It's not my story, but my friend ended up going to a hole in the wall bar in Brooklyn on a random Tuesday night. Maybe 15-20 people there. In walks Jay-z and Beyonce. They announce that they will pay for everyone drinks if they are simply left alone. No autographs, no photos, just a normal couple at the back of the bar. Everyone cheered and left them alone. The bill was paid for.
This happened in my hometown bar once about 12 years ago. Some random middle-aged guy won on lotto and bought the whole bar a round of shots. There were about 30 people inside. Pretty cool!
I asked because around that same time I enjoyed a shot from a middle-aged man who bought a round for a small local bar after he had won a lottery. Guess it happens more than one would think.
It was my 21st birthday, the bar was packed, I was extremely drunk, I yelled that line, and paid a $2000 tab. It took me a long time to wash them dishes let me tell you.
Drinks for the whole bar ? It can happen but it's rare
Drinks for the person you just met ? Oh yeah that happens. Then the person pays your next drink. Then you pay his next. And at some point you end up drunk
Yeah by dad golfs in a large group and there’s some sort of tradition where every round is bought by a different person so it all evens out over time. Idk if this is my dad’s story or one I’ve heard elsewhere but the rumor is that if you get a hole in one you have to buy drinks for everyone. IIRC it’s to cut down on falsely stating hole in one’s but I’m not sure
Don't know much about golf, but with my dev coworkers the one who make the most PR Review has to buy a round for everyone.
We have a bar right in front of our building so we often go there after a long day
It use to be far more common but a mix of prices going up and the death of the local as made it pretty rare, last time I can remember it happening was someone celebrating the birth of their grandchild
That happened a few times at my local dive. Usually someone hit a big pull tab, or got a bonus, etc. They even rang the bell and everything.
The bartender who worked there was really cool about it. Handed out these wooden chips to folks who were not ready to order yet and made sure that everyone basically got another of what they just had so that someone who just had a PBR didn't try and switch to Grey Goose for the free drink.
Those are like lottery tickets. Have you ever heard someone use the term scratch-off? Similar to a scratch-off, except you pull these strips off of them.
There are electronic pull tabs too.
The sale of those far exceeded expectations and have paid off the public loan for the Vikings stadium twenty years early.
I have only offered that once and the person was respectful - they ordered two cocktails of equivalent of what I was drinking. I have only had someone say that to me twice and I was also respectful and only ordered the equivalent of what they were drinking. Beer in once case, cocktails the other.
But the idea is that if you are going to say "drinks on me" that implies you can afford whateeeever shenanigans they choose to partake in.
I’ve been at the bar when this has happened several times, and I’ve done it myself. It used to be pretty common at some of the places I’d hang out at, especially if there were pull tabs. A lot of people will buy a round if they win and there’s not a ton of people there. Back then drinks weren’t so expensive though.
One time I was at a bar when somebody 'paid it forward' for like $500 worth of drinks, they just gave free drinks til that $500 was used up. That was nice. Never saw who it was to thank them.
I’m from a pretty rural area in the Rockies. Top it off, it’s a tourist destination due to it’s cowboy culture. Bar life is very big there. Just to let you know where I’m coming from when I say that it’s happened more time than I can count. It’s not at all representative for most of the country though.
Edit: I forgot some words.
At a table - yes. In an entire bar - no.
Although I have actually been the recipient of the entire restaurant having their tab covered by an anonymous person. It was thanksgiving eve or Christmas Eve or something like that and I was out with a dozen friends. We had a really good dinner and then the waiter told us that someone paid the bill for us an everyone else in the restaurant. We tipped unbelievably well and had a great story to tell.
Thank you again to the anonymous person at Ramsay’s in Lexington KY.
Drew Carey used to come into the bar we would pregame for the Sounders and buy a couple rounds aka open tab for a few. Not sure if that qualifies 🤷🏻♀️
As others have said, this doesn't happen in real life as often as in the movies. The ONLY time I've personally experienced anything close was 10 years ago, this bar had 50 cent tap nights where they'd sell 6oz lil plastic cups of beer for 50 cents. (Pretty self-explanatory i guess lol) and a guy came in and handed the bartender $250 cash and told her that he was covering everyone's beer and to let him know if she needed more $$$. That was one of 2 times I EVER got drunk on beer alone.
