Over-filled Glasses

[Reston]

I'm not sure if this has been covered before, but it is something that drives me nuts in bars and restaurants.

On more than one occassion, I have been served a martini in a glass that is filled up to the brim. It was impossible to pick up the glass without having the contents spill over the edge and onto my hand. It was even worse when I needed to carry the drink from the bar to my table. I don't have the steadiest hands to begin with, so there was no way to move the drink without making a mess. I've been know to leave it on the bar, and lean over and slurp it out of the glass to get the drink down to a reasonable level (I have no sense of decorum).

I know I should mention this to the bartender, but it seems odd to tell them they've given me too much (besides, I'm cheap and I want to get my money's worth). Can I tell them to split my one drink into two glasses? Should I wear rubber gloves?

[EmilyE]

No advice other than what has been offered, but I thought I'd share a funny experience. I was once eating at a family-run Mexican restaurant in the Midwest, and our busboy was very attentive (I was young and in college and my very nice looking aunt was eating with me). He came by to fill up my water, and was looking at me instead of the glass he was filling, and just in time he caught himself, but the water was all the ways to the top, one tiny drop more and it would have overflowed. He looked at the glass, looked at me, looked at my aunt, looked back at the water, and very carefully picked it up, with the steadiest hands I've ever seen, and brought it up to my lips so I could sip from it, to it was no longer almost-overflowing. My aunt cracked up and he grinned like he'd won the lottery. We still laugh about his self-satisfaction at the quick solution he came up with.

[dolores]

Brilliant. Great story, thanks for sharing.

[2m8ohed]

Once, I heard an acquaintance ask for "a martini, but please put it in a big wine glass." Noticing my curiosity, she said she was pretty clumsy and could never carry a full martini glass without spilling. Too much surface area.

[psb]

maybe people should use the SEICH CALCULATOR
to pick their drink glass:
http://www.coastal.udel.edu/faculty/rad/seiche.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiche

[jfood]

here's another one for you to ponder and appeciate mr. psb. since the volume of the liquid should be reduced as the temperature moves from 32 degrees to room temp. why not wait a few minutes until the natural laws ao physics lower the level below the rim. :-)) Happy bird-day.

[psb]

>volume of the liquid should be reduced as the temperature moves from 32...
>
i guess if you dont want to take a sip, you could wait for it evaporate ...
but you might want to order andother drink at the bar while you are waiting.
:-)

>Happy bird-day.
>
ditto.

[Servorg]

Am I the only person in the world that holds down on the bottom of the glass as it rests before me on the bar and bows down and takes a good healthy sip? It brings the drink level down and me down to the drinks level. All good.

[diablita FL]

I do this, too. I'm sure if I were at a gala in a gown I'd refrain from the "dip and sip", but with music blasting in a bar, the bartender on full tilt and the people around me just hoping I'll move so they can put their order in, I don't think anybody cares.

[dolores]

Oh no, it's the way to do it. My speculation was on transporting the drink, however full, to the table.

If it is nearly empty, then just chug it down.

[gutreactions]

That a way, Servorg...the first sip is one thing... but being served a glass of wine or a martini filled to the brim will make my day!

[Up With Olives]

This is what I've always called "bobbing for olives." Can be performed with the hands behind the back. It does make me feel a bit like the old plastic top-hatted bird toy that dipped its beak into the water.

Unfortunately more often than not nowadays it's the norm to fill glasses to the brim. It doesn't ruffle my feathers if it happens in a crummy bar but does if it's a nice place that should know better.

[psb]

> Over-filled Glasses
>...drives me nuts...
>
i'm pretty sure correctly filled glasses are part of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

or maybe that was getting a martini in an unchilled glass.

[PeterL]

Ask for a straw.

[brendastarlet]

Definitely ask for a second glass. I do that when they overfill wine glasses. It's not tacky, it's my money.

[PlatypusJ]

I think you may have inadvertantly proven KTinNYC's point.

[psb]

>Ask for a straw.
or a stein.

[KTinNYC]

You can do as the other posters suggest and take a sip first or you can ask the bartender to pour a bit out of the glass into the sink...

[FrankJBN]

Into the sink? Into another glass.

[KTinNYC]

You want the bartender to pour a quarter of an inch into a new glass because you can't carry the drink or are unwilling to take a sip? I find that slightly tacky.

[dolores]

Don't waiters bring your glass to the table from the bar where you are?

[KTinNYC]

If I order from the bar than it's usually your responsibility to bring the drinks over, if you order from your table than a waiter will bring the drink over.

