The thing the bartenders at Bill Bateman's are now passing off as a Choco-tini. For years, I've gotten these on occasion and they've always been in a glass ringed with chocolate sauce, then the brown colored concoction shaken and strained with what I guess was Godiva and milk or half and half and then topped with whipped cream. Yum. Now I'm getting this thing that is pale brown with no chocolate sauce and no whipped cream and full of chipped ice. What the hell happened - is it a pronounciation problem?

Basil-flavored martini? Feh.

I've choked down some not-so-great drinks in my day, but the only one that really stands out (though I can't remember the restaurant) was red wine served in a glass that must have come straight out of the dishwasher. The glass was HOT and the wine was, well, not exactly at an ideal 65 degrees.

It wasn't anyplace fancy, I do remember that much, but still...

Years ago, (pretty much everything I've said or written for the past 3 weeks has started either years ago or long, long ago. I need to get a life and move into this century.) when we lived in Houston, my drink was Margarita. In the dead of winter, I accompanied the husband on a trip to some farm community (that, reflecting back, may have been Amish or Mennonite) about 50 miles west of Philadelphia. Apparently, I'd left my brains on the plane because I was actually surprised when my Margarita was the worst thing I'd ever tasted.

The blue on blue at Mama's on the Half Shell (oyster, Pabst blue ribbon, and some cocktail sauce)

Skunked draft beer somewhere in Fells Point, I think, but can't remember exactly where...

Are we counting non-alcoholic drinks too? I got a mostly-milk no-flavor vanilla latte from the Starbucks on St. Paul in Charles Village (usually passable but I far prefer the vanilla latte from Daily Grind). One sip and I threw it out. Shame I was on my way somewhere or I'd have gone back in and demanded a refund. Won't patronize there again for a while, that's for sure.

Speaking of which, does anyone know of a good run-in, run-out place to get a good latte in Waverly/CV? I've been dying for one but haven't had time to explore.

One of the worst drinks I had happened this past Friday night at the Buffalo Wild Wings in White Marsh. I ordered a tall Blue Moon on tap and after a couple minutes later the waitress brought the drinks to our table. I grab my beer to take a drink and as soon as I got it close to my mouth I got this strong aroma of bleach. I put the glass down and smelled my hand and it smelled like I had dip my hand in a bucket of cleaning solution. I told the waitress and she took it back and said the manager would bring me a new one. I had to scrub my hands 3 or 4 times to get the smell off. 15 minutes later I still didn't have my new beer. 2 different managers took my beer to the guy 1 table over from us. He got 2 free beers and I got nothing. Not even an apology from the waitress or manager.

Prof. McIntyre, you need to read this.

If you had this phone, besides the clear advantage Gus describes, you could log into the You Don't Say video box thing and actually show T.G.I. Friday bartenders how to make a proper martini.

If they stil screwed it up, you could give them an iFart.

Dean, probably not a good experience to base it on, but what did you think of the Blue Moon on tap? We went to Buffalo Wild Wings in Eldersburg and my partner was crazy for it. She's the brew lover in the family and I've only rarely see her like a beer so much.

Easily this poisonous Manhattan from the Outback in Glen Burnie. It was 90% grenadine, & tasted of Triaminic. Remember Triaminic?

Oh man, I almost forgot. A few months ago, I was at a dive bar around Pittsburgh for my girlie's high school reunion. I was served a Glenlivet in a steaming glass, presumably because the bartender thought I said "HEAT" when I requested the drink "NEAT". Either that, or she peed in it; apparently Glenlivet, when heated past some threshold, turns into Agent Orange.

Some years ago, (not as many as my last story) we were eating in Savannah, GA. Nice place in the Cotton Exchange. I ordered a glass of Chablis. (just generic, our cute little waitress didn't know where the wine lists were) She came back with suspiciously red wine. When I pointed out the problem, Cuteness (and she truly was) said in her squeakuy little voice, "This is Red Chablis. Did you want White Chablis? I'll have to tell the manager that I made a mistake..." What the hey, I was on vacation. I'd just toured Juliet Gordon Lowe's house. How could I rat out someone who was about the same age as a Brownie?

Does the old Never on Sunday in Mt. Vernon count as a restaurant? And does a coke in sytofoam cup count as a drink? And does my wife count as me? If so...

...then the worst "drink" "I" ever had in a "restaurant" was a coke at Never on Sunday. Once my wife finished the soda, she took off the lid & kicked it back to get some ice cubes. She turned ghastly pale, put the cup down and said, "Look in there." I said, "Is it a roach?" Sure enough, there was a frozen roach in among the ice cubes.

When I took it up to the "manager," he shrugged and said, "Give her a free Pepsi." Unfortunately, this was in the days before I had a Health Dept. ID...

My boss loved Gerben's, a tiny bar in Mount Vernon that's now an Ethiopian restaurant. To say it was a no frills place is an understatement. I went with him one time and ordered a whiskey sour, figuring it was a simple mixed drink they could make with no trouble. They gave me a can of Country Tyme and a shot of whiskey.

Corked wine is one of the worst drinks you can get at a restaurant because most times it isn't undrinkable but just "off". It is always a problem to get it replaced by a glass from a new bottle. Now unless it is really bad I just drink it and then change to a different wine for my next glass.

Mom and I went to Long John Silver's (I couldn't drive yet, forgive me) and we ordered tea. We got bad coffee with a Constant Comment tea bag in it.

Being the evil child I was, I let Mom taste it.