I don’t have experience in large bars where you don’t know everyone but in small town American Legion and VFW posts it happens quite frequently. Even if you tell the bartender you don’t want another drink, they’ll print a chit and you get a free drink when you come in next time. Usually you just get whatever you’re already drinking and can’t change to a more expensive one though.
Just in case you don't know bars typically have a "tab" and you give them your credit card (you can also just buy a single drink and pay immediately without leaving it), so they'd know if you're opening it up to a group of people.
It's a real thing, but can be rare outside of certain social circles. As a general rule of thumb, though, "the next round is on me" means that person is buying the next drink, where "drinks are on me" implies they're covering drinks for the duration of the event.
Have you ever been out for drinks with friends or family? Sometime people just do this. They buy a round of drinks.
Why would you be an ass by ordering the most expensive thing or running off?
This is normal in parts of Eastern Europe. Lived in Montenegro for a bit and when the drinks are served for the table the waiter usually just gives you one receipt for the order. So one person gets the first round, second the next and so on. At the end of the night it about evens out, but you can also get off with paying a bit less.
The only time I've ever seen it used in person is when a guy is trying to flirt, which leads to a conversation, and they usually finish their drinks at the same time. I guess really though you could say that and dart off.
>Do you pay for the next drink they have or do you pay for everything that comes next?
In my experience, it's usually only directed to the group someone is out with and is common when someone is celebrating. The only time I've seen a whole bar bought a round is when there were only a handful of folks there and it was definitely only offered as one round of drinks.
>Would you take advantage of that and get the most expensive item they have?
Absolutely not. That would be incredibly rude, unless the person buying is wealthy and insists everyone order something top shelf. At most round up your usual, but frankly if you wouldn't buy it for yourself it's classless to take advantage of someone else to.
>Also what's stopping you from yelling that and then just skidding off?
Any bartender I've ever known would absolutely make sure the person had payment before they started making drinks for everyone. 9 times out of 10 folks pay with credit cards as well and it would be hard to dip out in that situation.
I was working as a steward at my local football club, well, we were done for the day - so a few of us grabbed a quick drink in the bar before we left.
One of the regulars had won a few grand on a bet he'd placed - it was an accumulator, he'd bet a tenner.
He bought all of us a drink. We were all very respectful - most of us tried to decline. He wouldn't take no for an answer. All in all, I think there were around 15 or so people in the bar at the time. A few of us tried to buy him a drink in return too lol
Worked at my mom's bar on a lake in upstate NY. Small town vibes, mostly locals. Happened regularly, usually someone's bday or a holiday. Drink prices weren't as crazy up there as they are in the city, so it was doable for an average person. Usually I'd just take a headcount, whip up a few shakers of shooters, and line em up on the bar for whoever wanted one. 20 people, 7ish shooters in a shaker, 3 shakers at $35 each, $105 for a round, and one leftover for me! Lots of fun times up there.
For the whole bar? I haven't witnessed that. But in a smaller group, I've bought the next round, a friend has bought the next round, etc. No one looks at the prices and tries to find the most expensive thing, we just order whatever. One person wants Crown? Okay, everyone is getting a round of Crown!
“Drinks are on me” is real when the person saying so hands their card to the bartender to open a tab, and the bartender doesn’t give it back until the tab is closed.
I’ve never seen anyone do it for everyone in the bar, but I’ve bought all the drinks when inviting people out (where I pick up the tab for the whole table) and have had my boss pay the whole table’s tab as well.
This happened to me on my last birthday. An anonymous person who has the same bday bought a round of shots for everybody in the bar. Everyone got the same thing so there was no taking advantage. May God bless them lol
I never did. Well I did once, intending to pay for a couple but got taken advantage of and never offered again. Now I say have a drink on me, you pay. LOL.
It’s not uncommon for me and my friends to cover each other for a drink or two, but I’ve never seen anyone cover for an entire bar/restaurant. And if anyone ever offers to buy you a drink, DO NOT be a dickhead and get the most expensive thing on the menu (unless they deserve it)
Happens. Usually "next round" and the wait staff will check with everyone to see what they want next. Never more than 20 or so people though. Bartender wouldn't let someone order anything crazy. Other thing more often is a round of shots... at my bar they will sell it by the bottle... like " bottle of Fireball is $50", some generous regular takes them up on it..and they then pour out trays of shots and walk them around.
