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Good bartenders will help encourage customers to come back, but to make bartenders responsible for drawing a crowd (outside of bars where the bartenders ARE the draw - high profile cocktail bars, flair bars, Coyote Ugly, etc.) is to invite the risk that your employees are going to give away the bar. If it's a requirement of my job to get 50 people in the door or I lose the shift, you're goddamn right I'm gonna be comping shooters left and right. Is it ethical? That's questionable, but owners and management need to put their fair share in as well. It's a bartender's job to help people have a good time while they're in the room, and to make them want to come back. It's not my responsibility to plaster your bar all over my social media to get people in the door in the first place.
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Jan 13, 2015 07:16
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I'd never have hired a poor bartender just because they were pervasive on social media vs a qualified one, but I am so happy the "ultra cool bartender who ignores everyone" is on its way out... At least here in the Bay. If you aren't overwhelmingly busy and I wait 5+ minutes for a drink in a dive bar, I just want to take them by the shoulders, shake hard and say "WHY DO YOU HATE MONEY?!?" Also, yes, strong bartender who promotes their shifts and brings people in vs person who stands around hands empty, the choice isn't difficult. Would I have made it a REQUIREMENT? No. But yeah, someone who does what they can to bring folks in? We all make money.
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Jan 13, 2015 08:25
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[e] nevermind
Applebees Appetizer fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Jan 14, 2015 |
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Jan 13, 2015 18:33
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A friend of mine is looking to hire me as a consultant to develop the bar for his new restaurant - including advising on basic layout, equipment, appliances, developing menus, hiring/training bar staff and working a few shifts to supervise them. Problem is that while I'm up to the task, I've never done it all as a package deal and have no idea of how much to charge him. I was hoping some of you guys with experience in running your own places would have an idea of what kind of price range I should be thinking of?
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Feb 10, 2015 23:40
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Thirty five hundred dollars
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Feb 11, 2015 02:01
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"I've never owned a bar, much less worked at one, and need to hire someone to tell me what to do. I have more money than sense." It's really ripe for the picking. Good luck.
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Feb 11, 2015 02:02
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mooyashi posted:"I've never owned a bar, much less worked at one, and need to hire someone to tell me what to do. I have more money than sense." And also, this. What market? I can totally take that money if you don't feel entitled to it.
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Feb 11, 2015 03:59
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It's supposed to be a 70-80 seat casual spot in the suburb, and he has strong community ties so I'm not concerned that he'll crash and burn for want of business. Given a bar staff of 4-6 and the need to train them up from scratch with the lack of talent in the burbs, I was thinking more along the lines of 5-6K for a month and a bit would be fair. Of course I'm also wary of gouging too badly since I'm competing for a coownership with him for a proper downtown spot either concurrently or a with a few months lag time between projects.
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Feb 11, 2015 04:43
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Der Luftwaffle posted:Given a bar staff of 4-6 lol
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Feb 11, 2015 09:05
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"must have a following"
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Feb 11, 2015 09:06
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look i want even people i don't know to make their scratch but how long have you known this person and how many times have they started a successful business?
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Feb 11, 2015 09:09
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Known him about 2 years while he was chef at one of my workplaces. Right now hes been running a small bar with a partner. This new thing is another partnership with a local restaurant chain.
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Feb 11, 2015 09:34
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I mean, how much work would you be doing? Writing a my, training staff, retainer for periodic retraining and seasonal menu changes? Figure out how long it's going to take, figure out what your time is worth by the hour, then multiply.
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Feb 11, 2015 18:32
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Vegetable Melange posted:I mean, how much work would you be doing? Writing a my, training staff, retainer for periodic retraining and seasonal menu changes? Figure out how long it's going to take, figure out what your time is worth by the hour, then multiply. Everything you mentioned, yeah. Hourly projection for a month of management salary makes sense, thanks!
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Feb 11, 2015 20:21
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Vegie Mel Aged teach me how to take all the stuff I've learnt over the years and forgotten and turn it into a consulting career so I can tell people what to do and stuff and spend my days pointing at things before flying around the continent and pointing at things internationally tia.
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Feb 11, 2015 23:56
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nrr posted:Vegie Mel Aged teach me how to take all the stuff I've learnt over the years and forgotten and turn it into a consulting career so I can tell people what to do and stuff and spend my days pointing at things before flying around the continent and pointing at things internationally tia. I want to say you're joking but that's comically close to how I pay my rent, so (PS I'll be in touch next week m8, got good news)
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Feb 12, 2015 00:24
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Hah. Jokes? No I was being deadly serious. Show me how to make money by putting my hands on my hips and intermittently pointing at things. I'm Australian, we don't know how to jokes. (Ps:  )
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Feb 13, 2015 00:29
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For reals I racked two hours today eating canapés and talking points of service. I GOT PAID TO HAVE AN OPINION ON FOOD. the struggle is real, y'all.
