Should you tip after every drink you're served at the bar??

Question

Should you tip after every drink you're served at the bar??

Answer 1

Nope at the end of the night  

Answer 2

I only tip after every drink if I do not have an open bar tab.

Answer 3

No, you tip when you are finished drinking before you leave and pay for the drinks.  The same way you tip in a restaurant when you finish your meal and pay for it.

Answer 4

We've always tipped after every round. That seems to insure that the server doesn't "forget" about us or that we aren't invisible to the bartender.

Answer 5

Defininately at least a dollar a drink up front unless you're running a tab.  I definitely let the big tippers cut ahead of everyone and I make their drinks much stronger.  I could have a practically empty bar and I will make bad tippers wait there all night.  

Answer 6

If you're not running a tab, and don't want to tip on each individual drink bought, tip generously on just the first one, not the last one. I do this because a lot of bar waitresses are stupid and don't get that you'll tip them at the end, once you've actually received some service.

Answer 7

no, tip (and tip well) at the end of the night or at the end of the servers shift. do not let them leave and you tip the person that brings you the last round as if the brought all the prior ones.

okay, tip on the first one. i go to the same place and they know i will tip at the end of the night.  i also said not to tip the person bringing the last round and s***w the other server. also i do not tip 80% or 66%. $2 on every $3 dollar drink. i want the bar tender or waitress to make a living not buy a speed boet of of my night out on the town. but if i was a bartender i would try to tell people that that was the going rate too. been on both sides of a bar over many years.

Answer 8

It is best to tip after the first drink and tip big. Then give a little something to maintain friendship with the bartender throughout the night. If you had a good night and the service was good. The bartender let you cut ahead of a couple people a few times. The bartender remembered what you drank or how you liked it served, then by all means he should get a little something more at the end of the night as you say goodbye to him.

Ron.....if you wait till the end of the night, then how is the bartender going to know that you aren't going to stick it to him? As a former bartender, even if you kept telling me "I'll catch you later" or "I'll hook you up at the end of the night", I wouldn't exactly say it was not going to happen, but it is highly likely that it's not to happen. Bartenders have all been lured into this before and learned their lesson. I wouldn't believe you that is for sure.

You (Ron) mention to tip the last server as if she brought all the drink prior to that one, although I am sure that she would appriciate that, but you are essentially stiffing the server that took care of you all night long. Not many places pool tips when dealing with serving drinks.

It isn't like a waitress, where she has to give really good service then hope she gets tipped good when you pay after the meal. By then you are out the door. At a bar, you tip upfront, and make it good if you want to be remembered. If you wait till the end of the night, I would be serving everyone who tipped me good before you anyway.

Now by all means....If you tip good a couple times ($5-10 a drink), and the bartender doesn't recognize you when you step up to the bar and doesn't know what you want, I would give him the minimum. ($1.00)

For reference, I would say that a "Normal" tip at a regular bar should be the price of the drink minus about a dollar or so. If the beer is 3.00 dollars, then pay with a $5 and don't get your change back. For mixed drinks and expensives that are sometimes about $10.00. Order these together with the beer ($13.00) and pay with a 20 and don't expect change.

I stopped bartending about three years ago, and I can still remember what my big tippers drank and how they took their coffee.

Hippy makes a good point also.....If you are running a tab, you tip at the end of the night.

Edit: Ron, I must have misread where you stated to tip the first server and not the last server.  Also, I am not a bartender anymore, as I said, it has been three years since I have been one. But from someone whom relied on the generosity of others to make my living for awhile, although now that I don't really have to, I don't turn my back on them because I can. I believe that what goes around comes around, ya know? I don't tip 60 to 80 percent to all, just the bartender that know what the h**l they are doing. I still only tip a waitress at a resturant about 25%.

Answer 9

Tips, why not. Its no harm done by giving tips after spending in the pub.