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leica posted:Apparently "free drink" means "I don't have to tip poo poo" either. If they don't have to get out their wallet they won't tip, since the beginning of time. raton fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Aug 24, 2012 |
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Aug 24, 2012 18:56
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Sheep-Goats posted:If they don't have to get out their wallet they won't tip, since the beginning of time. Well played, kid. Well played, here have this free shot.
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Aug 24, 2012 19:13
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We've had people come to the bar expecting a free drink after every one they buy, and cop an attitude when we laugh at them. "We're from Mass-a-two-shits, the bar there buys us a drink after each one we buy" well good for you, guess what you're in Florida now? Surprising how your stupid bar gimmicks aren't nationwide. We don't need to give out drinks to get business, we're on a popular beach, we could be selling Vodka with our back sweat and we'd still be in business.
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Aug 24, 2012 19:54
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Price points are different between Boston and Florida. In NY most pubs buy your forth drink (at the bartender's option) for you, but your other drinks cost 10-12 bucks. Clubs and fancy cocktail places rarely do this. It is dumb and gay to walk into a bar demanding free poo poo.
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Aug 24, 2012 20:32
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leica posted:Our hotel front desk gives out free drink tickets for when they gently caress up. Some days it's a lot. Apparently "free drink" means "I don't have to tip poo poo" either. It isn't my loving fault your room isn't ready, and I didn't put a roach on your pillow, so you can go gently caress yourself. See this is a pretty lovely situation all around. In almost every other situation you'd be a dick for not tipping on a free drink, but when you're doing a recovery for someone who's been hosed over, it's really poor form to say ohh I'm sorry you got a really lovely deal sir, here's something on us to make up for it... by the way, it's going to cost you more money for our mistake because you have to tip the bartender to get that "free" drink. It just doesn't really make sense. I think the only soloution there is that you gather up all the drink tickets at the end of the shift, and charge the hotel for them instead of just writing them off. That way you get your tip for service, the customer gets a truly free drink without being responsible or feeling guilty for not wanting to tip (because they really shouldn't have to imo) and the hotel's fuckups become tangible instead of just being waived away. That way, if they continue to mount, then it costs them money and it's something that can and will be addressed because it's stupid to have a safety valve for fuckups (ie free drink tickets) that don't have any accountability and can just be thrown around willy nilly. Especially when the cause of the fuckup is one department, and a completely different department has to shoulder the effect.
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Aug 24, 2012 22:25
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There's been 2 fights so far tonight. It's 7:15.
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Aug 25, 2012 01:12
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nrr posted:It just doesn't really make sense. I think the only soloution there is that you gather up all the drink tickets at the end of the shift, and charge the hotel for them instead of just writing them off. That way you get your tip for service, the customer gets a truly free drink without being responsible or feeling guilty for not wanting to tip (because they really shouldn't have to imo) and the hotel's fuckups become tangible instead of just being waived away. That way, if they continue to mount, then it costs them money and it's something that can and will be addressed because it's stupid to have a safety valve for fuckups (ie free drink tickets) that don't have any accountability and can just be thrown around willy nilly. Especially when the cause of the fuckup is one department, and a completely different department has to shoulder the effect. This is a very reasonable idea, but the owner is a tightwad that couldn't care less about his employees and would laugh in our faces for even bringing it up. It just irks me because people know better, they just say "gently caress the bartender too" when we had nothing to do with whatever their problem was. And of course they choose the most expensive drink they can get like Patron Margaritas, at least throw me a buck goddamn. Every once in awhile someone gets it and leaves a tip but not too often.
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Aug 25, 2012 01:23
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Daric posted:There's been 2 fights so far tonight. It's 7:15. Who gets into a fight in a fancy restaurant? 
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Aug 25, 2012 02:55
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JawKnee posted:Who gets into a fight in a fancy restaurant? The kitchen 
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Aug 25, 2012 03:51
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Actually they were both at the bar. I'm a little drunk right now but I feel the stories will best be served by providing illustrations of the layout of my bar so I will recount the stories for you tomorrow morning. Enjoy your nights. Drink Responsibly.