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Feb 13, 2015 01:16
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actually, the local ski hill gives me an $1800 seasons pass to give them my opinions on their food and service, which they also give me for free, so I guess you can say I already have experience in the field.
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Feb 13, 2015 02:32
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Sometimes, I go to the bar to eat and read. If it's not super busy (let's say 50-70% occupied) at the bar and I'm drinking a beer an hour, should I add a bit of an extra tip on top of the normal one? Now, if l get a 25 dollar tab, I'll just tip another 5 bucks (which I feel is an average tip, correct me if I'm wrong), but I wonder if I should be tipping more because I'm taking up a spot at the bar but not really buying much. OTOH, if the bar isn't full, should I be worried about it at all?
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Feb 26, 2015 19:41
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totalnewbie posted:Sometimes, I go to the bar to eat and read. If it's not super busy (let's say 50-70% occupied) at the bar and I'm drinking a beer an hour, should I add a bit of an extra tip on top of the normal one? you're tipping 20%, don't worry about it
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Feb 26, 2015 22:20
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totalnewbie posted:Sometimes, I go to the bar to eat and read. If it's not super busy (let's say 50-70% occupied) at the bar and I'm drinking a beer an hour, should I add a bit of an extra tip on top of the normal one? Don't worry about it. Unless it's higher end restaurant, then the bartender won't care since they make most of their tips from people coming up to the bar and ordering 6 light beers and dropping 6 bucks. It will depend on the place and the size of the bar and number of seats at it. As long as you are open to moving so other people can sit next to one another, then it doesn't matter.
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Feb 26, 2015 22:21
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Oh god, my dudes, I've just taken an AMG position at a medium sized trendy sports bar - forgive me in advance if I betray an air of unprofessionalism as I vent here. Toronto, 12 taps, 115 seat capacity, some nights we have trouble filling even on big game nights, off game nights are very quiet. No patio. Two managers are exiting and taking the majority of the staff, the managers are also owners and have already sold their points. It's my ship to sail or sink - my first orders of business are hiring, inventory control, and proper calendar planning, but I'll be focusing on the nuts and bolts pretty soon. Wish me luck!
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Mar 1, 2015 03:29
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How many owners are left? What are the remaining owners like? Have they tended bar?
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Mar 1, 2015 21:15
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mooyashi posted:How many owners are left? What are the remaining owners like? Have they tended bar? Five owners left, none of which have a hand in the day to day operation. None of the owners will be bartending, though they all each own other bars and have been in the industry a long time.
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Mar 2, 2015 07:30
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Spring break is officially here, I just did 1800 in sales in five hours from 12 to 5 on a loving Wednesday afternoon. Our sales so far are crushing last year's numbers, it's a bit overwhelming in this tiny bar 
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Mar 12, 2015 03:11
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My brother is thinking about bartending this summer while he's home for the summer from college. Are there any tips (hehe) that you would give to someone who's never done this thing before that you wish someone had told you before you started this sort of job?
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Mar 17, 2015 06:18
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Kanine posted:My brother is thinking about bartending this summer while he's home for the summer from college. Are there any tips (hehe) that you would give to someone who's never done this thing before that you wish someone had told you before you started this sort of job? A - good luck getting a summer bartending job at a place worth working at B - expect to barback first, and good luck getting THAT job just for a summer C - waiting tables, delivering pizza, or detailing cars is probably easier to get started on I'm sure it's different if you live in an area that's dependent on seasonal tourism but when I was managing, anyone who told me they wanted to bartend just for the summer would be disqualified immediately. Especially if they have no experience.
