Tips for a New Bartender
It’s your first night working as a bartender. You’re nervous. You question yourself as to whether you will be able to handle the partying crowd that has begun to flood the bar. It’s standing-room-only around the occupied bar seats. You are the only bartender and you can see straight down the bar that customers are vying for your attention. Everyone wants to be first. Nobody wants to wait their turn. You are determined to keep your new job and show the customers what a great bartender you are.
Have Searchable Mixed Drink Recipe Cards on a Notebook Computer
As a new bartender, you are bound to discover that you haven’t heard of every existing drink. The nervous factor will be greatly minimized if you know that you won’t have to ask the customer what the ingredients are to the requested drink. Invest in an inexpensive Notebook Computer. You can make your own searchable cards or buy a software program with drink recipes. Quickly typing in the name of the drink, the ingredients pop up on your notebook computer screen. In the alternative, if you don’t have electronic cards, you can access a bartending website that has a searchable drink list.
Have your Own Bartending Equipment
It’s possible that the bar or club will not have all of the equipment a bartender needs. Always bring your own bartending kit that first night on the job. A can opener, corkscrew, mixer cup with strainer, measuring cups, bar spoon, a few shot glasses, bar salt, sugar, pepper, hot sauce, bar bitters, beef cubes, a little plate (for salt or sugar), toothpicks, bar towel and a cigarette lighter. You can talk with the manager about the bar equipment at a later time. You don’t want to ruin your first night on the job. You want to look efficient and professional.
Gauge your Customer Base
Look at your crowd. Skim over the faces to get a general accounting of how many people are to be served. Start serving customers closest to you. Make sure you don’t walk past customers to get to the customers that are at the farthest end. Instead, gesture to the end of the bar and let them know that you are aware that they are waiting for service.
Always answer the overly impatient customer that yells out that they want immediate service. Their yelling can have a spreading effect on the waiting crowd, who can then mimic the impatience and cause a minor bartending catastrophe. Smile and let the customer know that you will get to them in just a minute, even if that minute is really three or four minutes. Never skip over waiting customers just to serve the impatient customer that is making noise. Be firm and make them wait.
Taking Multiple Drink Orders
Do keep a pad and pen to jot down the drink. If you are nervous, you may immediately forget what the customer has ordered. Don’t take more than three drink orders at a time. Fix those three drinks, one at a time, keeping the drinks on the bar and quickly set all three drinks in front of the customers, in the order of their requests. Go down the line taking orders. It should take between 15 and 25 seconds to complete one drink.
If the bar is impossibly crowded, you as the bartender could quickly stand in the middle of the bar and ask which customers are just ordering a beer. That should thin the crowd somewhat while you get the rest of the drink orders from the customers.
Keeping a Clean Bar
Customers will leave empty drink glasses, used napkins and straws on the bar. If it’s a smoking bar, ashtrays will be full. It’s the bartender’s job to keep the bar as clean as possible and clear of debris. The bartender will need to immediately clean up spills on the bar. Clear the napkins and straws first, then the glasses, followed by emptying ashtrays and replacing them with clean ashtrays. Wipe the top of the bar with a damp cloth, then dry with the bar towel. If a drink glass is still half-full, the patron may be planning to finish the drink. The bartender should not automatically dump the drink into the sink drain.
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