Extra charge for an "Up" Martini?

Michael Bauer's "Dining Out" section has started a good debate around bars that charge extra for an "Up" drink. The reasoning is that, without ice, they're putting more alcohol in there.

From a bar manager standpoint, I can appreciate this need. That extra ounce can quickly add up on a busy night. But why the extra buck? It's almost like they want to let you know they're penalizing you for getting a martini.

Why not just charge the $10 (or in LA $14) and leave it at that? "Martini? Fine. $10 please." Problem solved.

Read the discussion and put your 2 cents in.

A martini straight up? That will be $1 extra - [sfgate.com]

Comments

Anonymous said…

I haven't read all the comments in the linked article, but the practice strikes me as just plain retarded and greedy. Just because it doesn't have ice doesn't mean there's more alcohol in it. A martini's supposed to be a 3 oz. recipe regardless of how it's served! Furthermore, they should be providing the dirty ice used to make the martini on the side when it's served straight up.

7:50 PM

Anonymous said…

I worked at a bar that charged $1.00 to make it up and $0.50 for rocks! Tip wise it helped me out a lot but I didn't understand why the owner had these extra charges.

3:12 PM

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