Author: Steve

Conversations with Customers Being able to hold a conversation is an important skill for bartenders.  It helps people feel welcome and relaxed.  Conversations with customers can be short and simple or deep and involved.  It depends on how busy you are and the customer.  Remember, when you’re busy you need to keep the conversation short […]

If you have experience and can’t find a bartending gig you might want to consider that you’re looking in the wrong places or you need to re-evaluate you. Many bars don’t know how to hire. Even the ones that have been around for a long time. They look for a thing or gimmick that will […]

Sleeping With Bartenders I Click Baited you. It should read Sleeping For Bartenders. Bartenders have a real problem at the end of the night. Getting to sleep. You just finished a long shift, served a million drinks, dealt with customers all night and now your brain is spinning  and your body is still in GO […]

What is the difference between a Bartender and a Mixologist? Some would argue that a mixologist is just a fancy term   for bartender. Just because a bartender calls themselves a mixologist doesn’t mean that they’re good at mixology. Almost all bartenders are in a sense a mixologist, but not all mixologists bartend. Some people just […]

Proud To Be A Bartender What’s your real job?   When you bartend people ask this question and other similar questions all the time. You can be proud of being a bartender, just like any other profession.  Some people don’t get it and that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you do the best job […]

A Basic List of Bartending Drinks To start, you need to memorize 100 drinks. This can done in a few days.  When I taught bartending, in one of those schools that you don’t need, the list was about 89 drinks and people had them memorized in about 3-4 days.  The 5th day we tested and […]

Use your body to make more money. You can do it without taking off your clothes. Your body language has a huge impact on your customers and their body language can tell you about them. There have been so many studies done on body language and how it effects both your personal and professional life. […]

Propolis is made by bees and is used for your health and wellness. The stuff is great. You can buy it in a spray. Just aim it into the back of your throat and squirt. It helps boost your immune system. Every bartender is exposed to germs every shift. Using Propolis spray can help keep […]

Learn the Business By Learning Other Jobs You can spend a lifetime learning the bar business, many have. The list of things that are done in a bar is huge. Mixology, management, inventory, it all matters and learning other jobs is important for your career. Something else is also important.  What are other people that […]

How does a positive relationship help a bartender? Establishing and maintaining a positive relationship with co-workers is an excellent way to improve business. A business that does well is a lot nicer work in, and you make more money. A bar that brings in good money usually creates a better working environment. People are happier […]

  Make More Money With A Clean Bar Keeping your bar clean is about more than doing side-work for the business. A clean bar has a psychological effect on you and your guests. A well organized, clean bar serves more drinks, faster than a bar where chaos is the rule. It is much easier to […]

A personality lesson A group of six people came into the bar. They were happy, laughing and ready to order some drinks. I sat and watched. The bartender looked up when they walked in, and he looked right back down to finish texting, reading the response, texting again before putting down his phone and approaching […]

Stocking a commercial bar and stocking a home bar are probably going to be two entirely different things unless you’re willing to spend thousands of dollars on your home bar. If you are, by all means, follow our list to the letter! The liquor store will love you! First, we’ll look at the typical commercial […]

A bartender is someone who serves beverages behind a licensed bar to paying customers. A bartender can also be called a barkeep or a barmaid. Bartenders are found in bars, pubs, taverns, nightclubs and other such places. The bartender mixes and serves drinks, and the majority of drinks a bartender is making contain alcohol, such […]

Knowing why people tip can be a powerful tool. Michael Lynn of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration wrote a paper called: “Service Gratuities and Tipping: A Motivational Framework.” This article dives into what makes people want to tip. As bartenders we can take a lot from this paper to better understand how and why our customers tip. Having this information […]

How is it that some bartenders can earn so much more than others? It comes down to the number one trait needed in bartending. Personality. Earning good tips as a bartender isn’t that difficult, but earning great tips requires some work. People tip based on more than just how much they spend. They also tip […]

Your Resume Needs To Get Noticed. Having a resume in the bartending business is a very good idea. Normally people don’t turn in resumes, instead they simply fill out an application. Some places run out of applications and when you go in to get one you are given a piece of paper, or worse a […]

Owners of South Side’s Hofbrauhaus settle in girl’s death for $15.6 million May 7, 2013 2:45 PM By Paula Reed Ward Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The family of a 7-year-old girl who was killed by a drunken driver in 2010 after he left the Hofbrauhaus restaurant on the South Side on Tuesday reached a $15.6 million settlement […]

Getting your degree can be a financial challenge. Reducing the burden of paying for school will make things easier. Many students get jobs while going to school. Sometimes these jobs don’t pay well and take up a lot of time. Bartending pays more money per hour than most part time college jobs. This means that […]

There is no such thing as a “Bartending License”. In any state. Have you ever asked how to become a licensed bartender? Some people don’t realize that there is no bartending license. Becoming a bartender doesn’t require some sort of state or national standard. No standardized testing given by the Board of Education is given […]

Who are the most important people in the bar? Usually when people are asked this question they give what they think is the right answer.  The Customer. WRONG. Now this doesn’t mean that the customer isn’t important. Without them you aren’t going to make money. Let me explain. Years ago I tended bar with a […]

How To Free Pour and Why You Should. Simply put, it’s when you turn a bottle and let the liquid flow without anything, but you, stopping the pour. There are Measured Bottle Pourers that are often used at bars. These pour a calibrated amount of liquid and automatically stop. Most bartenders hate these because they […]

1:3 1 part spirit, 3 parts mixer. This is a good ratio that works for a basic drink like a screwdriver or rum and coke. Glass size is going to be a factor. 8oz glass, fill with ice, 1oz Vodka, 3oz of Orange Juice.   [mc4wp_form]

Lets lay down some ground rules for both the Bar and the Customer.