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BarFraud Exposed!
Sooner or later, everyone will be a victim of the
greedy bar owner. Cheating customers out of their hard
earned cash using a variety of techniques. And the root of
this evil is often not the bartender, but the bar owner. Not
only are the customers subject to fraud by overpaying for what they
receive, but must suffer through weak, watery, poorly made drinks
made with cheap, substandard liquor. We'll refer these type
bars to "cheat-bars", and here are a few ways they run things behind
the scenes without customer attention:
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The Cheap Shot |
The standard shot glass holds from 1 1/2
to 2 ounces. There is a trick shot glass used by
"cheat-bars" that's a masterpiece of illusion. It
looks like a regular shot glass with a heavier bottom
looking like it's actually larger than a standard shot
glass. A white fill line about 1/4 of an inch from the
rim. Now when the bartender serves you a highball and
actually fills it over the line, you think you're getting
not only the standard measure, but a little extra (a good
reason for a larger tip). BUT, upon examining the
cheap shot glass, you'll see that it's wide at the top and
ending up as a small point at the bottom. If you fill
the glass to the very top, past the line even, you'll notice
that you've only been served one ounce of liquid, the line
is only 5/8 of an ounce! But from the drinkers view,
it looks like you've been treated very well when in reality,
you've been cheated BIG TIME! Thought you were getting
close to two ounces, when in reality, you got less than one!
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Pennysize-Pourer |
Most of the larger, nicer drinking
establishments today have their bottles equipped with the
"speed-pourers," a cork that fits into the bottle with a
curved metal spout that enables the bartender to quickly and
efficiently pour from the bottle. The experienced
bartender, as well as the experienced drinker, knows that
the "four count" with the bottle inverted will, every time,
yield 1 1/2 ounces with extreme accuracy. Upon looking
at this "pennysize-pourer," you'll observe that it looks
exactly like the regular "speed-pourer", the opening at the
top of the spout is the same length as the standard pourer,
but you can't see that it's only half the width from where
you are standing. So when the "pennysize" was poured,
it only delivered half the amount that the "speed-pourer"
would, and behold, you just paid for a "pennysize" drink.
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Frigger-Jigger |
You've seen'em, the standard double
ended, hourglass, jigger, made of metal-stainless steel,
chrome plated steel, or silver. Holds one-and-a-half
ounces at the large end, and one ounce in the small end.
Of the several different techniques used for measuring in
the drink-making business, the one-and-a-half-ounce serving
is now pretty much the rule except at the "cheat-bar" It
looks like the standard double-ended jigger, but it has a
false bottom so that the large end delivers one one ounce
and the small end, one-half ounce. This
"frigger-jigger" looks exactly like the standard jigger, the
only way you can tell the difference is if you were to
measure the content, or had a drinkers taste bud and could
tell the difference.
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Dice-Ice |
Many restaurants and hotels use ice cubes
that are smaller than those you make at home the the
refrigerator because of fast chilling and are easy to
handle. But "cheat-bars" use tiny ice cubes called
"dice-ice" since they are about the same size as dice or
sugar cubes. You won't see these ice cubes at honest
drinking establishments. Their logic is to pack a
highball or Old Fashioned glass so full there is very little
space left for your drink. We were served whiskey
on-the-rocks in a large ballroom that was rented by a
corporation having their company holiday party from the most
expensive hotel here in town. After the ice caught our
attention, the contents was poured into another glass where
barley an ounce of liquid, including the ice meltage were
revealed.
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Service Bar Sellout |
Experienced drinkers hang out at the bar,
they know the drinks are generally better when made out in
the open and you can see and tell the bartender exactly how
you want your drink. Drinks made at the service bar
are usually less than generous and poorly made.
Service bars are usually located back in the kitchen area of
restaurants, or in the cocktail lounge where only the
juniors, the apprentices are mixing drinks alone. You
won't find the best bartenders stuck back at the service
bar. Bowling alleys would be a good example of where
to have a service bar, the waitresses go fetch drinks to be
delivered for bowlers. A "cheat-bar" that also has a
"service-bar" elsewhere in the establishment is bad news, a
license to steal. They use all the tricks listed on
this page, even "no-show" drinks. Be very cautious...
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Midnight Bottler |
If a service bar is part of the
"cheat-bars" operation, their could possibly be a "midnight
bottler" on the loose. You'll never see this on a job
resume, that's for sure. The "midnight bottler" comes
out after the doors are locked and ploys his tricks at
night. His job is to fill premium "call-brand" bottles
(prestigious, well-knows brand names that are advertised and
promoted), with off-brand spirits. So you ordered
Chivas Regal, but the bottle was refilled in the dead of the
night with something that is shipped in tanks to the U.S. to
be rectified and bottled locally. This technique is
actually very popular for the "cheat-bars".
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The Sly-Ball Glass |
Mostly seen at service-bars, but used
frequently everywhere. The sly-ball is an undersized
highball glass with a capacity of only six ounces instead of
the standard eight to twelve ounces. You aren't
supposed to tell the difference, and mostly you don't.
See how thick the bottom is. The reason for this is
very simple, if they were to cheat you 2 ounces of liquid
from a highball glass it would either be full of dice-ice,
or obviously missing quiet a bit of liquid. Instead of
being this conspicuous, "cheat-bars" just use the sly-ball.
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There is no defense against the
"cheat-bar". They basically steal from us. The
only defense is question everything that doesn't smell,
taste, or look good to you. Don't be afraid to speak
up! If you don't have enough vodka in your drink, if
you've been served in a "sly-ball" instead of a highball,
COMPLAIN VERY LOUD! Yes, I mean loud, so everyone at
the bar can hear you. I guarantee that within 15
seconds you will get the service you deserve, and everybody
will be looking at their glass wondering, then looking at
the bartender suspiciously....
Awareness of what constitutes a good drink is the first
step...
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