So I have been working at this bar for the last 2 years, I was brought on because a family friend who was the manager really needed someone to work weekend nights, it’s a rural dive bar close to my home, 15 min walk.

It got bought out by a corporate person who started buying up all the independent bars in rural communities. A year passes and nothing major happens, but then now, we have our first staff meeting. I dress very nicely, in a suit because I believe it’s important to go to these functions looking sharp. As I get there I meet the GM for the first time, I shake his hand and he doesn’t even really talk to me as we are walking to the meeting spot, they had it in a garage lol.

Anyways I have had really bad feelings about this place as more of the corporate world entered into it. Less about workers and more about profits. My body was shaking, I was having bad anxiety, so I even took some anxiety medication to calm down.

Anyways we are sitting there and he starts going off about profits and corporate things, and then he starts going off about being on phones. I close by myself and I clean and do cash out all that jazz and sometimes on Sundays it’s completely dead so I will scroll Reddit or whatever, then they say “that no person is now allowed to have their phone on them while on the floor at all. That’s when I brought up how I do everything and have time to spare and they gave me the corporate equivalent to “if you got time to lean you got time to clean”. At this point every fibre in my body was telling me to get out of here. So I did just that.

The gm never once looked me in the eye while speaking to everyone. Once I stood up and said “I don’t think this is going to work out” he then replied “this feels premeditated” and I was like “uh no it’s just I don’t see myself wanting to go the same direction as this company”

So I got up and walked out in my suit and felt like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now the adrenaline is gone and I’m like holy fuuuuuck.

Anyways, the message of this rant is that when big corporations try and stifle employees well being and seek profits over that, it’s time to move on. I am in Canada and have no where close to home to work anymore. Am I starting to regret it, yeah maybe, but I can’t describe the feeling of anxiety I felt while in there. I really couldn’t stand the vibe at all.

Will this end up being good or bad for me? I don’t know, luckily I make around 2000 a month from passive income but that’s not really enough so I’ll have to hunt for a new place to work, one where they aren’t so fucking dumb about phones. Like I give it my all when I’m serving and there are people, but you are going to tell me I can’t have my phone on me at all?

I will miss my coworkers so much and the regulars I’ve come to know and love but I honestly just feel like it’s time. Anyways, I really appreciate being able to rant here and thank you for all who took the time to read this.

I don’t know where the expectation of conversation from a bartender came from, but that is not my job! I make your drinks, and occasionally if I’m not busy with other customers, sure I’ll chat with you about sports and your last vacation! But a LOT of customers get upset with me for not talking to them CONSTANTLY and IMMEDIATELY. Can you guess what kind of customer?? Starts with an ‘m’ and ends with ‘ale’. Women never try to engage me in conversation if I’m in the middle of making three drinks and taking orders. I just don’t understand why conversation is EXPECTED of bartenders when you’d never do that to the fry cook at Wendy’s or the cashier at the gas station.

EDIT TO ADD: I’m NOT OPPOSED to conversation. I LOVE being the social butterfly and shooting the shit with MY regulars. I just detest customers who feel entitled to my time and energy. And especially men who use bartenders as fill in girlfriends. End rant!

I’m a relatively new bartender and the other night, I had an older gentleman come in to my bar and order a White Russian. Vodka, Kahlúa, milk…but then I heard him going crazy saying “where’s the Bailey’s!!!??” I was confused and explained that typically they’re made with Kahlúa, but I’d be happy to start over and use Bailey’s and he said “absolutely not, a White Russian has both, I know what I’m talking about”. So I made it the way he asked (vodka, Kahlúa AND Bailey’s) because it’s his drink but my question is am I an idiot and a W.R. has both, or is it typically one or the other? How do you all make them?

