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It was interesting actually, when I started working there we had the Glens and Scottish Leader (terrible Scotch, still better than Bourbon) for 1.09. All pints (Fosters, Kronenbourg 1664, Strongbow, McEwans Export, John Smith's) were 2.67. Guinness was 2.90. Then they had a management shift, decided that quick, easy cash was the way to go, and we began blatantly advertising how cheap everything was. Glens and Leader were still 1.09, but the pints went down to 2.07 on weekdays and back to 2.67 on weekends. The rabble this attracted was unbelievable. Between the baldy junkie quine who threw back 13 double Glens and coke in an hour and fell of her stool and the grizzly Garth who my girlfriend swears she saw washing his hair in a urinal at the bar she works at, the cheap drink was attracting entirely the wrong kind of people. Now we have a sane (albeit sailor swearing and heavy drinker) manager, all pints are 2.70, Guinness is 3, and Glens and Leader are 1.10. gently caress pennies. It's still pretty darn cheap for some things though, there's not many places in Aberdeen you'll get a malt whisky (which is whatever drat whisky we decided to buy from the Sainsbury's down the road- currently Glenmorangie) for 1.95.
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Dec 4, 2012 02:16
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| # ? May 15, 2024 05:01 |
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Is this Scotland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPd1lNjUBe8
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Dec 4, 2012 05:43
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Yes, DJ, please put on Pittbull's "Don't Stop the Party" right around last call. That would be perfect. XMas party turned out okay, but we're really not trained or equipped for that kind of volume. Some genius decided that instead of getting new cases for empty beer bottles, the best thing to do would be to pile them on top and roughly in the same area without pouring them out first. As a result a few cases got soaked.  Also, our fridges suck, so after about two hours I was serving warm beer and feeling lovely about it.I think I'll recommend they get outside staff for the next one.
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Dec 4, 2012 06:56
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leica posted:Just smelling well Tequila makes my gag reflex go off. In order for me to drink tequila it has to be at the least Patron and chilled, even then I have to fight the urge to puke. I don't know what it is about tequila that makes it so hard for me to drink, I can do shots of rot gut whiskey all day long Ugh, Nothing is worse than bar tending Sunday morning and making a ton of tequila sunrises. That awful Aristocrat tequila smell hits you as soon as the tequila hits the ice.
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Dec 4, 2012 11:35
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Sheep-Goats posted:Is this Scotland That would be Ireland.
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Dec 4, 2012 14:35
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Coohoolin posted:That would be Ireland. I always forget the difference.
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Dec 4, 2012 14:38
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Just finished reading this whole thread, very entertaining stories James. I hope you wouldn't take offense to me saying that your writing reminded me of Anthony Bourdain in tone. I saw the term alcopops in this thread once or twice, what does this mean? Are they like those sweeter drinks like Mike's Hard, Smirnof Ice, etc?
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Dec 7, 2012 19:43
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Basically, yeah - alcopops are premixed, carbonated alcoholic beverages that are generally chock full of sugar and artificial flavorings, they're around 5-6% alcohol and are generally pretty terrible.
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Dec 7, 2012 19:53
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Home on a Friday night because it's so dead that I would feel like I'm literally stealing from the staff that's supposed to be there from 7 PM til close. God willing it picks up in the next hour and I get to go in.  I need to eat.
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Dec 8, 2012 05:30
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FaceEater posted:Home on a Friday night because it's so dead that I would feel like I'm literally stealing from the staff that's supposed to be there from 7 PM til close. I thought you had a fairly lucrative gig?
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Dec 8, 2012 05:37
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FaceEater posted:Home on a Friday night because it's so dead that I would feel like I'm literally stealing from the staff that's supposed to be there from 7 PM til close.
