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8. Substituting Top-Shelf Alcohol with Generic Booze

One of the most common scams at restaurant bars is to replace premium vodka with generic brands, subscribing to the theory that most customers can't tell the difference. (We know of one restaurant which even did that with Scotch, but experienced whiskey drinkers could often tell and the scam was not so effective.)

A New York City bartender says, "The way of doing that is to start them on the bad vodka right away. You can't sub it in once they started drinking the top shelf brands or they'll notice. But if you serve the cheap stuff from the beginning they never know."




This one's a no-brainer. I can't count the times I've ordered a drink, watched the bartender pour it, took a sip and nearly yacked from the lighter fluid they were selling as premium. Now I stick to premium bottled beer like Pabst Blue Ribbon.