A bartender says his new manager made staff measure every shot ‘especially game days,’ then the Ohio State crowd hit and the owner walked in

A bartender said his sports bar’s new manager required staff to measure every drink with a jigger, including on game days, until the owner reversed the rule during a packed Ohio State game day. The bartender shared the story in a Reddit post on r/MaliciousCompliance.

He said the bar usually relied on free-pouring, which was faster and something the owner valued. According to the bartender, staff had been tested and poured within a quarter ounce of the target amount.

A few months ago, a new manager who came from a hotel bar took over, he said. Within the first week, the manager decided the pour cost was too high and required every drink to be measured with a jigger or shot glass. When an older bartender asked whether that included game days, the manager replied, “Especially game days,” according to the bartender.

Game day put the jigger rule to the test

A couple of weeks later, the bar was at full capacity before noon for an Ohio State game, the bartender said. He said a pour that took him about six seconds free-poured took around 15 seconds with a jigger.

He said the slowdown led to longer lines, and by early afternoon servers were begging for drink orders. A table of regulars who had been coming to the bar for four years left for the bar next door, according to the bartender.

The bartender said the manager came behind the bar to help but could only watch as customers grew frustrated. Later that afternoon, the owner arrived, saw the line, and asked why service was so slow.

The bartender said he explained that staff were following the new policy. According to him, the owner looked at the manager and said, “Not on game days.” He said staff went back to free-pouring, and the regulars returned the following week, telling them, “Glad you guys fixed whatever that was.”

Commenters were divided. One wrote, “Leave it up to a new manager to come in and ‘make everything better.’ Good on the owner standing up for all of you.” Another argued the jigger should not slow things down that much, writing, “If it takes you fifteen seconds to fill a jigger you’re doing it wrong.”

Bar charges draw regular scrutiny online, where a receipt listing a bartender fee went viral. Pour cost measures how much a bar spends on the alcohol in a drink compared with what it charges for it. A Toast guide puts the average pour cost between 18% and 24%, based on an analysis of bar customers, and lists overpours, broken bottles, and comped drinks among the causes of inventory loss.