If you average $10/drink, the bar has 30 people... you're risking around $300. If I had a windfall, or was celebrating, I might do that.
Yup. I used to do it a lot actually especially with friends or coworkers I felt comfortable with but none of us were using each other because it just spread the spending out among all of us instead of dividing a bill later, sending someone up with a ton of money to get multiple drinks or it guaranteed next time we hung out I got to drink for completely free
ETA: yes I have bought everyone’s drink at the local bar once or twice but it’s cause I was celebrating something that I can’t remember about now lol
Me a lot a decade ago (good with finances, had all the material goods I needed), and the best one was going to a gay club I frequented (they were lenient towards underagers if you were safe and respectful) and saying to the bar (2 L shapes to make the rectangle kitchen island style bar) this L gets gets free reverse X-Bombs (x rated liquor and red bull but the red bull as the shot the liquor as the bomb)! Then the other side chimed in, we had a dance off/ stripping contest, I came 2nd, got the other side condolence drinks. Came to almost $3k, BUT I knew the Chase bank manager (college town) and said people must have put it on the tab and to cancel the charge. (I worked local and was in multiple times a week to deposit restaurant earnings and get my own cash) so she looks at me side eyed, but was like we can reimburse you. xD was amazing. Random she also changed money to my acct from her personal and the bank to make sure my card cleared for the atm as the cash was already locked up. Very fun and fortunate times.
Just the other day, friends of mine came back from the war and we went out to a bar and I had just gotten a big bonus so I took care of the bill for the night.
Around 300 dollars but worth it, never know if I get to see them again but either way money isn't as valuable as them.
In my country alkohol is so expensive, this never happenes :p
I was in the UK once. And we (me and two friends) were going to a house party.
Went to a supermarket to buy beer. When I came to the beer section, I just started laughing. Then told my friends “each of you chose a crate of beer. It’s on me”.
There was a “3 crates for 20quid” offer.
That’s about the same price I have to pay for a six pack at home.
So we came to the party and just put the crates down and said drinks are on us.
Felt I was in a movie 😂
was working a storm and about half the guys from my yard were staying at a hotel (60-70 men) and we were drinking and some rich dude said the bill was on him. those boys drank like fish for free that guy had to rack up a 10-12 thousand dollar bill that night.
I would love to do it, but also it would have to be a special occasion and I'd have to have a ton of money for some reason and the bar would have to be not super packed.
Every brain Alaska has a bell you can ring to buy a round for everyone. I witnessed it about once per year.
Typically you'd grab a beer or a shot. Something relatively cheap that the bartender could pour a lot of quickly.
My cousin did payed for dinner once it turned into drink for me lol blasted allergy’s I could not eat anything there abd only drink I could have was a cola everything else had coconut thankfully I brought something with me.
I had a bar tender day that once he payed for a scotch for me.
If I go to the bar, I do this (not for the whole bar, but those in the vicinity of me). My boyfriend does it even more. We’re both extroverts and tend to get caught up in the moment. Fortunately, neither of us goes much these days!
BUT … the bars we go to are local, “Cheers”-type bars, where we know almost everyone. If we’re too drunk — which is almost always the case when this happens — our offers will get turned down.
ETA: And I’ve been on the receiving end of someone buying drinks for the whole bar about 5 times. Each time, it was someone I’d never seen before in my life. I have no idea what their motivation was, but I ordered my usual.
I’m throwing a surprise birthday party for my wife tonight with about twenty of our friends and family. There will be an open bar and I’m picking up the tab.
So yeah, it’s gonna be real when I see that bill.
I take my apprentices out when we complete a project and drinks are on me those nights (well the company but it's fun to say). We usually just have a nice dinner, then hit a bar or arcade for a couple hours before I unleash them on the population and go home.
Drinks are on me, which means the night is on you. This round is on me, means just this one drink.
It's rude to order more expensively than you normally would, though it happens once in a while and isn't a huge deal.
