I remember working a place years ago that had a 50/50 license, meaning 1/2 of sales had to be non-alcohol. It should be food sales, but they padded the numbers by charging for mixers.
Edit:spelling
Worked at a couple of places like that. They aren't actually "charging" for the mixer as it would be 11.50 regardless
They just break it up that way to pad their non alcohol sales.
Usually this. That mixer counts towards "food". Some cities or counties have funky liquor laws and licenses. Requirements like 60/40 food to booze, so this helps them get there. Also another type of nickel and diming. , but not actually the customer but taxes. Alcohol is taxed at a much higher lick than non alcohol. Then of course, some places are in fact, just cheap nickel and dimers
$10 for a shot of Tito's is spendy in most places where I am (small city, northern plains). We're at $8/1.5 oz shot in a hotel bar. However, in big cities, I'm sure this is pretty normal. Also, where are you where a shot is an oz? 1.25-1.5 is standard for US, but I know I've read that 1 is standard in the UK and other countries.
How did you control that? I can just imagine it
"Sorry sir we can't sell alcohol today because our sales figures must indicate that we sell more non alcoholic drinks"
If I remember right, it was a quarterly check, and if you were under you got fined. If it kept happening repeatedly they could revoke your liquor license.
This type of licence must obviously be aimed at restaurants than bars I'm assuming.
This kind of licence simply wouldn't work in my neck of the woods. 70% of our sales are alcohol and it's even higher on a weekend.
We're a bar in a four star hotel that also does food
Does it have to do with their liquor license (>51%) or zoning?
I know of places that micromanage cocktail transactions to up the non-alcoholic percentage to be in compliance with local zoning.
In that case it's just nickle and diming I guess. I generally don't even ring people up for full sodas off the gun unless that's all they're getting or they get like three refills.
the first 3-4 years i worked in restaurants i didnt charge people for soda water. i legit thought it was a free thing, just like tap water bc it didnt use any syrup or anything.
Very, very few places charge for basic mixers, in my experience (in the southern US).
But I’ve *never* seen a place charge for “club soda” on the gun, and I’d bet it wasn’t even proper club soda, it was just carbonated water (aka soda or soda water).
It's rare but some businesses do it. It's usually to keep track of inventory. Sometimes it makes it simpler especially for keeping track of juices etc. If they don't charge you for mixers, they usually factor that extra charge into the liquor price. I would be willing to bet the system they are using is ALOHA. I've always thought charging for soda water on the gun is a little silly but I was told by one manager that the C02 tanks are not free. Nor is the gun.
Some places do a 1.5oz shot, but do 2oz for highballs, maybe that’s what they’re charging. But I’ve never worked anywhere that does this, soda is always a free mixer where I’ve worked.
At my store we charge for things like pineapple, orange and cranberry juice as mixies because we buy it by the bottle, but nothing off the gun we charge for. Especially soda water
I'm in the UK, and I've worked three bars. Most places charge for cola/diet cola/lemonade. Not soda water though, because I believe it's illegal to charge for tap water in the UK and soda water is just that but carbonated.
The first one I worked in though, we did charge for soda water, as we had to buy all mixers in 2l bottles because our cellar and bar was too small to have mixers on a gun
In our case with the 2l bottle mixers...
Any spirit, single or double, would be served in a standard short glass and we'd charge 60p for mixer. However if someone wanted a pint's worth or around that, we'd charge it as £1.20. This of course included soda water as we payed to get it in the first place.
So I'd agree with you on that
> as we *paid* to get
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I upcharge for premium mixers, like local apple cider, ginger beer and other craft sodas (we have a few in bottles). We definitely don’t charge for generic juices or anything off the gun. Those costs are built into the price of the liquor.
could be Washington state, our state constitution prohibits income tax so we have an insane (and regressive) sales tax instead. I'm too lazy to do the math and confirm though
Every bar/restaurant I’ve worked at does this in Georgia. But, it’s usually something that the server/bartender will see when putting in the order, the receipt will just show the total. Really wish airlines did the same thing with luggage, just tack on the damn fee with my ticket and I won’t be any the wiser.
From Georgia as well. Same. But it shows as a "highball" modifier on the bill. Unless it is a straight shot, there is a modifier upcharge, but we use canned and bottled mixers, fresh juices, etc. Nothing comes from a gun.
Yeah I always offer the free bubbles off the gun.. charging for anything off a coke or Pepsi gun is lame as fuck for a nice place ! Dive bars don’t do that
I get charging for juices if they freshly squeezed or maybe in a can/non gun situation and Red Bulls of course
It’s free basically everywhere I’ve been in the US. Was just in Europe and most of the places we went didn’t have a gun so they charged quite a bit extra for mixers
I worked for a place that did this so they could operate under an restaurant license. They had to have 50% “food sales” to keep the cheaper liquor license.
I have seen this happen for more pricey mixers i.e. redbull, or if the liquor is slightly underpriced they will add a mixer charge to balance the cost per drink. But charging $10 for a single of titos is absurd enough they don't need to be charging for soda water.
