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thenewgreen · 4773 days ago · link · · parent · post: What Not To Do Around Your Bartender

I actually think the hardest bars to bartend at aren't like the ones you are talking about, where you have the luxury of turning your attention away from the bumbling idiot that doesn't know what they want. The hardest are the upscale bars that still get 3-4 people deep at peek hours. Why? Because people expect the same type of service that they did earlier when they sat at a table and ordered their $70 Matsuzaka Cowboy Steak. I'd MUCH rather bartend at a dive bar where the drinks average about "$5". At a dive bar, the bartender is king. At an "upscale" bar, the customer is king and the customer is often an asshole.

For the record, I'd MUCH, MUCH rather patron a good dive bar.

Also, it's not just the clubs that survive based on alcohol sales, it's the restaurants too. Food costs are WAY higher than beverage costs and fluctuate much more frequently and unpredictably. The most profitable (percentage wise) thing on most menus is either coffee or iced tea. The most profitable dollar wise is usually wine. The restaurant I managed (back in the day) used a very straight forward pricing strategy: take the cost of the bottle x 2 + 5. That meant a bottle that cost $10 would retail for $25. -This is actually a pretty reasonable pricing system too.

Alcohol is king in the restaurant world. Which is why a good bartender is a very, very valuable thing. Any restauranteur worth his salt, treats his best bartenders like the profit generating kings/queens that they are.

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