What is the difference between a Good Bartender or a Bad Bartender? We’ve all been upset at poor service but equally I know when I get good service, I remember it! So what are the things that annoy or impress us?
A good Bartender:
- Always acknowledges customers at the bar.
- Can take more than one order at a time.
- Pours the pint of Guinness first when dispensing a large order.
- Puts your change in your hand and not on the bar counter.
- Offers to carry the drinks to the table for you when necessary.
- Can explain the difference between different quarter bottles of wine.
- Takes pride in their uniform.
- Prepares sufficient lemon slices in the morning.
- Does not raise their eyes to heaven when asked for an Irish Coffee.
- Knows how to change ashtrays (outside these days..) without ash flying everywhere.
- Does not put their fingers into glasses when clearing tables.
- Knows what’s going on in the area when asked by customers.
- Knows a number for local taxis.
- Takes orders from customers in rotation, without leaving anyone waiting longer than others.
- Asks if the customer would like ice in their mineral water.
- Asks if ice and/or lemon are required in vodka/gin/bacardi.
- Knows how to clean the draught lines (even though he doesn’t have to any more…).
- Understands the importance of discretion.
- Presents the pint glass with the logo facing you.
- Holds glasses a couple of inches below the rim when serving.
- Thanks customers for their business when they are leaving.
- Asks customers if they would like another drink when the glass is almost empty.
A bad Bartender
- Talks to some customers at length while others are left waiting.
- Never washes their hands despite handling glasses by the rim.
- Arrives late and leaves early.
- Is always wondering when they can get their “staff drink”.
- Doesn’t record or care about waste.
- Takes orders from the pretty girls first.
- Dispenses free drinks to the pretty girls “on the house”.
- Adds ice and lemon to drinks as standard.
- Lets the tap run for a second or two before placing the glass underneath.
- Adjusts the gas setting of each tap before pouring a pint.
- Scratches their head and their face during service.
- Doesn’t wear full uniform.
- Encourages friends to drink in the bar when (s)he is on duty.
- Leaves the Cash Drawer open in the cash register.
- Never gives a receipt.
- Hates the thought of serving food.
- Doesn’t know what cutlery/condiments are needed for each dish/drink served.
April 18, 2007 at 10:30 am
I am yet to come across a bartender that does all of these things that a good bartender should do. Does this mean that there is no good bartenders in Ireland?
May 1, 2014 at 12:21 am
you just go to shit bars and are a fucking lush..thats all
April 18, 2007 at 10:34 am
Really Siobhan? I’ve come across plenty of good bartenders. Perhaps its the places you’ve been going to that are the problem. But in all honesty i wouldn’t hold it against a bartender if he didn’t know how to clean the draught lines when he doesnt have to.
April 22, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Seems good and bad is global.But in my view honesty can make up or same of the bad.
April 28, 2007 at 10:41 am
Please allow me to add to the list:
A good barperson:
= Remembers your name if/should you introduce yourself
= Remembers your choice of drink when you visit the premises again
= Remembers a round when you approach the bar again
= Serves all/any pints without overspill
= Works in a ‘line’ up and down a busy bar, thus never leaving anyone waiting.
= Doesn’t say “ARE YA ALRIGHT” when you clearly are, instead, uses “next please”,
“what would you like”, “yes, sir” or any combination of the above
A bad barperson:
= Works as if it’s a chore, or they’re just waiting for the big job to land,
an attitude encountered in supermarkets and petrol stations across the country.
The perfect barperson:
= Has a ready access to All-Ireland Final Tickets, knows the winner of the Grand
National in advance, and never knows for sure how many Christmas drinks you’ve had
already…
April 9, 2012 at 2:12 am
I can`t agree with some of your good bartender things like no one has to know your name OK??? If you have over 50 customers for a night you can`t remember 50 names, or 50 drinks you are gonna have the next day/night. I am sorry but those things are not criteria for a good bartender. And are you all right they ask u this question everywhere so stop being such a snob 🙂
May 1, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Hi guys does anybody have a problem to the bad service at my bar …How to keep the staff does anybody have any tips, my bar is a nightclub which is part of a brewery and I have no control over the hourly rate so cant keep them happy by raising their money (not that i would anyway lol) we employed 6 new staff last month by the end of this month they all left as they suddenly realised that the grief they get off customers and low wages they are on dont compensate for working weekends (which is when we most need them) running a pub wouldnt be so bad as the shifts would be mainly days…does anybody have a solution ? we already have commission based pay, and every now and then introduce incentives so the staff get the chance to earn prizes, vouchers, etc.. its costing so much in time and off the bottom line each year putting ads in the paper. thanks!