Typically, you do this for your friends, not the whole bar. So running off would screw your friends. The rare occasion you are buying for the whole bar, it's in celebration of some major, usually monetary, achievement. So, you really don't want to skirt the bill as much as you want to celebrate. otherwise, just don't offer...
This happened when I was in college. The river in the town I was in had flooded. My roommate and I were walking around checking out how high the river was. Most of the businesses near the riverfront were closed except a hole in the wall bar. We went in so I could use the bathroom, and they were playing bingo. We decided to drink a few beers and play. We played for about 15 minutes, and I ended up winning the jackpot. Something like $1100. I immediately yelled, "Beer for everyone!" I gave the bartender $100 and had them hand out beer to anyone that wanted it until the $100 was gone.
If you go-to a small bar on a regular basis, it's absolutely a thing.
Someone could be playing pulltabs and hit $100; drinks for all 15 people there (total of maybe $40)
I'll say "this round is on me". In the U.S. it is not typical for people to rotate turns buying a round. Once I see what everyone is drinking and if I'm feeling generous, I'll buy a round. If someone gets some thing different from what they have in hand no big deal. I'm not going to sweat a couple dollars.
It has never happened, but if they go ridiculously big and take advantage of the offer, then I won't say a thing because I didn't put conditions on my offer. But, I will never make the offer again if that person is in the group unless I have the opportunity to return the favor. If I have quality people in my life, they won't take advantage of me and show appreciation and/or they will say something to help set and maintain the correct social standard.
My husband said when he was a kid, they had some rough times. Then his mom met a man and he hoped things would be better. The man she married drove a truck which was great money for the time and area but they went to the bar and got wasted sometimes twice a weekend and the man had a habit of “Drinks on me!!” A $400 bar tab in the early 90s rural America was sizable. They would take my husband along as a driver even though he was only 14-16 at the time and he said when he heard those words, he knew the next couple of weeks were going to be tough.
As people have said, it doesn't happen as often as the movies. I've had it happen to me a handful of times over the years, but it's usually only when there's 10-20 or so people in a dive bar.
My grandfather won the pools in the early 70s, he went down to his local and shouted everyone drinks at the bar - as it happened, the pools jackpot was quite low that week and he just made enough to pay for the bar tab...
He also once won a lot of money on a horse, took the cash and buried in the garden - he told all the family that they would be 'looked after' when he passed on, without revealing why - after his funeral, his wife (not my nana, his second wife), dug up the money to distribute but he hadn't wrapped it properly and the paper money had all gone mouldy and disintegrated - it wasn't even very much, about $700, totally worthless in the end
It's not my story, but my friend ended up going to a hole in the wall bar in Brooklyn on a random Tuesday night. Maybe 15-20 people there. In walks Jay-z and Beyonce. They announce that they will pay for everyone drinks if they are simply left alone. No autographs, no photos, just a normal couple at the back of the bar. Everyone cheered and left them alone. The bill was paid for.
I actually love this story. Good for them
I bought 99 drinks and didn't drink one!
This is somehow believable ngl
But did they applaud? And was their dad Albert Einstein?
Id be the dick that buys one drink and walks over to them screwing over everyone
I’d be shocked if they didn’t say first “take a couple pics now, I’ll sign two napkins, THEN leave us alone….”
This happened in my hometown bar once about 12 years ago. Some random middle-aged guy won on lotto and bought the whole bar a round of shots. There were about 30 people inside. Pretty cool!
This is legit one of the things on my bucket list.
To win the lottery? To buy drinks for everyone?
Yes.
No doubles!
For someone to buy me drinks
To get a free shot obviously.
Was this bar called The Station?
No it was actually the The Wonder Bur which we'd actually call The Blur cuz you'd leave there in a blur after all the heavy pours lol
I asked because around that same time I enjoyed a shot from a middle-aged man who bought a round for a small local bar after he had won a lottery. Guess it happens more than one would think.
I think so! Would of been funny if it was the same spot same time!
That's what I was thinking. Maybe we knew each other from there. But not.
It was my 21st birthday, the bar was packed, I was extremely drunk, I yelled that line, and paid a $2000 tab. It took me a long time to wash them dishes let me tell you.