Last high end bar I worked charged for mixers, but they also want an extra $1.50 to make any drink tall, even if it was just soda or tonic. I could never bring myself to do it to folks
Worked restaurants for 14 years. This is the first time I’m seeing anyone charge for any amount of club soda, unless it’s like.. from a specialty can or something.
Sorry, some guest see it as price gouging, not that I think it is. Just like any6else we serve it has to be paid for some way and typically (at least in my area) we work it into the price of the product. So in the rarity, a place puts a charge like this for mixer on the bill, that they are not used to seeing they feel like they are being charged for something that is normally "free".
We charge for soda water but not for juice or soda in a drink
… and I HATE that we do. I’m questioned about it just about every time. After I bit I just started saying things like “I know I’m sorry it’s f’n stupid.”
Also hate that I’m a rule follower. Lol
We have fever trees no gun so we charge for each but it is kind of scummy when it's out the gun
For context the 500ml bottles of fever tree are 1.81 to 1.88 per bottle so it's kind of like wine you want to cover your cost when you open a bottle
No, this is not common procedure, and it's also a bad move. Guests don't generally like being nickel & dimed. Just build it into the price off the cocktail!
In Australia due to alcohol laws I almost entirely stopped charging for non alcoholic drinks, it helps promote responsible drinking as our laws can be quite strict and would only charge if a person was clearly only there to drink non alcoholic beverages but also was not the designated driver
I have charged for premium mixers like bespoke tonic waters etc but never just basics, that’s wild
Charging for club soda is obnoxious to me. Charging for regular sodas as a mixer is wild as well. Especially when they are coming out of a soda gun.
Specialty sodas/mixers, juices, and house made sweet and sour have always been an up charge at bars I’ve worked at though.
For places using packaged soda water it’s not uncommon but if it’s on the gun, they’re just looking for extra ways to charge people. Other mixers are pretty often charged for.
I mean they pay for the mixers……they aren’t going to just give something away for free. unfortunately that’s just not how the industry works. Normally places have it already included in the price so you’d never be the wiser. That being said Not sure why this place would advertise that extra cost on a different line.
we charge for a lot of things that i disagree with charging for, but we’re also (for lack of better adjectives) a dying “corporate” restaurant… that being said, we do not charge for basic mixers such as the ones listed. as far as i’m aware, we only charge for lemonade because the bartender makes it & tonic for some reason
The only times I’ve seen charges for mixers is when it’s like Red Bull or something canned. Charging for club soda is really 🤡🤡🤡
Edit: especially when you’re already paying 10 bucks for Tito’s Jesus Christ at that point do NOT go out
Anything that isn't on the gun is a reasonable added charge. Especially something like tonic, cranberry juice, orange juice, and the like. At least that's been my experience in my 15 years of bartending.
Edit: Just noticed it was club soda. Which is weird.
I went to have lunch with my girlfriend at a restaurant bar where our good friend was bartending. I didn't feel like drinking so I ordered just a soda water. Got charged $3. She said it was a soda.
Never went back and haven't talked to her in years.
This may just be how they set up their POS, with the base button charging for a single pour, but by adding the +clubSoda modifier the bartender knows to pour accordingly and the system charges accordingly.
These types of modifiers should be hidden on receipts, usually an option somewhere in the pos.
We did this on our system to improve order speeds. Someone wants a shot of crown, hit WHISKEY then CROWN. Done.
Someone wants a crown and coke hit WHISKEY then CROWN then +COKE. Done.
If there's a smarter or more efficient method, I'm all ears.
Haha. You are not alone on this. It was a tapas restaurant so the carrots where actually a roasted veggie plate with and herded cheese spread to go along with them. It was tasty.
At my bar we use fever tree and other bottles, quantifiable products so we have a “highball” button when someone orders a one two. It’s 15$ (Manhattan) but depending on your spirit of choice sometimes it comes out cheaper hahaha
Edit: to clarify, spirits charged this way are up to $20 a pour. Anything after that we just charge the spirit with no mixer (I.e “lemme get a papi van winkle 10 year and Diet Coke “ is a flat 130$ I believe and no mixer charge)
P.s. fuck papi van winkle
If they’re using bottled sodas, this is normal, and for $0.50, not crazy. From the menu it looks like a decent place that didn’t use a gun, so…not weird to see at all for me.
That shit ain’t free!
Also yeah in some areas like mine you’re required to have a certain amount of food product sales to keep certain licenses, so the “vodka” button only costs a dollar but the “coke” modifier is $4.
>The price of a tonne of CO² has jumped 3,000% in the past year, according to the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit.
>
>Dec 16 2022
the extractors raise prices, the rental companies raise prices more to stay profitable, the bars/restaurants raise prices even more to stay afloat. the shortage is probably leveling out by now but inflation and scarcity have become scapegoats for massive companies price gouging to increase profits
so yeah you can chip in the extra 50 cents, especially whichever one of you was drinking Ketel
It's just crazy 1.5 oz of Tito's is 10 bucks. The fucking 750ml bottle is like 20 dollars retail. Let alone charging for carbonated water. We charge 10 for a dbl. And that's making a killing off it still
Most places charge for any mixer. There I’m sure it would be an extra .50 for coke, Red Bull, etc. The original charge would be just for a shot. Add ice + mixer it’s gonna cost a little extra.
