Ask the Bartender: Is $9 Too Much?
It's that time of week when we answer the questions you're to drunk or shy to ask...This question comes from Bucky, and I'm just going to assume that's an alias: 
Is $9 too much to pay for a cocktail? Just read some idjit calling Anchovies & Olives "douchebaggy" because he had two drinks for $17.50 and the price made his jaw drop.
Then he doesn't get out much, or he usually drinks at the Canterbury. $8.75 might just be the average for a cocktail in most downtown restaurants. I almost breathed fire at an $11 very simple half-dry and half-sweet vermouth on the rocks I had from Cremant, roughly the cost of a bottle of the red and a bottle of the white, but didn't notice until I saw the bill the next day. I feel your pain, and I have an extremely hard time paying for a drink closing in on $10 right now. Tell me who doesn't...
You can prepare for or avoid this by asking to see a drink menu. Caveat imbibor and all. If the cocktails on the cocktail menu are $9, then most drinks you will order, of any degree of complexity, will fall right around that price point. Even a margarita made with lowly Cuervo. Expect a basic Absolut and soda or rum and Coke (this is a "call" brand) to be two bucks less than the cocktails. You can always get used to drinking well; that's the house brand of spirits when someone just orders a "gin and tonic," usually the bottom shelf dwellers from the liquor store. Or you can drink beer. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you.
I can say that I wish bars would make drinks smaller and charge less. This would benefit everyone, but don't get me started. I can also say that I wouldn't be embarrassed to ask how much a drink costs right now. A warm butt in a seat should be plenty welcome to any bar. (here's my rant from a year ago...)
Got a question? Email me here: mdutton@seattleweekly.com
2 comment(s)
Ben says:
Thank you for the tip. I always feel awkward as it's hard sometimes to even find the specialty cocktail prices. Then again, one can always ask I suppose.
Posted On: Tuesday, Mar. 10 2009 @ 10:39PM
Janet says:
I hear what you all are saying, but I must admit I am a bit jealous. Over in the Pacific North West, you guys have some amazing talent behind the bars; so at least for $9 you are getting a good, if not great, cocktail.
Last night I went out in Miami and ordered a Martin Miller's Gin Gimlet. I paid $15 for MMG & Rose's Lime Syrup. To make matters worse, when I asked the bartender if they could make it with fresh squeezed lime juice, they looked at me like I had 3 heads. When I explained that I would prefer it to have been made with MMG, fresh lime juice and simple syrup, the bartender exclaimed "Honey, I have been a working bartender for 8 years... I ain't never heard of a gimlet being made like that."
I realize times are tough, but what I wouldn't give to at least have the option of getting a proper cocktail... at any price!
Posted On: Thursday, Mar. 12 2009 @ 8:31AM