Giving tips in Poland

Good luck getting a bar to do that unless you are a regular and spend a lot there. They also serve over priced watered down drinks so it's not like you are getting a good deal.

Is that common business practice in US? Sounds like you speak from experience. While Yanks wouldn’t even blink and would have been more than happy to pay for those drinks, Poles would have noticed, we know our vodka.

I found it the same in Poland. Hardly any bar or restaurant serves strong enough mixed drinks. They are not in the business to lose money. Ice and mixers are used liberally and the drunker people get the less they notice.

It's one of those things I hate about eating/drinking out because if you ask for it to be made stronger they either want to charge you for a "double" (which is more like what most people would consider normal) or they label you and give you bad service.

They make a KILLING on alcohol in most places.

Now there’s your problem, next time order it straight up. No chance for anyone to cheat you then.

I clearly said mixed drinks. Shots are still a rip off....you can buy a whole bottle for the cost of 2 or 3.

Proves my point, you go out, you want to have good time yet you don’t want to spend any money. Business is business, you always have a choice to sit home alone if you feel you are being ripped off, if you want a good time on the other hand you do have to pay for it, no matter where you live. So no need to b**** about it.

I am willing to spend money but I am not willing to spend 5 times the normal cost of something because I drink it in a bar and someone hands it to me. Charge me a fair price for a fair product and you get my business over and over again. Sadly many places don't offer that anymore.

I don’t know if you noticed it but the mighty dollar has fallen mightily, so perhaps it’s not that you are being taken advantage of as a Yank in Poland but your green back does not go as far these days, even in places like Poland. Poor, poor yank, there’s no place left on earth for gringos to have their fun, and where the drinks won't cost them an arm and a leg.

Oh get off your insults. This trend is all over not just Poland so shove your anti American nonsense up your arse :)

Your envy is transparent and sad.

Then why the f*** you complain about the price of drinks in Poland? when by your own admission same thing is going on in US. Get over yourself; no one will treat you special just because you are a Yank nor can you expect to have good time for free or at the cost, they have to make their money somehow, you on the other hand don't have to spend it there if you're that cheap.

Well I bet most of us can still afford much more than you SHT, lol. Guess what, we're still having lots of fun, much more than you ever will have.

Good for you. There’s a lot of ways to have fun, and if you don’t charge too much who knows even a poor Pole might have a good time.

I wouldn't even mention anything about it but look what you wrote.

Where did all that come from? Oh yeah it came from your inferiority complex.

I complained about prices all over and you chose to extrapolate an insult to Poland and some idea that I thought I wasn't "special treatment for being American". Thanks for illustrating plain as day the complex that this forum seems infected with and it's love to take shots at the USA at every turn. Your envy is sad.

Yes, but it’s all relative isn't it? So consider this


Yet the question still remains, are you one of those Yanks?

My god could you be any more blatantly jealous? Sorry you were not born in a more wealthy nation buddy. Maybe you can trade in your envy for some cash?

No need, I chose to spend my time and money where I earn them. You on the other hand chose to live where your money goes much further then back home yet still manage to whine how expensive everything is. So you see, being born in a wealthy country does not mean you have it and pretending like you have it proves one thing to me, that you are envious of your own countryman and had to go abroad to get that worm fuzzy feeling inside, didn’t you.

beelzebub wrote:


it depends.

beelzebub wrote:


this was common practice in the tri-state area, you just have to know how to tip. it's a simple "reka reke myje" system. I did it as a bartender as well. in fact, if I was being tipped more than the standard $1 per drink, the third drink would be on me often times.

beelzebub wrote:


again, that's bar-dependent. also, most people drink beer at your run-of-the-mill bar in town, so yes, you are getting a free beer.

beelzebub:


absolutely. it used to completely blow me away when I would order alcohol and restock inventory at the bar and I would see the prices the bar paid vs. what they charged. a bottle of well vodka would cost the bar about $7 per liter. 50ml per cocktail at $4 a pop means $80 per bottle, minus cost of fillers like juice, soda, tonic, fruit, etc., which is also bought in bulk and costs very little.

