The best ways to train up your barbacks for success On the surface, a barback can seem like a thankless job. Whether they’re restocking the bar, folding napkins, checking off bar opening and closing procedures, or managing bar inventory, it’s certainly not the most glamorous bar gig. But in reality, barbacks are your bar team’s backbone. Barbacks are often the least experienced members of your team. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them the training support they need. Here are six skills every barback should master and how you can train them up. 1. Bar setup and bar breakdown To educa ..read more

From managing crowds to lines to unruly patrons, the bar’s bouncer is a swiss army knife that must be properly tended and applied… When you hear the word bouncer, a pretty straightforward stereotype probably pops into your head, in one flavor or another. A bouncer is some variety of musclebound, meat-headed thug that solves disagreements with his fists and does very little else apart from keeping people out of your club if they aren’t on “the list.” In reality, a good bouncer is nearly the complete opposite. Sometimes, it isn’t even a bouncer you’re looking for, but a floor man or doorman inst ..read more

Building your leadership skills as a bar manager is absolutely essential for employee retention and team morale—and ultimately the success of your bar. Most bar managers get promoted because of their standout bartending skills but often lack training on management and leadership best practices which is crucial for keeping a high-performing team in place. The restaurant industry is notorious for sub-par HR skills and high turnover rates—one of the highest turnover rates of any industry in fact. In 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the annual employee turnover rate was 73%—that ..read more

To celebrate National Rum Day, we’ve got the history of rum and two of its most prolific cocktails: the Dark ‘n’ Stormy and the Rum Swizzle. A brief history of rum Some estimates date rum back to the 14th century in the Middle East, but the history of rum we know today is linked to sugar production in the Caribbean in the 17th century. Sugar cane was crushed to produce a juice that was then boiled and cured, resulting in a thick syrup we know as molasses. Originally considered pesky industrial waste (it was dumped into the ocean!), molasses was eventually fermented and distilled—and rum was bo ..read more

The physical, mental, and emotional wear and tear of serving thousands of people in a given week takes a toll on even the strongest will. As we approach the holiday season, burnout often flares up among service staff. This is the time to think ahead about how to ease your team—and yourself—through the busiest season of the year in a way that saves everyone’s sanity. Here’s five simple ways to avoid that dreaded bartender burnout: 1. Disconnect from electronics I don’t know a single one of us who hasn’t stayed up late watching Netflix after a shift. But all that screen time is hurting us ..read more

One of the major pillars of running a successful bar or restaurant is having good bartenders. Finding a good bartender is easier said than done. Sure, there are the standard, industry-agnostic interview questions you ask most job candidates, but what are the key questions you should be asking potential bartenders? We’ve looked into some tested questions and tells that will make the process for interviewing your next bartender candidate easy. What to ask and why 1. How do you cut off patrons? It’s a sensitive and crutial question, and if you ask a dozen bartenders you may get a dozen answers ..read more

Make your and your fellow team members’ lives easier by avoiding these typical flubs… Whether it was “shaking” with a plastic tumbler attached to a small rocks glass or using a pint glass to scoop ice, my bartender beginning is rife with fails and lessons learned. To keep you from learning the hard way, here are the six most common rookie bartender mistakes that need to be stopped before they ever start: Bar Upkeep 1. Keep it clean, you filthy animal One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made and one of the biggest issues I run into with nearly all rookie bartenders is our ability to keep things c ..read more

He might be a great spy, but James Bond is not a great mixologist… “Shaken, not stirred.” It’s a line that’s made it’s way through the annals of pop culture and drinking lore ever since Sean Connery first ordered a Martini in 1964’s Goldfinger. Funny thing is, a shaken Martini is going to be diluted, the exact opposite of how Bond says he takes it: “large and very strong and very well made.” So how does one make a Martini? And when does one shake, rather than stir, and why? Stirring: Light, Simple, Easy At its core, stirring a drink is a gentler method of mixing than shaking. It keeps the in ..read more

For a high cost and potentially low return on investment, bartending school math doesn’t add up… Bartending as a job has a noirish mystique about it. Most everyone has thought about becoming a bartender at one time or another. But, being a bartender isn’t just about pouring drinks. It involves psychology, management skills, chemistry, math, and so many other things that are beyond the view of an average patron. Should aspiring bartenders consider attending bartending school, or is learning on the job the best way to advance your bartending acumen? Evidence shows that, for the small benefits cl ..read more

Nobody likes to fire. Nobody likes to be fired. Whatever side you’re sitting on, there’s nothing comfortable about the situation, but sometimes, it’s what has to be done. I’ve found there’s generally five categories that most firings fall under, but none of these is also without coaching possibilities/safeguards that help diminish them. 1. Theft Over the years, I’ve worked with people who have stolen from the place of employment. Some were so good at it, that it wasn’t until either they had already quit the bar that we discovered thousands in loss both in liquor and cash. Theft isn’t just tak ..read more