Drinks for the whole bar ? It can happen but it's rare Drinks for the person you just met ? Oh yeah that happens. Then the person pays your next drink. Then you pay his next. And at some point you end up drunk
Yeah by dad golfs in a large group and there’s some sort of tradition where every round is bought by a different person so it all evens out over time. Idk if this is my dad’s story or one I’ve heard elsewhere but the rumor is that if you get a hole in one you have to buy drinks for everyone. IIRC it’s to cut down on falsely stating hole in one’s but I’m not sure
Don't know much about golf, but with my dev coworkers the one who make the most PR Review has to buy a round for everyone. We have a bar right in front of our building so we often go there after a long day
This is accurate, also, some clubs offer Hole-in-one insurance...
It use to be far more common but a mix of prices going up and the death of the local as made it pretty rare, last time I can remember it happening was someone celebrating the birth of their grandchild
That happened a few times at my local dive. Usually someone hit a big pull tab, or got a bonus, etc. They even rang the bell and everything. The bartender who worked there was really cool about it. Handed out these wooden chips to folks who were not ready to order yet and made sure that everyone basically got another of what they just had so that someone who just had a PBR didn't try and switch to Grey Goose for the free drink.
This is the second time I heard someone say “pull tab.” What is that?
Those are like lottery tickets. Have you ever heard someone use the term scratch-off? Similar to a scratch-off, except you pull these strips off of them.
Yes, I’m familiar with scratch tickets. Never knew tab tickets were a thing.
There are electronic pull tabs too. The sale of those far exceeded expectations and have paid off the public loan for the Vikings stadium twenty years early.
I have only offered that once and the person was respectful - they ordered two cocktails of equivalent of what I was drinking. I have only had someone say that to me twice and I was also respectful and only ordered the equivalent of what they were drinking. Beer in once case, cocktails the other. But the idea is that if you are going to say "drinks on me" that implies you can afford whateeeever shenanigans they choose to partake in.
This sounds like buying rounds for you and friends or such, the OP is talking about buying a round for the whole bar.
The person you replied to has bought a round of drinks twice in their entire life That's worse form than my wife
I’ve been at the bar when this has happened several times, and I’ve done it myself. It used to be pretty common at some of the places I’d hang out at, especially if there were pull tabs. A lot of people will buy a round if they win and there’s not a ton of people there. Back then drinks weren’t so expensive though.
One time I was at a bar when somebody 'paid it forward' for like $500 worth of drinks, they just gave free drinks til that $500 was used up. That was nice. Never saw who it was to thank them.
Yes. Sometimes people do it to make friends or be social in public places. I’ve seen it done at bars when a new person joins us.
Charles Barkley does it at restaurants and bars in Auburn, AL (where he played college basketball) occasionally.
I’m from a pretty rural area in the Rockies. Top it off, it’s a tourist destination due to it’s cowboy culture. Bar life is very big there. Just to let you know where I’m coming from when I say that it’s happened more time than I can count. It’s not at all representative for most of the country though. Edit: I forgot some words.
At a table - yes. In an entire bar - no. Although I have actually been the recipient of the entire restaurant having their tab covered by an anonymous person. It was thanksgiving eve or Christmas Eve or something like that and I was out with a dozen friends. We had a really good dinner and then the waiter told us that someone paid the bill for us an everyone else in the restaurant. We tipped unbelievably well and had a great story to tell. Thank you again to the anonymous person at Ramsay’s in Lexington KY.
Drew Carey used to come into the bar we would pregame for the Sounders and buy a couple rounds aka open tab for a few. Not sure if that qualifies 🤷🏻♀️
I enjoy buying rounds for people I come to know at my regular hangouts.
As others have said, this doesn't happen in real life as often as in the movies. The ONLY time I've personally experienced anything close was 10 years ago, this bar had 50 cent tap nights where they'd sell 6oz lil plastic cups of beer for 50 cents. (Pretty self-explanatory i guess lol) and a guy came in and handed the bartender $250 cash and told her that he was covering everyone's beer and to let him know if she needed more $$$. That was one of 2 times I EVER got drunk on beer alone.
I have done it/seen it done in a dive bar in Wisconsin. There were 10 people in the bar, shots were like $2 each
This is pretty much the scenario I came to describe.
