They’re the four words every regular loves to hear: “This one’s on me.” Whether it’s an extra pint of Guinness or a free Gin & Tonic, a buyback—the practice of giving the occasional drink on the house to a well-liked patron on a loosely regulated cadence—has been a time-honored tradition of American bar culture since at least the repeal of Prohibition nearly a century ago.
But gradually, over the past 25 years, the once reliable cultural norm has become, to some, a relic of a bygone era. As far back as 1999, news outlets have pondered whether tighter profit margins and declining bar patronage have spelled the end of the friendly freebie. Recently, bartender and writer Rick Paulas suggested in a post on X that the concept had suddenly died and wondered, “What happened!” Has the buyback truly gone the way of the $5 boilermaker? And if so, how are bartenders keeping customers coming back for another round?
Paulas, a bartender at Oak & Iron in Brooklyn, first heard about buybacks while he was still living in Los Angeles, from friends who had spent time in New York. “It was always something that was dangling there as this fable: In New York City, if you go there and get three drinks, the fourth one is for free.” Read more >
