Dave & Buster’s Drink Debacle
Oct 18th, 2007 by Alex
I attended a business meeting at Dave and Buster’s yesterday. They have decent buffet food and private facilities large enough to do it, but there was one complaint that I heard repeatedly. The soda was flat. I heard this from several people after several trips to the drink station, where you’d think they’d be refilling the pitchers from the carbonated soda-gun.
After the meeting we hit the pool tables since they were included for the next hour or so. We ordered drinks. SoCo and ginger has been my staple of late, so I ordered one. It came back, noticeably more flat than the Cap’n and ginger that my coworker ordered. Mine tasted strongly of SoCo at first. Good. It also had a wang to it that wasn’t quite right. Not good. I couldn’t place what the problem was, just that the taste was off.
My tab came to $5.50; a tad high, but within reason for a large glass of the stuff. His tab came to $7+ for a mixed drink and a pint of Bass. Hmm. Further inspection of his receipt indicated that his Cap’n was $2.50. Great, seems I got jacked somewhere. It was suggested that I might have inadvertently ordered a SoCo and gin. That would explain the tab, the strange taste and the lack of carbonation. After 15-20 minutes of trying to track down our waitress, the following conversation ensued.
Me (holding up glass): What is this?
Her: SoCo and ginger.
Me: Ginger?
Her: Yes, SoCo and ginger. That’s what you ordered, right?
Me: Yeah, but there’s no carbonation and it tastes a bit off.
Her (rather matter-o-factly): We don’t have ginger ale.
Me (confused): So what’s in it then?
Her: We have Sprite and Coke mix.
Me: Uh…
Her (hopefully): You guys need another round?
She also informed us that the price difference was because of the Southern Comfort. $3 extra for Southern Comfort versus Captain Morgan’s? Tell me that that isn’t marketing, since the two cost virtually the same at the liquor store.
Anyone have bar or restaurant experience? I’ve got questions.
How can a large venue with a bar not have ginger ale? Secondly, why on earth would you mix Sprite and Coke mix as a substitute for it? There’s definitely no hint of ginger in Sprite or Coke. The only thing that particular mixture would be good for is getting the color right. Why wouldn’t you just say “we don’t have ginger ale?” Is this a common bar trick that I’m not aware of?
In retrospect it really wasn’t what I ordered. Their half-assed version of what I ordered, but definitely not correct. I should have sent it back and gotten something else, but the memory will remind me not to order it there again.
Either way, the Sprite was flat too. Another round? No. Thanks, but I think I’ll just finish this one and move on.
Don’t know much but from the restaurants that i’ve worked at that don’t offer ginger ale, they have told us to mix sprite and only a teeny splash of coke
no one ever noticed
Nano: I’m not sure how anyone wouldn’t notice. Sprite is lemon/lime. Ginger ale is neither of those things. Thanks for confirming though.
Nano, I’ve waited tables since 1999, and I learned that “trick” from my first gig. Only the bar gun had ginger ale, and the server stations did not. I was told the “trick” and I had to do the Pepsi challenge. I couldn’t discern the ginger ale from the bar gun from the concocted sodas from the fountain. Nor has any customer. Ever.