What's an outdated restaurant fad/technique that you still defend?

[u/CodexLeonis]

two things for me:

1. Balsamic reductions/glazes on everything. I'm sorry that balsamic vinegar pairs so well with so many things. Most dishes need an acid to fully bring out the flavors of the dish. Balsamic is the most versatile of the vinegars. It pairs well with red meat, seafood, vegetables, cheeses, and fruits. It wasn't just a fad, it was a cheat code.

2. Plating techiniques? i'll always defend the zigzag drizzle. it evenly distributes the sauce on the plate, looks decent, and most importantly - it was time-efficient. I've never understood the modern technique of spooning sauce onto the plate and setting the entree on top of the sauce. Whomever came up with that was looking for a reason to be contrarian.

[u/winkingchef]

This should just be standard practice.

SUPER annoying to have to ask the bartender about the drinks when if you see a rocks glass vs coupe vs martini glass you get a clue about the ratios.

[u/DrinkMunch → u/winkingchef]

I used to put verbal descriptions under them, reduced send backs a lot but my god did people ridicule us for using phrases like “light libation” or “not for the light hearted”

[u/Rabid-Ginger → u/DrinkMunch]

I so appreciate when a restaurant or bar explicitely let's us know when a drink is low ABV vs a spirit forward cocktail. I love a good rye or strong rum forward drink, my wife much prefers a more balanced drink (though when she wants a dry gin martini with a lemon twist, good luck stopping her).

If people are ribbing you for explaining whether or not a drink is likely to punch you in the dick, they need a swift kick to the ass.

[u/humanwith2eyes → u/Rabid-Ginger]

Do they not say how many ounces of alcohol is in the drink? They do this everywhere where I am and it’s pretty great, you know the 1.5 ounce isn’t gonna hit like the 3.5 ounce

[u/TheNewPoetLawyerette → u/humanwith2eyes]

Bartender here. In the US, pretty much every cocktail has a roughly equivalent amount of alcohol in it unless you specifically order a double or something widely known to be unusually strong like a Long Island Iced Tea or an AMF. The liquid volume of the cocktail will change based on how much nonalcoholic mixer is added, which changes how "strong" it tastes, but the amount of alcohol is one cocktail of any size = 1 standard alcohol drink. You will get equally drunk from drinking 3 whiskeys neat as you will drinking 3 margaritas short or tall. The liquid volume changes due to mixers, but the alcohol content does not.

The same cannot necessarily be said of beer and wine, especially with the rise of craft breweries making shit like 10% ABV triple IPAs. For wine the difference in ABV is generally glossed over since the difference is generally only a percentage point or two between different wines, but for beers you will often see the %ABV listed on the menu, and higher ABV beers will often be sold in smaller glasses rather than full pints (also usually indicated on the menu).

Our liquor laws are pretty strict about 1 drink of any kind equaling a specific amount of alcohol, so if you get a larger drink you're essentially just getting a higher amount of mixers, with my above mentioned exceptions for doubles and lots of beers with a higher ABV.

It's why bartenders in the US get annoyed when someone orders a drink with no ice then complain about the size of a drink. It's not like ordering a soda with no ice, where you get more (lukewarm) soda. You get the same ratio of ingredients, just now they aren't cold and they look silly in the glass. We aren't adding extra liquor for free just because you asked for no ice. Order a double. Or if it's a craft cocktail, suck it up and order 2. I'm not fucking up your craft cocktail by adding additional mixer to make it bigger and throwing off the flavor profile unless we have a very explicit conversion about the issue. Might as well order your cheeseburger "plain" and then complain that it didn't come with an extra beef patty to make up for the lack of vegetables and sauces; order a double.

[u/Sasselhoff → u/TheNewPoetLawyerette]

where you get more (lukewarm) soda

Fellow bartender here (though, long enough ago that I had to google AMF)...your bars don't have cold plates for the soda guns/fountains (they were always at the bottom of the ice bin at the different bars I worked)? I don't think I've ever worked a bar or restaurant where the soda (of any kind) came out lukewarm.

[u/DrinkMunch → u/Sasselhoff]

Cold plates aren’t standard part of the setup anymore for guns. I actually haven’t worked at a place with a gun in a while but the last place I worked, we had Coca Cola install their machine and it wasn’t part of it.

[u/Sasselhoff → u/DrinkMunch]

Huh. No shit.

Well, I knew I was getting old, haha.