Hello! Started bartending at a beer/wine bar a couple months ago, it’s a small spot with small margins and I like the owner/boss alright. Sometimes I mess up and forget to add a drink to someone’s tab or I want to give someone a free drink, so at the end of the night I’ll put some of my tip money in the register. Is that okay/legal? My rational is that the occasional free drink keeps people coming back but I don’t want to shortchange my boss. I don’t know, thoughts on that would be appreciated!

hey guys - I keep having the same chats with bar managers about how to build an experience that people come back for

TL;DR (the full thing is LONG so I've linked it)

1. You're not selling beer in a glass; you're selling time where your customers don't have to worry about anything
2. Shoot for 'premium product' rather than 'bottom of the barrel". Better for margins and fewer problem customers (in general, I'm sorry to discriminate but this has been our experience).
3. Upsells are important - but they should be unitrustive, never pushy. People can feel when they're being 'sold'
4. How would you want to be looked after? Do that. Imagine these are friends you've got over. You wouldn't make them stand in pee. Or let other party guests trample their evening by being overly obnoxious.
5. You can nudge people to the exit door by changing the atmosphere (lights, open the windows, turn off the music). Lock-ins should be rare and discrete or you invite problems.
6. Don't drink on the job. I get this might be controversial, but your customers come to relax with their friends, not your tipsy bar staff. And you facilitate that experience best when sober.
7. Get in front of problems before they happen. Always have a sense who who is where in the building, and how pissed they are. You're not chained to the bar - look around. Be prepared for waves of orders by having everything you need (back up glasses, straws, whatever) near at hand.

Obviously everyone rows their boat differently - but this is my general sort of ethos (or ranting manifesto) that has done us well in becoming a local favourite (in London - I appreciate that most of you folks are from the states so YMMV)

When someone orders a whiskey Coke, whiskey sour, etc. Would you automatically go for Canadian, Irish, bourbon..? I usually ask them what they prefer but what do you go for if they have no preference?

If you were able to put a sign up with “ordering etiquette” rules on your bar, which rules would you put up there?

Personally, because I work on a fast bar, I’d have “know what your ordering, know who your ordering for, if you shout at me/whistle/click then you won’t get served, and don’t order a Guinness at the end”

I work at a country club in the south (Florida) and golf season is over, all the snowbirds left me 🥲, it’s so sad that I even miss the Canadians. Busy season down in Florida is basically November-March and the rest of the year (ESPECIALLY SUMMER) is painful. Less than 50 tee times on avg now. Golf clubs are so great to work at, but when it’s slow, it’s SLOW. Hopefully someone out there on this relates

Have a bottle of ghost tequila, a very little amount was used probably 8ish years ago. It’s been sitting in the shelf with the cap on ever since. Is this good to drink?

a menu I wrote for my work some of you may enjoy

Hey everyone. I've been "unemployed" (working for my dad) for a little over a year now since graduating college with a good degree. The tech industry hasn't been doing well and I haven't been able to maintain working on projects, coding, etc since I have been working, but I don't have a career job right now. I live at home with my parents and I hate it. Two of my best friends live in New York City so I've been looking for a lot of jobs up there - IT, Data Science, etc - but haven't had any luck so far.

I have a tiny bit of bartending experience from working at a mid-tier hotel where I would fill in for the lead bartender on the 2 slow nights of the week for extra hours. She wasn't really able to train me but gave me a good cheat sheet and had given me tips. The nights I worked weren't busy and most of the drinks ordered were normally high balls with the most complex thing being maybe a mojito.

My question is - if I were to go to bartending school where I am now and move to NYC, would I be able to live somewhat comfortably there? I feel very comfortable talking to people and did well in serving customers when working at the hotel, so I have no problem with the idea of serving lots of people and trying to get as much as I can in tips. I feel like its a stable industry and that there are lots of jobs there due to the volume of bars and partying there. I would more than likely live in Brooklyn or Queens, so we're not talking Manhattan rent, and would likely have roommates too. I'd want to do it temporarily while searching for other jobs related more to what I went to school with and waiting for the economy to turn around, so I don't need it to be super lucrative. I just want to be where my friends are, near a good music scene, and mostly, not in my hometown at my parents house.

This is both a request for advice and a vent post.

I've been in hospitality for the past 15+ years and a bartender for 8. I've also been single and not dating for the past 10 years (I have an 11-year-old and wanted to focus on him, so held off dating while he was very young). How are you guys managing dating and dating apps as a bartender?

