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Ordering Drinks in Las Vegas

By: Ben Hughes Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Everyone who enjoys an alcoholic beverage on occasion will feel totally qualified to order drinks in Las Vegas without any special orientation, advice or training. Las Vegas bar servers will tell you that this is not always so. Here are some tips from those who know best:

Rapport. Some people jokingly refer to their bartender as their “pharmacist.” Even if you’re in town for just one night, the connection between you (as the patron) and your bartender is a relationship. This bartender has specific responsibilities and obligations to and for you as the customer. It is a two-way street. Your main responsibility is to be pleasant if not downright friendly. Strange to say, a sizeable portion of the drinking public has trouble with this concept. They are demanding, complaining, haughty, loud, impolite or downright gross. How irrational, considering that all they want from the bartender is good service! If you’re a nice guy, be yourself. If you are not, then pretend to be. Give your name. Use the bartender’s first name. (Invariably it will be on a name tag.) Show at least that much interest. If you have an urgent need, say so. If you’re relaxed and unhurried, tell the bartender, especially if the place is crowded, with and lots of people shouting for attention. If things are slack, small talk will improve the atmosphere and your experience. Pay and tip generously, as you go along. (This may net a drink or two “on the house,” which is an added bonus.)

Drink Menus. Vegas is a 24-hour town. All the casinos and many of the bars are devoid of clocks and windows. It is easy to become a 24-hour drinker and gamer. If it’s always “after 5 o’clock” for you, it will be best to avoid the special drinks on the bar menu. Stick with the same call over the long haul.

For the non-veteran, a novelty drink off the menu may be fun to try, especially if it’s going to be just one – well, maybe two at the outside. Drink menus, though adventurous fun and festive, also carry some risks:

Most people can’t mix different liquors without an upset stomach or hangover.

The sugar in specialty drinks intensifies the body’s insulin reaction to alcohol and makes the liquor seem stronger.

Specialty drinks go down easily and swiftly, resulting in a quick high, not only for the brain, but for the pocketbook, too.

Only “a coupla drinks.” Curiously, a drunk may not remember anything else, but he is always willing to declare how many drinks he’s had. Everyone has heard someone protest his sobriety, saying “I only had a couple of beers!” Here are some facts about that statement:

First, “couple” does not mean “two” in this context. It never means just “two.” If the truth is “two,” the person will say, “two.” “Couple” means somewhere between a six-pack and a case.

Second, the implication that “beer” is less alcoholic than, say, whiskey, is false. A 12-ounce beer (at 5% alcohol) has the same alcoholic content as a mixed drink containing an ounce and a half of 80-proof liquor or a 4-ounce glass of wine at 15% alcohol. In all three examples, you are consuming 0.6 ounces of alcohol. Bar sugar and maltose (the sugar found in beer) accelerate circulation, potentially making the drink more immediately potent.

Third, judges around the country are accustomed to imposing jail time and fines on people who try to drive after consuming more than 2 or 3 drinks in a four-hour period. Your exact tolerance depends on your body weight and a couple other factors. While “legal impairment” may be a more demanding standard than “buzzed,” know that it does not take more than two or three drinks in a row to hinder your judgment. You won’t be “OK” again for several hours. In Vegas, this is not a problem if you don’t need your judgment for a while. But you shouldn’t try to operate machinery – like slot machines.

Bar Brands. The first drink of the night needs to be exactly what you expect. If you like a certain brand of scotch, or gin, or whatever, ask for it. Maybe the second needs to be your favorite brand as well. But by the third martini or scotch-and-soda, even an expert taster would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a good bar brand (or “call”) and the requested label. When visiting a bar for the first time, find out what the bar brand is for your drink of choice. Also ask what the difference in price is between your label and the call. It may not always make sense to change to the call, and sometimes it will be stupid not to. For example, if you like Dewar’s White Label, don’t ask for it until you know what the call scotch is. It might be Dewar’s! You’ve found a bargain. If you have a yen for an “appletini,” don’t ask for some fancy brand of gin or vodka unless you can taste the difference through apple liqueur (or unless the bar pour is swill). Most people have opinions that are much more acute than their taste buds. They come off looking and sounding as pseudo as they probably are.

Bar Food. Bar food is designed to stave off the need for real food so that you will sit there and keep drinking. In a 24-hour town it is essential to sit the body down to a couple good meals a day. If the bar adjoins a restaurant with a real kitchen, you may be able to have restaurant food right at the bar. Otherwise, plan to go sit at a table somewhere with real food and a change of scenery. Visitors who spend most of their vacation at a bar may suffer a rebellion in their digestive tracts from a constant diet of pretzels, wings and cheese sticks.

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About The Author: Benjamin Hughes writes for Vegas365.com, the authoritative source of information about Las Vegas, from hotels to restaurants, nightlife, gambling and many other activities. To get in touch with him, and for more information about Las Vegas, visit the Vegas365 website by following this link: Las Vegas and go to the "contact us" page.