Bartender Best Practices

Yeah sometimes it’s a good idea to ask (from the bartender’s POV) and sometimes not. Wrote that yesterday though when I was getting along well with a new bartender and her giving her name and asking mine probably swayed toward having another round there

I hasten to note that in a lot of places it's probably not the bartender's choice, but rather his or her manager.

I don't think my local barkeep is personally thinking "Wow, that enigmatic yet weirdly handsome guy with the glasses who does advanced crossword puzzles while getting sloshed alone is extremely compelling. How I wish I knew his name!"

More likely the decree comes down from management or corporate, saying "EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, ALL BAR STAFF WILL INTRODUCE THEMSELVES, SHAKE HANDS, AND ASK THE PATRON'S NAME."

Like Barbershop

If there’s a group sitting at a table, instead of waiting for them to order rounds at bar, clear their empties and take the next orders. Keep them drinking.

So these vertical IDs for minors these days, c or d

makes sense

When you run out of music to play, put on Mothership Connection

Serve a group before a single

A cig is the perfect break

When serving, if possible, set the glass down on the bar with an audible “pop.” This augments the overall auditory experience of the customer and is a reminder of the impending rush of pleasure, potentially leading to a larger tip

calma starstra

"What's your name?" should only follow "Wanna start a tab?"

If you sense a new patron is impatient or irritable, take his payment when you take his order. That will dissuade him from bolting while you’re pouring or otherwise engaged, leaving you one down on the count.

How garrulous to be ? Pluses and minuses on both sides. I think overall if you’re talkative and boisterous it’s to the benefit of the bottom line

When you run out of music to play, put on Mothership Connection

Well alright!

according to this thread, bars in the US are so far removed from the UK the experience is unrecognisable

American drinking culture is pretty shit

How so?

calstars is a sui generis bar-room oddball

I never go to the clubbier/packed bars in my area but ended up in one for a friend's birthday. I couldn't quite hear what the upgrade was when I ordered a round (two beers, two mixed drinks) but for $1 per drink, I figured whatever it was would be fine, so I nodded.

It turned out it was "your second drink is a dollar" and I was presented with eight drinks. I tipped $4, which seems... fine?

I also quickly figured out why I've seen so many people incoherently stumbling out of that place at relatively early hours

wow

wow x2

in Oregon they have a rule about how much actual alcohol you can order at once, e.g. you can't get a 2 oz bourbon sampler plus a full pint of beer, gotta dial that beer down to a beer back order.

the owner of said bar used to have a place that would charge cover and then have a "penny pitchers" special in the early evening

the bar was surprisingly less objectionable than I expected, but very much in the "slap a new coat of paint on and change the place's name when business dies down" vein

In a market system bars will both respond to customers' wishes _and_ shape their expectations. I am not defending this system, but merely observing it phenomenologically.

Do I sometimes wish there were introvert bars with privacy shields on either side and cunningly selective speaker systems that could pipe specific music or infotainment to each patron? Sure.

In the meantime I go to bars when I am okay with being in a bar. (This is true both in the US and the UK.) When I want to curate the experience to my taste, I stay home and fuckin curate the experience.

according to this thread, bars in the US are so far removed from the UK the experience is unrecognisable

otm

I sometimes wonder what Americans make of service in bars in (for example) Dublin where it’s unremarkable for barmen to appear resentful at having to interact with patrons in any way.

Right. I'm not used to bartenders talking to me beyond 'Can I help you?' and 'That's £10.40 please' unless I actually know them as a friend.

Flavourful 6%+ craft beer is easier to come by in North America therefore North American bars are inarguably superior.

The worst pubs piss all over the worst bars though.

I can’t put my finger on why it seems wrong to turn bar tending into an arm of the customer service industry. I’ve been buying pints off lads for 15 years and it wouldn’t cross my mind to ask them their name.

way to ruin getting pissed, The US ;-)

If getting pissed is the goal, one can just buy a fifth of bourbon and nurse it all morning in one's own armchair while reading the collected stories of Somerset Maugham.

Going to a pub or bar is different, and should be.

