Bar is Life (Bartender Thread)

[Bussy Drippens]

What’s shakin’, industry people? Tell me about where you work, what drinks you like to make, funny stories about co-workers and customers.

I work at a dive bar. Last night while I was barbacking my coworker (we call him the Puerto Rican Gas Tank) came in legless, eyes like pissholes in the sand, to ask if I could open in the morning. I took pity on him, opened this morning, and a few hours later he shows up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to sit and have a few drinks at the bar. I actually admire the gumption required to come in and drink on the shift of the guy who’s covering yours, so I make his rotgut and Coke a little stronger than usual.

He asks me for a piece of paper and pen, scribbles out a two-weeks letter where he informs the owner he’s “looking more forward to being a devoted customer than a hard-working bartender”, asks me to drop it down into the safe, then promptly gets up, falls over and hits his head on a table. Looks like I just scored some more shifts!

The owner is a old man who’s owned the place since ‘69 and has some VERY kooky ideas about running a bar - I came in the other morning to find that he’d dumped maybe 40 bottles of top-shelf booze down the drain in the interests of “clearing shelf space”. I offered him an organic orange the other day which he declined on the basis that “the caveman did not have access to Valencia oranges”. He then sat at the bar and prepared a breakfast of raw beef and millet for him and his poodle.

[giorgio merauder]

sometimes I think about how different the world would be if cavemen had access to valencia oranges

[BIL Security Team Alpha]

Bartenders of the world
Shut up and over poor

[andrewwhatever69]

I haven’t been behind the bar in a couple years. But I’m getting the itch. I used to bartend at Turkey & The Wolf in New Orleans. When I moved back to Richmond I did at this fucking dumpster fire called Tiny Victory.

When I make cocktails, I like using waste from my cooking prep. Mostly juicing shit.

I wish I could find a dive to work at, but I ain’t trying to work at a place here like gwarbar or cobra cabana. I guess I just kinda hate people.

[Deleted]

FOH sucks

[Bussy Drippens]

The best place to make money is an urban dive - but the required skill is acting. People can drink at home, for pennies on the dollar. They’re really paying for human interaction. If you can listen to their bullshit and make them leave smiling, you’ve got it made in the shade.

[nickco]

Jun 12, 2023 1:26:53 GMT -5 Bussy Drippens said:

The best place to make money is an urban dive - but the required skill is acting. People can drink at home, for pennies on the dollar. They’re really paying for human interaction. If you can listen to their bullshit and make them leave smiling, you’ve got it made in the shade.

Bussy I got it in my head that you’re a Denver poster, am I mistaken? What dive bar do you work at?

[Bussy Drippens]

The Nob Hill Inn

[landoftalk]

Imagine being a bartender at like an Applebees and you have regulars who come to sit and drink at an Applebees lmao TORTURE.

[nastyy]

would love to be a regular at bussy drippens bar i imagine we would get along well

[Al gave some, some gave Al]

Jun 12, 2023 11:58:01 GMT -5 nastyy said:

would love to be a regular at bussy drippens bar i imagine we would get along well

I fully intend on going there whenever I visit denver again

[nickco]

Jun 12, 2023 11:22:48 GMT -5 Bussy Drippens said:

The Nob Hill Inn

Lol fuck yeah, a true dive.  I fuckin love the Chinese place on the corner right next to it.  When I return to Denver I'll be sure to make a visit.

[Top Rope Swanton]

Jun 12, 2023 11:57:04 GMT -5 landoftalk said:

Imagine being a bartender at like an Applebees and you have regulars who come to sit and drink at an Applebees lmao TORTURE.

I think about this often. My friend and I were on a long drive and we stopped at a Chili’s in suburban America and grabbed some food and seeing the daytime bartender greet the regulars was quite depressing

[nastyy]

Jun 12, 2023 12:14:51 GMT -5 Top Rope Swanton said:

Jun 12, 2023 11:57:04 GMT -5 landoftalk said:

Imagine being a bartender at like an Applebees and you have regulars who come to sit and drink at an Applebees lmao TORTURE.