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Dec 8, 2012 06:17
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Shooting Blanks posted:I thought you had a fairly lucrative gig? Was. Dried up about 5-6 months ago and never got wet again. As of 3 months ago I was casually looking, but by January I might really have to get a bit busier on that front Vegetable Melange posted:Protip: better that everyone loses than just you. Over staffing sucks but its your job, g. Get the money. Just made the call and told them I'm coming either way. One of 'em wants to go home anyway. Better to come home with something than nothing, yeah. 'Tis my job.
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Dec 8, 2012 06:25
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Are you support or relief? I learned real quick to take care of my staff when you're high up in the points. If you're relief it's a different game but still, dolla dolla bill, yo.
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Dec 8, 2012 06:35
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Got tipped $220 dollars last night by one fantastically drunk man. And this is in Australia where I'm over the moon if I get over $10 in tips. I think I can basically retire now.
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Dec 8, 2012 07:45
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FaceEater posted:Was. Dried up about 5-6 months ago and never got wet again. As of 3 months ago I was casually looking, but by January I might really have to get a bit busier on that front What's your e-mail?
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Dec 8, 2012 10:04
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I sold a bottle of 2000 Bolinger the other night (@ $1800) and then collected the last 6 or 7 drops out of these guys' glasses, as a joke, for my manager to drink. I then watched him actually drink that and then grab the bottle and spend a half a minute or so sucking the last two drops out of it . To be fair, there's a pretty good reason and story behind the whole thing, but also to be fair, it's my duty to never let him live it down or forget about it ever and to tease him about it at every given opportunity. When I left him that night after I closed the restaurant, it had ticked over to his birthday and he was sitting in the office, hugging the empty bottle and giggling to himself like an idiot. By the end of the next night, it was around 7am when I left the mansion we had his b'day party in, with a sharpie'd "K-Mart" neck tattoo, two ladies on my arm and an empty 40 of negroni that my buddy and I mixed up. It's already turning into one of those seasons, and it hasn't even loving started yet.
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Dec 8, 2012 10:15
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Just got referred to do a gig at a Private residence for a holiday party next weekend. But I have no further instructions more than just the start/end time, and to wear a black button-up. Does anyone have experience with this? Should I prepare a small list of drinks or something? print-out of shooters I could make? Holiday drinks? Good news is that its beginning to look like a busy holiday season this year!
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Dec 8, 2012 11:25
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Trial and error has taught me to be as specific as possible when engaging private clients, so I don't show up unprepared.
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Dec 8, 2012 19:59
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The Slippery Nipple posted:Got tipped $220 dollars last night by one fantastically drunk man. And this is in Australia where I'm over the moon if I get over $10 in tips. People really undersell how much you can make in tips in Australia. 100 plus a night at a decent nightclub is common (without the promoter/guestlist stuff that I've seen in North America). I made 300 this week over five nights at a cocktail bar, not bad when you combine it with aussie wages!
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Dec 9, 2012 01:27
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Kial posted:People really undersell how much you can make in tips in Australia. 100 plus a night at a decent nightclub is common (without the promoter/guestlist stuff that I've seen in North America). I made 300 this week over five nights at a cocktail bar, not bad when you combine it with aussie wages! You bastard. I work in relatively small cocktail bar so unfortunately we just don't volume to make heaps on a regular basis. Plus a lot of our customers use card so no chance of a tip then. Its usually the one drunk rich guy that makes our night.
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Dec 9, 2012 08:30
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So, drink ingredients... I've heard of many strange things, and drank some of them, but never whaleskin-infused whisky. Can any of you top that, or suggest what to mix it with? 
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Dec 9, 2012 21:22
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Coke? 
