According to the National Restaurant Association, 88% of all adults say they enjoy going to restaurants. It’s really no wonder. Dining out is considered a relaxing treat by most folks; a great way to escape from the hustle and bustle of a hectic day. If you enjoy having a cocktail or two with your meal, here is a friendly consumer tip: ordering those drinks one at a time can be costly.
The bottom line: The next time you order a cocktail at a restaurant, make it a double. Typically, it’ll only cost about 15% more — but you’ll get twice the liquor. Cheers!
Photo Credit: .Larry Page
That is interesting. On TV people always say ‘make mine a double’ when they are having a rough day. However, I don’t think they are trying to save money…
I don’t think that’s the main intent on TV either — but it is when we buy our drinks! 🙂
haha thanks Len!! you have now given me the perfect excuse to order a double, i’m even going to tell my boyfriend that one of my favorite financial blogs told me it saves money!
It works! For example, we were at a popular BBQ restaurant last month — the price of a regular Jack and Coke was $6.50. If you ordered a double it was $7.50.
The savings really add up if you and your boyfriend are ordering even a couple drinks each.
I wonder if you can combine this with happy hour or ladies’ night and really walk away with a great deal.
I don’t know, Eric. I don’t think I’ve ever tried that — but I will next time I go out!
Don’t know why I forgot, but I have a buddy of mine I grew up with used to own a bar in DC. I should call him and ask if that would work (generally speaking)
I strongly suspect true bars — as opposed to restaurants that serve liquor — operate from a different set of pricing rules.
I have a feeling you’re 1000% correct (yeah, I put in an extra 0). The independents tend to be very much about the people and their experience more than the pricing structure.
Just make sure its listed as such. My wife and I go to a comedy club every thursday, and I had her start ordering doubles. We get our bill, and each double was treated as two singles, so there wasnt any real savings.
Thanks for the heads up, Josh. I’d recommend you also verify with your server before you order.
In my experience, comedy clubs tend to have over-priced drinks anyway and I don’t think they’re too eager to give special discounts.
What if you order a double, forget it’s a double (perhaps because it’s WAS a double), then order another, which is also a double. Not only will you have spent 15% more then you would have on two singles, but you might even feel good enough by then to order a 3rd drink–also a double. Then on the way home, a nice police officer decides to save you from yourself by pulling you over and administering a breathylizer test, and–well you know what happens after that.
Save your money and have your doubles at your house where the drinks are a lot cheaper and there’s no cop in the parking lot waiting for the people who had more than one double at the bar.
You’re a bad influence, Mr. Penzo. I’m just sayin’…
Everything in moderation, Kevin. Of course, this advice is only intended for those who are personally responsible and mature enough to know when to say when. 🙂
Then again, since you brought it up, if folks do get a ticket on the way home, they may want to read my post on how I fought mine and won (granted, it was a parking ticket and not a DUI):
http://lenpenzo.com/blog/id935-when-pigs-fly-how-i-fought-my-parking-ticket-and-beat-city-hall.html
I only tried that once. I was charged $10. The single would have been $5. Didn’t work but maybe worth another try, though with two kids, my bar days are largely (read: completely) behind me and a double is probably too much to have now anyways under the circumstances 🙂
Were you in an actual bar when that happened, as opposed to a restaurant that serves liquor/beer/wine? In restaurants, the mark-up for alcohol tends to be quite steep (I assume to help subsidize their food prices) — so they usually have more latitude, and flexibility, to offer such discounts.
Last fall, my roommmate ordered a “double” — and when they brought out the tab, they only charged her for a single. Ultra savings for her — like buy one get one free!
I suppose she *should* have said something, if she were saintly honest …. chalk it up to liquor-induced bad judgment?
I wonder if it wasn’t a mistake? Perhaps it was a special 2-for-1 deal. You never know!
Very creative Len. I actually prefer beer most of the time though and doubles usually taste too strong to me but I can see this working for the fancy mixed drinker crowd. Our gang used to meetup at someone’s house for beers before going out. That would even be cheaper.
I actually discovered this trick awhile ago, thanks to a very nice server who clued me in on how much money we were wasting after the Honeybee had just ordered a second cocktail after quickly downing the first one. LOL From now on, the first one out of the gate is a double.
and why not… make it a double, bartender!
I had several dinner meetings with a VP who was fond of telling the server to “bring us two beers apiece, it’ll save all of us time”. As Paula mentioned above, one time they got confused and forgot to charge for the extra beer.
Too bad you can’t order “double” beers, huh?
Out here in the Philly ‘burbs we’re getting more and more restaurants that are BYOB. It stinks if you don’t know in advance, but if you are prepared, you can save a bundle by bringing your own bottle, cooler…keg, truck, whatever!
Not to mention you can pick out the good stuff that they might not have had on hand.
I remember NJ was that way. When I was growing up in Staten Island and would go visit my godparents, they would have to grab a bottle from the house before going to the restaurant. Don’t know if it’s still that way though
I’m surprised they don’t charge a corkage fee. Or do they? (And if so, I guess it is still cheaper than buying the stuff from the restaurant.)
You can flip that logic for soft drinks or tea. A friend of mine went to a family restaurant with a couple of his buddies. When it came time to order, the conversation went something like this.
Waitress: And to drink?
Buddy #1: Iced tea.
Waitress: Small, medium, or large?
Buddy #1: Large.
Waitress: And you sir?
Buddy #2: A large iced tea.
Waitress (to my friend): How about you?
Smart Friend: Do we get free refills on the tea?
Waitress: Yes sir.
Smart Friend: I’ll have a small iced tea.
Waitress: You got it.
Buddy #1 (squirms uncomfortably): Oh, uh, can I change my order?
Waitress (with saintly patience): Yes sir.
Buddy #1: On 2nd thought, I’ll have a small iced tea.
Buddy #2: Oh yeah, me too. A small iced tea.
So many people will “supersize” their order when there’s no need.
LOL! I like that, DC. 🙂
Unless you are in Massachusetts where there are strict laws requiring that a “double” be exactly twice the cost as a “single”. The same law means that you can’t sell a pitcher of beer for less than the cost of a group of single beers that add up to a pitcher.
Damn puritans and their teetotaling ways! Until recently we couldn’t buy alcohol in stores on Sunday until noon. You’d be at the grocery store and the alcohol lane would be chained closed. People would wait right at the edge for the clock to strike noon and race into the aisle like sprint cup racers. Amusing? Yes. Efficient and sane? Nope.
Another thing is opening a tab at the bar instead of paying cash. At the end of the night settling up on a $50 tab and tipping 10-15% is probably cheaper than giving them a dollar tip for every drink you buy. And while you’re at it you might as well just order doubles the whole time.
Great tip, Zee!
Drink water instead and save a real bundle.
I’m with Drew Hey, my kids are small, drinks out is about a once or twice a month thing.
Two would put me over the legal driving limit, so … one it is. Or sometimes none.
There are some really good restaurants in a neighboring town, which we patronize from time to time. The norm is to offer takeout as well as table service and diners are welcome to take part(s) of their meal home.
We like wine with dinner but, instead of ordering it by the glass, we buy a bottle and take most of it home.
Buy those gift cards at Costco, for chains and some local restaurants. You get $100 worth of restaurant meals, but you pay only $80. Put your Costco bill on a credit card that gives you cash back.