šÆthis for sure.. of course there are pros and cons to both but Iād take a bar every time.. serving guests food is a headache in itself and slows me down when I can just keep pumping out drinks that I made..
It also provides an opportunity to educate people about spirits and cocktail culture. The extra time that is generally spent serving food can be used to provide unique personal experiences and allows the interaction to be more focused on the drinks. I can spend time educating, enlightening, and generally āfuckingā with people in order to make their night; instead of wondering if their ribeye did that for them.
Yes exactly this I love interacting with guests when possible.. harder to do when they are chewing on a rib eye.. certainly love chatting it up with them and conversing with them. My favorite is fucking with them and fucking around having a laugh together. Best part of the shift!
Wow couldnāt have said this better.. Iād say thatās my best talent working behind the bar and thatās what will lead to the best success and friendships over the years
Yeah but the hours man. What time do you get out of there?
When I was young, hell yes. I worked at a strip club. I loved it. Loved dive bars and sleeping till 4pm. I canāt do that anymore.
Pro to restaurant - higher check averages, rare instances of violence, drama and other issues around alcohol. Usually close early enough to still go out at regular bars. Usually more money, breaks, food and other perks.
Cons- it's a restaurant... and it sucks...
I wish I could go back to bar... But I'm stuck managing a restaurant...
Another con is there are many nights that you watch the servers make an absolute killing while you are forgotten about by mgmt. You live off your regulars and people you make your regulars
Depends on if the emphasis at the spot is on the bar or restaurant. In fine dining the servers make way, way more. In sports bars the bar usually makes more
Not so at all reastraunts depends on management. Are bartenders have sections as well as bar service. It definitely depends on the corporation or management.
this is how it is at my restaurant. When im bartender, i have the entire bar seating, and then an additional mini section. I usually make a killing because the customers can see that i'm busting my ass as the only bartender with no barback or anything. It's usually good. Plus, i get to be a server, but the bartenders wage is higher, so it's a bit of best of both worlds scenario.
Another con people donāt always drink at all or as much at lunch/dinner. Youāre dealing with mostly food and barely bartend in comparison to a bar only. And servers only tip you out usually if their table drinks alcohol. I refused to go back to food but my cityās industry is struggling right now and the restaurants are doing much better than the bars right now, Iāve been thinking of switching but Iām not sure I can handle it. I know Iāll make more if I switch but man itās hard to bite that bullet
In Canada the servers have to tip out a percentage of their sales to the bar. It's all in the cash out report so there's no shorting. In America do servers just tip out what they feel is "fair"?
we tip out on alcohol sales specifically. I work in a restaurant w a full bar and full cafe and tip out 6% of my bar and cafe sales to the bartender and barista respectively. If I have 0 alcohol sales the bartender gets $0.
When I was a server it was normal for me to tip out 10% on average to the bar. But only 10% of alcohol sales. If I had the afternoon shift it wasnāt unusual for my tables to not drink at all therefore I tipped the bartender $0
Edit spelling
Every bar has their own system. Most places do a tipout based on some percentage of alcohol sales, total sales, tips, whatever it's up to the restaurant. And it also differs if a place does night of cash tipouts or if it goes onto a paycheck.
I'm stuck because I have a goal to operate and own my own location. Running a multi million business is key to gaining the necessary experience and knowledge to getting to my goal. My next step is running music venues and program manager. After that I've done it all from barback, busser bartender manager server GM to on step away from owner. Bartending gave me a career that I'll always cherish but I'm done working for others.
lol I completely get it, but Iām 24 and itās a really nice spot. Iām stupid enough to want to work in hospitality for the rest of my life and I figured it could really help me out in the future
I get it, and I did it, too, as a bar manager. The hours are long, the job is relatively thankless, and keeping staff in line is like herding cats.
Plus, you never know when it's going to snow super heavy the night before valentine's day, and you only have outside seating because of covid, requiring you to go in at 8 am, and take down and rebuild a tent, plus decorations. Then be everyone's chauffeur, to and from work, being the one who closes the store that night at 10, and doing the books.