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Aug 25, 2012 08:40
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Sorry it's been so long since I've posted but a ton of crazy stuff has been happening at the bar and with my other job so I haven't had much time to put a good writeup together. I am however leaving work tonight at 3am and going directly to the airport to head to Denver for a bachelor party with all the maniacs I grew up with. Should be a yarn or two to tell there.
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Aug 25, 2012 21:32
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James Woods posted:Sorry it's been so long since I've posted but a ton of crazy stuff has been happening at the bar and with my other job so I haven't had much time to put a good writeup together. I am however leaving work tonight at 3am and going directly to the airport to head to Denver for a bachelor party with all the maniacs I grew up with. Should be a yarn or two to tell there.
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Aug 26, 2012 03:26
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If you see a drink on a rather short drink list, is it reasonable to double-take when presented with baffling ignorance about how to make it? Let me set the scenario from last evening: glances over the drinks menu at a tex-mex place... hmm, they've got caipirinhas listed on the menu as 'made from Brazilian rum, lime, and sugar on the rocks'. Sounds tasty. "Can I take your drink order?" "Yes, I'd like a Caipirinha."...  "I'm sorry sir, we're out of the muddled strawberries." "That's fascinating, but what does it have to do with my drink order?" "They go in the caipirinha, it wouldn't be the same without them." "I've never heard of putting that in one." "I could see if they can make you one without them."
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Aug 26, 2012 15:22
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That's when you order a beer.
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Aug 26, 2012 17:14
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Frozen Horse posted:
Edit: beaten by small text
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Aug 26, 2012 17:31
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Been going to bars/restaurants trying to get a barback job. Went in yesterday to this little bar, was pretty slow. Talked to the manager, and his response was "Well, I'll keep your resume on file, but don't count on a call. The owners only hire chicks and mexicans." Been striking out a bit, but still going. I think I've given out a dozen copies of my resume so far. On the other hand, I went to go ask about a job in one bar, and saw some middle-aged woman who was so drunk, she smashed her face against the ladies bathroom door. It was 1 in the afternoon.
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Aug 26, 2012 21:40
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An 11 o'clock regular
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Aug 26, 2012 22:29
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I just made myself a dry martini. I hated it. I find my taste in cocktails runs to slightly sweet, very sour, ice-cold and bracing, but I don't want to look like I'm carrying around Carmen Miranda's hat. If I say to a bartender "Margarita, up, no salt, martini glass" will I look like a total douchebag in an attempt to avoid looking gay? I once had to explain that when asking for a daiquiri I just wanted rum, lime, and a bit of sugar and nothing else, and felt very bad about it.Frozen Horse posted:If you see a drink on a rather short drink list, is it reasonable to double-take when presented with baffling ignorance about how to make it? Let me set the scenario from last evening: Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Aug 27, 2012 |
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Aug 27, 2012 05:58
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Halloween Jack posted:I just made myself a dry martini. I hated it. I find my taste in cocktails runs to slightly sweet, very sour, ice-cold and bracing, but I don't want to look like I'm carrying around Carmen Miranda's hat. If I say to a bartender "Margarita, up, no salt, martini glass" will I look like a total douchebag in an attempt to avoid looking gay? I guess it depends on where you go. I work in an upscale restaurant where minute modifications are the norm and personally don't give a poo poo about what/how people want their drinks so long as they aren't ridiculously complicated. I'd actually be happy with your order since it saves me a step on prep.