June 25, 2008 at 8:37 pm
In bartending school, you are taught to let the tap run a couple of seconds before filling a new glass…
Please explain.
November 22, 2011 at 6:50 am
Agree! Its the only good way to prevent the foam, thus pouring the perfect glass and quickly..
July 9, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Great article, thanks for the tips!
September 14, 2008 at 10:22 am
If you don’t let the tap run for a second before filling the glass you get excessive foam. I don’t see a problem with letting it run for a second
January 7, 2009 at 10:56 pm
HONESTLY.
WOW THIS IS A JOKE.
GOOD BARTENDERS CARRY DRINKS TO TABLES?
NO THEY DONT.
YOU ORDER THE DRINK, YOU CARRY IT.
WHY SHOULD A BUSY BARTENDER HAVE TO CARRY YOUR DRINK, they shouldn’t and i would get pissed seeing a bartender doing it.
also it all refers to HE.
there are SHE bartenders.
your thing is crap and a huge joke.
STUPIDEST THING IVE EVER READ!
🙂
November 18, 2010 at 4:33 am
If a person comes from playing pool or darts, and orders a round for his party a good bartender would help carry drinks,(unless lazy)
May 3, 2011 at 5:34 am
I agree, dependent on volume, I would help carry over some drinks if no one was waiting. However, I am not going to blow off a bunch of customers to help them. I am sure Shawn has the same intentions, help them to the greatest extend unless he is in the weeds. You are a bartender to make people’s night on the town that much better, not to ruin it. I assure you your tips reflect if you provide amazing service.
August 18, 2011 at 2:42 am
you must be a shitty bartender
January 7, 2009 at 10:59 pm
# Takes orders from the pretty girls first.
# Dispenses free drinks to the pretty girls “on the house”.
Lets the tap run for a second or two before placing the glass underneath.
# Doesnt wear full unifrom
LIKE COME ON.
PRETTY GIRLS, AND A FEW FREE DRINKS,
WAY TO GET PEOPLE TO REFER YOUR BAR
AND GET MORE SERVICE.
THE TAPS NEED A SECOND TO DISPENCE FOR LESS FOAM
AND UNIFORM?
BARTENDERS NORMALLY DONT HAVE A UNIFORM,
FOR guys, maybe black pants,
BUT CHICK TENDERS,
SKIMPY = BETTER
at least in my country,.
January 9, 2013 at 8:02 pm
You shouldn’t have to dress like a whore to be considered a great bartender. Most of those pretty bartenders are stuck up, have no personality at all, and are the worst bartenders who do not know how to make a drink correctly and on top of all that are slower than a snail!
March 14, 2009 at 9:50 am
I am a female bartender and i dont need to wear skimpy clothes to make tips. Through extensive knowledge of cocktails, wines and beers, and knowing my spirits, ive doubled my days/nights earnings on a busy night.
The most shocking thing for a male customer is when a girl can talk about whiskey like its her drink- thats more impressive than a bat of the eyelids.
Also
“WHY SHOULD A BUSY BARTENDER HAVE TO CARRY YOUR DRINK”
I know its a pain, you’re busy, you’ve called 400 and someone wants help to take an ice bucket with champagne to their table. I tell them to take a seat and get a server or a bar back to take it on the way. Its personal service and good customer care.
In response to pete and his staff morale issue, i get paid pittance. The staff turnover at my old job in a nightclub was staggering with people not lasting more than 2-3 months. Encourage your team to get to know each other, staff nights out etc. I love my job because the people i work with can have a laugh and talk over a beer at the end of the night.
If i could just add to the list too:
* a good bartender maintains their cool under pressure
* SMILES
* can have a conversation with you when its quiet.
* can make perfectly balanced cocktails (in places that make them) especially ones that aren’t on the menu, people like that.
* can spot an underage person from a mile off.
* at least has some interest in what they do, reads up on mixology- not a necessity but useful.
March 26, 2009 at 11:36 pm
a few that come to mind.
