Be the Bartender Your Guests Want at that Time…

I recently had the pleasure to work with an up and coming passionate bartender at a new high-end high volume bar that is only open Sunday nights during the winter season. This particular week the usual bartender I work with called out of work and they found a guest bartender to replace her with for the night.

What caught my eye right off of the bat is that she brought in some “Simply Squeeze Blueberry Real” & “Simply Squeeze Coco Real”. Pretty impressed with her taste in puree syrups, we began talking about cocktails. She said she had been bartending for awhile and was really excited to learn more about cocktails. I loved seeing her passion for bartending and told her about the United States Bartenders’ Guild and exchanged some quick recipes with her “Simply Squeeze Blueberry Real” we promoted at this past Bartenders Bash Series to execute at the bar for the night.

She got changed into the standard black corset and looked great behind the bar. At first thought, I was thinking we were going to make some pretty good money together tonight. Shortly after we started getting busy and guests started coming in. At first I saw her light up talking to guests about cocktails and trying to convince them to try something different. This was great seeing and I love educating guests if they are welcome to it and time permits. Sometimes our guests just want a shot and a beer… and that’s ok. It’s our job to be the Bartender our guests want at that time.

About thirty minutes later, we get slammed all at once. Thank god I had some Red Bull in me because it was time to move. The natives were thirsty and it was time to work. Lol

I start taking orders and knocking out orders with minimal Working Flair at times to fit in some entertainment without sacrificing service. A delicate balance that makes a good Flair bartender… Great. So let the bottled beer, Tito’s and Red Bull, Jack and Coke, Long Islands and Fireball fly. These guests knew what they wanted and they didn’t want to wait. After a bit I noticed I felt like I was taking care more of the bar then I normally do. When I was down by the other bartender’s end of the bar I started to notice she was engaging her guests and taking what felt like ten minutes a round after talking with them for a bit, pouring a cocktail, ringing it up and moving on to the next guest.

While at first you might think that this is good. Her attention to service, detail and customer service… but on the contrary, the other guests all waiting for beers and cocktails didn’t seem to care about “trying something new at the moment” and just wanted their damn beers… and NOW!

I tried to politely ask her to help these guests that have been waiting for awhile while hinting at the fact… “Hey, I love cocktails and education as much as the next person but in this bar at this moment… these guests just want to get their first drink”.

I think she understood a little bit more about high volume bartending after that night because of her heart felt THANK YOU afterwards. “Be the Bartender your guests want at that time…”. When its slow and you have guests that are open to suggestion or have time to learn about the barrel aging process in Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, enjoy some entertaining Flair or the intricacies on how you balanced their cocktail… by all means go for it and help educate and entertain the masses… but sometimes… our guests just want a shot and a beer… and that’s ok. 😉

Cheers,

Rob Husted