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Aug 27, 2012 06:57
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Halloween Jack posted:If I say to a bartender "Margarita, up, no salt, martini glass" will I look like a total douchebag in an attempt to avoid looking gay? I work in a college dive-ish bar. If you ordered it exactly like that, I might roll my eyes a little about the martini glass, but I'd appreciate the straightforward way you ordered it and how you took care of almost all of my typical followup questions. (The only thing you didn't cover was tequila preference). I'd also assume that you are probably in the industry and I'd make a mental note to keep an eye out for you next time, assuming the tip was decent. But like Der Luftwaffle said, this is entirely dependent on where you go and the bartender you order from. You throw that order out at some rookie in the wrong type of bar and they're going get all flustered and be like "He.. okay, margarita.. um.. no salt, good.. uh.. the gently caress, up? poo poo.. do I shake that? gently caress me.."
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Aug 27, 2012 09:14
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Halloween Jack posted:If I say to a bartender "Margarita, up, no salt, martini glass" will I look like a total douchebag in an attempt to avoid looking gay? This might be a REALLY dumb question, but I'd rather ask here than in person at a bar. I looked up the difference between straight, up, and straight up and got different answers from multiple sources. What do these terms mean?
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Aug 27, 2012 09:53
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Where I come from, straight is neat, up is a coupe/martini glass, and straight up is "I've already had dinner and I want to get my buzz on". YMMV.
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Aug 27, 2012 10:10
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Icen posted:This might be a REALLY dumb question, but I'd rather ask here than in person at a bar. Straight is the same as neat, it means pure undiluted room temp liquor (unless the liquor is kept chilled like Bailey's or Jager or Rumplemintz, in which case it's served chilled). The only difference between those two is that you're more likely to hear brown liquors ordered "neat" and clear liquors ordered "straight." Up means shaken with ice and strained. Straight up is not a real thing. Bros and cheap people think it means "I would like a strong and pure drink" but that term doesn't really mean anything nor does it have a consistent meaning from region to region if it does mean something where you live. Obviously the real meaning of straight and the real meaning of up are conflicting and you can't have a drink that is both straight and up. If someone ordered a drink "straight up" from me I would ask them if they want it chilled or not, and I would expect then to say yes because that sounds fancier to them and they're already trying hard to be sophisticated without knowing really how to do that. However I wouldn't be surprised if they also scoffed at my question and and said "of course not, I said straight up.  "
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Aug 27, 2012 17:36
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfipl5BYBqo
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Aug 27, 2012 18:21
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Thanks for the reminder of how great that movie is. You can put me down on the roster as an Irish Hotel and function bar (hopefully a college bar job in the next two weeks as well), this thread is really interesting in how there is a big gap between how the job is treated here and in the states. Here it's pretty much a minimum wage or slightly above position, and while your unlikely to get a job these days without any experience, it's still treated in pretty much the same way a wait staff or kitchen porter would be. That and tips are pretty much non-existent. My work schedule up until last week was pretty intensive, 9-12 hour weekdays followed most weeks by two 14-16 hour shifts for weddings Friday and Saturday. I was dropped straight into one of these my first day (I was only in the job for 6 weeks when things got quiet enough to let me go) and goddamn is 350 Irish wedding guests a fun way to start out. At most places here there is no such thing as a barback, so as the junior of the three tenders I did all the stocking, ice grabbing and glass collecting. The rate at which people drink at these things is ridiculous, with us running out of shot glasses (120 behind the bar) every 20 minutes or so.People also seem to love taking the entire tray and leaving them in every conceivable nook and cranny possible, the bathrooms, on the stage behind the band, on the floor along the walls and once in the third floor stairwell of the goddamn hotel.Baby Guinesses and Jager bombs seem to be en vogue at the moment too, meaning every one of them had to be washed by hand as well. gently caress sticky rear end drinks to hell.
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Aug 27, 2012 18:47
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Frozen Horse posted:If you see a drink on a rather short drink list, is it reasonable to double-take when presented with baffling ignorance about how to make it? Let me set the scenario from last evening: This reminds me of the time my girlfriend asked for a bloody mary at the bar while we were bowling one night. The bartender asked her if she wanted frozen or on the rocks.
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Aug 27, 2012 22:42
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Icen posted:This might be a REALLY dumb question, but I'd rather ask here than in person at a bar. Straight up/straight usually means in a shot glass where I'm from, whereas neat means no ice. This typically only applies to people who are 40+. Younger people typically have no loving idea how to order their drinks and use improper terminology all the time.