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Dec 9, 2012 21:49
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Vegetable Melange posted:Are you support or relief? I learned real quick to take care of my staff when you're high up in the points. If you're relief it's a different game but still, dolla dolla bill, yo. Traditionally I'm support, but as we go longer and longer without big bidness, it turns into de facto relief because somebody usually figures they want to go home anyway. Can you give an example of what you mean when you say the things you say? Better shifts? Only calling in relief when you + who's there can't do it alone? Shooting Blanks posted:What's your e-mail? fe8675309 AAAAT gmail
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Dec 9, 2012 23:05
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Oh man, I had no idea this thread existed. I've only been bar tending for a year now at a 'speakeasy' style bar. Best part was I only got the job because the head bartender quit and they needed shifts covered so I got thrown in and told to figure it out on my own after having only bar backed for about a month. Now I'm practically in charge of the place and the owner gives me carte Blanche to do what I want. It's one of the most poorly run companies I've ever worked for, but the upside is that I have complete control over liquor ordering, menu changes, special events, staffing, etc. Luckily for me this is a side job since we're only open weekends, so I don't have to go down with the ship.
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Dec 10, 2012 08:14
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Duey posted:Oh man, I had no idea this thread existed. I've only been bar tending for a year now at a 'speakeasy' style bar. Best part was I only got the job because the head bartender quit and they needed shifts covered so I got thrown in and told to figure it out on my own after having only bar backed for about a month. Now I'm practically in charge of the place and the owner gives me carte Blanche to do what I want. Doesn't that mean you're effectively running it? Quit running it poorly! And if you're going to say it's poorly run, give us anecdotes! Clearly you realize this thread lives for that poo poo.
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Dec 12, 2012 21:48
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Found out the previous company that managed my pub and that hired me to begin with were not just criminally incompetent, but actual criminals, dealing drugs and laundering money. Feeling lucky that no one ever came in with a briefcase and a balaclava. Another jargon question: what is 86ing someone? I gathered it involves kicking someone out, but why that term?
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Dec 12, 2012 23:37
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More than kicking out, it usually means banning them. Not sure of the origin. It also means "we're out of x" or "stop serving x" or "take x off the menu." Edit: Snopes doesn't know either. http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/86.asp raton fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Dec 13, 2012 |
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Dec 13, 2012 00:37
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An employee can also be 86d if they quit or get fired or die. Ex: "we are 86 Jason"
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Dec 13, 2012 01:53
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You can also 86 menu items/liquors/beers. Ex: "86 Grey Goose"
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Dec 13, 2012 02:14
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We've taken to replacing "86" with "hosed" at my bar. The reorder list is even titled "hosed List". It comes from camp fire duty at Camp Runamok. Bon Vivant Scott and myself were responsible for making the nightly campfires, and one day we poorly communicated cutting wood duties, leaving us with nothing to burn. Two phone calls later, we had 13 Knob Creek casks to break down to burn. To celebrate, we shared a bottle of Ocho reposado. I lost the cork as soon as I opened it, Scott asked where it was, I told him, "Cork's hosed," to which he responded, "I guess we'll have to finish it then." So the work mantra around here during service is " X is hosed" and the other person responds, " gotta finish it" as a way to acknowledge that they heard you.
