Cheers,
Pete

Butterfly Opener

1)  Tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle.  When you open the tap make sure the beer hits the glass right in the middle.

2)  If the pour is going bad (tons of foam) then stop the pour immediately.  One of the biggest mistakes I see bartenders make is to continue to pour a beer that is coming out like shit.  If you start the pour and nothing but foam comes out then stop the pour and find out if something is wrong with the tap line.  If a lot of foam comes out, the keg might have been recently tapped or is kicked completely.

3)  As you are about to complete the pour put the glass vertical so you can create a nice head on the beer.  The head on the beer should be two fingers thick.  If you are having trouble getting a head, a great tip is to open the tap handle half way.  This helps agitate the beer and create a head.

Here’s a great video that illustrates all the points above.

Cheers,
Pete

It looks like Jessica Elizabeth might be one of the dumbest bartenders we have ever met.  Jessica was a bartender at Proof nightclub in Chicago and apparently decided to go on a racist rant on her facebook page.  It’s not known if her facebook page was private or if everyone could see it, but the comments are pretty offensive.  If you read her rant you can see that someone from the club tells her to take down the comments. Her response shows just how dumb she is (“r u joking?  I have a life outside the club”)

The bottom line is this.  When you get a job as a bartender you are a representative of that establishment (especially when you list it as your employment on facebook).  This is America and you have the right to say whatever you want.  Just keep in mind that bar has the right to fire your ass for saying something offensive.  Thats exactly what Proof nightclub did to Jessica.  Don’t let it happen to you.

Cheers,
Pete

Bartender Fired for Racist Rant

The bottom line is, if any owner or manager makes you work a shift where you are by yourself for any period of time, its time to get another job.

Not only is it disturbing to see what this man does to the bartender, its equally disturbing how nobody in the bar tries to help her.

Pete

Pete

Got this email a couple of days ago…

Pete-

Love the website!  Just wanted to let you know I followed one of your tips and checked out the facebook page of a new restaurant opening up in town.  The restaurant wasn’t even close to being opened, but they posted several job fairs on their facebook page.  What I found interesting was that there wasn’t a single help wanted sign posted outside the buiding.  Because of the facebook posting I was able to get down there and got the job!!!  Thanks for the great advice!!

Eddie C .
San Diego, CA

Congrats on the job Eddie!!  If your looking for a job in the bartending world it is imperative you utilize social media.  I thinks its safe to say that the help wanted ads of your local newspapers are pretty much a waste of time.  If your looking for a job at a certain place it is imperative you check their facebook page as often as possible.  Most bars will post more stuff on their facebook page, than their actual website.  Making changes to a website can be complicated, time consuming and cost money.  Posting stuff on facebook is a lot easier, so bars will utilize it way more.

Another great lesson is that it is way easier to get a job when a new place is opening up!  Bars need to fill ALL their staff positions so your chances of getting hired, greatly increase.  Once the place opens and they have a full staff it will be MUCH HARDER to get a job.

Cheers,
Pete

According to this article, some people look at their tabs very carefully.  When starting a tab for a group of people you usually have to type a “name” for the tab on the computer.  What most bartenders/servers forget is that when you close the tab and give it to the customer this “name” you typed is printed on the tab.  This is where you can get into big trouble.

I think its pretty obvious not to use any “racial adjectives” when starting a tab.  If  you write “3 black dudes” or “Chinese guy” people are going to be pissed off and you’ll most likely be out of a job.  You also have to be careful with other “adjectives” you may use to describe a person or group of people.  If you write “annoying couple”, “cheap guy”, or “dirty ed” on a tab, you may find yourself in trouble.

What’s the easiest way to avoid this?  When someone opens a tab, ask them for either a credit card (required by most bars) or a last name to keep the tab under.  This will certainly keep you out of trouble.

Cheers,
Pete

When I first started looking for bartending jobs the only place to look was the classified section of the newspaper.  With the age of digital media and social networking, the classified section in the newspaper is pretty much dead.  For the last few weeks I looked in the 3 major newspapers for NYC and found no ads in the help wanted section(for bartenders).  So where should you look if you want to get a bartending gig?