[dolores]

Really? Wow, any server I've asked has been happy to bring my drink to the table. A restaurant is, after all, in the 'service' business.

[KTinNYC]

If you are already being waited on than why are you ordering from the bar? Why not order from the waiter? The only time I would ever consider asking a waiter to bring a drink over is if I was waiting for a table and the bartender happened to pour my drink the second I was told my table was ready and this has never happened to me.

If you happen to order from the bar and have a waiter bring the drink over do you tip both the bartender and the waiter for the service?

[dolores]

If I have a drink at the bar while I'm waiting for my table, I sometimes ask the waiter to bring my drink to the table if it is a full one. I'm there to enjoy the evening, not schlep drinks across the floor, down the steps or whatever it takes to get to my table.

Yes, I would have tipped the bartender and from what I've read here, I already tip very generously to all the servers I've encountered.

[jgg13]

Who says the person is at a restaurant? If one is at a bar, there's a good chance they're serving themselves by bellying up to the bar

[dolores]

The OP said:

"It was even worse when I needed to carry the drink from the bar to my table. I don't have the steadiest hands to begin with, so there was no way to move the drink without making a mess."

If there are tables, I imagine there is food and if there is food, I imagine there are servers.

[KTinNYC]

Just about every bar I've ever been in has tables and not many of them have either food or servers.

[dolores]

Every bar I have been in has had food and servers.

[Reston]

The bar I was referring to when I posted originally does not have food service. It specializes in martini's (or what passes for martini's these days). You order your drink at the bar, and either remain there, or take your drink to a cocktail table nearby. The bar is Halo in DC (primarily gay clientele).

[dolores]

Ah. Thanks for the clarification, Reston.

Then I guess your only recourse is to take a giant slurp and then carry your own to a table, if that's your intent.

[jgg13]

The bar right below my apartment has a bunch of tables, food, and no servers. You place your food order at the bar, they yell at you when its ready, you go up and fetch it.

If there are servers, you shouldn't be ordering at the bar, the issue is a moot one at that point.

[dolores]

'Shouldn't be'?

If I am waiting for a table, I sit at the bar, order a drink, engage in conversation with the bartender if he/she is free, then when my table is free I pay for my drink or they put it on the tab, tip the bartender, and my server brings my drink to my table.

[jgg13]

Was referring to the situation where one already has a server. People will at times still go up and order things directly from the bar. Big no-no.

If I am a restaraunt with a bar and order a drink while waiting, and the table is available while waiting, I wait for my drink and then go.

I typically either go to a restaraunt or a bar, not one with both though.

[Kbee]

This is a no-win situation: I also know people (and have served people) who will complain that they've been ripped off if the drink is not poured all the way to the rim. (sigh...) But I feel your pain. I usually just take a big sip.

[Reston]

I know what you mean about the people who complain that they've been ripped off buy a 'normal' drink. I'm sure it's easier for the bartenders to deal with the few people like me who complain about too much in the glass.

[Miss Needle]

Totally agree with you. I used to bartend (a long time ago), and have been told to pretty much fill to the brim (with about 1/4" inch leeway) in martini glasses. Took some practice but was able to get it exactly right. Most people will be unhappy if they feel shortchanged.

[dolores]

Even better, I like the shaker set out in front of me after my glass is filled. Even if there's just a touch left, it's nice not to know I'm getting hosed.

[TBird]

"I like the shaker set out in front of me after my glass is filled." <---always the perfect touch!

[ricepad]

When I was a bartender, I once had some customers insist that I had shorted their martinis because they weren't absolutely filled to the rim, and they had their server bring them back. The fix was easy...back into the shaker with some ice, shake a bit, and *voila!*...filled to the rim.

[TBird]

"Can I tell them to split my one drink into two glasses?" <--- i personally would not.

[dolores]

'Should I wear rubber gloves?'

Good one!

Can you either: continue to slurp (sometimes necessary even to pick up a generous drink -- better though than those teeny tiny pours of wine in giant fancy schmancy glasses, but I digress) or ask the waiter to bring your drink to your table?

[Reston]

"ask the waiter to bring your drink to your table" -
I like this suggestion... let them suffer the consequences of their own actions.

which gives me another idea... I could also ask them to lift the drink up to my mouth while I take a sip. But, that might require a bigger tip, so scratch that one... : )

[dolores]

Isn't it common where you are to have the server take your drink from the bar to your table when it is ready?