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Mar 17, 2015 10:05
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"Hi I'd like to be a pharma rep for the summer"
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Mar 17, 2015 11:23
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Kanine posted:My brother is thinking about bartending this summer while he's home for the summer from college. Are there any tips (hehe) that you would give to someone who's never done this thing before that you wish someone had told you before you started this sort of job? Silly question- does he know how to bartend? If he does, then he should lie and say he has experience and try to get on somewhere. If he doesn't, then, um, well, this isn't the coolest idea ever, but alot of big bars have drink lists and basically beginner's guides for bartending that they hand out to barbacks and servers who earn a bump to BT. If he has any friends who BT they might be able to get him one. This sounds way goofier than just buying some book off amazon, but I've seen 3-4 of these things and they are pretty functional, and I have no idea about such retail books. If he is strong and in good shape he could consider barbacking. I wouldn't do it at a high volume place myself for very long, because it is a fast track to destroying your shoulders or getting hurt in general. Sometimes, they can earn more than BTs, though, and it puts you in a bar and you learn how things work. After awhile you will know enough to lie your way on to a BT job. Again, barbacking sucks balls compared to bartending though. You have to stay and clean the bars up, which are often totally destroyed. Take out the garbage, clean up broken glass or milk, clean the bar mats- in other words, you might see the sun come up. Don't do security. They don't get paid anything and you can get your rear end beat. Well, checking ID's isn't so bad, but it isn't a good path to becoming a BT. The other thing is to just be a server. If he has never done that, well it is tough to be a bartender. You need to be fast on the POS machine to be a good BT, and in general, a BT should know how to serve food to some extent (even though everyone hates it). If you serve at a place that is a restaurant in the day and a bar at night, you can usually ask to stay after the dinner shift to be a beer maid. You are halfway there at that point. You got the POS machine, you are serving alcohol to paying customers. (you just get tipped like poo poo) 40 OZ fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Mar 17, 2015 |
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Mar 17, 2015 20:03
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Kanine posted:My brother is thinking about bartending this summer while he's home for the summer from college. Are there any tips (hehe) that you would give to someone who's never done this thing before that you wish someone had told you before you started this sort of job? So far I've worked two years in the service industry: One as a server making barely anything and learning from the rather popular bartender in order to get my foot in the door, and the other as a bartender in a restaurant that barely had bar seats and where all my income was basically tip outs from the servers. During that time I became a regular at one of the more popular places in a nearby town, and a couple of weeks ago I was finally hired on to the day (slower) shift with a pretty awesome hourly. It's been a bit and they gave me a recipe list to memorize before I can even think about having a night shift (where these guys walk out with an obscene amount of cash). So everything the op said to do works (thanks bartender thread!), but I don't think you can fit all that into the three months before the fall semester starts. I guess you could lie on an application and fake it 'til you make it but you don't make money from just existing as a bartender; no one tips a bartender who makes drinks at a snail's pace or is completely impersonal because he's got his nose to a recipe sheet after each one. I guess it depends on where you live and whatever else so if he gets lucky and succeeds, great! I went from being a teetotaler to a functioning alcoholic but I've met some incredibly crazy people and I'm having a lot of fun. Being in bars all the time kinda wears you out though and you can't sleep very well and may die soon 
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Mar 18, 2015 07:35
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quote:I went from being a teetotaler to a functioning alcoholic but I've met some incredibly crazy people and I'm having a lot of fun. Being in bars all the time kinda wears you out though and you can't sleep very well and may die soon  hell yes.
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Mar 19, 2015 18:33
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40 OZ posted:Silly question- does he know how to bartend? If he does, then he should lie and say he has experience and try to get on somewhere. Lying is generally a bad idea, because (here at least) it's REAL easy to tell if someone has no clue what they are doing behind a bar and will promptly be fired for lying. Starting as a barback is the best way to get your foot in the door and gain experience.
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Mar 20, 2015 03:01
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Having been a bartender for about 15 years now the best tip I ever give to newbies is to think of the job the same way you think of actors. You will make a lot of friends and contacts in this job, but you have to pretend to be everyone's friend. That is, at least, up until about midnight when you have to start being a dick. Bartenders get away with almost anything, so long as you can talk your way out of anything and rock a genuine smile the entire time. Like James Woods I've worked in almost every type of liquor dispensing facility and am open to answering questions as well. I might even expand on stories about cooking "the best loving steak" John Malkovich ever had or being accused of cheating at pool by Donald Sutherland. Ask away!
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Apr 4, 2015 12:40
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what is it like to clean up pee dribbles from the dude in Buffy The Vampire Slayer
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Apr 4, 2015 13:08
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I was at my local dive and a question occurred to me. How many of your workplaces have a bat or other similar implement behind the bar? In or out of view of the customers? Does it get much use?
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Apr 7, 2015 07:25
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We had a full size bat next to one of the coolers, and one of those tiny novelty giveaway bats above the sink. Neither ever got pulled in an altercation, but it was nice to know they were there.
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Apr 7, 2015 14:39
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Frozen Horse posted:I was at my local dive and a question occurred to me. How many of your workplaces have a bat or other similar implement behind the bar? In or out of view of the customers? Does it get much use? first bar I worked at had a bat under the bar - never used it even during fights or worse
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Apr 7, 2015 15:46
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Frozen Horse posted:I was at my local dive and a question occurred to me. How many of your workplaces have a bat or other similar implement behind the bar? In or out of view of the customers? Does it get much use? Never had to pull out a bat, but I did chase a guy out one night with an oversized pepper mill!
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Apr 8, 2015 00:00
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I always wondered why some Italian places had those.
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Apr 8, 2015 00:43
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