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Dec 13, 2012 02:36
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That's really weird. If I went drinking in the States and someone said "you're 86d" I'd probably be like "fit the gently caress, ahm 21 ya daft prick" and promptly get punched. Why not just say "barred", "ran out", "don't serve" or "gently caress off", respectively? All bars should be run like Scottish bars.   Anyway, on to another little note. This might be more suited for the feminism thread, but I wanted to talk about it here in the context of other barstaff. I've had a fair few female colleagues since I started working at the Mill. First there was S, who got the sack when her ex tracked her down, began threatening her, and she got one of the regulars to beat him. Then there was M, who was a perfectly nice demure girl who studying nursing and would wind us up just as much as we wound her up. Then there was L, who was a regular the aforementioned criminal management hired in an act of "whatever". L was in her 30s and always in the bar with her painter/joiner boyfriend getting smashed on double glens with soda and lime cordial (soda is free, as is cordial, so that's a double vodka drink for 2.20 with our cheap rear end glens) when she wasn't working. She had told myself and my colleague (an Italian guy who I was good friends with at uni who came to help me at the pub when I was left alone to manage a function and a karaoke night on two different floors and got a job as a result) how she's nicked her daughter's ADHD medication for "fun", and her daughter (who can't be more than 7) more often than not gets left with grandma while mummy is getting smashed in the pub (unless grandma wants to get smashed as well, then gently caress knows who watches her). L got the sack for getting drunk on the job. Never EVER hire your regulars. Yeah, nice lot. Now I'm working with M, who is a close friend of the manager A (a tiny woman in her late 50s with more energy than a uni rugby team who swears like a sailor- absolutely brilliant boss). M is a lovely girl- mid 20s, has a kid with her long term boyfriend, doesn't drink much, takes care of him, supports her boyfriend through the dole (which is hellish in the UK- check the UK megathread in DnD). Perfect coworker. So what the hell do I do when some arsehole creeper decides that he really needs to ask her out for drinks 5 times in half an hour, or that he gets to grill her on her boyfriend's unemployed status, or if she'll take her top off if they leave enough tips. I mean, she grew up in Glasgow and Ayr so she can quite obviously take care of herself, and I don't want to be an arsehole white knight or anything, but I'm really uncomfortable with customers assuming certain liberties with the staff in this bar. Our customers are honest, down to earth working class folk who spend most of their lives on oil rigs or construction sites and just like getting drunk to take the edge of things, they don't need their pub to develop an abusive, tense atmosphere. So basically, to the male staff here, how do you deal with harassment directed towards your female colleagues, and for the female staff on here, how would you like someone like me to deal with harassment directed at you?
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Dec 13, 2012 02:55
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I was also UK bar staff (nightlife bars though, not a little Scottish pub, those kind of regulars would drive me insane) so I can more culturally specific response. There was always a couple of ways, you just had to judge it on the guy and the reaction of the girl. A group of guys in giving it a bit of a cheeky flirt are fine, girl staff usually know they can get tipped out of it. They say something a little too far and I would give them a "alright lads, that's enough now" in a friendly, "you cheeky little devils" way. Sometimes I felt that was selling the girl out a little bit though because she may have been quite offended and I was still giving them the benefit of the doubt. If it was something more offensive it'd be quite aggressive "don't talk to the staff like that if you want to stay in here, mate", and probably tell them they can't stand at the bar anymore. Then there's the definite crossing the line stuff: grabbing, getting aggressive, calling them "bitch/oval office". They're straight out the door. It's the same with all of these kinds of questions though, there's no one way to respond, you have to judge it on the situation and your appraisal of the customer. One thing I would always do though, which seems quite white-knighty but is more because I was in charge, was to ask them if they wanted to swap sections/me to take over serving. Usually they were fine as long as it wasn't happening anymore, I guess young women just learn to deal with that sort of poo poo.
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Dec 13, 2012 03:20
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Coohoolin posted:That's really weird. If I went drinking in the States and someone said "you're 86d" I'd probably be like "fit the gently caress, ahm 21 ya daft prick" and promptly get punched. Why not just say "barred", "ran out", "don't serve" or "gently caress off", respectively? As far as I know 86'd is an industry term. I doubt folks outside F&B would know what it meant, at least not up here in Canada. (By that I mean it's not the kind of thing I would announce to someone I wanted gone from the bar). quote:All bars should be run like Scottish bars. Perhaps! quote:Anyway, on to another little note. This might be more suited for the feminism thread, but I wanted to talk about it here in the context of other barstaff. I've had a fair few female colleagues since I started working at the Mill. First there was S, who got the sack when her ex tracked her down, began threatening her, and she got one of the regulars to beat him. Then there was M, who was a perfectly nice demure girl who studying nursing and would wind us up just as much as we wound her up. Then there was L, who was a regular the aforementioned criminal management hired in an act of "whatever". L was in her 30s and always in the bar with her painter/joiner boyfriend getting smashed on double glens with soda and lime cordial (soda is free, as is cordial, so that's a double vodka drink for 2.20 with our cheap rear end glens) when she wasn't working. She had told myself and my colleague (an Italian guy who I was good friends with at uni who came to help me at the pub when I was left alone to manage a function and a karaoke night on two different floors and got a job as a result) how she's nicked her daughter's ADHD medication for "fun", and her daughter (who can't be more than 7) more often than not gets left with grandma while mummy is getting smashed in the pub (unless grandma wants to get smashed as well, then gently caress knows who watches her). L got the sack for getting drunk on the job. Never EVER hire your regulars. It's not something I have to deal with anymore, but my first bar job was a divey bar in the 'burbs outside Vancouver, mainly for farmers, townies and loggers. If any of the waitresses complained to me about someone doing something they considered inappropriate they were cut off and kicked out.