1)   Your friends

If you want to get a bartending job real bad you need to let everyone in your social circle know what you are looking for.  If you know anyone who works in a bar/restaurant tell him or her you really want to get a bartending gig.  If you know someone who owns a bar tell him or her how bad you want to get a bartending gig.  Tell everyone and be persistent!  What most people don’t know is that owners/manager hate putting help wanted ads (more on where to find those ads later) online.  The reason why is that when an owner put a help wanted out he/she has to answer a lot of phone calls and do a lot of interviews.  It’s a huge waste of time.  If someone who already works for them tells them they have a friend who would be great (you)……your chances of getting hired increase greatly.

2)   Craigslist/Social Media

When it comes to looking for a bartending job, craigslist has destroyed the help wanted section of your local newspaper.  Why?  It’s free!  Newspaper help wanted ads can get pretty expensive and can produce little results.  With craigslist, the ad is free and the owner can answer questions via email rather than answering 20 phone calls.  If the ad produces little results, its no big deal because it costs nothing.

Social Media has become huge for the bar and restaurant industry.  If there is a certain bar in your area that you would like to work at, check their facebook page.  Most bars update their facebook page much more often than their actual website (it’s a lot easier).  Lately, more and more bars are advertising positions on their facebook page.  If there are certain bars in your area that you would love to work at, subscribe to their facebook page.  This way, you will not miss a help wanted posting when it pops up.

While there are many ways to get a bartending job, I think these 2 places are the best place to start.  They key to success is be persistent and don’t give up!  Remember, every bartender in the entire world got that first job with no experience.  So can you.

Cheers,
Pete

1)   Always put bottles back where they belong (label facing out).

This is probably the biggest mistake I see new bartenders make.  There is nothing that pisses off a bartender more than when they go to reach for a bottle and it’s not where it’s supposed to be.  It’s very important that you put the bottle back in the correct spot.  It is also important that the label is facing out.  Even though most bartenders know where every bottle is they will still take a quick glance to make sure they have the right one.  If the label is not facing out then the bartender has to turn the bottle to make sure they are using the correct liquor.  This slows everyone down.  The more everyone slows down, the less money everyone makes.  Put the bottle back in the right spot and make sure the label is facing out.

2)   Learn how to pour a draft beer.

It always amazes me how new bartenders have no clue how to pour a draft beer.  It’s really not that difficult.  What’s the best way to practice without wasting precious beer? Take a two liter bottle of soda and pour it into a glass.  It’s that simple.  When you pour the soda at home, tilt the glass and put the glass up to the opening of the soda bottle (at a 45 degree angle).  It the soda starts to bubble then stop the pour and wait for it to settle!  All these principles apply to pouring a draft beer.  When you open the tap let it run for a millisecond before you put the glass underneath it.  Make sure the glass is up against the opening of the draft line at a 45 degree angle(see picture above).  If you notice at the beginning of the pour that all foam is coming out, stop the pour!  If a lot of foam is coming out, ask for help from your fellow bartender.  You either have a crappy draft line or crappy technique.  Ask for help.

3)   Be careful with the money

At the end of the night if the draw is short, most owners will make all the bartenders pony up the difference.  If the draw is 200 bucks short and 4 people were working, each bartender has to pay 50 bucks.  If the draw is short most of the other bartenders are probably going to blame you.  If they have worked together for a year and have never been short, it most likely is your fault.  If they have to pony up money because you were careless they will be pissed off.  To avoid that, take these steps:

1)   Make sure you put the bills in the correct spot!  If you put a 20 in the slot for 10’s it will screw everything up.

2)   Make sure you know exactly what bill you were given and make sure you give correct change.  People will try and scam you and tell you they gave you a 20 when they only gave you a 10.  If you know for sure what bill was given to you, this problem will be avoided.

Cheers,
Pete

Let me preface this by saying that every bartender knows exactly what every customer is leaving him or her on the bar.  Even when I worked in the busiest nightclubs and was six deep at the bar, I knew who was stiffing me and who wasn’t.  If you think for a second, that your bartender doesn’t know how good or bad you are tipping, you’re wrong!  We see everything and even though we look busy, we know exactly what tip you left us on the bar.

How much should you tip?  I would say that every bartender is pretty much happy with a dollar a drink.  If I pop eight bud lights for you I don’t expect an eight dollar tip.  That’s ridiculous.  But if I make you a Cosmo, French Martini, Johnny Black on the rocks and a Malibu Baybreeze….you may want to tip more than a dollar.   It obviously depends on what you and your friends are drinking.  The more complex your order is, the higher the tip should be (as long as you have good service and good drinks). If your bartender is rude and obnoxious I highly advise you give him or her a second chance.  Every bartender has had bad days, and nights.  If they continue to be rude and give you poor service, then you have every right to tip them less.  Here is a list of things of what not to do when tipping your bartender.

