Also if you ask the bartenders to not add lemon/lime to the drinks they get extremely aggressive and insists the lime is added in the right proportions. I’m no expert but I don’t think cocktails should leave you with the same taste as sucking on a raw lemon

If drinks with citrus taste like pickles to you, the problem might be on your end.

Not really. I don’t think lime should overpower the entire flavor. I clarified my original comment

Yeah, another thing with NYC is that service has gone down the drain. 50% tip and GTFO, oh you actually still have stuff on your plate? Whatever happened to our customer or king?

Cocktails are almost all built on a foundation of booze, flavor, sugar, citrus. Flavor/sugar/citrus cover up the booze and sugar/citrus bring out the flavor. There are exceptions but mostly this is how they're built. If you pull the citrus out they'll be too sweet with flat flavor.

Cocktails were originally made to mask the taste of bad spirits. As they evolved after prohibition, they began to focus more on complimenting a spirit and make the drink more tasty. To make alcohol taste good, you need to add sugar, and to make it not taste too sweet you need to add citrus.

If you have a dislike of citrus more than the next person, just have a conversation with your bartender to suggest a drink. They spend a lot of time adjusting their drinks on the menu. If you ask for a cocktail on the menu and ask them to omit the citrus, it will change the cocktail completely, making it taste too sweet or too boozy.

Every cocktail made with a clear spirit includes citrus (except a martini). So stick to bourbon cocktails (not sours) or martinis, order a (vodka/gin)+(soda/tonic), or just talk to your bartender.

And what’s the deal with airline peanuts?!

Order a Manhattan