I think about this often. My friend and I were on a long drive and we stopped at a Chili’s in suburban America and grabbed some food and seeing the daytime bartender greet the regulars was quite depressing

speak ill of the chilis bar in my presence and you will perish

[Deleted]

Love the Applebees Long Island iced tea

So good it’ll unzip ya

[Tstigz]

I’m a regular at chili’s when I throw open the front door by its brass chili handle the workers and patrons cheer and yell “tap a fresh keg of Modelo and bring out a couple slabs of ribs The T Man is here” there’s a lot of clapping and throwing of hats into the air

[Bussy Drippens]

Any poster that comes in on my shift will absolutely get a stiff drink on me!

[F.F Woodycooks]

Jun 12, 2023 11:57:04 GMT -5 landoftalk said:

Imagine being a bartender at like an Applebees and you have regulars who come to sit and drink at an Applebees lmao TORTURE.

there was a point in my early twen'ties where my friend had a thing for a girl who bartended at a nearby tgifridays. He somehow convinced me to "get drinks" there with him on a weekly basis and never made even a bit of progress with his crush. This wen't on for like a year. Combine that with the fact that I had just moved back in my parents after a nasty breakup and you've basically got the darkest period of my life. 

[Ⓝ𝒶𝓇匚𝐊ηĮ𝐟ᗴᖇ]

Jun 12, 2023 12:36:56 GMT -5 F.F Woodycooks said:

Jun 12, 2023 11:57:04 GMT -5 landoftalk said:

Imagine being a bartender at like an Applebees and you have regulars who come to sit and drink at an Applebees lmao TORTURE.

there was a point in my early twen'ties where my friend had a thing for a girl who bartended at a nearby tgifridays. He somehow convinced me to "get drinks" there with him on a weekly basis and never made even a bit of progress with his crush. This wen't on for like a year. Combine that with the fact that I had just moved back in my parents after a nasty breakup and you've basically got the darkest period of my life. 

The kind of patina a man needs to become a truly great poster

[RealVile]

Bartending was the last job I ever wanted to do because I was such an introvert but now I'm 10 years in and I LOVE it. It's all about finding the right bar, my last job was sick, no unhealthy drinking culture, awesome workmates (if it wasn't for bartending I wouldn't have half the friends I've made in recent years) good hours and good clientele. I also added up how much I took home last year and it was more than 75,000k which is fucking unbelievable.

I've recently moved across country and the money is not as good here and I'm back at the whole 18-25 dive bar vibe, working 12 hour shifts and feeling pressure to party and I'm hating it, need to get back to a brewery or something asap.

I've been debating starting a new career in web design but honestly, if you're working at a great bar it's so hard to give up. It's mostly just peer pressure of being a 35 year old bartender, but who gives a fuck, I look forward to going to work. Fuck finance or real estate, bleeeuuugh.

[RealVile]

I also find it really hard not to hate regulars, you know, the kind who come in at the same time everyday, alone. They're normally fucking losers who want special treatment but are tight as fuck because they want free shit. I also hate guys who come in on a date, are really nice to you and then turn into cunts when their date arrives to try and show off. I hate managers who put pressure on new staff who are clearly nervous and make things way worse. And I hate upselling.

[Deleted]

i work at the punk rock bar from bar rescue

[F.F Woodycooks]

Jun 12, 2023 12:54:49 GMT -5 RealVile said:

 And I hate upselling.

I never tended bar but I waited tables for years and this was one of my least favorite things always. In fact, I don't think I ever actually did it. How do you find a good way to say "Oh that liquor you ordered? We actually have one that costs more money, would you like that instead?" 

[Ian McFly]

i worked at this place in my early 20s... what this racist yelper didn't know is that we also had a man and his dog living in the basement