Well yes, but any way it looks better, doesn't it? When you're a regular client and every 4th, 5th or whichever is on house then you feel better. And I hope they do not pour water to cocktails - not to good customers. It may be naive, I know, but I'm sure it's not like that everywhere.

olaf wrote:


yes, it looks better. I like the general bar/pub layout in Poland better for the most part compared to American pubs, but the culture....america hands down. there essentially is no pub culture in Poland. it's all dependent on the character of the customers here because the bartenders here are just people that pour drinks and take your money, working like machines. in America, the bartenders are greatly responsible for creating a fun and exciting environment. fun = more customers = $

in America, if you're not an interesting person, good story teller or a shoulder to cry on, or at the very least extremely attractive, you are at a disadvantage regarding the hiring process. Bartending in America is 40% work efficiency, 60% personality. It's what keeps customers coming back. People in America often times go to bars because they like the bartender, not because of the bar itself. America has a true, and very unique bar culture.

Regarding "watered down" drinks Olaf, i think you are misinterpreting this. he's not saying that bartenders are making drinks and topping them with water or pouring water into liquor bottles. He probably means making say a gin and tonic with a little gin, lots of tonic and filled to the brim with ice. within 15 minutes, your ice is half melted and the drink tastes, "watered down". don't forget, one of the biggest complaints americans have when ordering cocktails in Poland is that there isn't enough ice in the drink, sometimes no ice at all. i couldn't believe the first few months I spent in Poland going to parties and seeing people making for example Pepsi and vodka cocktails....with absolutely no ice. it grossed me out. in the states, if you don't have enough ice to make the cocktail, you either simply don't make it at all, or stick the bottle in the fridge and do shots later on. cocktails in the states are always made with the glass filled to the top with ice. there are several reasons for this, but that's a bit off topic.

check this out - a woman banned from restaurant for bad tipping!

abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/bizarre&id=7300121

Thanks a lot FUZZYWICKETS for that explaination!
I'd say more bartenders like that (professional) in Poland and it will be perfect.

i'd love to see the American bar culture make its way to Poland, but it would have to be more than just the bartenders and the culture. what they have BEHIND the bar at their disposal would have to come for the ride as well.

things like cola that actually tastes like it should (you'd be amazed how much different a run of the mill rum and coke tastes when made with real coca cola or pepsi, or even something like a long island iced tea that only has maybe an ounce of cola but lots of other ingredients) along with sour mix, the correct brand of tonic water, etc. etc. OH, and the ice machine behind the bar would be a big help as well ;)

You're used to the corn based sugar used in the states, but I guess if you're drinking that nasty light rum that bacardi makes, you need everything you can get to mask that nastiness. I like the taste of sugar better than corn syrup.

Gin and tonic was brought up, you know that tends to **** me off more than anything in bars in the states. Soda water being substituted for tonic water. It's happened so many times that I'm starting to think they're just f*cking with me on purpose.


Absolutely. And just on a side note, I just got back from Bratislava. The bartender at the Sheraton is awesome. Ended up doing an 'on the house' rum tasting session where he managed to convince me that 8 year Bacardi is better than 7 year Havana. I'm a convert, and I managed to leave quite a bit of money in the bar that evening. Those little things are missing here.

I see it was nice but it surely happens in Poland also. But not so often, that's true. Most common reason: not well qualified bartenders (or should I rather write "drink pourers").

Yes, but the overwhelming majority come across as "drink pourers" that are unhappy with their jobs. That really ruins the overall experience. After all, I can pour a drink at home, but I have decided to come out and let them do it for me at a massive markup...entertain me!

Olaf wrote:


eeehhh, not really. it's not that they're under-qualified. they do what they are asked to do according to the policies of the restaurants they work at, and some of them are pretty damn efficient at it. it's simply a matter of different cultures. it's done differently here than in America. totally different. Polish bartenders can't improve on something they don't know "exists", if that makes any sense.

there are just so many elements that are missing.

and nothing more

yeah, I know what you mean.

I had a waiter in one bar who came up and asked for the order. I asked him in Polish which beers he had. He straight away started speaking in English, although I was speaking Polish. OK, I thought, he's trying to be helpful. He then started describing each beer. I told him I'd lived in Poland a few years. He said, "Oh, so you're the expert then!"

I wanted to punch his lights out. OK, he was only trying to be helpful but he presumably had no idea how insulting and patronising he sounded (that's why I didn't do anything).

Funny thing was that when I mentioned it to Poles, they didn't find anything wrong with it. Brits asked me if I'd hit him.

po polsku? Was it in a patronizing manner? I guess depending on the demeanor that may have warranted either a f*ck you or a laugh.