Here we go again with some
random knowledge I’ve accumulated over the last couple years of throwing booze
at people. Please enjoy responsibly.
What I’ve Learned in My Third and Fourth
Year of Bartending
~ In a pinch, a wire coat
hanger makes a great sink snake.
~ It’s fun to use smoke,
foam, lasers, liquid nitrogen, gene splicing, etc., to make a drink. But make
sure it tastes good.
~ You will never have to buy
sunglasses. Customers will constantly leave them behind and never come back for
them.
~ You will never have to buy
t-shirts (assuming you’re OK with all of your t-shirts having liquor brand
logos on them)
~ If the first thing you give
a customer is the menu, he will ask for water. If the first thing you give a
customer is water, he will ask for the menu.
~ A first date is one of the
most entertaining/uncomfortable things you will ever witness.
~ Having the walk-in on a
different floor from the bar is a huge pain in the ass (and legs, and back).
~ Customers will frequently
ask, “What’s your best drink?” The best drink is whichever one you like best.
~ You will always have one-dollar
bills in your wallet.
~ Some customers must know who the owner is. It will be
the first question they ask. Apparently it is important information.
~ On that note: If you are
over 40 and behind the bar, people will assume you are the owner.
~ A hand-picked playlist
beats Pandora every time.
~ Some customers are clearly
insane. Not drunk. Not high. Insane.
~ Speaking of insane,
sometimes a customer will pay their tab entirely in dollar coins.
~ Nobody expects the guy in
the Hawaiian shirt to say his favorite drink is a Martini.
~ Speaking of Hawaiian
shirts: If you wear them frequently, customers will give them to you as gifts.
~ If you find two or three
strangers spontaneously striking up a conversation with each other, that’s
usually a good sign. You probably did something right, vibe-wise.
~ If you’re someone who
thinks it’s acceptable to touch your server, bartender, etc., stop it. Unless
that person is on fire or about to walk into a swarm of bees, there is no
reason you ever need to touch a member of the staff.
~ You don’t realize how much
you need a barback until you don’t have one.
~ Somewhere along the way,
ranch dressing became a punch line.
~ There is no question from a customer you will come to hate more than “What do you recommend?”
~ Most people still have no idea what absinthe is all about (how it’s made, how you prepare it, how you drink it.)
~ If you are running low on
ingredients for a particular drink, that drink will be the night’s big seller.
~ Likewise, if you are
running low on beer glasses, everybody will want to order beer. If you are
running low on wine glasses, everybody will be ordering wine. You get the
picture.
~ If you suspect your
dishwasher smokes weed, he probably does.
~ Actually, I’m certain your
dishwasher smokes weed.
~ You know what? The whole
staff probably smokes weed.
~ Does social media bring in
customers? Maybe. Does word-of-mouth bring in customers? Always.
~ If a customer says to their
bartender or server, “Don’t worry, I’m gonna take good care of you”, that
person invariably leaves a lousy tip.
~ If there’s a part of the
floor behind the bar that is not covered by a mat, that’s precisely where
you’ll drop (and break) a bottle.
~ Visiting other bartenders at
their workplace is fun, but make a point of getting together when nobody is
working. It’s good to hang out somewhere neutral where everyone is relaxed.
~ There are restaurant
reviewers who are skilled, knowledgeable, conscientious and inquisitive. There
are also restaurant reviewers who are none of those things. It doesn’t take
long to figure out who is who.
~ Unlimited olives!
~ Whatever type of drink you don’t happen to currently be featuring
in your Happy Hour specials is precisely the one that customers will want (and
will complain about you overlooking).
~ It’s obvious a lot of
liquor brands don’t design their bottle sizes & shapes with bartenders in
mind. In fact, some seem to go out of their way to create the most
difficult-to-use configurations they can imagine.
~ A surprising number of
people will have several rounds in a bar while having no idea what the name of
the place is or what street they’re on.
~ If the temperature in the
bar seems fine to you, a customer will immediately complain about it.
~ If your bar has lamps on
it, customers will screw around with them. They can’t help themselves.
Apparently, turning a light on and off repeatedly is very satisfying.
~ If your bar has a piano in
it, customers will screw around with it. They can’t help themselves.
Apparently, pounding on a musical instrument when you don’t know how to play it
is very satisfying.
~ If you keep your tools,
bitters, garnishes, etc., within reach of customers, they will screw around
with them. They can’t help themselves. Apparently fondling fruit and examining
tiny bottles is very satisfying.
~ What I’m saying is that a
lot of grownups behave just like toddlers when they’re at a bar.
~ There are people who place a
stack of bills on the table, inform their server that it’s their tip, and every
time the server does something “wrong”, they’ll remove a portion of it. If
you’re one of those people, stay home.
~ If someone orders a pisco
sour, that person just got back from a trip to South America.
~ If someone orders a
caipirinha , that person just saw a TV show about South America.
~ When you are making drinks
or cooking at home, you will find yourself reaching for the bar towel you
usually have hanging from your belt when you’re at work. It may not be there.
This phenomenon is referred to as “phantom butt-rag.”
~ If a customer asks what nights you work, you probably showed them a good time.
~ You will destroy an
unbelievable amount of socks.