Money Piles (on the bar or behind the bar)

If 2 people are having drinks together and decide to combine their money on the bar, that’s fine.  But when you get large groups of people leaving piles of money on the bar the bartender usually gets screwed big time.  One of the first problems you run into is the cheap guy.  This is a guy who throws a 10 on the pile (or no money at all) while everyone else is throwing down 20’s.  Then he orders drinks for an hour and never throws another dollar on the pile.  Then 3 of the guys in on the “pile” meet 3 hot chicks and order 6 shots of patron and the pile shrinks a lot.  The guy who just put a twenty on the bar and ordered a bud light sees only 5 bucks left in the “pile” and gets real pissed off.  The biggest problem with big “piles” is as the night goes on people get real drunk and start to leave.   When these people are hammered they forget to see if there is any money left for the bartender as a tip.  I have had occasions when I have served large groups for hours and been left five dollars.  I think I can speak for all bartenders that we do not like money piles.  If you must insist on a money pile, put someone in charge of it.  Make sure this person tips the bartender periodically throughout the night, while the “pile” still has money in it.

Buybacks

If a bartender gives you a buyback you should tip him/her.  Some bartenders say you should tip the price of the drink but I think that’s a little extreme.  Whatever you do don’t stiff the bartender on a buyback!  If you get a buyback, don’t say thanks and walk away.  If you need change for a tip, then ask for it.  If you stiff your bartender on a buyback, there is a good chance you will not get another one.

Don’t feed us a line

If your going to stiff the bartender, do it with pride.  When you tell the bartender your going to tip him/her later, they know it’s a line of shit.  Most bartenders would rather have you stiff them, instead of telling some bs story.  If your not going to tip the bartender all night, at least have the balls to do it without lying to his or her face.

As you can see tipping the bartender can get complicated at times.  If you’re doing a dollar a drink you can’t go wrong.  If your bartender is rude and you continually get poor service, then your tip should reflect that. If your bartender is great then your tip should reflect that also.  Best of luck.

Cheers,
Pete

Whenever I tell people this they always seem a little shocked that this is my advice.  As a barback you really learn very little about how to be a great bartender.  The barbacks job is a tough one.  It often requires heavy lifting and physically demanding work.  Depending on the bar you work at, you will be restocking coolers, changing kegs, clearing/washing glassware and helping the bartender out any way you can.  The problem with all that is your never really learning how to be a great bartender.  Your not learning how to make drinks, how to work the register, and how to effectively interact with your customers.  The only way your going to learn how to bartend is to get behind the bar as a bartender!  You are not going to learn how to be a bartender by stocking the bud light cooler 5 times a night.

Another problem I often encounter is that I have seen barbacks wait years before being promoted to bartender.  Some actually wait years and never get promoted at all.  Management jobs in the bar industry have a very high turnover.  The promise you got as a barback from the manager is gone once he quits or gets fired.  Then you’re starting from scratch with the new guy who doesn’t know you from a hole in the wall.  Some managers have told me they don’t like to promote barbacks because it’s much harder to find a good barback than it is to find a good bartender.  Don’t get sucked into the trap.

The only time I would recommend you take a job as a barback is if you have a strong desire (I mean really strong) to work as a bartender in a busy nightclub.  If your willing to work for years as a barback and roll the dice this may be the route for you. I have seen some barbacks get promoted to bartender in the nightclub setting but I don’t recommend you take this route.  I have also seen a lot of barbacks NEVER get promoted and get screwed over big time by managers/owners.

It will always be a lot easier to get a barback job instead of a bartending job.  When you go and apply to jobs, managers will say they don’t have any bartending jobs open but they have a barback position.  That’s just a roundabout way of saying they don’t want to hire you as a bartender.  Don’t get sucked into that trap.  With a little hard work and perseverance you will get a bartending job (not to mention you’ll make a lot more money).  I have worked in almost every different setting in the bar industry and I never worked as a barback.  I have nothing against guys who have gone that route but I think it’s a waste of your valuable time. If your goal is to be a bartender then don’t settle.  The only job you should take is that of a bartender.

Cheers
Pete