i don't know your bar's receiving set-up WmC, but someone ought to be around to check stuff in and make sure stuff doesn't get delivered like that. like it's kind of critical imo. that is terrible that you had to work with that and it didn't get sent back/replaced (am not dissing you at all, obvs, it's not your bar). It makes me think there must be other things being delivered that are not being done "up to code" as they say. I worked as purchaser/receiver for a few years and i can see how a mistake like this could happen from a reputable distributor. mistakes get made. also, if a company knows nobody is every gonna check their deliveries, *maybe* they might try and pull this shite.
― scampos sacra fames (outdoor_miner), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 15:16 (two years ago) link
Some of our deliveries involve the driver having a key to the back door, stashing fridge and freezer stuff and locking up on the way out, with the GM/owners not seeing the produce until he gets in a couple of hours later. They're a bit lax about the quality of bar citrus because I usually make do without complaint, but maybe that will change after this week.
― In my house are many Manchins (WmC), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 16:05 (two years ago) link
The owners have discovered flavored vodkas. On one hand, that's some more bullshit I have to make room for in my life; on the other hand, I can batch up raspberry and blueberry lemon drops, booze and all, and just fill a chilled glass from a chilled bottle and be done.
Fridays are our busiest night -- last Friday I worked my ass off, a long shift including prep, and there were five ones, a quarter and three dimes in the tip bucket. I changed it to a clear beer pitcher so it's harder for people to hide their sinful behavior. Or maybe I'm just a bad bartender, I don't know.
― In my house are many Manchins (WmC), Thursday, 17 June 2021 17:29 (two years ago) link
I doubt that very much <3
― sleeve, Thursday, 17 June 2021 17:55 (two years ago) link
ugh bad tippers are the most disgusting savages; i'm sorry, WmC!
― horseshoe, Thursday, 17 June 2021 18:24 (two years ago) link
$5 for the whole night? WtfDo you guys accept credit cards? Maybe everyone paid that way instead of cash?
― calstars, Thursday, 17 June 2021 19:15 (two years ago) link
I'm usually so exhausted by the end of the night that I forget to check my cc tips -- I'll find out on my paycheck tonight. There were a few cash customers, including one Deliverance-reject motherfucker who comes in almost every night that we're open and always sits at the bar — dinner, one tea, one Mich Ultra and one cocktail every time, and has tipped me exactly three bucks on probably $700 in total charges over the months.
― In my house are many Manchins (WmC), Thursday, 17 June 2021 19:23 (two years ago) link
What pct of checks do you estimate are paid by credit?
― calstars, Thursday, 17 June 2021 19:26 (two years ago) link
it's known fact that the bartender is someone you are supposed to be over-generous with. ffs
― cancel culture club (Neanderthal), Thursday, 17 June 2021 21:08 (two years ago) link
so many people are shit tippers. my wife is a server and has averages under 10% and she works at a reasonably expensive restaurant in a bougie part of town frequented by wealthy people
― 《Myst1kOblivi0n》 (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 17 June 2021 21:09 (two years ago) link
the **ckers sound like they deserve to be served moldy limes tbh
― scampos sacra fames (outdoor_miner), Thursday, 17 June 2021 23:02 (two years ago) link
( i don't really mean that, but. . . )
― scampos sacra fames (outdoor_miner), Thursday, 17 June 2021 23:03 (two years ago) link
― calstars, Thursday, June 17, 2021 2:26 PM
At the bar, probably 2/3. In the dining room, probably 95%.
Every time there is grumbling about bad tipping around one of the owners, she makes commiseration a winner-takes-all contest -- "Don't feel bad, X had it worse tonight." So the person who got screwed the worst gets the sympathy and everyone else gets to fucking suck it up or shut their ungrateful mouths. Meanwhile, the house gets paid. I may have a few words with her about that tonight. Tonight's the last day we're open before a 13-day summer break.
― Profiles in Liquid Courage (WmC), Thursday, 1 July 2021 15:28 (two years ago) link
How not to run a business
― calstars, Thursday, 1 July 2021 16:42 (two years ago) link
that's abusive behavior by my measure -- this is a workplace and you should not be measuring your misery against other people's nor should your employers
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Thursday, 1 July 2021 23:05 (two years ago) link
it's not surprising how many small employers use these tactics to mollify their employees but that doesn't make it right
not sure these people deserve your expertise tbh, although I get that you took this on as a challenge
― sleeve, Friday, 2 July 2021 00:04 (two years ago) link
Got our most recent liquor order in 3 weeks after placing it -- they left off the peach schnapps, the item we were almost out of. So I said "fuck it," got the owner to order some peach flavoring, and I'm going to mock up a 40-proof substitute with vodka-sugar-water. I also faked blue curacao by adding blue food coloring to cheap triple sec. Fuckit.