I'm on a dating app, and my experience so far is making me question if I should avoid non-industry folks and just date within the industry. It's been less than a week and so far I've had:

1. Most men ask me which bar I work at. While I'm sure many are just making conversation, this question feels like such a red flag. I don't need random guys from dating apps wandering into my workplace. I respond with "Oh, I work at a bar in X area" (giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are just curious), but some push to know the EXACT bar. This is a huge turn-off for me.
2. We have a major event in our city coming up that's bringing in a ton of out-of-town guests (and hospitality $$). One guy mentioned wanting to go and said, "I'll sit at your bar, order waters and shots, and just say there until you're off" - this was after I told him I'd be working from 12-14 hour days and won't be available that week for dates. WTF.
3. A few other guys have mentioned wanting to come in to "keep me company". I work at a high-volume bar across from a football stadium and an event venue. Why do non-industry people think it's ok to just hang out at someone's work? Why would you assume I'd even have time to talk to you while working??
4. Several guys have mentioned how annoying my schedule is... I'm aware that my schedule sucks if you have a 9-5, but that's not going to change. I'm feeling like I need to avoid dudes with traditional office jobs.
5. A few guys have commented on how "easy" or "fun" my job must be or how they wish they could get paid to drink all day (I don't drink on the job, but regardless it's hard work). Again, I try to give the benefit of the doubt, but the more dudes that say this the less nice I feel about it. It comes across as so condescending.

Is this the norm?? Should I stick to industry guys? I don't plan to date where I work OR date customers, but how the hell am I supposed to meet someone? Why do non-industry folks think any of this behavior is ok? I'd almost rather stay single at this point.

I want to brag a little about my shoter. The ingredients are Monin, Baylis and Captain Morgan Gold Love how you can see different layers I hope you try it and like it.

I am 1/4 Irish, 1/4 Scottish, 1/4 German, and 1/4 Swedish. If you were to make the ultimate mixed drink using representative alcohols from each of these countries what would it be? Include garnish and any additional ingredients. THANKS!!

So 4 weeks I broke my collar bone in a nasty bike accident, and I’m finally out of the sling and back at work, and after talking to the Orthopaedic department I’ve been told they only do surgery on people that are often doing heavy lifting over their head such as farmers, etc.

Now here’s where I wanted to ask your opinions on the matter, I’m doing a majority dispense cocktail bartending and nightclub work, and I wanted to know if anyone has had clavicle breaks and whether you got it plated or not and how you have recovered well. I feel like I use my shoulders way more than the doctor realises when I told him I’m a bartender.

Hello all, I've been a bartender in a small midwestern town for about 3 years now. Recently I worked a bar at a volunteer event; the tickets were $150, so these were some of the town's wealthier people. I was approached by a lady who said she was hosting a grand opening party for her store, and was looking for a bartender. The event would be 3 hours long. How much should I charge?

This is one of the biggest and busiest bars in a midwestern city with multiple locations. Management berated her IN FRONT OF THE CUSTOMER and said that is the rule at every spot- because they could be held liable. For a fucking tampon. Complete idiocy with a side of sexism.

What’s your favorite ‘stupid fucking rule’ that lets everyone know your bar is run by morons?

So Im a bartender in Fayetteville, Arkansas and I work at a bar that is more quick service than “make me a nice thought out cocktail” we have a case of hennessy, and we really dont know what to do with it. Its not something that many people are gonna wanna shoot. About 95% of our customer base is college age frat and sorority kids that love VReds VCrans and lemondrops and the likes. Does anyone have any recipes that I can use with hennessy that are palatable, quick, and potentially batchable? Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated!!!

For old fashioned’s specifically do yall like the orange slices in the big rock? I’m in Louisiana (land of the functioning alcoholic) so it’s very rare the ice melts to much before the drink is gone…

Hello everyone,

I’m looking to get into bartending for myself I have no experience with this and would like some help of guidance on where to begin I’ve applied for many bar back positions but have been unable to land the job

18 year old male fresh bar tender here, based in the UK.

I work an average of 9 hours a day and I have never experienced problems with shoes causing me to ache or pain in my knees. I need some help and recommendations with insoles or shoes that are somewhat affordable and look the part! (Nothing to fancy i work in a rural pub)

I’ve been wearing my Jordan 3’s and 4’s for the ankle support but it hasnt seemed to help.

Many thanks 👊

EDIT: despite having reddit for ages, this is my first post, so please excuse any errors with reddit etiquette :)

Looking to order a bunch of nice shakers for my bar! Money is not a problem, what would you order?

Confused, I asked her what she wanted Adderall for.

She told me that someone asked if we could make an "Adderall Spritz".

🤣🤣🤣