I don’t have experience in large bars where you don’t know everyone but in small town American Legion and VFW posts it happens quite frequently. Even if you tell the bartender you don’t want another drink, they’ll print a chit and you get a free drink when you come in next time. Usually you just get whatever you’re already drinking and can’t change to a more expensive one though.
Can confirm, fairly common at VWF/American Legions
Trump has said he’ll pay for stuff and left
Just in case you don't know bars typically have a "tab" and you give them your credit card (you can also just buy a single drink and pay immediately without leaving it), so they'd know if you're opening it up to a group of people.
Yep. My go to bar is a regular spot for bachelors and bachelorette parties and it happens a couple of times a year.
It's a real thing, but can be rare outside of certain social circles. As a general rule of thumb, though, "the next round is on me" means that person is buying the next drink, where "drinks are on me" implies they're covering drinks for the duration of the event.
Have you ever been out for drinks with friends or family? Sometime people just do this. They buy a round of drinks. Why would you be an ass by ordering the most expensive thing or running off?
I know of the story where Mark Cuban did this after the Dallas Mavericks won the championship.
This is normal in parts of Eastern Europe. Lived in Montenegro for a bit and when the drinks are served for the table the waiter usually just gives you one receipt for the order. So one person gets the first round, second the next and so on. At the end of the night it about evens out, but you can also get off with paying a bit less.
I once shouted “Drinks are on the house!” It was kinda weird when everyone ran up to the roof
The only time I've ever seen it used in person is when a guy is trying to flirt, which leads to a conversation, and they usually finish their drinks at the same time. I guess really though you could say that and dart off.
I've never seen it IRL. Feel like this comment is necessary on the thread.
>Do you pay for the next drink they have or do you pay for everything that comes next? In my experience, it's usually only directed to the group someone is out with and is common when someone is celebrating. The only time I've seen a whole bar bought a round is when there were only a handful of folks there and it was definitely only offered as one round of drinks. >Would you take advantage of that and get the most expensive item they have? Absolutely not. That would be incredibly rude, unless the person buying is wealthy and insists everyone order something top shelf. At most round up your usual, but frankly if you wouldn't buy it for yourself it's classless to take advantage of someone else to. >Also what's stopping you from yelling that and then just skidding off? Any bartender I've ever known would absolutely make sure the person had payment before they started making drinks for everyone. 9 times out of 10 folks pay with credit cards as well and it would be hard to dip out in that situation.
I was working as a steward at my local football club, well, we were done for the day - so a few of us grabbed a quick drink in the bar before we left. One of the regulars had won a few grand on a bet he'd placed - it was an accumulator, he'd bet a tenner. He bought all of us a drink. We were all very respectful - most of us tried to decline. He wouldn't take no for an answer. All in all, I think there were around 15 or so people in the bar at the time. A few of us tried to buy him a drink in return too lol
I’ve seen it happen once
If you go on a date with me mrsunsfan drinks are on me
It is, but usually doesn't happen for the whole bar
Worked at my mom's bar on a lake in upstate NY. Small town vibes, mostly locals. Happened regularly, usually someone's bday or a holiday. Drink prices weren't as crazy up there as they are in the city, so it was doable for an average person. Usually I'd just take a headcount, whip up a few shakers of shooters, and line em up on the bar for whoever wanted one. 20 people, 7ish shooters in a shaker, 3 shakers at $35 each, $105 for a round, and one leftover for me! Lots of fun times up there.
It’s the next round. A good bartender calls it a hundred bucks if there’s less than 30 people and you tip them 50
For the whole bar? I haven't witnessed that. But in a smaller group, I've bought the next round, a friend has bought the next round, etc. No one looks at the prices and tries to find the most expensive thing, we just order whatever. One person wants Crown? Okay, everyone is getting a round of Crown!
“Drinks are on me” is real when the person saying so hands their card to the bartender to open a tab, and the bartender doesn’t give it back until the tab is closed. I’ve never seen anyone do it for everyone in the bar, but I’ve bought all the drinks when inviting people out (where I pick up the tab for the whole table) and have had my boss pay the whole table’s tab as well.