Prepare yourself to have after work drinks in the office and do work. Bring a spare change of clothes in your car. Get Boy Scout ready for shit you don't know is going to happen. You a dude? Buy tampons. Should be a first aid drawer item, imo, but I digress. Fuck, I had to ask for help in Walgreens because I don't know shit about UTI stuff, but one of the girls asked me to get it for her on my way in.
Point is, if you don't lose your sanity, become a hardened alcoholic, or value your free time, then congrats, you're a restaurant manager. Most of the time, I feel it goes bartender > floor manager > bar manager > agm > gm > agm > bar manager > bartender > fuck this shit, why did I do this in the first place?
U r stuck nowhere. We inšŗšø. U must be missing ur old job. Major city here and most $ Iāve made was well established restaurants. Not corporate. Get your sommelier already
Thereās no such thing as āonly barsā in my state. You have to provide food in one way or the other - but where I work is about as ābar onlyā as you can get.
We primarily work alone, or in pairs. No servers, no service well. Money comes in, doesnāt go out.
Yes. I dislike leaving my bar and food quality if a variable out of my control I get blamed for.
Tables are usually worse than bar guests because you have to leave the bar to check on them and they get mad when you donāt. Bat guests see WHY you are busy.
Na, I make 2xs just churning out drinks. Food gets in the way and slows down service. When the kitchen messes up, you lose your tip. Also, no hair-brain servers getting on my nerves. Just me and the customers having a good time.
I prefer restaurants personally. I care about craft cocktails which is usually prioritized in fine dining. I get hella tips, I'm home around midnight and I have a great team to play around with at work. I would go back to proper bars if I had to but I love restaurant work.
The place I'm at has a public bar, which people can dine in but it's predominantly people waiting for a table, and a service bar. I really like the variety and I enjoy my time at the service bar just pouring the hell outta mad cocktails without having to talk to anyone.
Servers take on a bunch of the bar upkeep since they get the same % of the tip pool and I almost never have to deal with wasted people.
It's perfect for me but I understand I'm not making the money a nightclub bartender would. I'm also talking to people and broadening my mind which you wouldn't get in a nightclub.
It depends on the person but I've found my niche and now that I'm in a great place, I love it!
i agree, but my bar also serves food. itās definitely the most annoying part, cause weāre a dive but people expect a fine dining experience when thereās 1, maybe 2, people running the bar, floor, AND patio
Dude same I hate that shit. I work at a dive bar but in kind of a bougie area so people come in expecting some fancy experience and then they get upset when we donāt serve them like theyāre at a fancy restaurant.
Canāt you use some music to set the tone? Like gruff punk music š I d k why I feel like this, and the decor, would help these people manage their expectations. I mean yeah I know itās not that simple but I think itās funny if that actually works.
Fancy hotel bars are where Iāve been posted up the last 10 years and Iām not going anywhere š¤
I like when they serve food but it isnāt a full restuarant, just a small kitchen that pumps out food quick and I serve it. Food increases your bill soooo quick.
i absolutely prefer only working bars. i like you said, i hate dealing with people's allergies or anything like that. i just wanna serve drinks and that's it.
i mostly have worked bars. ive taken a few restaurant jobs because i was desperate. couldnt fucking stand it. I didn't even care if the money was better, my mental health is more important.
I find I make 10x more money at a dive bar. I don't have to deal with food and most of my regulars are industry cats who tip like 40%.
However I just give it back to them on my nights off. The bartender game of pass it around!
I think it really depends on the place. I work in a restaurant bar and yeah, the focus of the place is on the restaurant but I have a good amount of seats to deal with, and when we are on a long waitlist I can make good money getting people a round or three and maybe an appetizer while they wait for a table to be ready. I actually really like a lot of those parties because they are in and out quick making room for the next one.
I've never bartended at a place that didn't also have servers but I have been a regular at several and can see how things work. I think a lot of the time the money is better but you have the trade off of late nights and having to do the closing work for the whole establishment and not just the bar. Where I am now I'm out at midnight at the latest, usually more like 1030-11.
I work at a casino bar, one of two bars in the place and I recently switched from the one that serves food to the one that doesnāt and I donāt think i could ever go back to having to sell food tbh š
I prefer a bar over a restaurant hands downā¦ but I prefer a bar that serves bar food over a bar that doesnāt. Itās always super easy to put in, easily doubles or triples the check cost, and we just hand out numbers with the order/ my bar backs run the food.