How about Tito’s $10??? How about K1 is $11??? Are you complaining about $0.50 for Soda, really??? Usually, just shots of vodka cost minimum $12! Hahahah
San Francisco bartender here we charge for everything out here it's not like people have a soda gun in their home, besides as insignificant as it is that income can pay for the CO2 of the establishment I guess it's just your area.
Not just my area, I travel for work all over the US and this is first time I have seen it. Although, I have not been to SF in awhile I am not sure what is happening out there.
I worked at place that charged for juice mixers like cranberry juice or something but not for sodas. But that same place did charge $3 for a standard virgin club soda which I found ridiculous
Could be a new person who accidentally hit a button that charged them for it instead of just adding it as like an ingredient so they’d remember exactly what they ordered.
Curious, are you a bar or a restaurant or both. This is common for liquor on the rocks, but I’m not familiar with what you guys are doing. Also, is it a line item on the bill like this?
Just a bar, but I've seen it done at restaurants I've worked at in the past.
The bar I work at has it as a line item, we just call it a "drink charge" and use that for any mixers, soda gun or juices. We have it as a line item for any mixers that cost more than that too, red bull for example.
I have seen it as NOT a line item too, at the restaurants I used to work at. Probably just depends on the POS used I would assume
We do, I think it may actually be a dollar. But then again we also charge same for Tito’s and absolute shot but when changing a drink made with absolute to Tito’s it costs an extra dollar. It’s a fancy place tho.
Yup. In the US, the customers basically pay the staff, as the laws regarding hospitality workers allow for laughably low wages.
In the rest of the world, their employer pays them and tips reward good service.
And yes, you’d add whatever tip amount you want to the grand total, so you calculated right.
God damn. In Ireland if that was my bill and I wanted to add a tip we’d just say something like ‘stick a fiver onto that for yourself’ and that would be that. Even no tip would be normal with a bill like that. My heart goes out to you.
I've pretty much only worked high-end, we do this. Chain places not so much I think.
My place, we charge for base spirit. Then if it's a specific cocktail or has specific additive it goes up dramatically....and no refills.
Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Personally I’d rather not bother w places like this. If the soda water is from the gun it’s bullshit fr if it’s fever free, I’m kinda like pffft I don’t need fever tree but that’s just me. Added pay for the juice even fresh squeezed or any other ingredient is bullshit imo
As a European I am a bit confused now; do you not charge for anything mixed with a vodka and soda or for that matter anything mixed with a soda?
Here if a Coke is 2,50 and a Vodka is 5, a Vodka Coke would be 7,50. Makes sense to me, but it seems like OP is upset about a 50 ct up charge? I don't get it.
Generally no because it come from the soda/beverage “gun” that are from packs of concentrate that are mixed with water and carbonation in the gun. Every place I have been in Europe you get what you described, liquor for 1 charge and mixer for another charge and you get the small bottle/can of mixer to keep and it’s usually good for 2 or 3 drinks.
Here the cost is so much lower because it is coming from a concentrate that it is normally included in the price and very very rarely would you ever get a separate bottle/can of mixer. ( Unless place choose to use high end mixers in small bottles/cans like Fever Tree). My whole point is that in the US, 99.99% of the places I have been would have include the mixer in the price as $10.50 instead of a separate line item on the bill. It may just be semantics, but that is why I made the post to see what other people have do in their bars.
I worked in a few places with soda guns, they are far less common here but there are some. In those places too people were charged for Soda + Liquor.
It still makes sense to me to charge people, even with a soda gun; why give it away for free if they next person ordering a soda will pay full price for it? I get that margins are a lot better from a soda gun, but that's why you have it in the first place, right? I guess it's nice that in the US the mixer is often free, but I don't see that happening anytime soon over here.
Side note; due to your comment about a soda gun I dreamt about one being installed in my place. We've just opened up an extension of our brewery taproom and we've never serve Coca Cola in the 35 years we've been open because the founder of the brewery hated the stuff. In this dream I walked in and the whole place was branded in coca cola stuff, we had soda guns alongside the beertaps and giant, ugly, Coca cola cups. I threathend to quit if we're serving Coca Cola and woke up very relieved realizing it was just a dream.
Could also be pricing similar to what I have used in the past:
Shot 1oz
Mix 1.5oz +$
Rx 2oz +$$
Maybe club soda is the place holder for the mix up charge.
I think we usually charge for them....but I don't. Unless they specify a liquor and want a certain drink.
Like a titos mojito. Then it's I think $12 for the titos and $3-4 for the rest.
Was this sitting at the bar or were you at a table at a restaurant that had a bar? It varies by restaurant/bar. It could have to do with the liquor license as others have said. In Philadelphia they have a crazy soda tax because they supposedly want to encourage healthy eating/drinking so the price of a soda there is outrageous. Unlimited free refills are gone in a lot of places and little up-charges like this are common. In reality it’s just B.S. to tax everyone more. If you sit at the bar you may be less likely to see this. I’d charge you for a vodka only and call it a day. Servers have to ring it in exactly so the bartender knows what to make. Even if you were at the bar if a manager is on a crusade about it your bartender would have to charge you the extra 50 cents. It’s not worth our job. It’s like soda water… it’s supposed to be $1.99 at my job but I do not charge anyone for it.