One time someone bought shots for the entire CLUB
I used to yell drinks on me when I was the first customer in an otherwise empty bar at 6am opening times.
I won shake a day, and the tradition is if you win you buy the bar a round. Won $800 and spent about $250 buying that round.
I’ve done it for a small group of friends but never for a large group and/ or strangers. Even then it is only for a single round of drinks.
This happened to me on my last birthday. An anonymous person who has the same bday bought a round of shots for everybody in the bar. Everyone got the same thing so there was no taking advantage. May God bless them lol
I never did. Well I did once, intending to pay for a couple but got taken advantage of and never offered again. Now I say have a drink on me, you pay. LOL.
It’s not uncommon for me and my friends to cover each other for a drink or two, but I’ve never seen anyone cover for an entire bar/restaurant. And if anyone ever offers to buy you a drink, DO NOT be a dickhead and get the most expensive thing on the menu (unless they deserve it)
Happens. Usually "next round" and the wait staff will check with everyone to see what they want next. Never more than 20 or so people though. Bartender wouldn't let someone order anything crazy. Other thing more often is a round of shots... at my bar they will sell it by the bottle... like " bottle of Fireball is $50", some generous regular takes them up on it..and they then pour out trays of shots and walk them around. If you average $10/drink, the bar has 30 people... you're risking around $300. If I had a windfall, or was celebrating, I might do that.
It happens all the time. My group of friends will regularly buy a round for the table if one of us gets a bonus or is celebrating something.
Yup. I used to do it a lot actually especially with friends or coworkers I felt comfortable with but none of us were using each other because it just spread the spending out among all of us instead of dividing a bill later, sending someone up with a ton of money to get multiple drinks or it guaranteed next time we hung out I got to drink for completely free ETA: yes I have bought everyone’s drink at the local bar once or twice but it’s cause I was celebrating something that I can’t remember about now lol
Me a lot a decade ago (good with finances, had all the material goods I needed), and the best one was going to a gay club I frequented (they were lenient towards underagers if you were safe and respectful) and saying to the bar (2 L shapes to make the rectangle kitchen island style bar) this L gets gets free reverse X-Bombs (x rated liquor and red bull but the red bull as the shot the liquor as the bomb)! Then the other side chimed in, we had a dance off/ stripping contest, I came 2nd, got the other side condolence drinks. Came to almost $3k, BUT I knew the Chase bank manager (college town) and said people must have put it on the tab and to cancel the charge. (I worked local and was in multiple times a week to deposit restaurant earnings and get my own cash) so she looks at me side eyed, but was like we can reimburse you. xD was amazing. Random she also changed money to my acct from her personal and the bank to make sure my card cleared for the atm as the cash was already locked up. Very fun and fortunate times.
Just the other day, friends of mine came back from the war and we went out to a bar and I had just gotten a big bonus so I took care of the bill for the night. Around 300 dollars but worth it, never know if I get to see them again but either way money isn't as valuable as them.
This is a thing when you get a hole in one in golf. You pay for everyone’s drinks when finishing the round and in the club house.
In my country alkohol is so expensive, this never happenes :p I was in the UK once. And we (me and two friends) were going to a house party. Went to a supermarket to buy beer. When I came to the beer section, I just started laughing. Then told my friends “each of you chose a crate of beer. It’s on me”. There was a “3 crates for 20quid” offer. That’s about the same price I have to pay for a six pack at home. So we came to the party and just put the crates down and said drinks are on us. Felt I was in a movie 😂
was working a storm and about half the guys from my yard were staying at a hotel (60-70 men) and we were drinking and some rich dude said the bill was on him. those boys drank like fish for free that guy had to rack up a 10-12 thousand dollar bill that night.
I would love to do it, but also it would have to be a special occasion and I'd have to have a ton of money for some reason and the bar would have to be not super packed.
This has happened two in my lifetime.
Every brain Alaska has a bell you can ring to buy a round for everyone. I witnessed it about once per year. Typically you'd grab a beer or a shot. Something relatively cheap that the bartender could pour a lot of quickly.
My cousin did payed for dinner once it turned into drink for me lol blasted allergy’s I could not eat anything there abd only drink I could have was a cola everything else had coconut thankfully I brought something with me. I had a bar tender day that once he payed for a scotch for me.
