Alcademics

Twice this month I found myself rushing to finish a $14 cocktail because the paper straw was collapsing within 5 minutes. I'm over it. 

While I very much appreciate bars doing their part to be more environmentally conscious, the quality of a bar's straws reflect on the quality of the bar, as does the quality of the bar's coasters, napkins, glassware, and music. You're not giving good service with sucky straws. 

But what to do? All the plastic straw alternatives are kinda bad: even the best paper straws collapse, the hay straws float and crack, and metal straws feel weird (and get stolen).

As a customer who needs a mid-drink paper straw change, it feels rude to interrupt the bartender working on another order to try to get a replacement straw - and worse yet if you have table service, your chances of getting a replacement before the drink turns to watery slush are slim. I've given up on drinks because the straw died near the end. Eff that.  

So here's one idea: add customer-facing single-straw dispensers to the bar top or in some other visible, convenient place. That way customers can replace their own straws if needed. It would be important to get a dispenser that puts out one straw at a time so that people don't get their dirty fingers over the whole stack. 

There are downsides to that, too: It's another thing cluttering up your bar top, it sends a message that it's okay to help yourself to things in the bar (hands out of the garnish, people!), getting an ugly dispenser will make your bar look like a McDonald's, and most likely someone is going to try to steal the dispenser at some point. 

But for some bars it could work and at least improve the paper straw situation a little, until someone finally invents a good plastic straw alternative.