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Aug 27, 2012 23:14
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I've met all my beer and liquor reps personally, and while I'm 90% sure that most of them don't have a clue who I am, I believe them all to be mostly decent people and honest tradesmen. That said, this thread has told me that I should be on alert for them trying to gently caress me 10 ways from Sunday, dry, straight up yo/my rear end, with the whole bottle. I'm not making supremely massive stadium-sized orders from any of 'em, as I'm ordering for my small dive bar. What kinds of communication should I have with them? How should I be talking with them? I mean, dialogue is friendly, and as of late (I've only done the orders twice now) I usually just shoot the poo poo with them for 30 seconds, then tell them "Well, yeah, got an order for you this week" and then tell them what I'm going to need to restock. Is there something I'm doing wrong here? I know everyone says that they are trying to gently caress me and maybe I should push them in one way or another, but what do I press them on? Price? Volume? Freebies? he;lp edit: I honestly don't much care what I get out of the deal. I'm not really looking for too much to be free, but is there something that they'd easily include/discount if I only asked? Also, \/ interesting follow-up... Ally McBeal Wiki fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Aug 29, 2012 |
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Aug 28, 2012 23:37
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So a family friend has a smallish vineyard and is looking for a sales rep/vendor in the area I live and asked if I was interested in doing that for them. I have very little knowledge of wine but between my parents and them I'm sure I can learn everything I need to know. Kinda curious as to a bartenders point of view of reps/vendors and if it's at all worth pursuing.
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Aug 29, 2012 02:34
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FaceEater posted:I've met all my beer and liquor reps personally, and while I'm 90% sure that most of them don't have a clue who I am, I believe them all to be mostly decent people and honest tradesmen. You probably don't do enough volume to get any significant discounts or free products. Look out for things like them trying to sell you niche products that won't move (flavor-of-the-month tequila, alco pops), promising you that if you buy extra this week/month (so they can meet their quote and get a bonus) that they'll take care of you in the future, and them trying to take out competing products by offering you piddly amounts in cash or promos (if you stop selling Absolut and exclusively carry Smirnoff vodkas, I'll buy you a pack of gum!). One thing that always irked me personally was every time a rep offered to pay for printing up drink menus if it meant he got to pick the menu. That said, these guys have a job to do as well, so a certain amount of this you'll eventually just have to shake your head when they start asking stuff of you. Jabel posted:So a family friend has a smallish vineyard and is looking for a sales rep/vendor in the area I live and asked if I was interested in doing that for them. I have very little knowledge of wine but between my parents and them I'm sure I can learn everything I need to know. Kinda curious as to a bartenders point of view of reps/vendors and if it's at all worth pursuing. You won't be selling to bartenders, you'll probably be selling to managers. I don't know your market, but wine vendors that rep a small number of products can be very collusive - you sell your wines to someone and bring in another vendor to fill some holes you can't, and they'll do the same. You will probably be asked to come in and train their staff on your wines (and if you aren't asked, you should offer). Most importantly - ASK your customers/prospects what they want. Wine is a weird business compared to liquor, it is very much relational selling since there are so many wines on the market. Questions you might ask in an initial meeting: Do you have any needs right now that aren't being met? How can I make your job easier (inventory, deliveries, scheduling, training, product demos)? How do you buy wine - do you have a set number of wines on your list, do you try to keep a well rounded list, are there any specific holes you have right now? What will it take to get the opportunity to earn your business? Wine can be much easier to replace on a menu than beer or liquor, so the key is to keeping the restaurant owners/managers happy. One other way of doing this is, when you do land an account, show up there every once in awhile to eat. Pay full price for your meal, tip generously, and bring people with you. I was much happier to buy wine from the rep that came in twice a month with a couple friends, than the rep who walked in once a week to drop off the wines he was selling at the moment. Lastly, be semi knowledgeable about your product - know what a varietal is, a vintage, a blend, what wines complement what foods (generally speaking), etc. You don't need to be an expert on everything wine, but knowing enough about wine to speak intelligently about the products you're selling is a good idea.
