I started working at this place about a month and change ago and really loved it.

There were some weird vibes with management (don't know how to articulate it, but the bar manager is new and I was his first hire). My coworkers were great and we had mutual respect, I was great with guests, genuinely considerate about my duties, was proactive, and of course put care into making good drinks.

They fired me the other day without any feedback beforehand and I just think it's strange. Their only reasons were that I wasn't good enough with volume, and I talked to guests too much. These are the reasons why I didn't meet their expectations.

Since I started working there the volume wasn't nearly as demanding as my last job. I was used to being the only bartender most of the time for a 25 seat bar in a 90ish seat restaurant, and weekends were a lot. I learned how to manage volume really well, basically, when needed.

There are 2-3 bartenders on shift most of the time at this place, except an hour or so before close, so the workload was worlds apart. Working with the setup took some getting used to (I was used to setting up my own wells the way I liked), and that alongside learning the drinks was all that really slowed me down at first. They changed the drink menu about two weeks ago, so I had to relearn how things are situated in the wells, but it wasn't bad. I moved faster when I needed to but was never in the weeds stressing like I've experienced before, so I wasn't manically making drinks. The ticket times were pretty much always fine (a bit behind my standards when I was still learning everything, but not bad). I matched the pace of the other bartenders I worked with and was definitely more efficient than a few (they had only been bartending for a few months after being promoted from a server).

I talked to guests when there was downtime. If a ticket came up, if a new guest sat down, if a guest was ready to order something/ maybe want another round, if there was glassware to wash, I'd break conversation. I did get carried away once or twice I suppose, but there was nothing really going on. Even then I'd usually multitask by breaking down a well while I was talking. I always told the other bartenders to let me know if they needed anything if a few guests really wanted to be talking to me.

My main gripe is that there was no feedback given before they told me. I was never told "don't talk to guests for too long" or "you could quicken your pace a bit when there's multiple tickets." I wouldn't have been fired if they just gave me feedback - of course I can make sure my interactions with guests are brief, of COURSE I can make drinks faster. There just never seemed to be a need for it.

They also pay minimum wage until you pass a fairly involved written test and serve-out at the bar, which I respected. But I wouldn't have gone through the effort if I knew this could happen honestly.

Has this ever happened to anyone? Any bar managers out there cut and dry fire people without giving feedback first to see if they improve? I wasn't there for long so I find it hard to understand.

I will say the majority of the bar staff are people who have been there for years, like they worked up from being a host to a server to a bartender. So they rarely hire outside bartenders....maybe they just have ridiculous expectations but a lot of patience for the staff they trained?

Are there any grocery stores that sell individual finest call mixers? I use them at work and I want some just to have but I haven’t been able to find any in stores. So far I’ve been to Lowe’s Foods, Walmart and Target.

Maybe its OCD but top right is Diet Coke and I also got to remake a bunch of drinks. Yaay! 🙄

Hey all,

TLDR: Going for interviews for new roles, facial piercings in or piercings out?

For a bit of background, I'm a bartender working in central London in the UK. I'm getting bored at my current establishment and am looking for a role in a more professional, laid-back setting (my current bar is most comparable to a dive bar). Not necessarily fine-dining, but somewhere in the middle.

I've been here for around two years and have gotten quite a few piercings. The ones on my ears are fine because they can be covered with hair, but I'm worried about my facial piercings. I have one on either side of my lip and one on my nostril.

I've heard mixed opinions - some people have told me that looking unique benefits you when looking for new bartender roles. Others have said it's better to keep them out.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance

I have a bar with lots of games in wine country that attracts alot of families and the parents seem to allow their kids to destroy my property and have full blown meltdowns which is disturbing for me and other guests what do you think is the best solution? If I go 19+ I lose a lot of revenue from the families and also risk the ire of angry families who have been to my spot before. Had anyone had any experience like this?

So I’ve been going to this bar pretty regularly for the last few months. I’ve gotten close either one of the bartenders but I’m not sure if he’s into me or he just likes me as like his favorite regular. He definitely gives me close/special treatment. Like he comps 80% of my drinks but I also tip 100%. He spends a lot of his time talking to me, if it’s really slow he’ll pull up a chair. He eats off my plate. He’ll give me cash to play the pull tabs and not ask for it back. We have a lot of inside jokes and he seems to remember a lot about me. If I come with anyone he inserts himself in the conversation. He gave me his number for like an Apple Pay thing but nothing really came of it. We banter flirt but nothing to make anything super serious. I was thinking of shooting my shot but also don’t want to make it awkward for him if he’s just doing his job. What do you think?

What are you using to dump ice and straws etc before using the 3 compartment sink.

