Is it appropriate to drink cocktails at a meal?

Originally Posted by Nosu3

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I am not suggesting someone use the bathroom to drink booze because it might smell like toilet. Drinking alcohol in the rest room is more classy and you may find people doing the same who you can chat with.

The Port Authority bus terminal is great for that. Once I even found a half-smoked Newport Light on the floor. It was still pretty dry.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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However, I suggest you develop a taste for champagne with food.

Indeed.

Though I like sparkling wines generally. Pulling out a cheap bottle of a good cava when a friend stops by is a nice variation on, "hey, you want a beer or something?" Not that there's anything wrong with beer.

Originally Posted by imschatz

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Learn to drink beer or wine. The social gains will be well worth the few uncomfortable attempts. Example: Social dinner, and the table orders a bottle of wine - do you really want to be the one guy drinking jack and coke?

But being the one guy drinking beer would be ok?

Seriously, I'm curious. I actually like beer but rarely if ever drink wine and know almost nothing about it besides what I learned from Sideways.

Either become knowledgeable about wine or stick to the San Pellegrino during dinner.

While I cannot speak for formal business situations, never have I encountered or heard of a situation where ordering a cocktail for dinner would be abnormal or a faux pas (lunch may be a different matter altogether.)

A glass of bourbon with a good meal should never be ruled out completely.

If you are not paying for your portion of the meal it might be more polite to go along with others orders, such as trying the bottle the rest of your group ordered (you could simply stick to a single glass and then water.)

Originally Posted by caxt

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While I cannot speak for formal business situations, never have I encountered or heard of a situation where ordering a cocktail for dinner would be abnormal or a faux pas (lunch may be a different matter altogether.)

A glass of bourbon with a good meal should be ruled out completely. Have a dram of whisky.

If you are not paying for your portion of the meal it might be more polite to go along with others orders, such as trying the bottle the rest of your group ordered (you could simply stick to a single glass and then water.)

*Fixed that for you.

Originally Posted by CasinoRoyale

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But being the one guy drinking beer would be ok?

Seriously, I'm curious. I actually like beer but rarely if ever drink wine and know almost nothing about it besides what I learned from Sideways.

Then forget everything you know (should not be difficult, given Sideways was a ****** movie), and start learning the proper way. Visit wine bars (or wineries - since you're in LA, I'd suggest Paso Robles for a weekend trip, or even Temecula), drink with people who are more knowledgeable, ask questions, take classes, etc.

Originally Posted by godofcoffee

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I guess this is the credited response. I'll probably have to conform eventually, so why not now? That said, I did enjoy beer the first time I had it (it's like liquid bread!). I just don't enjoy sweet drinks (donc le vin). Maybe I'll just nurse a wine glass.
Oh, geez. The 'credited response' -- are you studying the LSAT? And please don't just conform. The nice thing about spirits, wine, and cocktails is that there is enough range there to give everyone an opportunity to find something you like. My perfect meal involves a cocktail to start, which usually runs through the appetizer, a glass or tow of wine with dinner, and then a little while later a post-dinner libation -- anything from a Grappa to a glass of Sauternes. Had a nice '01 Rieussec the other day in a meal like that. Lovely. I don't think a cocktail is inappropriate with a meal, but I'd match the cocktail to the meal as carefully as I would a wine. Vieux Carres, Negronis, Manhattans, etc -- all fairly spiritous, vermouth containing cocktails which would generally be a good choice. And a Red Hook with BBQ is a favorite pairing of mine. But if you are drinking a sour apple-tini with dinner, we need to talk some more.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Don't order a cocktail with a meal, damnit.
Dude.

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

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Not a breach of etiquette, but I've found that strong cocktails served in jumbo-sized glasses that restaurants seem to prefer often detract from my meal. I've made the mistake of ordering a Manhattan with a steak dinner and couldn't enjoy the meat because of my buzz. Never again. I limit my cocktail consumption around meal time to a Negroni to whet the appetite.
Yeah, that's pathetic. People just want to get hammered and the restaurants oblige -- the cocktail glasses are ridiculously enormous. ~ H

Places that have those giant martini glasses and a cocktail menu that lists nonsense like Cosmopolitans are places that I would likely avoid.

Or that call their mixed drinks -- of whatever type -- Martinis.

Originally Posted by Huntsman

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Or that call their mixed drinks -- of whatever type -- Martinis.

hate that

i dont drink any alcoholo at all and am often at business dinners in nicer restaurants.

sparkling water or Red Bull

Or even better... ask the server to give yoau glass of coke 3/4 full and a can of Red Bull and mix them casually at the table... that always gets a nice conversation going

Nothing says urbane sophisticate like a can of Red Bull, that's for sure.

Originally Posted by Huntsman

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Dude.
What? I think ordering a cocktail made with hard liquor during a meal is improper. I can understand having a cocktail before dinner, although I personally refrain and just stick with Champagne. If I drink hard liquor around mealtime, it will be after the meal is over. You're obviously free to do whatever you want, but I think ordering a cocktail during a meal would be a bad choice and you'd wreck your palate for at least a few moments.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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What? I think ordering a cocktail made with hard liquor during a meal is improper. I can understand having a cocktail before dinner, although I personally refrain and just stick with Champagne. If I drink hard liquor around mealtime, it will be after the meal is over. You're obviously free to do whatever you want, but I think ordering a cocktail during a meal would be a bad choice and you'd wreck your palate for at least a few moments.
I love you, man.