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Aug 29, 2012 03:12
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Shooting Blanks posted:That's when you order a beer. I should have done that but I was too busy being stunned with an IRL on my face. Not as bad as the time I ordered a Rob Roy and got a Roy Rodgers, though.
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Aug 29, 2012 08:14
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FaceEater posted:I've met all my beer and liquor reps personally, and while I'm 90% sure that most of them don't have a clue who I am, I believe them all to be mostly decent people and honest tradesmen. Be militant about going through your liquor deliveries and your receipt. Make drat sure that they match. And make drat sure they match what you ordered initially. That 6 bottles of Captain you wanted might mysteriously be 8 and so on. Or there might be a bottle of something random that you didn't order but it's somehow on your receipt and you're going to pay for it if you don't notice. Call them out on absolutely any discrepancy. Shooting Blanks covered this, but don't let them talk you into loving anything. They are salesmen. They want to sell poo poo. Even if it is actual poo poo. Most of them only care about numbers. If they are pushing some new thing on you, tell them to leave enough so that you can have your bartenders sample it. If your bartenders think it sucks and won't move, they're probably right. Pass on it. If they give you a bottle of it for free.. that's fine, but it's ultimately just going to clutter up your back bar and either get sold for next to nothing or go home with you or a bartender. Ask about deals. Every time. Find out what's out there. If you've got an owner with some sense and you've got enough space to store it, you can get some pretty solid hookups on multiple case orders. The last one we had was a few cases of Crown got us a case of Kahlua. Yeah, might take us awhile to go through all that Crown, but every time we sell Kahlua it's all profit. But that is still entirely dependent on your bar. Free case is great unless it's a case of something that you barely use. Another example on deals, noticed a neighboring bar had started pushing a particular kind of gin. Mid range, not exceptional, no reason to start focusing on it. Talked to the manager there, turns out the rep offered them a "buy two bottles, get one free" deal. Apparently that brand was willing to take a loss to get a foothold. Mentioned it to my GM the next day, he hadn't heard anything about it but he just e-mails his orders in to that particular distributor, never talks to anyone. If he actually talked to a rep the bar could have made some easy money. So yeah, distributors. They'll try to gently caress you, absolutely. But a lot of it comes down to you letting them bend you over. Don't do that. Bend them over instead.
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Aug 29, 2012 09:38
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Shooting Blanks posted:
Wow, Thanks for all that! It really helps out a lot.
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Aug 29, 2012 20:51
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HAHAHA! Some lady just came in to the bar and tried to sell me this. I literally just started cracking up at her while she tried to tell me what a great deal it was for us.
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Aug 30, 2012 23:51
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But you don't understand, people at the bar want live lobsters you would be foolish not to get one 
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Aug 31, 2012 03:15
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I knew Kitchen Nightmares jumped the shark when Ramsay had one of those installed in some seafood place he was "fixing" here in NYC. The British ones were so good and the Fox ones were so poo poo. BTW that Bar Rescue show is pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.
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Aug 31, 2012 03:22
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To be fair, if I came across one of those things while I was drunk in a busy place I would probably put every single cent I owned into trying to get a live lobster that I could then terrorize the rest of the bar with until I got kicked out.
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Aug 31, 2012 03:39
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New job for the barback: Get rid of all the dead lobsters laying around.
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Aug 31, 2012 03:57
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everybody posted:Awesome ideas. Now I wish I'd at least taken the brochure! 
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Aug 31, 2012 05:07
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I'm an American studying in Denmark right now. Would it be considered rude/pretentious to go to a cheapish bar and order something slightly less common like a Rusty Nail. I vaguely remember something from the last thread about how European bartenders are more for pouring beer than really mixing drinks. Don't know much about European bar culture, but I really love trying new cocktails.
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