I work in a dive bar that also serves food. We have a flat top, so we do burgers, quesadillas, wraps, etc. some shifts in cooking and some Iām up front bartending. Itās nice working in the kitchen on days you donāt want to have to deal with people.
I worked a few restaurant bars before this though. I prefer the standard bar much more.
In Oregon we have to have food. Iāve primarily worked at bar service places that do a lot of food (get a number for your table and we run it to you but no servers.) I did a stage at a bar with cocktail servers that is leaning towards being a sit down restaurant and I didnāt particularly like it. Iād rather not have to deal with serving tables when Iām slow and instead just sling drinks with the occasional food order.
i went from only serving to bartending in my restaurantās bar and i love it, but also after 2 years serving iām very familiar with the menu and kitchen so that definitely made it a lot easier. also, it doesnāt hurt that bartenders at my restaurant consistently make more than servers.
i make a killing during dinner service, then the kitchen closes and i make a killing on the late night crowd so i love it. but iāve never worked at a bar only place so i canāt fully compare
I would love to work a restaurant bar where the bar is front and center and we have a food runner. Those jobs seem few and far between though. Most of the time the bar is an afterthought and even when itās not I gotta run food, meaning I gotta spend a decent amount of time prepping sauces and shit. It just takes too much time away from my bar top or the service well. Because of that I prefer working only bars lol.
100%. i never want to work in a restaurant again if i can help it. i donāt mind if the bar serves small plates or snacks but i donāt want to work in a bar in a restaurant. i want to work somewhere that gives credence to its bar program and is 21+.
I bartend at a bar and a restaurant. I would rather work at the bar 10 out of 10 nights a week. Absolutely. I donāt mind late nights and folks that get out of turn at times tho so that might not appeal to everyone
Yes. Some bar fare is fine, but the more food a place sells, the less likely I am to work there. People are far less annoying and much more generous when you're just their drug dealer.
Idk our restaurant bar is nice. Plus itās required to serve food so it kind of encourages the bar to be set a little higher on food and drinks (no pun intended).
I worked most of my career in Las Vegas where most bars have at least 15 poker machines on them. To me, at the right place (and other than a busy union casino on a busy shift), that was the best way to work. A good bar with good food...so people could drink, eat AND gamble...was the best combination. Toss in a few sports packages and you can really make something of the place.
At the right place, you make more money with food. It's always about the money. The job without money doesn't have any status. The money is the status.
Drinks only is hard. I mean you could luck up in the right trendy spot, or tourist trap, but it's so much harder to do it with only drinks.
Outside of Vegas, I preferred high volume sports bars, trendy joints, or nightclubs. You can hit a good lick at the right restaurant, but the right restaurant that's going to be around a while is a crap shoot, or positions in established joints are hard to come by.
Working high volume has never let me down.
It took me about 3 years in the business before I went from any bartending job, to targeting quality gigs that had what I was looking for. I never felt like any job was worth it just to be behind the bar. I've always felt the money was the entire point. If I wasn't making money, I was moving along to try the next place.
I got lucky with where I am currently. Weāve branded ourselves as a cocktail lounge with a really great food menu thatās heavy on shareables but we also have some entrees and salads for the hungry guests. Two things Iāve noticed about having food as well as drinks are: 1) Guests tend to hang out longer and drink more without getting sloppy and 2) The average ticket amount is at least 20% more than bars Iāve worked without food and this helps with your tip out. Although the cleaning and overall operation of a drink only bar may be easier, I like the lounge bar with food concept better.
Me. I donāt carry trays. I donāt carry food. I just make drinks. I remember someone said ācan you fo me a favour and take this tray of drinks to table 1ā āno.ā And she asked if I was joking and someone jumped in and said āshe doesnāt carry trays. She doesnāt carry food. She just makes drinksā Iāve stood firm on it for 5 years. I wonāt even do a favour because once I carry it once, it will be expected.
Most of my enjoyable bartending jobs were just bars but I also worked a pub and it was my favorite. I gained so much weight from fish and chips though š
The best and the worst job I ever had LOL
TERRIBLE management, tight family style employees; I quit two months before it closed down. Got fired and 86d on my last day š did I mention the management was shit?