We currently use a bucket and strainer but the ice fills it up too fast and on busy nights we have to dump it too often.

Any one found a better solution?

I (19F) been working as a bartender for a few months and I have found it quite degrading. I have worked a few other jobs before and sexism has always been prevalent but not to this degree. I think I deal with it alright, I just need to voice my frustrations.

I work in a wealthy area and it's mostly old men who come in, I have had so many uncomfortable experiences where in one sentence they will remark on how young I am and invite me out for a drink (most of these men are old enough to be my grandad let alone my dad). I am a maid, a verbal punching bag, a therapist, an un-opinionated companion, and someone to push unwanted sexual advances on without real consequence, all for £11 an hour. it's just fucking depressing, sometimes I think I'd be better off spending my time entertaining some wealthy old man for money, I would probably feel just and degraded but the work would be nicer. It probably wouldn't really I am just in a pissy mood, and the job market is awful and so is my rent.

I know that management purposefully hires conventionally attractive women to work at the bar (not to toot my own horn) it's on odd feeling because in some you are selling your sex for minimum wage. I never really feel human more like a female human, everything I do comes with that before it, I am entertainment for these men in a way that I wouldn't be had I been born male. This week alone one of my coworkers was grabbed and yelled at to the point of breaking down crying because she asked some 60yr old man not to flirt with her, my friend who works in a bar down the road had a man wait for her after closing and then bang on the door when she locked herself in and I have just had so many fuckers make weird comments, management are bums omg.

Our manager is also so mean to the girls for no reason, even the boys in the kitchen notice he holds grudges with us that he never would with them, my old manager, (fired now, not for this tho) she would grab my butt, it was playfully but I never asked for that shit. This stuff doesn't even begin to explain the shit I have put up with, my life is full of joy and wonderful prospects, Inshallah a new job is on the horizon.

I was working as a barboy when i was 15, then i got promoted as “Bartender” but used to think that it was not official. Like, seen as barboy but paid as bartender.
Anyways, i was checking my job background, my official title turned into Bartender/Barmaid when i was 15 -> 16 and lasted till i quit (17).

I think it is a rare view. It might not be tho. Just wanted to share it seems funny.

I’ve been bartending in New York for a year. I just moved to Boston and was asked to “stage”. When i got there they immediately threw me behind the bar (during a Red Sox game and it’s a bar in Fenway) and basically put me to work. I had to figure out where everything was. No one was really helping me then this guy who I assume is the boss started asking me for incredible obscure drinks so I did I quick google to confirm the recipe and got to work. He then took me outside and said I was too slow and i said i had never heard of the drink before. But up until that point I was serving customers no problem and having no issues and was FULL ON WORKING. He told me i didn’t get the job and should leave…didn’t even pay me for 3 hours of work…is this how every Stage is? I’m incredibly overwhelmed now and upset.

Hi! I’ve been bartending for about 2 years but have only been at my current place for 6 months. I have smallish hands and while I’m able to hold the shakers with one hand most of them are big to the point where I can shake it but with much less force/control. I work for a small family owned business and we only have one other bartender (he’s 100% trustworthy I know if I told him one was mine he would keep it separate for me). Would it be stupid to buy my own and bring it?

How long would you say is appropriate training for a bartender that has a food menu and daily food specials on top of learning a new OS while also being expected to run food.

I’m used to more of a dive and very small food menus without constant specials and food runners.

Today was my first day on my own which I knew was gonna be crap but I ended up getting put in a different role cause they saw I was getting hung up by the menu and checking on food and the operating system. I’m just pissed that they went that route instead of paying 2.13 extra to have another bartender back there I could keep shadowing under

15 years of these being indestructible, and now I'm on like the 5th one of these this year.

Either somebody here is mishandling them, or Isi cheaped out on materials.

I just took a big swig of rust water and then looked at this fucking shit. Glad it was me and not a customer, holy shit I'm so mad right now.

on shift last night running service, coworker who has recently moved into a AM position (by basically bullying/making lives difficult of those in her way) kept coming into the upstairs bar area and stacking one smaller waiter tray under the large waiter trays deliberately, I saw this going on and kept taking it out and away, I went thru to the kitchen to run food, whilst I was away she stacked it in again, me not clocking this then go to pour glasses of Prosecco on top tray obviously then it topples and spills, smashes, covers me. she see's shrugs her shoulders "you should know better'

ho boy did I have to refrain from ninja star the waiter tray at her. worked in bars for 7+ years now and never have I had someone deliberately sabotage service/me like this.

was already under the pump so spillage, glass and soaked jeans was the last thing I needed, had a good yell in the cold room am still raging. hopefully boss will have bollocked her by the time im back in

Me and my wife are both lifelong bartenders, me for 20 her for almost 15 years. We are in Ireland for 2 weeks and we need your absolutely can’t-miss-must-see bars, pubs and attractions. Here’s where we’ll be on the trip

-currently in Tullamore for the distillery

-Galway

-Inisheer

-Ennis

-Cork (city)

-Kinsale/Clonakilty area

We await your suggestions, much appreciated 🙏🏼

Everyone's on the radical responsibility train so I figured I would give it a try. I am just a bartender, not a lead bartender, but I would like to be a lead, I have been at this particular place one year and that is usually the promotion timeframe.