– Leave a cloth hanging somewhere on your waist and always have extras handy around the bar (near the taps for example)
– Know your bar. Make sure all of the wells/pits have an identical set up and if you’re fortunate enough to be running a big bar with multiples of the same product, have the two ends of the bar mirror each other…
G K T C :: C T K G
– Have your spouts/flags all face in the same direction.
– Product knowledge will do you no harm.
– Good morale should exist between the staff. If you’re having fun the customers will as well.
– Don’t over-serve. It (could be, depending on where you are) against the law. If I was a group of young, single, good-looking girls out for a few drinks the last thing I want is a staggering lout around. Obey the law regaring over-service.
-Become an effective multi-tasker. If you’ve got an order of six hi-balls, a pint of Guinness and another draft beer do the following. 1: Start Guinness pour. 2: Get the booze into the rocks glasses. 3:Stop Guinness 2/3 up the glass. 4:Pour the other draft whilst simoultaneously adding mix/coke to the hi-balls. 5:Top off Guinness. —This will all take no more than 119.5 seconds. 😉
– Know the culture of the establishment, if you can talk to the management and really try to get a feel for the place.
a cheeky one.
…if you’ve got an accent don’t lose it 😉
October 3, 2009 at 3:53 pm
i watched a female bartender stash her tips inside her bra cup for the entire evening on a friday night. i found it entertaining as did some of the other men. after asking her why she carried her money this way she responded that she doubled her tips. the men enjoyed watching her and offered her that much more. myself included.
November 2, 2009 at 3:17 am
is there any easy way to become a bartender with no experience?
January 31, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I’m a bartender on the Gold Coast in Australia, a high end tourist hot spot and one of the top destinations in the world for night life. I have been doing it for a number of years now and for the most part this list DOES describe the perfect bartender… but unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world.
The fact of the matter is we bartenders get paid shit, get treated like shit and work shitty hours. Every weekend we have to take shit from arsehole customers, from stressed out managers while missing out on opportunities to be with our friends and loved ones and most importantly healthy sleep! It’s virtually impossible to carry out a meaningful relationship with somebody when you work all night, sleep for half the next and feel tired and irritable until nightfalls again.
So excuse me but if you line up at the bar and order more drinks then you can carry then you bloody well better have a plan for them because I have 300 other people waiting for me. Also since im perpetually single if you’re waiting at the bar and a pretty young thing slides up you can be sure that shes going to get served first and I WILL spend a bit of extra time flirting with her. Here in Australia we don’t work for tips we work for phone numbers. If you want to argue about it thats fine because while you’re up there on you’re drunken high horse completely over exagerating the amount of time you waited I’ve already signalled security and 3 very big and permanantly angry men are cutting a swath through the crowd to escort you off the premesis. Trust me when I say this that when they ask you to leave you best turn on your heels and make tracks towards the door quite smartly. Because they, like myself (and you for that matter), don’t like waiting and any further protests will only result in a lot of pain and embarassment (for you).
As for the rest of it product knowledge, cocktail making, wines, order proritization etc are all very much common sense points. I mean you couldn’t be a baker if you didn’t know how to make bread right? Skills can be taught and with a small time spent in training anybody can be a competent bartender. Pouring liquid from one vessel into another isn’t exactly MENSA material.
The only thing that seperates a good bartender from the rest is personality. I make pretty girls want to come into my bar which makes me happy. In turn that makes all the desperate cash weilding guys want to come into my bar and drink with the girls which makes my boss happy. The boys spend the money, the girls (sometimes… rarely… almost never) come home with me and at the end of the week I get paid which makes me happier.
I love my job
February 21, 2010 at 12:51 am
Isn’t it the worst when you get a guy who comes to the timber with 20 people in his party, demands your attention and then has to ask each person what they want? Meanwhile, you have an entire bar waiting for drinks! We need a “How to be a good customer” site!
April 18, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Completely agree with everything you said. I guess I’m a bit ‘Politically Correct’ though when it comes to serving whoever was first, no matter what they look like.
I can not stand bad Guests, I would never behave in the way some of the people I have to serve do on a nightly basis.
February 23, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Hey i am from St.Vincent and the Grenadines(caribbean). Must say you all make very valid points and i must agree with Chris and Ree. I lave also been a bartender for some years and ohhhh have i meet some characters..i love bartending i mean what other job you can have fun,meet new,and once in a while have a drink with the customer,tips ect then beeing a bartender.