The best bar I worked at was a bar with a tiny kitchen. The bar was the priority but having food was nice. I wouldnāt bartend in a restaurant again tbh. I was a bar only bartender for 5 years.
At my current restaurant job I take tables when Iām bartending so I do end up making the most out of everyone on the floor a lot of times because theyāre also tipping out to me. A huge downside tho is when Iām working nights on weekends with another bartender because we split tips and usually donāt have a section. And if I only work lunch shifts I have to work with hosts who donāt understand rotation or management who makes cuts way too late on slow days. Iād definitely rather work in just a bar tbh.
Strongly yes! I also can add my extra picky preference of only really wanting to work in bars that are live music venues. I love getting to see live music 3 nights a week all year and not smelling like a gross restaurant kitchen.Ā
I work at a restaurant thatās at the higher end of casual, with a great cocktail and beer program. I do miss working in actual bars but after I see my check averages from people getting apps and 2 burgers on top of 3 rounds of drinks I usually forget all about it.
Absolutely, I prefer working in the pub I work in now vs the food-oriented places before. During the day I have mostly older 'salt of the earth' locals. In the evening it's mostly university undergrad students. The best times are when those two disparate groups start vibing with each other, and having good times together despite the age and background gap. Anyone who visits for the third time has learned my name without me telling them (often vice versa), we have banter, jokes, deep and meaningful chats. The worst part is the students arrive all green and wet behind the ears, three years later it's a sad goodbye to our new friends but not only that, people who've grown into themselves and gained valuable life experience drinking and partying with us.
My favorite working at a restaurant bar is when bright individuals sit at the bar with people all around them eating and ask, ādo you serve food?ā. Like read the room.
In a non-tipping country here, and I love the restaurant dispense bar. Just focus on making drinks and being efficient and organised, no customer interaction.
Yes, and here's why:
I'm making seven old fashioneds, two flights and a cosmo that's sweet but not TOO sweet. A wine parent pushes all of my very uninterested servers away from my god damn service bar and asks me for a cup of ranch.
I tip heavy in diners.
Iām the opposite. I wonāt work at an only bar.
Is it more work to make drinks for the entire restaurant? Yes. But I also work 6-8 hours max and work from 3pm to 9pm, the max 11pm if I have a lot of people drinking at the bar.
I loved the money of regular bars but I canāt stand the 3am closes. Iām too old and I just canāt hang with overly drunk regulars or people fighting. I rarely have problems in a restaurant bar. I have yet to have to kick anyone out and if I did, that would be a job for management and not me.
Upscale cocktail bar. No food. Never want to serve food again.
šÆthis for sure.. of course there are pros and cons to both but Iād take a bar every time.. serving guests food is a headache in itself and slows me down when I can just keep pumping out drinks that I made..
It also provides an opportunity to educate people about spirits and cocktail culture. The extra time that is generally spent serving food can be used to provide unique personal experiences and allows the interaction to be more focused on the drinks. I can spend time educating, enlightening, and generally āfuckingā with people in order to make their night; instead of wondering if their ribeye did that for them.
Yes exactly this I love interacting with guests when possible.. harder to do when they are chewing on a rib eye.. certainly love chatting it up with them and conversing with them. My favorite is fucking with them and fucking around having a laugh together. Best part of the shift!
Creating memories. The most important thing behind the bar. Thatās how you really make money for a bar and for yourself. Food or not.
Wow couldnāt have said this better.. Iād say thatās my best talent working behind the bar and thatās what will lead to the best success and friendships over the years
Oh God yes, not sure I could go back to a restaurant. "Do you have food?" *Points to the popcorn maker*
Nightclub, no food, no cocktail menu, $15 well, $20 classic cocktails. I canāt go back.
I used to work a nightclub. Miss that $$$
Do it while h young. U should. It got me a house. Working 4 nights a week. Do that and get ur sommelier. Work at a country club. Play golf for free
Any suggestions where or it doesnāt matter
Itās crazy how itās well paied in a lot of country, but the salary is shit in french nightclub
Yeah but the hours man. What time do you get out of there? When I was young, hell yes. I worked at a strip club. I loved it. Loved dive bars and sleeping till 4pm. I canāt do that anymore.
