Drink serving etiquette question.

At what point should the bartender inform a guest the price of something that he/she orders? Last night, toward the end of the night, two gentleman ordered shots of Schladerer Pear Brandy and later on seemed baffled when they realized those shots were $8 each. Regardless of whether or not you believe this to be a fair price, do you think I should have informed them of the price before serving the shots? A part of me feels like this can be insulting to a patron...

Curious to hear your thoughts, especially considering all the stories I've been hearing about this sort of thing recently.

-Danny

Having been in this spot recently with a group of friends, it seems that the very best approach is to have a spirits menu with pricing that pretty much lists everything you've got. That way, nothing need be said or asked by anyone on either side of the bar. The downside is probably that maintaining such a menu could be time-consuming or burdensome, especially at a place where the list of offerings is fairly dynamic.

=R=

If the patron calls out a particular pour, I think they should have some idea of the cost. The more obscure, the more this applies.
If they're like "We'll have a couple whiskey & diet cokes" while pointing to the Louis XIII bottle, a heads up is a good idea since there might be some disappointment when time to settle up.

Personally, it would be kinda awkward, though maybe not insulting, to have the prices of every drink stated as it was served. It would diminish the quality of service, and I don't think you should have to do that. If someone orders a specific brand of alcohol they should either know its value ahead of time, ask the price, or understand the risk. To order a specific brand shot, without a menu, I always realized it is going to be somewhat of a risk, especially at a bar I'm not familiar with. On the other hand, at a different bar I was recently charged $9/shot of Malrot. In that case - if someone is going to price gouge, I would appreciate a warning, though this is clearly a different situation.

I also agree with ronnie, I really appreciate a printed list, not only does it inform on prices but it is also good reading. However this doesn't necessarily solve the problem because having a list doesn't guarantee that the customer read the price, and it'd be just as awkward to ask the customer "did you see the price printed on that list?", just doesn't work.

laikom wrote:...On the other hand, at a different bar I was recently charged $9/shot of Malrot.

Likely (sadly) unintentional, but perfect!

This is why I always ask the price when I buy something I'm not familiar with, mainly because I usually have no idea if it's $5 or $15. If you don't ask then you shouldn't be upset if it's a lot. Although a back bar list with the prices listed out is really the best way to go about this, as Ronnie suggested.

I think I'd be a bit insulted if a bartender replied to my order by telling me the price. If I order without inquiring, I take the risk.

OP, based on the current set of replies... you're worrying about nothing.

backorforth wrote:
two gentleman ordered shots of Schladerer Pear Brandy and later on seemed baffled when they realized those shots were $8 each. Regardless of whether or not you believe this to be a fair price,
-Danny

But that's the whole point. What're the odds they'd never ordered Schladerer's pear brandy before? They must have had some expectation of what it would cost. The stuff seems to retail @ ~$40/bottle. In the context of your bar, is $8/shot a fair price? If so, forget it.

I think the answer to this question also depends on how much the price of the drinks you are serving deviates from what they were previously drinking or from the typical price point of drinks at that particular bar.

I had an experience at a restaurant/bar here in town where a friend and I had ordered a few rounds of cocktails. We were ordering another round, but were not inspired by anything else on the menu. We asked the server to recommend something. She said they had some interesting whiskeys available and went on to describe a few. We each ordered a whiskey (which were good) and then ordered another round of different whiskeys. Needless to say, these were apparently rare, and when we got the bill, each pour was $25. We were a but surprised. I'm not saying that wasn't a fair price for a glass of good, rare whiskey (and perhaps we should have known), but when a customer is drinking $11 cocktails, there should be some warning when their next round (especially if it is off menu and based on the server's recommendation) is over double the price.

Giallo wrote:I think the answer to this question also depends on how much the price of the drinks you are serving deviates from what they were previously drinking or from the typical price point of drinks at that particular bar.

I had an experience at a restaurant/bar here in town where a friend and I had ordered a few rounds of cocktails. We were ordering another round, but were not inspired by anything else on the menu. We asked the server to recommend something. She said they had some interesting whiskeys available and went on to describe a few. We each ordered a whiskey (which were good) and then ordered another round of different whiskeys. Needless to say, these were apparently rare, and when we got the bill, each pour was $25. We were a but surprised. I'm not saying that wasn't a fair price for a glass of good, rare whiskey (and perhaps we should have known), but when a customer is drinking $11 cocktails, there should be some warning when their next round (especially if it is off menu and based on the server's recommendation) is over double the price.

That's terrible. You should never go there again. When somebody's asking for recommendations, it's totally incumbent on the bartender to mention pricing.

Agreed. Upselling like that without warning is egregious.

laikom wrote: On the other hand, at a different bar I was recently charged $9/shot of Malrot. In that case - if someone is going to price gouge, I would appreciate a warning, though this is clearly a different situation.

Holy crap! That is insane for Malort. A bottle is, what...holy crap, it's $18 a bottle now? Dammit, it seems all the "crappy" drinks and cuts of meat I like are getting expensive. Still, that's a pretty hefty charge and I'd be mighty pissed to find myself charged half the bottle price. $8-$9 a shot is not unreasonable, but I expect that for drinks that retail at around $40/bottle or so. Isn't Malort usually one of the cheap shots at bars? Sometimes just around two bucks? I know it's apparently experienced a massive resurgence in popularity, but that seems nuts to me.

Binko wrote:

laikom wrote: On the other hand, at a different bar I was recently charged $9/shot of Malrot. In that case - if someone is going to price gouge, I would appreciate a warning, though this is clearly a different situation.

Holy crap! That is insane for Malort. A bottle is, what...holy crap, it's $18 a bottle now? Dammit, it seems all the "crappy" drinks and cuts of meat I like are getting expensive. Still, that's a pretty hefty charge and I'd be mighty pissed to find myself charged half the bottle price. $8-$9 a shot is not unreasonable, but I expect that for drinks that retail at around $40/bottle or so. Isn't Malort usually one of the cheap shots at bars? Sometimes just around two bucks? I know it's apparently experienced a massive resurgence in popularity, but that seems nuts to me.

Maybe the price is supposed to be ... ironic.

Roger Ramjet wrote:Maybe the price is supposed to be ... ironic.

That thought did cross my mind. I guess the joke was on me after all.

Binko wrote: Isn't Malort usually one of the cheap shots at bars?

From Quenchers web site:

$1 Shots of Malört - every single day.

The website must be outdated. I'm sitting in quenchers and the malort shots are $3 everyday.

laikom wrote:The website must be outdated. I'm sitting in quenchers and the malort shots are $3 everyday.

The bastards