I’m a regular at a handful of cocktail bars in my area of the U.S. and they tend to take customer service very seriously—their goal isn’t just to make you drinks, but to groom your whole experience. I actually love it, and can always count on them to read whether I’m trying to shoot the shit or just have them leave me alone so I can dick around on my phone and have something boozy.

If the bar serves pints in multiple sizes, don’t give the customer the option for the smallest size. Pour the medium or large by default when they order without specifying.

pints in multiple sizes

FFS USA

adorable

like most people, I think of this panel three out of four times I get a pint in the US. but calling multiple sizes in the same bar by the one name is frankly a macroaggression.

https://i.imgur.com/W6G767A.jpg


not sorry for hueg, it's imperial tbf

If I am your first customer at midday on a Saturday, please do me the honour of pulling through, so i get a pint from the cellar, rather than one that has been sitting in the pipes overnight.

A pint is a pint!

Grant you, there aren't any schooners or tea cups or whatever.

Most of the time, your choices are draught (maybe even a draft) or a bottle anyway

If I am your first customer at midday on a Saturday, please do me the honour of pulling through, so i get a pint from the cellar, rather than one that has been sitting in the pipes overnight.

If a suspected lush lays a big bill on the bar for a cheap drink, let it sit. It’ll cause the barfly anxiety and implies the purchase of a second drink.

Ime people paying in cash are mostly having one drink, or intending to use the pay-as-you-go model. People who will be staying a while are either providing a card to run a tab, or operating on a "trust me, I'm good for it" model. which one may be dependent on bar policy, crowdedness, etc.

The "leave bills on the bar" model is increasingly rare these days, at least in the places I hang out. Perhaps it is regional?

I mean, I understand calstars's logic but I am not sure I would classify "make your customers anxious on purpose to get them to drink more" as a "best practice," you know?

I almost always go vodka if I'm having a mixed drink at a bar. And if it's a nice bar or special occasion, I'll go with a premium vodka, be it a vodkatini or vodka-soda. But after hearing a few times from ppl in the service industry how often grey goose bottle are filled with McCormick or whatever, I'm now too suspicious that i'll get swindled to order call drinks.

What say you, calstars?

Not calstars but for most mixed drinks I am fine with cheap booze or rail. Call me a heathen but I I don't really care if a bourbon & ginger is made with Jim Beam or Maker's or Bulleit or whatever. Once it's mixed with a sugary soda it's hard to notice or care about the difference between bourbons.

In a Martini I might care. On vodka I have basically no opinion, so might as well go with rail (or cheap) vodka in a vodka tonic or whatever

oh i am very much a vodka truther, but in more upscale settings it just seems appropriate to splurge, but i don't bother anymore

Hard to research this without an inside source ‘cause every server will deny it or say yes at a past job, but not THIS one wink wink. This job is someone else’s past job five years from now though, so probably. But servers may not even know, it’s to the owner’s advantage that they don’t, so they can honestly claim ignorance. From the bartender’s perspective, yes, that’s top shelf shit, and thanks for the tip.

I've never heard of a bar swapping out call or premium for cheap shit. It wouldn't make sense - bars are generally open, you can watch them open up a new one and scratch the tax sticker (in Texas).
Liquor margins are very high, there's no real reason for them to risk it anyway - even a strong rumor of it happening would kill business and you don't think a disgruntled employee would narc them out to the state/social media?

You shouldn't bother with premium vodka because it's vodka - anything past Tito's and you're setting money on fire.

i don't know how popular Tito's is outside of TX but they have a lock on the market here, must be rolling in it

When pouring a pitcher, let the brew fall on the lip to break its fall, thereby preventing half a pitcher of foam

Buy back calculation: customer must have ordered at least two rounds and have tipped half the price of their drinks

I prefer sellbacks, where I drink as much of the beer I want, and give the rest back for a prorated refund

This is all very intimidating and confusing to me.

Are you a bartender?

When there are customers in hearing range, and the bar is quiet, and the customer tells you that they should be at work, don’t ask about the details of their employment

i mean