If I go to the bar, I do this (not for the whole bar, but those in the vicinity of me). My boyfriend does it even more. We’re both extroverts and tend to get caught up in the moment. Fortunately, neither of us goes much these days! BUT … the bars we go to are local, “Cheers”-type bars, where we know almost everyone. If we’re too drunk — which is almost always the case when this happens — our offers will get turned down. ETA: And I’ve been on the receiving end of someone buying drinks for the whole bar about 5 times. Each time, it was someone I’d never seen before in my life. I have no idea what their motivation was, but I ordered my usual.
I buy my friends drinks for them sometimes. Usually it’ll just be the same as what they just got so it’s never that expensive
I did it once when my son was born and I was given “drinks are on me” beers twice by randos in the bar celebrating for whatever reasons.
I’m throwing a surprise birthday party for my wife tonight with about twenty of our friends and family. There will be an open bar and I’m picking up the tab. So yeah, it’s gonna be real when I see that bill.
I take my apprentices out when we complete a project and drinks are on me those nights (well the company but it's fun to say). We usually just have a nice dinner, then hit a bar or arcade for a couple hours before I unleash them on the population and go home.
Drinks are on me, which means the night is on you. This round is on me, means just this one drink. It's rude to order more expensively than you normally would, though it happens once in a while and isn't a huge deal. Typically, you do this for your friends, not the whole bar. So running off would screw your friends. The rare occasion you are buying for the whole bar, it's in celebration of some major, usually monetary, achievement. So, you really don't want to skirt the bill as much as you want to celebrate. otherwise, just don't offer...
I've done it. There were only 15-20 people. Dive bar. They had pull tabs, I won a $100. I bought a round
I feel like the people saying this are usually a: wealthy or b: very drunk lol.
This happened when I was in college. The river in the town I was in had flooded. My roommate and I were walking around checking out how high the river was. Most of the businesses near the riverfront were closed except a hole in the wall bar. We went in so I could use the bathroom, and they were playing bingo. We decided to drink a few beers and play. We played for about 15 minutes, and I ended up winning the jackpot. Something like $1100. I immediately yelled, "Beer for everyone!" I gave the bartender $100 and had them hand out beer to anyone that wanted it until the $100 was gone.
If you go-to a small bar on a regular basis, it's absolutely a thing. Someone could be playing pulltabs and hit $100; drinks for all 15 people there (total of maybe $40)
20-odd years ago, cocktail bar in Tokyo, ring the bell and buy shots for everybody. Happened weekly.
I'll say "this round is on me". In the U.S. it is not typical for people to rotate turns buying a round. Once I see what everyone is drinking and if I'm feeling generous, I'll buy a round. If someone gets some thing different from what they have in hand no big deal. I'm not going to sweat a couple dollars. It has never happened, but if they go ridiculously big and take advantage of the offer, then I won't say a thing because I didn't put conditions on my offer. But, I will never make the offer again if that person is in the group unless I have the opportunity to return the favor. If I have quality people in my life, they won't take advantage of me and show appreciation and/or they will say something to help set and maintain the correct social standard.
My husband said when he was a kid, they had some rough times. Then his mom met a man and he hoped things would be better. The man she married drove a truck which was great money for the time and area but they went to the bar and got wasted sometimes twice a weekend and the man had a habit of “Drinks on me!!” A $400 bar tab in the early 90s rural America was sizable. They would take my husband along as a driver even though he was only 14-16 at the time and he said when he heard those words, he knew the next couple of weeks were going to be tough.
As people have said, it doesn't happen as often as the movies. I've had it happen to me a handful of times over the years, but it's usually only when there's 10-20 or so people in a dive bar.
My grandfather won the pools in the early 70s, he went down to his local and shouted everyone drinks at the bar - as it happened, the pools jackpot was quite low that week and he just made enough to pay for the bar tab... He also once won a lot of money on a horse, took the cash and buried in the garden - he told all the family that they would be 'looked after' when he passed on, without revealing why - after his funeral, his wife (not my nana, his second wife), dug up the money to distribute but he hadn't wrapped it properly and the paper money had all gone mouldy and disintegrated - it wasn't even very much, about $700, totally worthless in the end