Overlooked pet peeves at bars (consumer standpoint)

That's up to establishment/owner. When I ask for a taste, I mean a taste, not a 4 oz pour.

 

You need a deeper V!

 

But how much...certainly it is up to the bar....but how much beer is needed to give a proper feel for its taste and even aroma (which is a big part of the experience for me)?

 

If not charging, an ounce is enough for me to make my mind for my next round & or future reference.

 

At a local restaurant & we are having one at the bar before dinner. I order EBC blizzard & the bartender brings it in a frozen pint glass. I said "wish you would have told me it came in a frozen glass". Without speaking the bartender takes the drink pours it from the frozen glass into a non frozen pint, hands it back & walks away. When our table was ready for dinner I told the hostess to add the drink tab to our dinner tab & left no tip at the bar.

 

Whats the problem with street parking? In some neighborhoods its all that exists.

 

I don't know if it's been said, but I really can't stand the Domestic/ Import distinction, because (on most American menus anyway) Domestic means BMC + Yuengling or sometimes Sam Adams. Then, even worse, the "Imported" list sometimes contains Domestic Craft brews...

I think the menus should just do away with the "Domestic" title, unless all domestic beers are listed therein, including craft beers. Otherwise, call it "BMC (crap)" and "Craft"

 

IIRC, any time I've requested a free taster, it's about 1 oz, 1 or 2 swallows. As russpowell said, that should be enough to clue you in on whether you want it. If you need to do the whole aroma/appearance/mouthfeel etc then buy a sample or ask if they serve short pours (10 oz.)

 

wow who does that?

 

Interesting. So...a shot glass full. Ok. Im not much of a sample person. If Im trying something new, I tend to just make the commitment...but I understand if people want to be careful where there money is going. And 1oz seems a fair request. Again, my local does he 1oz and most folks are fine with it, but Ive seen some make a face...to whom I would say, dont look a gift taste in the mouth.

 

A couple local brew pubs do it. If you push and tell them that you don't want a bunch of taster, you want to buy pints, and want to know what it tastes like before hand you can usually get them to give you a sample. One of the two is getting much better, or maybe they just know that I am going to want to sample the new stuff. The other one may have lost my business as it does the whole taster thing, always has new waitresses that know nothing about beer, makes mediocre beers, and has the whole stinky soap that won't wash off that I referenced in my first posting. Not really worth it when there are so many other better places in town and still growing.

 

they choose for you? wow I never seen that before. sad.

 

Sometimes I fear the commitment especially now that I don't go out as much. I try to make every pint meaningful. Any more if it's a new (to me) brewpub, I just get the sampler & order follow-on pints of worthy beers.

 

I would have been happy that the bartender poured in a not frozen glass. What am I missing?

 

For most complaints, I would agree. However since the bar I'm talking about that doesn't give tasters is not only the best beer bar in the city, but probably top 3 in the country and top 10 in the world, not patronizing it would hurt me a hell of a lot more than it would hurt them. Especially considering their bottle list is far more extensive and interesting than their typical draft list, outside of special events, so the unavailability of tasters is rarely going to affect my trips there.

 

Besides the fact that that little move would oxidize the hell out of the beer, it's just plain rude to pull a stunt like that without saying a word and assume that you'll be okay with it. I'd be pissed too.

 

10 minutes is overly generous, in my opinion (unless there are mitigating circumstances). Next time stare at your watch for 5 full minutes while seated at the bar and see how long... long... long it takes to reach 5. For me, also, I would consider a greeting or other acknowledgment to count, especially if busy. What is horrible is being entirely ignored for the 10 minutes. Many successful chains have guidelines about maximum time before a table or patron is greeted, so it's almost a necessary part of many servers' training. This is a sort of established norm for service that is clearly set in place by the service industry itself, not impatient customers.

 

I know I'm being kinda picky but everything else was already taken.

To answer your question, though, oftentimes there is nothing wrong with street parking. Plenty of times, though, street parking is restricted to "by permit only" or by the day of the week or even time of the day or the valets for the swanky restaurant three doors down are commandeering 3 spaces right out front or else parking is just plain limited because it's a busy neighborhood.

There are some places I frequent, too, where I have to parallel park on a busy street while cars are waiting for me and/or cars are whizzing by at 40MPH while I'm trying to maneuver into a tight spot. Not a huge deal. But then I get out of my car and the meter wants my credit card and it wants to charge me $2 and it'll only give me an hour at a time (whether I want 15mins or 4hrs). A lot of little annoyances like that attributed to street parking add up to me not liking street parking.

Then you go to a place with a nice, big lot with plenty of spaces and it's a breath of fresh air. Again, I know I'm being picky and I realize this is coming off a little ranty, but hey you asked.

 

IMHO he should have told me beforehand about the frozen glass & he should have taken the frozen pint & replaced it with a fresh beer in a room temp pint & not act in silence

 

Yes, taster is 7 beers, 4-5 of the base house beers (blonde, wheat, pale, red), the 2 of the non entry like the IPA, and the seasonal. One offs are not included.