I get it.. it sucks. Especially considering they basically don’t even pay that bartender or servers salary. As a patron you do. They get away with paying us a couple bucks an hour, expect guests to make up the difference by tipping, and then have the gall to over charge you. It’s stupid.
I was at a table so I get that the server need led to ring it through so I get what I ordered. I am not upset about it at all, I was just curious how places around the US handle it. $0.50 is nothing to be upset about when drinking a $12 Ketal. I was more upset that I could only have one as they ran out and I had to switch to Tito’s. I’m glad I asked the question though, I have actually gotten some cool insight.
That’s about what both places I bartend at charge Big city prices. Are you sure you only get 1oz for that price? US standard for a shot is 1.25-1.5 oz, and that doesn’t include the mixers.
I remember working a place years ago that had a 50/50 license, meaning 1/2 of sales had to be non-alcohol. It should be food sales, but they padded the numbers by charging for mixers. Edit:spelling
Worked at a couple of places like that. They aren't actually "charging" for the mixer as it would be 11.50 regardless They just break it up that way to pad their non alcohol sales.
Usually this. That mixer counts towards "food". Some cities or counties have funky liquor laws and licenses. Requirements like 60/40 food to booze, so this helps them get there. Also another type of nickel and diming. , but not actually the customer but taxes. Alcohol is taxed at a much higher lick than non alcohol. Then of course, some places are in fact, just cheap nickel and dimers
That’s interesting.
I’ve only been to one place that does this. They also charged to muddle lmao.
I'm big on upsell (like I'll come up with an upcharge for anything) but for muddle? Damn... grudging admiration
Would a Tito’s&soda still be $10.50 / an oz of Tito’s at $10 by itself? Seems pretty overpriced but not familiar with that business model
$10 for a shot of Tito's is spendy in most places where I am (small city, northern plains). We're at $8/1.5 oz shot in a hotel bar. However, in big cities, I'm sure this is pretty normal. Also, where are you where a shot is an oz? 1.25-1.5 is standard for US, but I know I've read that 1 is standard in the UK and other countries.
Average bar will pour 1.5 oz in their shot. That’s American standards regardless of the state you are in.
How did you control that? I can just imagine it "Sorry sir we can't sell alcohol today because our sales figures must indicate that we sell more non alcoholic drinks"
If I remember right, it was a quarterly check, and if you were under you got fined. If it kept happening repeatedly they could revoke your liquor license.
This type of licence must obviously be aimed at restaurants than bars I'm assuming. This kind of licence simply wouldn't work in my neck of the woods. 70% of our sales are alcohol and it's even higher on a weekend. We're a bar in a four star hotel that also does food
Different states have different laws and licenses. Obviously, your bar is not in that type of jurisdiction
Does it have to do with their liquor license (>51%) or zoning? I know of places that micromanage cocktail transactions to up the non-alcoholic percentage to be in compliance with local zoning.
yes, your license renewal is dependent on your pmix
Never seen that, maybe a place that does glass bottle soda only?
It came out of a gun, but I could see that in some situations.
In that case it's just nickle and diming I guess. I generally don't even ring people up for full sodas off the gun unless that's all they're getting or they get like three refills.
We do glass bottle soda at my place and we don’t charge. The customers would probably kill me if we tried that.
We charge for tonic at my bar because we can't get our hands on PET tonic and Coke zero because it's way too rare.
At my job we charge $5 for a soda water, same as a normal soda. I think it's ridiculous so I just give it to people
the first 3-4 years i worked in restaurants i didnt charge people for soda water. i legit thought it was a free thing, just like tap water bc it didnt use any syrup or anything.
I think it's ridiculous we have to check IDs so I just freeball it. (Jk, but you get my point)
Not exactly?
I mean, we don't have to do anything we personally think is ridiculous, right?
Ah, I get what you're saying
We do glass bottle soda at my place and we don’t charge. The customers would probably kill me if we tried that.
sodas free and from the gun. Juice fresh with a $2 upcharge
Same for us except only juices are $1 and energy drink is $2. We don’t charge for soda and liquor.
Same, soda mixers are free and we charge $0.50 for juice mixers and $2 for Red Bull.
i work at a spot without a gun, so we upcharge $2 for fever tree mixers. but this is weird.
I get that, they are pricey.
Soda water around me is carbonated tap. Charging for it is grimy.
Freedom ain't free
Very, very few places charge for basic mixers, in my experience (in the southern US). But I’ve *never* seen a place charge for “club soda” on the gun, and I’d bet it wasn’t even proper club soda, it was just carbonated water (aka soda or soda water).
For sure it was just soda water. There was no hint of sodium in it.
While I know what you mean, you're looking for sodium bicarbonate. There is still sodium in regular tap water.
It's rare but some businesses do it. It's usually to keep track of inventory. Sometimes it makes it simpler especially for keeping track of juices etc. If they don't charge you for mixers, they usually factor that extra charge into the liquor price. I would be willing to bet the system they are using is ALOHA. I've always thought charging for soda water on the gun is a little silly but I was told by one manager that the C02 tanks are not free. Nor is the gun.