― Everybody Loves Ramen (WmC), Monday, 27 December 2021 17:55 (two years ago) link
Do it live. F’ing thing sucks
― calstars, Monday, 27 December 2021 18:20 (two years ago) link
It's been heading downhill in '22. The price of fresh citrus went through the roof, a case of limes going from $55 when we opened to $140ish in early 2022, so the owners changed to prepackaged lemon and lime juices, which have a lot of pith-bitterness.
This town's diners and drinkers are shitty tippers -- my cash tips last week were five and a half bucks, and total tips were about $70.
The owners cancelled shift drinks and limited shift meals to the cheapest/least hassle menu items; the same week, their eldest son turned legal drinking age and started drinking free at the bar, top-shelf bourbon in his whiskey sours and no tips forthcoming. At the staff meeting announcing the cost cutting measures, the owner said "I want y'all to know we think of everyone here as family," so that was THAT spot on everybody's bingo card. Family-family drinks free, work-family gets a 20% discount.
I used to bring bottles from home so I could make fancier drinks for favored customers -- part of the effort of teaching this town to drink better -- and make things like ginger-lemongrass syrup and rhubarb syrup for the bar, but I don't do that anymore.
Tonight is the first HS home football game of the season, no help for me behind the bar, should be fun.
― DPRK in Cincinnati (WmC), Friday, 2 September 2022 18:23 (one year ago) link
total tips were about $70.
this is absolutely shameful
― sleeve, Friday, 2 September 2022 18:40 (one year ago) link
Sorry manI always tip $2 per bottle of Bud and $4 for a buyback , sounds I should come to your bar
― calstars, Friday, 2 September 2022 19:04 (one year ago) link
“ part of the effort of teaching this town to drink better --”Doing the Lord’s work
Someone asked for a Dream Catcher -- bourbon, Zucca, strawberry syrup, lemon, rhubarb bitters -- last night and I said sorry, no Zucca. But it was slow and I had a minute to think, so I faked up some Zucca with Campari, house rhubarb syrup and a little Fernet Branca and got damn close in flavor, if not color. No strawberry syrup but any fool can muddle a berry in some simple syrup. Customer approved.
The owners are buying the empty space next door and expanding the restaurant, planning on building a second bar and making the new space mainly a lounge with upholstered seating and coffee tables. The bar will be built from scratch, with input from actual bartenders about what infrastructure we need, unlike the first bar. I hope/think I'll be able to get a dedicated bar freezer where I can start producing large clear ice. The space used to be a pharmacy called People's Drug Co. so The People's Lounge is at the top of the list of names.
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Thursday, 6 April 2023 13:10 (one year ago) link
Consultation with employees, how unusual!
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 6 April 2023 13:19 (one year ago) link
Whoa - was it one of these guys?
http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2011/11/once-ubiquitous-peoples-drug-stores.html
People's was the main drug chain in my area before CVS bought them up. I hold an undying grudge against CVS over the name change.
― peace, man, Thursday, 6 April 2023 13:21 (one year ago) link
Wow, maybe so! I didn't know Peoples was a chain, I thought this was a locally owned standalone. It was still called Peoples until it closed in the aughts, which makes me think it wasn't part of the chain that sold to CVS...? I'll do some digging.
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Thursday, 6 April 2023 13:46 (one year ago) link
Of all the horrors I've made over the last three years, Double Malibu and Red Bull took the cake last night. Whoever they were, they had three of them.
Coincidentally, another customer came in who never orders from the menu, demands that I come up with something new each time, and says it has to have Malibu in it, and then comes up with stupid names for the drinks. Last night I told her "I let someone name a new drink last week but that's because he tipped me a hundred bucks" and that kind of got her to ease up for a minute. Anyway I did something served up with Malibu, rhubarb syrup and lemon, with syrup from a can of Amarena cherries in the bottom of the glass making it a layered drink. GAG. Anyway the demanding customer and one of her girlfriends LOVED the drink, and the other girlfriend said "Call it an Orgasm, because that's what they looked like when they were drinking it." We argued about names some more -- since it's pink and has rhubarb in it, one of them had the good idea of The Barbie. At the end of the night I said "I'm glad I was able to give y'all some orgasms" -- they fell out, high fives all around. I wrote the recipe for Barbie's Orgasm down but I'm not going to make another unless under duress. Coconut, rhubarb, lemon and sour cherry flavors in one drink? DOUBLE GAG
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Friday, 4 August 2023 17:16 (eight months ago) link
good lord, you should call that "The Hangover"
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Friday, 4 August 2023 17:31 (eight months ago) link
Came here to post a v weird drink someone ordered last night that apparently didn’t have a name: 2 parts Koval gin2 parts Cointreau1 part dry vermouthServed up w orange twist ????
