Going out and the social constuct of "the bartender"

When we went out in NZ, it was to pubs that we knew and more importantly pubs where we knew the bartender. This was so that they would make us fun interesting drinks before we headed on to the next bar. The Bartender was the most important man of the evening as if we knew him the night would be very interesting. If we somehow happened to stumble into a pub whose bartender was unknown to us, it was a problem quickly remedied and the progression of the night was taken in a new direction as we acquainted ourselves with this new friend. The night was comprised of a bunch of friends sitting around different pubs and drinking novel mixed drinks before moving on to the next pub. In Rochester the bar scene is different. I would in this place like to comment on American cities and contrast them with New Zealand cities, however, I only went to pubs in Auckland and Rochester. Different big cities in America may have similar attributes that I am unfamiliar with. That being said, the pub scene in Rochester is far different. Namely, we don't go to pubs. The times that I have have been a great time, highly enjoyable, but in a completely different sense. They are a time of sitting with one or two friends and drinking a beer, we generally stay at the same pub throughout the night and there have never been, in my experience, any heretofore unheard of mixed drinks. I want to go on a pub crawl with Sam again and have Jono mix us drinks. The friends I have here are not bartenders and the bartenders are not ostensibly befriendable. This is one thing that I miss.