Tabs
In the movies, bartenders let their patrons run up big bills over the course of a week or two. For example:
Me: Frank, put it on the bill.
Frank: The bill, sir, is very high.
Me: So am I!
*By the way, if anyone gets that reference (without Googling!), I'll see if I can send you a Baltimore Sun tchotchke.
I just wonder sometimes -- do bars ever let you run up a bill anymore? Did they ever let you do this back in the day?
I've never seen it. I've had bartenders who wrote down what I drank all night and then made me pay before leaving.
But I've never been able to walk out of a bar without paying and say, "Put it on my bill."
Have you?
(David Hobby/Sun Photographer)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
hmmm.....never took you for a Broadway musical type........
there are two bars that allow me to run up tabs. If I gave them away, they wouldn't let me run up tabs no more!
Posted by: J.M. Giordano | October 25, 2007 11:09 AM
JM, I was the lead in this play sophomore year of high school.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | October 25, 2007 11:11 AM
Brigadoon! ha!
Posted by: Ben | October 25, 2007 1:11 PM
Ben! You win! I'll be emailing you shortly with your prize. Don't get too excited.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | October 25, 2007 2:05 PM
i knew that....
Posted by: ss2 | October 25, 2007 2:52 PM
hey! I was first! where's my Sun die cast devlery truck!
Posted by: J.M. Giordano | October 25, 2007 3:05 PM
jm, you didn't name the play, you just said it was a play.
side note: if i had a die cast truck, i'd keep it for myself.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | October 25, 2007 3:10 PM
Forget to send?
Posted by: Ben | October 26, 2007 9:11 AM
I've walked out of bars that I regular and forgot to pay and they just add that to my next tab...I know the bartenders though
Posted by: Matt | October 26, 2007 10:25 AM
That goes back a while and would only be at neighborhood bars. The patrons would pay their tabs on pay day.
Posted by: mark | October 26, 2007 1:44 PM
This subject reminds me of the TV show Cheers. Norm told Sam to put it on his tab and Sam pulled out a real thick 3-ring binder !!
Posted by: Kathy | October 26, 2007 1:46 PM
Yes, there are bars that will run tabs for regular patrons in town, and not just neighborhood bars. BUT, the practice is illegal.
You have to be a regular, every night drunk.
Posted by: eebmore | October 26, 2007 2:37 PM
When I lived on Long Island there was a bar that would run a multi-day tab for me. It's a rare thing, nowadays.
Posted by: Claude | October 31, 2007 10:12 PM