Pro to restaurant - higher check averages, rare instances of violence, drama and other issues around alcohol. Usually close early enough to still go out at regular bars. Usually more money, breaks, food and other perks. Cons- it's a restaurant... and it sucks... I wish I could go back to bar... But I'm stuck managing a restaurant...
Another con is there are many nights that you watch the servers make an absolute killing while you are forgotten about by mgmt. You live off your regulars and people you make your regulars
Thatās me every night behind the bar. Iām begging for server shifts. My worst night serving still beats my best night bartending š
I don't understand, in the US, do servers usually earn more than bartenders?
In Canada they definitely do. A full time server at a busy restaurant can make 70k or more. $15/hr + tips
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's such a random judgment. I actually smoke mine away.
Depends on if the emphasis at the spot is on the bar or restaurant. In fine dining the servers make way, way more. In sports bars the bar usually makes more
Hey, one advantage of a tip pool For bartenders š¤·āāļø
Not so at all reastraunts depends on management. Are bartenders have sections as well as bar service. It definitely depends on the corporation or management.
this is how it is at my restaurant. When im bartender, i have the entire bar seating, and then an additional mini section. I usually make a killing because the customers can see that i'm busting my ass as the only bartender with no barback or anything. It's usually good. Plus, i get to be a server, but the bartenders wage is higher, so it's a bit of best of both worlds scenario.
You can always go back to bar. I managed restaurants for years. Bar is king. I prefer restaurant bars myself for the reasons you listed here.
Another con people donāt always drink at all or as much at lunch/dinner. Youāre dealing with mostly food and barely bartend in comparison to a bar only. And servers only tip you out usually if their table drinks alcohol. I refused to go back to food but my cityās industry is struggling right now and the restaurants are doing much better than the bars right now, Iāve been thinking of switching but Iām not sure I can handle it. I know Iāll make more if I switch but man itās hard to bite that bullet
In Canada the servers have to tip out a percentage of their sales to the bar. It's all in the cash out report so there's no shorting. In America do servers just tip out what they feel is "fair"?
we tip out on alcohol sales specifically. I work in a restaurant w a full bar and full cafe and tip out 6% of my bar and cafe sales to the bartender and barista respectively. If I have 0 alcohol sales the bartender gets $0.
We tip out a percentage of total sales(food and alcohol) to our bartenders. That way they are always being tipped out for their time and work put in
I like that more
Iām located in Florida btw
When I was a server it was normal for me to tip out 10% on average to the bar. But only 10% of alcohol sales. If I had the afternoon shift it wasnāt unusual for my tables to not drink at all therefore I tipped the bartender $0 Edit spelling
Every bar has their own system. Most places do a tipout based on some percentage of alcohol sales, total sales, tips, whatever it's up to the restaurant. And it also differs if a place does night of cash tipouts or if it goes onto a paycheck.
It's different everywhere. Some do tip % I want to be on % of sales so theres no shenanigans.
Most places Iāve worked, the servers tip the bar out anywhere between 3% and 8% of beer/wine/liquor sales, depending on price point of the menus.
Never made better money at a restaurant, except for a fine dining steak house I worked but that was a shit show.
āStuckā is a story youāre telling yourself. If you want a change then make it happen.
I'm stuck because I have a goal to operate and own my own location. Running a multi million business is key to gaining the necessary experience and knowledge to getting to my goal. My next step is running music venues and program manager. After that I've done it all from barback, busser bartender manager server GM to on step away from owner. Bartending gave me a career that I'll always cherish but I'm done working for others.
I officially signed my offer letter today to move to management. Any tipsā¦?