Being an evil adult, I've got an idea. Since the Ravens made the playoffs, why don't we get a giant Ravens jersey and put it on the Man/Woman sculpture? Just like Detroit puts a Red Wings sweater on The Sprit of Detroit when the Wings make the playoffs.

charmcitygal,

I was getting skunked beer at the Wharf Rat so often that I don't get their Oliver beers anymore. Either a Stella, Sierra Nevada, or something bottled.

Procedural question: is a martini on the rocks served in an old fashioned glass rather than a cocktail glass?

Lissa - I must be an evil adult too cause I LOVE your idea! Let's do it!

poisonous Manhattan from the Outback in Glen Burnie. It was 90% grenadine,

Grenadine in a manhattan? Yuck, indeed!

Worst drink I've ever had would have to be a Negroni. I really want to like this drink, but it just tastes like an ashtray. No matter where I've gotten it. Not really the question asked, but it kind of fits...I guess.

Joyce, I love Blue Moon on tap. I had never had it before and then it was the beer special at Buffalo Wild Wings in Westminster 1 night and have loved it ever since. I would love to have some on tap here in my house but I don't think I could drink that much before it went flat and be able to make it to work.

I've been served skunky beers in town more times than I can count - clean your tap lines people! PCB Rob - I have a list of places that are bottled beer only, and the Wharf Rat (at least the one I go to) is on it.

The worst drink I've had recently was at TapaBar, which I loved at first because the food was so good. I ordered a Makers Mark and water, and I guess they didn't have much left in the bottle and didn't have another bottle, and instead of informing me and allowing me to choose another drink, the waitress poured me a ridiculously weak drink (it was basically water) and never said a word. Very not cool.

(the next weekend, they were STILL out of Makers Mark, and didn't have any other kind of bourbon, it pretty much killed my initial fondness of the place. especially after we got overcharged that night for the wine).

LGood -

It's the Campari. Its flavor profile is so bitter, and it's right at the forefront in the Negroni.

I prefer Aperol myself.

Dean and Joyce, I love Blue Moon draft, too. Pity not enough places carry it, tho, ain't it?

More times than I can remember, I've been served lukewarm red wine. When did it become right to keep red wine at the back of the bar under the hot lights? GACK!

Dean and Dottie - did you do the orange slice thing with Blue Moon? As I mentioned I'm no beer lover but I tasted my partner's and I did appreciate the orange after taste.

Dottie, apparently this is the THING right now at all of the Buffalo Wing locations. So if you have a yen and have nearby Buffalo Wings, that's where to always count on it.

Dean, I guess you're going to just have to have a Ravens party to use up all that Blue Moon before it gets flat!

I was challenged one time to drink
Cement Mixer....shot of Baileys with a lime juice chaser..shake your head and swallow...

You can find Blue Moon on tap just about anywwhere in Federal Hill. It's made by Coors, has the same distribution channels, and to my palate pretty much tastes like Coors.

What I'd like to see is more of the Charm City Brewing Co. beers on tap, esp. Loose Cannon.

Dottie and Joyce: where do you go that Blue Moon on tap is rare? I can think of a handful of places within a mile of my house and they all have it on draft.

With all the great beer brewed within a hundred miles of Baltimore I wonder why any bars or restaurants would feature budmillercoors. This said the only "local" brew I see on tap is Yuengling Lager. Is it because most patrons want flavorless, generic beer served ice cold? Does anyone know of any local eating establishments with Victory Beers on tap?

Thanks for for memories of Never on Sunday....That place set a new standard for disgusting. I believe it won several Baltimore's Best for Place Not to Go and Eat and Most Likey to Cause One to Vomit. Congrats. Keep up the bad work.

I just remembered the drink that made me the sickest. Not that there was anything wrong with it, it was just one of those innocent tasting sweet little drinks that go down so nice and easy and then beat the hell out of you after about 4 of 'em. Trust me, I've been a bad drinker all my life and learned from bitter experiences never to want to smell Seagrams 7 or Jose Cuervo again. But the meanest drink of all was Chambord. After about 4 Chambord shooters at my favorite watering hole when I was in my 20s, I got so plastered that I threw up all over myself driving home. Yes, I drove home. It was many many years ago and DWI was not the crime against humanity that it is today. If you did get pulled over, the cops used to laugh and say "are you ok to get yourself home? drive safe, now".

I can't stand it when I order a cup of hot tea and it tastes of coffee, because water was run through a coffee machine to make it instantly hot. Gack.

I think Mary in York has nailed something--it's all about expectations. The most disappointing drink I've ever had in a restaurant was one in Hawaii where we ordered one of those tropical drinks, expecting luscious freshly-squeezed fruit juices. What we got was made from a mix. We were sorely disappointed.

I think it was in Pittsburgh a few years ago that Kathleen ordered a Manhattan in a casual restaurant and was served something of a yellowish-brownish color that tasted vaguely like a petroleum byproduct.

And in a hotel bar in Roanoke, Virginia, I ordered a Manhattan, and the bartender asked me how to make it.

Hmmm, coffee-flavored tea. Why not cardboard-flavored coffee to remind you of the takeout cup experience at home?

While we are on this topic, did anyone else hear the piece on NPR Thursday morning that mentioned drinking cold drinks with meals as a cause of weight gain? The theory was that the cold makes the stomach contract, speeding up digestion, emptying the stomach and making you feel hungry again. My husband the scientist thinks this is ridiculous. But, hey--does this explain why ice cream is a diet no no?