April 18, 2011 at 1:06 pm
I am a cocktail bartender at Browns Restaurant. I agree with everything on this list but Carrying people’s drinks to their table when it is busy or giving table service for drinks when the bar is right next to their table kind of takes the biscuit.
Guests who are friendly, who tip and who don’t try and order before someone else they know was there first are people I make sure have a great experience. I lose motivation to give outstanding service to drunken, rude and snobby people.
May 13, 2011 at 8:04 pm
P.s. This is what you get in some places…
Bartender looking at his phone while a customer is standing at the bar, the Bartender sees him and rolls his eyes. Ten seconds later the Bartender puts his phone away and huffs…)
Bartender: Yes what do you want?
Customer: Can I have a beer please?
Bartender: Fosters?
Customer: Erm, actually can I have a Cider
Bartender: Fuck sake!!
August 25, 2011 at 11:03 am
Most points valid, some are stupid and not viable in certain pubs for the good and bag
June 23, 2012 at 12:37 pm
I’ll agree with most points but I totally disagree with bad = adding ice and lemon to drinks as standard.
Maybe it’s because where I work the drinks are priced with the volume of ice taken into account. Of course, if a guest doesn’t want ice I won’t charge them for the extra ounces 🙂
And some drinks do REQUIRE to have ice and garnish as a standard… otherwise you’re just not doing it properly.
Caiphrinia anyone?
August 16, 2012 at 5:35 pm
instead of extra ounces, add extra fill, same amount of alcohol. If they don’t want ice and you’re adding extra alcohol, by saying ounces then the customer should be charged.
August 31, 2012 at 12:31 pm
whoever wrote this is just a dick.
blatantly sexist; also, sounds like you have some self-esteem issues with the whole pretty girl vendetta.
December 1, 2012 at 12:19 pm
In some scenarios your bad bartender rules apply, but not all. As a full time bartender for 16 years, I can tell you letting the tap run briefly ensures a better beer, it eliminates that beer line taste, not all bars require a uniform ( sometimes it makes the atmosphere seem less uptight) , and talking to customers at length without hurting service can establish repore with a customer and results in better tips! Take an interest in your customers! I have hunted with, Fished with. Gone on vacation with, and been the best man in many of my customers lives! Treat them as a friend and you will be rewarded!
December 15, 2012 at 1:42 am
I disagree with remembering all customers names and drinks, as working on a busy bar it would be near impossible for most people to remember all that information. Although a good bartender should remember regular customers name and prefered drink, for example a regular at my pub comes in at the exact same time every day and always has the same beer unless we have a certain guest ale on, we always have his drink ready for him and always recieves a warm welcome because he has become an unoffical pub mascot. One thing a good bartender should be able to change a barrel and know proper cellar management, especially when working with real ale. This will lead to a better tasting beer. A terrible bartender will not know how to line clean and is to stubborn to ask how to while not cleaning then lines of the cleaner therefore leading to a potentially lethal pint.
December 31, 2012 at 1:02 am
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February 2, 2013 at 4:56 am
I’m a bartender that works at a place that specializes in beer. We have about 150 total and 40 on tap. Beer is suppose to have head (as a rule, 1 inch for a pint). If you a properly cleaning your lines you shouldn’t have to run it before pouring. If you are getting excessive foam, then you should angle the glass while pouring.
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September 17, 2013 at 5:00 pm
im a bartender but even if you give them badass service they tip like 5 fucking dollars like wtf ik from atl
bartender in mexican bar
November 13, 2013 at 6:41 pm
You couldn’t be more spot on with this breakdown. I know a lot of great bar tenders who get a bad rep because a lot of other bartenders just want to pick up girls and get free drinks. It’s hard to do everything perfectly (especially when management doesn’t care) but it can help to make little changes to the way you serve. For the diligent manager who sometimes has too much on their plate to keep an eye on the “bad bartender”, it can perhaps help to hire a third party group to conduct a Integrity Inspection. This inspection will discretely evaluate the service at a particular bar and the work of a particular bartender. One company I do know of that does this if anyone is interested is called SQM (http://goo.gl/mmUH91). They conduct great integrity inspections that can help preserve a bars bottom line, and separate the “good bartenders” from the bad ones.
Regardless, thanks for this great post!
Cheers.
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