If they haven't changed the laws in PA recently, you have to be 18 to serve alcohol in a restaurant to patrons of legal drinking age. If you work as a server at a restaurant that serves alcoholic beverages, and are under 18, you must have another server or manager deliver the alcoholic beverage to the customer.

I didn't make a scene or anything. Just pointed it out and wondered why, as I had never seen such a thing.

Here in WA, I could serve (hand the glass to the customer) at 18, but not pour.

As for the Riedel issue, I'm guessing that in some restaurants, the wait staff may not know the difference, and in others, many of the customers don't know the difference, so they only pull out the expensive glassware when asked, or have a customer who they think will know the difference.

At whatever replacement cost per glass ($30-60?), restaurants would need to be selling a decent wine or two to justify the risk of breakage if they 'break out' the Riedel glassware.

However in the US, with a tipping culture, I believe a generous tipper may be able to sweet-talk the server (or in many cases the sommelier) to be generous with the Riedels too.

(Then how much extra would you tip...it would have to be a generous tip!)

Back to the OP - have you returned back to this place and did you get what you wanted?

I was a bar manager about 5 years ago - it would have been a cardinal sin to serve a margarita in anything other than the requisite glass. I've eaten/drank at the TGIFridays in PHL a bunch of time and have never had this be an issues before - seems like they were short on glasses.

Only the Riedel Sommelier series costs that much per glass, and no restaurant worried about cost would even buy those glasses. Riedel has a restaurant series not marketed (yet still available) to consumers, which costs $3-4 per glass (wholesale). I believe they only make generic shapes like Bordeaux and Burgundy, not the dozens of varietal-specific shapes of their high-end series. The restaurant glasses are very durable and are a great compromise (I use them at home every day).

Any restaurant that has two "tiers" of glassware based on the price of the wine they sell is clearly not worth patronizing. They care nothing about your dining (and drinking) experience, just their bottom line.

Addendum:
I have noticed that a lot of trendy restaurants, while their food/wine/service places them in the top of fine dining, intentionally use crappy stemware, perhaps to flaunt tradition. A perfect example is WD-50 in New York. An absolutely amazing chef and an innovative sommelier there; but thick, small, glass stemware that in conspicuously out of place. Another place in Boston (Toro? can't remember...), a great tapas bar, with a chef who is clearly overqualified for the atmosphere, serves their wine in rocks glasses!

I think this pretty well sums it up.

Of course the best restaurants will use only crystal for all wine service.

Most irritating of all, some restaurants offer $100+ wines but only cheap, thick glasses.

I work at J. Alexander's, kind of a mix between a casual restaurant and steakhouse. You all would be pleased to know that we use Reidel for all wines, both by the bottle and by the glass (the Bordeaux for red, Chablis for white). We're also working on decanting all bottles of red at my location. We also pour 7 oz. pours by the glass when almost all other restaurants serve 5 or 6. In other words, if you like wine, order big, and tip well, come visit me =)

Chris

No, and no. I have no plans to fly from PHL until April, and when I do, Friday's won't be on the list. Though on another note, I see that my idle curiousity has spawned quite the discussion...

Sarcasm aside, I think it's a great topic, so thanks for the post here.

Everyone must have a story or two about the topic, so it may have a long life, yet.

What sarcasm? None intended.

I think the sarcasm referred to his "Great post" comment.

Sorry you missed the joke - read this!

FYI, some great posts by the OP! ^

Like I said, great post by the OP - except I am not finding the mystery 'inexpensive' wholesale Riedel glasses over here!

Mabe I can find a good place to buy these glasses in SIN?