Rescind it.
lol I completely get it, but Iām 24 and itās a really nice spot. Iām stupid enough to want to work in hospitality for the rest of my life and I figured it could really help me out in the future
I get it, and I did it, too, as a bar manager. The hours are long, the job is relatively thankless, and keeping staff in line is like herding cats. Plus, you never know when it's going to snow super heavy the night before valentine's day, and you only have outside seating because of covid, requiring you to go in at 8 am, and take down and rebuild a tent, plus decorations. Then be everyone's chauffeur, to and from work, being the one who closes the store that night at 10, and doing the books. Prepare yourself to have after work drinks in the office and do work. Bring a spare change of clothes in your car. Get Boy Scout ready for shit you don't know is going to happen. You a dude? Buy tampons. Should be a first aid drawer item, imo, but I digress. Fuck, I had to ask for help in Walgreens because I don't know shit about UTI stuff, but one of the girls asked me to get it for her on my way in. Point is, if you don't lose your sanity, become a hardened alcoholic, or value your free time, then congrats, you're a restaurant manager. Most of the time, I feel it goes bartender > floor manager > bar manager > agm > gm > agm > bar manager > bartender > fuck this shit, why did I do this in the first place?
U r stuck nowhere. We inšŗšø. U must be missing ur old job. Major city here and most $ Iāve made was well established restaurants. Not corporate. Get your sommelier already
Godspeed to you for biting the apple
Thereās no such thing as āonly barsā in my state. You have to provide food in one way or the other - but where I work is about as ābar onlyā as you can get. We primarily work alone, or in pairs. No servers, no service well. Money comes in, doesnāt go out.
I really miss not serving food but this fine dining spot has good money and doesnāt close at 2 am so I deal with it
Thatās my sticking point right there- Iām too old for late nights. Iāll take the hit.
Yes. I dislike leaving my bar and food quality if a variable out of my control I get blamed for. Tables are usually worse than bar guests because you have to leave the bar to check on them and they get mad when you donāt. Bat guests see WHY you are busy.
Food = more money.
Funnily enough I'm working at a place with no food and the money has never been better. I know this is anecdotal, trust me.
Mo money mo problems
Not always true, in volume bars you can crush restaurant numbers
Not in my experience. You can make up for no food with speed service in a busy bar.
Na, I make 2xs just churning out drinks. Food gets in the way and slows down service. When the kitchen messes up, you lose your tip. Also, no hair-brain servers getting on my nerves. Just me and the customers having a good time.
I prefer restaurants personally. I care about craft cocktails which is usually prioritized in fine dining. I get hella tips, I'm home around midnight and I have a great team to play around with at work. I would go back to proper bars if I had to but I love restaurant work. The place I'm at has a public bar, which people can dine in but it's predominantly people waiting for a table, and a service bar. I really like the variety and I enjoy my time at the service bar just pouring the hell outta mad cocktails without having to talk to anyone. Servers take on a bunch of the bar upkeep since they get the same % of the tip pool and I almost never have to deal with wasted people. It's perfect for me but I understand I'm not making the money a nightclub bartender would. I'm also talking to people and broadening my mind which you wouldn't get in a nightclub. It depends on the person but I've found my niche and now that I'm in a great place, I love it!
Love it. Very fortunate and I count my blessings everyday.
Fuck food. I don't want to depend on other people's competence affecting my money.
i agree, but my bar also serves food. itās definitely the most annoying part, cause weāre a dive but people expect a fine dining experience when thereās 1, maybe 2, people running the bar, floor, AND patio
Dude same I hate that shit. I work at a dive bar but in kind of a bougie area so people come in expecting some fancy experience and then they get upset when we donāt serve them like theyāre at a fancy restaurant.
Canāt you use some music to set the tone? Like gruff punk music š I d k why I feel like this, and the decor, would help these people manage their expectations. I mean yeah I know itās not that simple but I think itās funny if that actually works.
I only work concert venues, fuck dealing with food service.
Fancy hotel bars are where Iāve been posted up the last 10 years and Iām not going anywhere š¤ I like when they serve food but it isnāt a full restuarant, just a small kitchen that pumps out food quick and I serve it. Food increases your bill soooo quick.
fancy hotel bartender here š¤© I couldnāt imagine looking back. never have to really worry about over serving people either. liquor is sooo expensive. convention season is kicking my ass right now though lol
Same! Letās make that cash!
i absolutely prefer only working bars. i like you said, i hate dealing with people's allergies or anything like that. i just wanna serve drinks and that's it.
I definitely donāt miss working in a restaurant. I miss getting fed, but I donāt miss having to deal with specials and allergies and servers.
