Appropriate glassware in restaurants
 

Never seen this before, and as we left the restaurant, my girl said "This is going to end up on FlyerTalk, isn't it?"

We were waiting for our delayed PHL-FLL on the 22nd, decided to avoid midnight munchies that may be incurred by said delay by going to Friday's. To numb the pain of A) flying out of PHL, and B) being on US, I ordered a margarita. I'm easy to make 'ritas for: I like them up, no salt...thank you very much. When the server said "I'm new at this and I'm not 21, what does that mean?" it didn't really bother me. What did kinda irk me was said margarita being delivered in a cognac/brandy-like snifter-something glass. I got our server's attention and reiterated that I was not upset, just merely curious. The server offered to send over a manager, who did arrive and proceeded to explain that up margaritas are "always served here like that". Having no evidence to the contrary, I thanked her and she left. I'm not that horrible of a food snob, but come on now. The margarita glass is something to be treasured, and this bartender IMO crapped all over the fun of drinking margaritas. So now I turn this scenario over to FT...is the manager for real? Any comments or like experiences welcome...I've just gotta know.

edited to add: As another couple across from us was getting up to leave, the female of that pair came up to me and said "I looked over and was wondering the same thing about the glass...you've got balls for saying something about it. Have a good flight."

I'm not a margarita person, so I wouldn't order one there, but perhaps they serve it like that because it's a smaller glass?

Nahhhhhh....
 

Sounds to me like they just ran out of the right glasses and made ur drink in whatever they had ... (im a former bartender .... i hate to admit i've done it before !)

Nahhhhhh....
 

Sounds to me like they just ran out of the right glasses and made ur drink in whatever they had ... (im a former bartender .... i hate to admit i've done it before !)

I've edited the title of this thread as it seems to be more related to glassware than the specific restaurant...

It's what they do at TGI Fridays, I've seen them in water glasses, tall beer glasses, etc.

Sad part, you were probably the only person who ever mentioned it.

I've been a consumer and maker of industrial-strength margaritas for many years, consisting of roughly equal quantitites of tequila, triple sec (finding Cointreau too smooth) and lime juice, served on-the-rocks with a salted rim.

I avoid ordering margaritas in chain restaurants and in any restaurant that offers a choice of flavors.

The best margaritas I've imbibed have generally been in plain glass tumblers. Besides, my personal supply of margarita glasses broke over the years - I have no recollection how. ;)

Now that the thread has been renamed to refer to beverage glasses I have a question for the crowd.

At what point does the red wine get upgraded from the standard wine glasses to the good ones? I was dining a couple of weeks ago and we ordered a mid-high range Cab on the list. The waiter brought over the standard run of the mill wine glasses and the table off to the side was enjoying their wine in the Reidel type glasses. We asked for the better glass and he said no problem, but why wouldn't they offer them up in the first place?

i'm not a wine drinker (i especially don't like reds-and i buy whites like a 6 year old buys cereals: look for the coolest picture and pick one out) but what's the difference in the glasses?

TGI Fridays website shows all their margaritas being served in traditional, festive looking margarita glasses.

http://www.fridays.com/mixology.html

And as far as the shape/style of the wine glasses, most wine aficionados will tell you that the shape, style and size of the glass can affect how your nose and palate experience the bouquet and taste of the wine. Some would disagree, but I am a fan of the Riedel glasses as well and gave several sets of their Vinum Pinot Noir (along with a nice bottle of Pinot) as Christmas gifts.

I think many of the servers in restaurants are young or inexperienced and just don't have a clue when it comes to pouring anything besides a Heineken.

Yes, I've seen many drinks of all types served in general purpose glasses, so I wouldn't have made a big deal about it. Also I personally find the 'Margarita' type glass difficult to drink from, as the liquid sloshes around a lot. What does bother me about the initial post was the fact that the bartender admitted he was under 21. Isn't it illegal, especially in a big chain restaurant, to have people serving liquor, under age?

As a rule of thumb, in some places, >$100 gets the Reidels, <$100 gets standard glasses, so we've noticed over the years.

Liquor laws vary from state to state. In Hawai'i, 18 and up may work in bars and handle/serve alcohol, even though they must wait 'til they're 21 to be a customer at the same bar they work at to consume alcohol.

I'll never forget when I lived in Boston(? or, was I living in DC when this happened ...?) and I had to press the "[alcoholic beverage]" key on the cash register 'cause my underage cashier wasn't allowed by law to do so.

I'll try to add a link to describe the benefits of drinking wine from crystal rather than glass. IRC the author claimed the appropriately shaped Reidel glass improved his cheapish Chard so much he would have sworn it was a much better wine. :)

Aside from the feel and the 'clink' factors, the rougher texture of crystal, compared to glass, was one factor; the shaping of the rim to optimise the aroma and where the wine lands on the tongue is another.

This issue calls for some extensive FT DB testing. :D