SPOILER: Click to show

Heads up, save yourself the time and money. Don't go here. Do yourself a quick favor and look up the address on google street view and take a tour of the exterior. This bar is located on a rundown area one block away from the projects. Your view is of local crackheads from the projects near by walking around, a local chinese take out spot that attracts violent packs of teenagers, a shady liquor store with welfare mothers outside begging for change, dilapidated abandon buildings, and non operational phone booth outside that functions as shelter for hookers to stand under when it rains. You could argue that it's not the best place to walk to or be around in the middle of the night. If you bike, good luck theres hardly anywhere to lock up your bike or cops anywhere. Before you go in, you will notice that theres no sign outside on the building informing you that you're at a bar or the name of the bar. Talk about cheap. When you walk in, you are confronted with a door that doesn't even work properly. My girlfriend almost broke her arm, attempting to close the darn thing. Also, couldn't make out the last time they even cleaned the windows. Dirt everywhere. A great suggestion would be to purchase curtains so you don't have to admire the images of ghetto life or dirty windows. Once you walk in you immediately notice that the place smells. Could be because of the dirty flea infected street dogs running around inside with horrible flatulence issues from eating out of dumpsters. (One of the dog owners shared this with my girlfriend and I) They claim it's a lounge but the furniture looks like it was rummaged from a local salvation army. I was scared to sit anywhere near them. I noticed the furniture also functioned as a bed for the dogs. Great! Just what I need to bring back to my apartment, bed bugs, fleas, or scabies. Once you take off your jacket you notice everyone looks troubled and drunk on cheap cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and Rail Whiskey. One guy purposely moved to sit closer to my girlfriend. Talk about creepy. A great place for David Lynch to film a rape scene. This is the first thing that tipped me off that this bar struggles to attract young and attractive people. Especially women. As for drinks, theres no beer taps whatsoever. Genius! How broke where the teenagers that started this bar? They do offer 3 or 4 bottled beer options "at over 5 dollars a bottle" My girlfriend found it sad to drink 5 dollar beers in a cold frigid dive bar. The reason I mentioned it was cold was because there is no insulation anywhere. The place is as cold as it is outside. Who starts a business without insulation? Theres a home depot near by. Get a clue. In their defense they do have random space heaters plugged up but for 5 dollar beers and 8 dollar mix drinks you have to laugh about calling yourself a 'lounge'. More like an ally way with a door. The bartenders act like they just started making drinks the night before. Horrible service. My girlfriend didnt seem to mind, but I did. Many annoying features about this bar. They have a "non mounted video projector" that blinds you every time you walk by, projecting cartoons from the 1920s. Classy. How old are we? Whoever owns this place should (a) spend 20bucks mounting the thing, and (b) consider paying for cable. This is 2010, your weird depression era theme is "depressing". Asking for WIFI might be to much as well. Theres a fake fire place in the back that I personally thought was also annoying and cheap to look at. You could argue that it compliments the horrible choice of music blaring from a set of crappy stereo speakers located so far up they rattle off the metal ceiling. My girlfriend and I suspect the speakers where dumpstered. My girlfriend and I were stuck there for over 2hrs because they have a $20 credit card min. I made sure to report them, considering this is a huge violation. You can read more about that here (consumerist.com/2006/04/…) Anyway, you get the point. If you like depressing overpriced bars without beers on tap and trashy looking patrons with street dogs humping your leg, bartenders no skills, and creepy guys staring at your girlfriend, this place is for you.

his apinions on the neighborhood were gross, but his evaluation of the bar at that time was pretty spot on

within a year we were named by the Village Voice as best new bar in the city lol

[RealVile]

Jun 12, 2023 13:10:11 GMT -5 F.F Woodycooks said:

Jun 12, 2023 12:54:49 GMT -5 RealVile said:

 And I hate upselling.

I never tended bar but I waited tables for years and this was one of my least favorite things always. In fact, I don't think I ever actually did it. How do you find a good way to say "Oh that liquor you ordered? We actually have one that costs more money, would you like that instead?" 

totally, it's one of the reasons I chose to do this job, because I hate the corporate shit. imagine upselling at a restaurant where everything they sell is garbage

[malaiseforever]

Upselling in any context is the fucking worst. I used to work at a Washington Mutual bank (lol RIP) and I straight up refused to do it. They kept reducing my hours til I quit, and then like a month later the entire bank collapsed. It rocked.

[BIL Security Team Alpha]

Jun 12, 2023 12:31:33 GMT -5 Bussy Drippens said:

Any poster that comes in on my shift will absolutely get a stiff drink on me!

You should make some shirts that say “I got a stiff one at the Nob Hill Inn.”

[BIL Security Team Alpha]

Jun 12, 2023 11:57:04 GMT -5 landoftalk said:

Imagine being a bartender at like an Applebees and you have regulars who come to sit and drink at an Applebees lmao TORTURE.

Why you gotta call me out like that?!

[landoftalk]

I’m an upselling queen but I’m not actually upselling I just love talking about clothes lmao

[landoftalk]

If any retailer makes their staff upsell a fucking credit card I’ll quit immediately lol absolutely not that is my limit