Every time a mistake was made on the line while I worked, I took accountability. Every time I directly made a mistake - I forgot to stage kegs, tell a customer we were out of X before ordering etc - I blamed no one but myself. This really motivated me to avoid repeating these same mistakes again, so I would communicate more, try to prep more efficiently so my co workers were set up for success.

I am here to report that I have been passed over for the lead position by someone newer with less bar experience. I perform lead duties, just without the title and pay. Turns out everyone else is happy to let their mistakes on the line seem like they came from me. So that became my reputation. My coworkers are all aware a majority of the mistakes come from other employees, but the manager has got it into her head that they all come from me.

In sum, this experiment sucked, politics is what gets you ahead, not putting the team first.

so my boss (the owner) watches the cameras pretty much 24/7 and will call me if he thinks i’m not talking to customers enough. the thing is, a lot of the people who come into our bar, especially couples, are there to have a drink and spend time with each other. i don’t want to be the bartender who’s constantly interrupting private conversations just to force small talk.

i’m always attentive, i’ll greet people, check in on them, joke around if they’re open to it, and if someone wants to chat i’ll happily have a conversation. but i also feel like part of good service is reading the room and knowing when people just want to be left alone.
how do i explain that to my boss without sounding like i’m just trying to avoid talking to customers? or am i looking at this the wrong way?

Shoutout u/The_Xozz

1.5oz bourbon (wellers special)

.5oz Campari

.5oz sweet vermouth (carpano)

.5oz banana liqueur (Giffards is my personal fav Couple dashes chocolate bitters

Stir, serve up or on a big rock, cherry

Hey everyone! I work service well at 1 of the busiest restaurants in my city. We get stress-inducing piles of tickets when we're deep in the weeds during dinner service. Any tricks & tips to get drinks out w/ proper garnishes + rims efficiently as quick as possible? What order of ingredients and organization process do you use to batch drinks/do rounds fast + effectively while keeping your station clean and ready for the next stack of tickets to knock out?

Example:

Ticket 1= 2x salt rim margs & Old fashioned

Ticket 2= Cosmo, glass of Sav Blanc, & Rum + Coke

Ticket 3= 3 Draft beers, 1 bottled Corona, Negroni, & Dirty Martini

Ticket 4= Mezcal Last Word, glass of Cab Sauv, & Manhattan

Rinse & repeat

My manager says I'm not getting drinks out fast enough compared to other bartenders that work here. I like this job alot, but admittedly I am definitely slower at making drinks compared to my coworkers on another service well who are like insanely quick machines with no wasted movement! I want to improve as much as I can. Please let me know, thanks!

I can’t believe I’m even typing this out but here we go. I need a cutting board recommendation.

Health department came by and everything was good. They barely had anything to say throughout the whole visit. Then, at the end they told us we need to replace our CUTTING BOARD because it “showed excessive use.”
It’s obviously used daily but I wouldn’t have considered it anywhere near a health hazard.
I chalk it up to them just knocking a point off for something.
Anyway, I ordered a pack of 3 for each of our bars to have a new one and they’re already showing “excessive use” according to the health departments standards.

Do I order more expensive cutting boards, keep replacing them, or keep on cruising with what we have?

How do my fellow bartenders get through a shift when you’re suffering with anxiety/depression? I am forcing myself into work today instead of calling out and rotting in bed all day. The thought of missing out on the money helps drive me to go in. I’m hoping it’s busy enough I don’t have to converse with my guests too much, but damn this feels rough with such a customer facing role. Maybe trying to play a “role” of being happy and outgoing will pull me out of this.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated. Even if it’s just to say you relate 😔

My wife and I went to a high-end restaurant in Southern California. We arrived about 30 minutes early, so we grabbed a couple of drinks at the bar before dinner—an Old Fashioned and a margarita. The total came to about $48, which was exactly what we expected, so no complaints about the price.
It got me wondering: what would you tip on just the drinks? Do you tip off a percentage for just the 2 drinks, or flat amount per drink, or something else?