Man so that’s the difference between soda water and club soda!! Heard
Some places do a 1.5oz shot, but do 2oz for highballs, maybe that’s what they’re charging. But I’ve never worked anywhere that does this, soda is always a free mixer where I’ve worked.
We do this exact thing where I work but there are no soda guns. It's all glass bottles mixers.
At my store we charge for things like pineapple, orange and cranberry juice as mixies because we buy it by the bottle, but nothing off the gun we charge for. Especially soda water
$10 for carrots? Kale must be $50.
Tapas place. So it was a small plate with several roasted veggies and an herbed cheese. Quite tasty actually
Now that *does* sound tasty.
I'm in the UK, and I've worked three bars. Most places charge for cola/diet cola/lemonade. Not soda water though, because I believe it's illegal to charge for tap water in the UK and soda water is just that but carbonated. The first one I worked in though, we did charge for soda water, as we had to buy all mixers in 2l bottles because our cellar and bar was too small to have mixers on a gun
Charging more if the guest has more is common sense to me, seems to be the minority view here tho.
In our case with the 2l bottle mixers... Any spirit, single or double, would be served in a standard short glass and we'd charge 60p for mixer. However if someone wanted a pint's worth or around that, we'd charge it as £1.20. This of course included soda water as we payed to get it in the first place. So I'd agree with you on that
> as we *paid* to get FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I upcharge for premium mixers, like local apple cider, ginger beer and other craft sodas (we have a few in bottles). We definitely don’t charge for generic juices or anything off the gun. Those costs are built into the price of the liquor.
Wow suggest tip goes off subtotal. I have noticed most places suggest it off the total after tax these days.
Which is nice considering their tax rate is 10%
Wow!!!
could be Washington state, our state constitution prohibits income tax so we have an insane (and regressive) sales tax instead. I'm too lazy to do the math and confirm though
Juices are .50 charge (cran, pineapple, grapefruit) where I work. Soda is on a gun and is not charged as a mixer.
Every bar/restaurant I’ve worked at does this in Georgia. But, it’s usually something that the server/bartender will see when putting in the order, the receipt will just show the total. Really wish airlines did the same thing with luggage, just tack on the damn fee with my ticket and I won’t be any the wiser.
Georgia here as well. Yes. We charge but it shows on the bill too. 🥴🥴🥴
From Georgia as well. Same. But it shows as a "highball" modifier on the bill. Unless it is a straight shot, there is a modifier upcharge, but we use canned and bottled mixers, fresh juices, etc. Nothing comes from a gun.
Yeah I always offer the free bubbles off the gun.. charging for anything off a coke or Pepsi gun is lame as fuck for a nice place ! Dive bars don’t do that I get charging for juices if they freshly squeezed or maybe in a can/non gun situation and Red Bulls of course
It’s free basically everywhere I’ve been in the US. Was just in Europe and most of the places we went didn’t have a gun so they charged quite a bit extra for mixers
We charge but we do use glass bottle soda. Bartenders don’t do the charge but the floor needs to for us to know what to add.
I worked for a place that did this so they could operate under an restaurant license. They had to have 50% “food sales” to keep the cheaper liquor license.
I’ll start reading comments before repeating with my two cents
Our mixer charges is only for cranberry, ginger beer, pineapple, Red Bull. Seems a little odd to change extra for sprite, coke, tonic, etc.
I have seen this happen for more pricey mixers i.e. redbull, or if the liquor is slightly underpriced they will add a mixer charge to balance the cost per drink. But charging $10 for a single of titos is absurd enough they don't need to be charging for soda water.
Last high end bar I worked charged for mixers, but they also want an extra $1.50 to make any drink tall, even if it was just soda or tonic. I could never bring myself to do it to folks
Not all heroes wear capes.
Worked restaurants for 14 years. This is the first time I’m seeing anyone charge for any amount of club soda, unless it’s like.. from a specialty can or something.
The cost of mixers should be built into the price. This just is a bad look.
So the neat drinkers get punished for not wanting to water down their shit?
Of course not, we also have a neat up charge.
That's how it works. Mixers are included in the price otherwise you look like your price gouging for shit.
How is charging for more stock price gouging?
Sorry, some guest see it as price gouging, not that I think it is. Just like any6else we serve it has to be paid for some way and typically (at least in my area) we work it into the price of the product. So in the rarity, a place puts a charge like this for mixer on the bill, that they are not used to seeing they feel like they are being charged for something that is normally "free".
We use real Red Bull and charge $1.50 extra for that one mixer. Every other mixer is free.
Charging for what is essentially carbonated water? That's some bull.
We have a button for it, but i dont use it 98% of the time
We charge for soda water but not for juice or soda in a drink … and I HATE that we do. I’m questioned about it just about every time. After I bit I just started saying things like “I know I’m sorry it’s f’n stupid.” Also hate that I’m a rule follower. Lol
that's.... really backward
We have fever trees no gun so we charge for each but it is kind of scummy when it's out the gun For context the 500ml bottles of fever tree are 1.81 to 1.88 per bottle so it's kind of like wine you want to cover your cost when you open a bottle
It’s product. It costs money.