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Dec 13, 2012 03:23
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Coohoolin posted:L got the sack for getting drunk on the job. Never EVER hire your regulars. I hope that by drunk you mean absolutely smashed? I would have assumed that north of the border, being at least slightly buzzing would be a requirement?
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Dec 13, 2012 10:38
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Masonity posted:I hope that by drunk you mean absolutely smashed? I would have assumed that north of the border, being at least slightly buzzing would be a requirement? Technically totally illegal, most folks turn a blind eye, but she was puking in the toilets.
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Dec 13, 2012 11:08
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JawKnee posted:As far as I know 86'd is an industry term. I doubt folks outside F&B would know what it meant, at least not up here in Canada. (By that I mean it's not the kind of thing I would announce to someone I wanted gone from the bar). In some parts of the US at least most bar going people do actually know "86'd" as banned. Not in NY though.
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Dec 13, 2012 15:26
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You typically don't want your guests to know that you're out of something. I tell my servers we've 86ed something so that if guests hear, they dont know what I'm talking about. Also so server's don't upsell it. Of course if someone requests that item you're out of you, you tell them politely that you just ran out. You don't advertise that you're out of something because it makes the bar look bad. The only time I yelled out we were out of something was on St. Patricks day, and we ran out of Jamesson.
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Dec 13, 2012 15:46
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As long as you have an alternative to offer, it's generally OK to tell a white lie about it. Normally, if we were even remotely close to closing, I'd just tell guests that we're out at the moment, we've sent a barback to get more - but can I get you X instead of Y for now, and we should have a fresh bottle when you get back? Edit: Don't do this for top shelf whiskies, just be honest with them if you work at a whiskey bar. For vodka/gin/rum/tequila and most beers it's just fine though. Shooting Blanks fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Dec 13, 2012 |
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Dec 13, 2012 16:52
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I've heard 2 different explanations and I think that people just make up whatever sounds believable. One was that back in the olden days of yore, some NYC speakeasy would order patrons to exit onto 86th street when cops were on the way. Another was that there were 85 berths in a NYC dock and if all were full, the 86th ship to arrive would be poo poo out of luck.
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Dec 13, 2012 17:45
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| # ? May 15, 2024 05:01 |
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gently caress yeah guys, I get to go up to work today (my day off) to go through the paperwork and find out why my other 2 bartenders on Tuesday night stole money from me. I worked for 4 hours, they worked for 8 or 9. When I got in the safe last night to get my share of the tips from Tuesday night, there was exactly $20 in 1's in my envelope. Now, that means they were making $5 an hour in tips (I have literally never worked a night there where we made less than $13 an hour) and if I only got 20, they only got 40-45. I seriously doubt that happened since it was pretty loving busy. I also happened to find one of the guys' credit card receipts from Tuesday night when I got there yesterday which means 1) that the manager checking them out wasn't paying attention to what she was doing and 2) that, by the amount of tips on those receipts, they owe me more than I got. So thanks, fellow coworkers, for making me do this poo poo on my only day off.
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Dec 13, 2012 18:44
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