders may also exaggerate the selection in order to make it sound more appealing.
5. We Have the Best Service
Bartenders may tell customers that they have the best service in order to get them to stay longer. While it may be true that the service is good, it may not be the best. Bartenders may also exaggerate the service in order to make it sound more appealing.
6. We Have the Best Drinks
Bartenders may tell customers that they have the best drinks in order to get them to buy more. While it may be true that the drinks are good, they may not be the best. Bartenders may also exaggerate the taste of the drinks in order to make them sound more appealing.
7. We Have the Best Atmosphere
Bartenders may tell customers that they have the best atmosphere in order to get them to stay longer. While it may be true that the atmosphere is good, it may not be the best. Bartenders may also exaggerate the atmosphere in order to make it sound more appealing.
8. We Have the Best Music
Bartenders may tell customers that they have the best music in order to get them to stay longer. While it may be true that the music is good, it may not be the best. Bartenders may also exaggerate the music in order to make it sound more appealing.
Bartenders may tell customers a lot of lies in order to make a sale. While some of these lies may be harmless, others can be dangerous. It’s important to be aware of the lies that bartenders tell in order to make sure that you don’t get taken advantage of.
Bartenders have quite the demanding job. Not only do they have to know how to prepare dozens of different drinks—and quickly, at that—and how to manage all sorts of hardware, from taps to cash registers to soda guns to blenders and on it goes, but they also have to put up with their clientele. And dealing with people for hours on end can be challenging enough even when they’re not getting progressively more inebriated as the evening wears on. Who can blame them if they tell a few well-intentioned lies?
On the other hand, bartenders can make a lot of money. With tips factored in, according to CNBC, bartenders in busy locations can clear more than $500 in a single weekend evening, in fact. The best way to rake in the tips is probably the efficient delivery of well-made drinks, but the other best way for bartenders to earn a few extra bucks is to engage with their customers in a way that makes said patrons feel good about being there. Which, in many cases, means simply lying to the patron.
And in other cases, bartenders may bend the truth for other reasons, too, such as to cut off an unruly drinker or to get out of an undesirable duty. We found plenty of examples of lies bartenders admit to telling from all those categories and more.
Sometimes, a bartender just doesn’t want to make a complex, multi-step drink. Maybe it’s a rush time and your order will take too long, maybe they’re just tired, or maybe you’ve annoyed them somehow, but per Saucey, often if a bartender tells you they are all out of an ingredient needed for your order, that could be a fib.
Lots of bartenders do indeed love their work, but most struggle with it at least on occasion, and some have issues with their jobs most of the time. According to many bartenders who shared on a comment thread in the r/bartenders subreddit on Reddit, many bartenders question the morality of their work, feeling like enablers for people with alcohol abuse issues.
It is a bartender’s solemn responsibility not to overserve a customer who has consumed too much alcohol and most bartenders have no problem cutting a patron off when they reach that point. What one bartender who shared on an ETNT Facebook poll admitted was that sometimes bartenders will cut a person off even if they don’t seem overly drunk just because they want them to leave.
Except that just about every bartender does indeed judge people based on their orders, according to input a few dozen bartenders shared with Business Insider. One went so far as to say: “You can tell what type of person someone is by their drink order in specific bars.”
If a bartender engages you in conversation regularly over the course of your stay at the establishment, there is always a chance he or she is just enjoying talking to you. But, according to Insider, it’s more likely the case that the bartender is engaging with you simply so you’ll order more and tip bigger, using the chats to build a sense of relationship and to better gauge how to most gainfully interact with you.
Tending bar is difficult, demanding enough work when a person is completely sober; doing it under the influence of alcohol is a recipe for disaster. (And grounds for termination in many instances.) But instead of flatly rejecting customers who ask to share a drink with their bartender, many times the man or woman behind the bar will fake it instead. One bartender shared on Facebook how she used to keep a liquor bottle filled with iced tea behind the bar and would do shots of the tea whenever a customer asked her to share a drink.
That’s a direct quote from someone who responded to the Eat This Not That! survey, and it’s a clever tactic to prevent an unwanted person from entering the bar while saving the bartender from having to actually shut things down for the night. Now, if the unwanted patron sees someone else get in, then things may backfire.
Most bartenders would never pass off cheap liquor in place of the higher quality, higher priced option a customer ordered, and in fact, most bartenders are outraged by those who do, per our perusal of many Reddit comments. But it does happen. Unscrupulous barmen will indeed bill for top-tier booze while making that old-fashioned, margarita, or gin fizz with the cheap stuff. If they get caught, it can mean their job or even a contract with a supplier, though.
Steven John