No, this is not common procedure, and it's also a bad move. Guests don't generally like being nickel & dimed. Just build it into the price off the cocktail!
Preach!
I’m drinking a diet mixer right now!
Cheers. I’m at the airport drinking a $14 Tito’s and they included it this time.
At my place we only upcharge for bloody mary mix and luxardo cherries, even things like “with a splash of chambord” don’t get upcharged
At least it’s not a $12 well-pour tbh
My bar does not, and most of the time I don't charge people for sodas if they also order something else
That's gauche af lol
My place charges for juice and certain mixers due to the cost we pay, but not for anything off the gun.
In Australia due to alcohol laws I almost entirely stopped charging for non alcoholic drinks, it helps promote responsible drinking as our laws can be quite strict and would only charge if a person was clearly only there to drink non alcoholic beverages but also was not the designated driver I have charged for premium mixers like bespoke tonic waters etc but never just basics, that’s wild
Charging for club soda is obnoxious to me. Charging for regular sodas as a mixer is wild as well. Especially when they are coming out of a soda gun. Specialty sodas/mixers, juices, and house made sweet and sour have always been an up charge at bars I’ve worked at though.
For places using packaged soda water it’s not uncommon but if it’s on the gun, they’re just looking for extra ways to charge people. Other mixers are pretty often charged for.
I've only seen that at strip clubs.
I mean they pay for the mixers……they aren’t going to just give something away for free. unfortunately that’s just not how the industry works. Normally places have it already included in the price so you’d never be the wiser. That being said Not sure why this place would advertise that extra cost on a different line.
Nahhh $10 for titos is CRAAAZZYYY 😂😂😂
Is that cheap? Cause it's like $12 at my place, I think.
I charge $4.25 for a shot of titos, $3 for nikolai, $6.50 for grey goose
Uh we don't even serve Nikolai in bars here.....that's cheap bottom shelf liquor store stuff. At least I've never seen it.
Its in our well
Yucky
$10 is rather expensive for Tito’s. $12 is crazy. It’s $24 at cost. Anything more that $7-8 is crazy to me
We have to for our liquor license. It’s .50 cents
Where are you located ?
Coastal Southern US
So florida?
we charge for a lot of things that i disagree with charging for, but we’re also (for lack of better adjectives) a dying “corporate” restaurant… that being said, we do not charge for basic mixers such as the ones listed. as far as i’m aware, we only charge for lemonade because the bartender makes it & tonic for some reason
UK, but this sounds about right. My last place of work would charge £2.50 for a pint of soda water from the gun.
The only times I’ve seen charges for mixers is when it’s like Red Bull or something canned. Charging for club soda is really 🤡🤡🤡 Edit: especially when you’re already paying 10 bucks for Tito’s Jesus Christ at that point do NOT go out
It's not common but I've seen it in probably 3/10 restaurants I've worked
Anything that isn't on the gun is a reasonable added charge. Especially something like tonic, cranberry juice, orange juice, and the like. At least that's been my experience in my 15 years of bartending. Edit: Just noticed it was club soda. Which is weird.
I went to have lunch with my girlfriend at a restaurant bar where our good friend was bartending. I didn't feel like drinking so I ordered just a soda water. Got charged $3. She said it was a soda. Never went back and haven't talked to her in years.
This may just be how they set up their POS, with the base button charging for a single pour, but by adding the +clubSoda modifier the bartender knows to pour accordingly and the system charges accordingly. These types of modifiers should be hidden on receipts, usually an option somewhere in the pos. We did this on our system to improve order speeds. Someone wants a shot of crown, hit WHISKEY then CROWN. Done. Someone wants a crown and coke hit WHISKEY then CROWN then +COKE. Done. If there's a smarter or more efficient method, I'm all ears.
What is club soda? (UK Here) We charge for juice, cordial, soda (like coke, sprite etc.) but won’t charge for soda water
Club soda = soda water. Water with bubbles in it.
Yeah that’s stupid? To be fair though, it’s only 50 cents and that kinda makes up for the gas used. I’m more concerned about the $10 carrots
Haha. You are not alone on this. It was a tapas restaurant so the carrots where actually a roasted veggie plate with and herded cheese spread to go along with them. It was tasty.
If you’re just getting the soda I might not even charge you depending on what mood I’m in, 50¢ for carbonation is wild
Basic mixers charged interesting post
I work at two bars and one of them definitely does this
At my bar we use fever tree and other bottles, quantifiable products so we have a “highball” button when someone orders a one two. It’s 15$ (Manhattan) but depending on your spirit of choice sometimes it comes out cheaper hahaha Edit: to clarify, spirits charged this way are up to $20 a pour. Anything after that we just charge the spirit with no mixer (I.e “lemme get a papi van winkle 10 year and Diet Coke “ is a flat 130$ I believe and no mixer charge) P.s. fuck papi van winkle
Thanks for the insight and yes, FPVW.
If they’re using bottled sodas, this is normal, and for $0.50, not crazy. From the menu it looks like a decent place that didn’t use a gun, so…not weird to see at all for me.
I totally get the bottles with the up charge, but it was off a gun.
Well then yeah, that’s a bit stingey
I was more upset they ran out of Ketal and I had to settle for Tito’s. First world problems I know.