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Friday, 4 August 2023 20:10 (eight months ago) link
I straw-tasted it and it was v sweet and super boozy (but I’m not a martini person)
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Friday, 4 August 2023 20:11 (eight months ago) link
That is a strange sidecartini thing but I'd taste it. Guaranteed better than Malibu and Red Bull.
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Friday, 4 August 2023 20:44 (eight months ago) link
WmC I want to come to your bar and learn to drink better
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 4 August 2023 21:52 (eight months ago) link
You are my favorite kind of customer
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Friday, 4 August 2023 22:09 (eight months ago) link
Where does WmC tend
― calstars, Friday, 4 August 2023 22:13 (eight months ago) link
yo mama's house
― linoleum gallagher (Neanderthal), Friday, 4 August 2023 22:32 (eight months ago) link
psssh
― calstars, Saturday, 5 August 2023 00:02 (eight months ago) link
I'm at a small restaurant in a small town in a very Baptist part of the country (northeast MS).
― The Terroir of Tiny Town (WmC), Saturday, 5 August 2023 03:17 (eight months ago) link
A semi-regular asked me last night if I'd tend bar at her wedding next April. I haven't done any weddings before and the thought fills me with dread but is also intriguing. My first questions were "How many Good Ol' Boys will there be? Would I be dealing with happy drunks or mean drunks?" Of course there's no way to know the answers in advance. I have a month or two to think about it. I don't know if I can handle (potentially) 8 hours on my feet.
― I Wanna Find an ILXor That'll Flag My Last Post Till I Have To Go (WmC), Friday, 29 September 2023 16:18 (six months ago) link
Just ask for a bunch of money and see if that scares her off
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 29 September 2023 20:32 (six months ago) link
the weddings i've been to recently make it seem straightforward--batch a couple cocktails (bride's pick and groom's pick) and be well-stocked with beer, wine, and whiskey otherwise. you definitely need to know the numbers and set some ground rules but i could see it being a pretty sweet paycheck.
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 30 September 2023 00:46 (six months ago) link
ask for enough to hire a helper
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Saturday, 30 September 2023 03:41 (six months ago) link
cad otmalso it’s a wedding: if there’s loads of an inexpensive but non-terrible bubbly available nearby, just keeping a table of glasses filled and ready would be 30-70% of the job
― vashti funyuns (sic), Saturday, 30 September 2023 07:48 (six months ago) link
The groom doesn't drink, but the two cocktails are going to be blueberry mojitos (bride's pick) and Old Fashioneds (bride's father's pick). The OF is easily batchable but the other one could be a big hassle. After that mojito, my second biggest concern is my own stamina.
― WmC, Saturday, 30 September 2023 15:00 (six months ago) link
hmm yeah i wonder if you can figure out a couple shortcuts for the mojitos, they’ll be a pain otherwise.
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 30 September 2023 15:05 (six months ago) link
Yeah, the bride may want the theater of muddling/shaking/straining but it seems unworkable esp if there are a large # of guests. And she likes hers extra sweet so she wants them all topped with Sprite, which... ok for you, Missy, but have some club soda on hand please, not everyone wants drinkable candy. This reminds me of how I got into bartending in the first place -- a friend wanted to have a "retro 50's style cocktail party" but didn't know anything about drinks, so I commandeered that part so it wouldn't be a disaster.
― WmC, Saturday, 30 September 2023 15:42 (six months ago) link
i guess i’d be trying to make a blueberry/mint syrup so you could just build syrup/lime juice/rum/club soda, which is still a bunch of stuff tbh
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 30 September 2023 16:10 (six months ago) link
Re theater: you have to pay extra for that. If they want volume, they accept batches or find someone else imo You don’t take individual orders and make small talk when working a wedding (or funeral as I’ve recently experienced)
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Saturday, 30 September 2023 16:50 (six months ago) link
I'm very sorry for your loss. Another blueberry mojito?
― Josefa, Saturday, 30 September 2023 17:02 (six months ago) link