The Bar Towel

I love it when chain restaurants branch out into craft beer.

Why?

I'm currently sitting in my local Jack Astors in Brampton (props to Barry!) drinking a La Fin Du Monde.

When they asked if I'd like a "large" size, they poured it into a big 22oz glass..love it!

JeffPorter wrote:I love it when chain restaurants branch out into craft beer.

Why?

I'm currently sitting in my local Jack Astors in Brampton (props to Barry!) drinking a La Fin Du Monde.

When they asked if I'd like a "large" size, they poured it into a big 22oz glass..love it!

The last time I ordered a beer at Jack Astor's it was even more expensive than drinking in Toronto and that was for something fairly ordinary. Please forgive me for asking, but how bad was the tab?

The corporate restaurants are terrible, almost no reason to go in unless you have to meet people there specifically.

Bier Markt Esplanade was a travesty in value, service and quality. Truly awful and a rip off.

Belgian wrote:Bier Markt Esplanade was a travesty in value, service and quality. Truly awful and a rip off.

Has it changed since they re-opened with the Goose Island brew pub?

BigBob wrote:

JeffPorter wrote:I love it when chain restaurants branch out into craft beer.

Why?

I'm currently sitting in my local Jack Astors in Brampton (props to Barry!) drinking a La Fin Du Monde.

When they asked if I'd like a "large" size, they poured it into a big 22oz glass..love it!

The last time I ordered a beer at Jack Astor's it was even more expensive than drinking in Toronto and that was for something fairly ordinary. Please forgive me for asking, but how bad was the tab?

8 and change before tax

portwood wrote:

Belgian wrote:Bier Markt Esplanade was a travesty in value, service and quality. Truly awful and a rip off.

Has it changed since they re-opened with the Goose Island brew pub?

The Goose Island side has a distinct design and atmosphere, and even though the two are connected the Goose side is (thankfully) nothing like what the EBM felt like.

Not cheap though - I think the last time I was there a beer ran me over $10 when all was said and done.

The ten dollar per pint barrier is looming in downtown Toronto. Several places, I have found, are twisting themselves into contortions to avoid it (shrinking glassware, anyone?) But I think it is coming soon.

midlife crisis wrote:The ten dollar per pint barrier is looming in downtown Toronto. Several places, I have found, are twisting themselves into contortions to avoid it (shrinking glassware, anyone?) But I think it is coming soon.

You're right, the bastards cant hide it. Do the math and some bars charge the per-pint equivalent of well over ten dollars.

I think I will cultivate the skill of nursing one beer serving for at least one full hour, just to annoy the #@$k out of bars trying to milk the public.

Look at Mascot discussed here on Bar Towel.

Seriously, has my income gone up 150% since a pint was four bucks? We should be tired of eroded spending power just purely serving the businesses.

Belgian wrote:

midlife crisis wrote:The ten dollar per pint barrier is looming in downtown Toronto. Several places, I have found, are twisting themselves into contortions to avoid it (shrinking glassware, anyone?) But I think it is coming soon.

You're right, the bastards cant hide it. Do the math and some bars charge the per-pint equivalent of well over ten dollars.

I think I will cultivate the skill of nursing one beer serving for at least one full hour, just to annoy the #@$k out of bars trying to milk the public.

Look at Mascot discussed here on Bar Towel.

Seriously, has my income gone up 150% since a pint was four bucks? We should be tired of eroded spending power just purely serving the businesses.

This is indeed getting nuts. It has crept up on me in Toronto until it finally registered. I was to meet up with some people in the area and suggested Northern Maverick. Everybody thought it was a nice place and then choked in unison at the prices. The real grumbling began when the serving sizes became obvious. Not impressed with the gauging.

I have noticed this trend on the west coast in both the US and Canada for a while. Shrinking glasses and higher prices. I can appreciate costs rising, but this is clearly out of proportion, bars are grabbing margin because they can, or think they can. I say walk out.

There are still plenty of places with reasonable prices and they appear to be able to run a sustainable business offering good beer. I'm glad they cater to their customers with fair prices instead of wasting their money on big screens, noise and 'branded atmosphere'.

Tapsucker wrote:There are still plenty of places with reasonable prices and they appear to be able to run a sustainable business offering good beer. I'm glad they cater to their customers with fair prices instead of wasting their money on big screens, noise and 'branded atmosphere'.

.

I've spent plenty of time in Germany and traditional beer-drinking cultures do not put up with this kind of sh-t. There remains a Value Ethic. Actually the food had also better not have been re-heated from sheer laziness because Germans can figure that one out too!

See you guys at Thirsty & Miserable.