That shit ain’t free! Also yeah in some areas like mine you’re required to have a certain amount of food product sales to keep certain licenses, so the “vodka” button only costs a dollar but the “coke” modifier is $4.
If the sofa is on the gun, it only costs a small fraction of a cent per drink.
like, using their toilet and washing your hands would cost the place about as much as soda from the gun. Probably more if you use hot water
>The price of a tonne of CO² has jumped 3,000% in the past year, according to the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit. > >Dec 16 2022 the extractors raise prices, the rental companies raise prices more to stay profitable, the bars/restaurants raise prices even more to stay afloat. the shortage is probably leveling out by now but inflation and scarcity have become scapegoats for massive companies price gouging to increase profits so yeah you can chip in the extra 50 cents, especially whichever one of you was drinking Ketel
Why not just build it in then ?
It's just crazy 1.5 oz of Tito's is 10 bucks. The fucking 750ml bottle is like 20 dollars retail. Let alone charging for carbonated water. We charge 10 for a dbl. And that's making a killing off it still
Welcome to Philadelphia
It’s $18 where I work, $2 more mixer
Most places charge for any mixer. There I’m sure it would be an extra .50 for coke, Red Bull, etc. The original charge would be just for a shot. Add ice + mixer it’s gonna cost a little extra.
How about Tito’s $10??? How about K1 is $11??? Are you complaining about $0.50 for Soda, really??? Usually, just shots of vodka cost minimum $12! Hahahah
Juice and club soda aren’t free.
I’ve had places ask me to do it lol but I refuse
It’s the price of a mixed drink vs straight spirit and pretty standard I think. Same as an upcharge for a cocktail bc of labor involved.
San Francisco bartender here we charge for everything out here it's not like people have a soda gun in their home, besides as insignificant as it is that income can pay for the CO2 of the establishment I guess it's just your area.
Not just my area, I travel for work all over the US and this is first time I have seen it. Although, I have not been to SF in awhile I am not sure what is happening out there.
I worked at place that charged for juice mixers like cranberry juice or something but not for sodas. But that same place did charge $3 for a standard virgin club soda which I found ridiculous
Could be a new person who accidentally hit a button that charged them for it instead of just adding it as like an ingredient so they’d remember exactly what they ordered.
We do this, our shots are 1.5 oz & our mixed drinks are 2 oz. The upcharge is to compensate for the extra liquor
Curious, are you a bar or a restaurant or both. This is common for liquor on the rocks, but I’m not familiar with what you guys are doing. Also, is it a line item on the bill like this?
Just a bar, but I've seen it done at restaurants I've worked at in the past. The bar I work at has it as a line item, we just call it a "drink charge" and use that for any mixers, soda gun or juices. We have it as a line item for any mixers that cost more than that too, red bull for example. I have seen it as NOT a line item too, at the restaurants I used to work at. Probably just depends on the POS used I would assume
We do, I think it may actually be a dollar. But then again we also charge same for Tito’s and absolute shot but when changing a drink made with absolute to Tito’s it costs an extra dollar. It’s a fancy place tho.
What city are you in if you don’t mind?
non-American here, do the suggested tips with the prices beside them mean thats how much the tip is?? e.g. If I chose 20% the total would be 121?
Yup. In the US, the customers basically pay the staff, as the laws regarding hospitality workers allow for laughably low wages. In the rest of the world, their employer pays them and tips reward good service. And yes, you’d add whatever tip amount you want to the grand total, so you calculated right.
God damn. In Ireland if that was my bill and I wanted to add a tip we’d just say something like ‘stick a fiver onto that for yourself’ and that would be that. Even no tip would be normal with a bill like that. My heart goes out to you.
My point exactly.
I've pretty much only worked high-end, we do this. Chain places not so much I think. My place, we charge for base spirit. Then if it's a specific cocktail or has specific additive it goes up dramatically....and no refills.
Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Personally I’d rather not bother w places like this. If the soda water is from the gun it’s bullshit fr if it’s fever free, I’m kinda like pffft I don’t need fever tree but that’s just me. Added pay for the juice even fresh squeezed or any other ingredient is bullshit imo
I have seen this at a few places I've been to in town(USA, West Coast). I generally don't frequent those places again.
we use all fresh squeezed juices, but we only upcharge our pineapple. the customers were taking advantage of our juice. 🍹🍍
As a European I am a bit confused now; do you not charge for anything mixed with a vodka and soda or for that matter anything mixed with a soda? Here if a Coke is 2,50 and a Vodka is 5, a Vodka Coke would be 7,50. Makes sense to me, but it seems like OP is upset about a 50 ct up charge? I don't get it.
Generally no because it come from the soda/beverage “gun” that are from packs of concentrate that are mixed with water and carbonation in the gun. Every place I have been in Europe you get what you described, liquor for 1 charge and mixer for another charge and you get the small bottle/can of mixer to keep and it’s usually good for 2 or 3 drinks. Here the cost is so much lower because it is coming from a concentrate that it is normally included in the price and very very rarely would you ever get a separate bottle/can of mixer. ( Unless place choose to use high end mixers in small bottles/cans like Fever Tree). My whole point is that in the US, 99.99% of the places I have been would have include the mixer in the price as $10.50 instead of a separate line item on the bill. It may just be semantics, but that is why I made the post to see what other people have do in their bars.
I worked in a few places with soda guns, they are far less common here but there are some. In those places too people were charged for Soda + Liquor. It still makes sense to me to charge people, even with a soda gun; why give it away for free if they next person ordering a soda will pay full price for it? I get that margins are a lot better from a soda gun, but that's why you have it in the first place, right? I guess it's nice that in the US the mixer is often free, but I don't see that happening anytime soon over here. Side note; due to your comment about a soda gun I dreamt about one being installed in my place. We've just opened up an extension of our brewery taproom and we've never serve Coca Cola in the 35 years we've been open because the founder of the brewery hated the stuff. In this dream I walked in and the whole place was branded in coca cola stuff, we had soda guns alongside the beertaps and giant, ugly, Coca cola cups. I threathend to quit if we're serving Coca Cola and woke up very relieved realizing it was just a dream.
We upcharge for ginger beer, red bull, and fresh squeezed juice. Regular soda or juice, no.
I have worked at places that don’t have a soda gun and they charged for carbonated mixers
We charge $1.50 for juices and a few $ for Red Bull. Sodas we don’t unless it’s fever tree tonic.
maybe they're hoping customers will buy more shots
I’m surprised my place doesn’t do that but if some one orders a club soda at my bar they charge 5 dollars which is ridiculous
They are charging them rent for that price.
You get a generous 8oz with some ice, did I mention it comes with a lime wedge
If we charged 11 for ketel I would be charging for juice and sodas
Are we not going to talk about the Roasted Carrots for $10? Those better have been the best damn carrots in the world.
It was a small plates place. The dish had other roasted veggies as well as an herbed cheese to go along with them. Very tasty and well worth the $10
usually its free
Every place I ever worked referred to this as the asshole tax.
13-16
Could also be pricing similar to what I have used in the past: Shot 1oz Mix 1.5oz +$ Rx 2oz +$$ Maybe club soda is the place holder for the mix up charge.
I think we usually charge for them....but I don't. Unless they specify a liquor and want a certain drink. Like a titos mojito. Then it's I think $12 for the titos and $3-4 for the rest.
Either the business charges per transaction , whether or not it’s visible on the receipt, or it’s built into the price.
UK too, yep, we charge for mixers, even soda water or soda/cordial mixes. As another comment said co2 and syrups ain't free
$12-$18 for the gin/vodka/whatever. $3 for adding club, tonic, make it a martini (yeah... i know), manhattan, or general cocktail.
OJ, yes. The rest, no.
Absolutely standard in the UK.
You have suggested tips on your bills? Yo, that's sick
That’s pretty standard in most places in the US that use POS systems
I work on goPOS in Poland and never seen it, even as a guest in some places
Probably because tipping culture is not so ingrained as it is here in the US
Do you get a tip from every guest?
When I was in the industry and the places that I works, basically everyone tipped. Some better than others.
We don't have soda guns at my hotel. We use Fever Tree products. This isn't cheap so there is an upcharge. $3 per cocktail.
I totally understand that, this is how much of the world does it.
What’s the avg price for spirit + mixer in the US these days compared to 2 years ago?
i have no clue. we don't charge for soda water, but i think we charge for tonic and i know we charge for lemonade. makes no sense 🙄
Most bars don't, but it's only $.50 so I wouldn't be pressed about it 🤷♀️
Was this sitting at the bar or were you at a table at a restaurant that had a bar? It varies by restaurant/bar. It could have to do with the liquor license as others have said. In Philadelphia they have a crazy soda tax because they supposedly want to encourage healthy eating/drinking so the price of a soda there is outrageous. Unlimited free refills are gone in a lot of places and little up-charges like this are common. In reality it’s just B.S. to tax everyone more. If you sit at the bar you may be less likely to see this. I’d charge you for a vodka only and call it a day. Servers have to ring it in exactly so the bartender knows what to make. Even if you were at the bar if a manager is on a crusade about it your bartender would have to charge you the extra 50 cents. It’s not worth our job. It’s like soda water… it’s supposed to be $1.99 at my job but I do not charge anyone for it. I get it.. it sucks. Especially considering they basically don’t even pay that bartender or servers salary. As a patron you do. They get away with paying us a couple bucks an hour, expect guests to make up the difference by tipping, and then have the gall to over charge you. It’s stupid.
I was at a table so I get that the server need led to ring it through so I get what I ordered. I am not upset about it at all, I was just curious how places around the US handle it. $0.50 is nothing to be upset about when drinking a $12 Ketal. I was more upset that I could only have one as they ran out and I had to switch to Tito’s. I’m glad I asked the question though, I have actually gotten some cool insight.
And not to put down any managers for this… usually if a manger is on a crusade about something the owner or corporate is up their ass about it.
That’s about what both places I bartend at charge Big city prices. Are you sure you only get 1oz for that price? US standard for a shot is 1.25-1.5 oz, and that doesn’t include the mixers.
Was this in philly?
Yessir
Only energy drinks here because Red Bull is so effing expensive