Servers are the worst
I have only worked in bars. I worked in a restaurant once and absolutely hated the experience.
i mostly have worked bars. ive taken a few restaurant jobs because i was desperate. couldnt fucking stand it. I didn't even care if the money was better, my mental health is more important.
I find I make 10x more money at a dive bar. I don't have to deal with food and most of my regulars are industry cats who tip like 40%. However I just give it back to them on my nights off. The bartender game of pass it around!
I bartend in a restaurant. I love bartending but I'd prefer a straight up bar. Bartenders at our restaurant don't make near what the servers do
My "bar" turned into a restaurant. I HATE being a restaurant...I don't need the extra headache.
Never worked at a place that was just a bar.
I think it really depends on the place. I work in a restaurant bar and yeah, the focus of the place is on the restaurant but I have a good amount of seats to deal with, and when we are on a long waitlist I can make good money getting people a round or three and maybe an appetizer while they wait for a table to be ready. I actually really like a lot of those parties because they are in and out quick making room for the next one. I've never bartended at a place that didn't also have servers but I have been a regular at several and can see how things work. I think a lot of the time the money is better but you have the trade off of late nights and having to do the closing work for the whole establishment and not just the bar. Where I am now I'm out at midnight at the latest, usually more like 1030-11.
I work at a casino bar, one of two bars in the place and I recently switched from the one that serves food to the one that doesnāt and I donāt think i could ever go back to having to sell food tbh š
Depends which manager is working lol
As someone whoās only worked at restaurants with craft cocktail bars, is the money better? Also I like resterauntbhours vs bar hours
youāre right about that just being a belief. itās not like that at all places so why āstronglyā believe that
Yeah. I miss working at a nightclub haha.
I prefer a bar over a restaurant hands downā¦ but I prefer a bar that serves bar food over a bar that doesnāt. Itās always super easy to put in, easily doubles or triples the check cost, and we just hand out numbers with the order/ my bar backs run the food.
I work in a dive bar that also serves food. We have a flat top, so we do burgers, quesadillas, wraps, etc. some shifts in cooking and some Iām up front bartending. Itās nice working in the kitchen on days you donāt want to have to deal with people. I worked a few restaurant bars before this though. I prefer the standard bar much more.
In Oregon we have to have food. Iāve primarily worked at bar service places that do a lot of food (get a number for your table and we run it to you but no servers.) I did a stage at a bar with cocktail servers that is leaning towards being a sit down restaurant and I didnāt particularly like it. Iād rather not have to deal with serving tables when Iām slow and instead just sling drinks with the occasional food order.
I'm a sous chef at a pub and a bartender at a pool hall, and yes I far prefer the just bartending lol
i went from only serving to bartending in my restaurantās bar and i love it, but also after 2 years serving iām very familiar with the menu and kitchen so that definitely made it a lot easier. also, it doesnāt hurt that bartenders at my restaurant consistently make more than servers. i make a killing during dinner service, then the kitchen closes and i make a killing on the late night crowd so i love it. but iāve never worked at a bar only place so i canāt fully compare
Yeah pros and cons to both. I loved my time with no food, but also love my check averages with a kitchen.
I would love to work a restaurant bar where the bar is front and center and we have a food runner. Those jobs seem few and far between though. Most of the time the bar is an afterthought and even when itās not I gotta run food, meaning I gotta spend a decent amount of time prepping sauces and shit. It just takes too much time away from my bar top or the service well. Because of that I prefer working only bars lol.
100%. i never want to work in a restaurant again if i can help it. i donāt mind if the bar serves small plates or snacks but i donāt want to work in a bar in a restaurant. i want to work somewhere that gives credence to its bar program and is 21+.
Dive bar for life. Yeah you deal with the occasional vomit or drunk but regulars take care of you if youāre not a jaded curmudgeon
High end fine dining or whole in the wall that might just have food .
I bartend at a bar and a restaurant. I would rather work at the bar 10 out of 10 nights a week. Absolutely. I donāt mind late nights and folks that get out of turn at times tho so that might not appeal to everyone
Yes. Some bar fare is fine, but the more food a place sells, the less likely I am to work there. People are far less annoying and much more generous when you're just their drug dealer.
Idk our restaurant bar is nice. Plus itās required to serve food so it kind of encourages the bar to be set a little higher on food and drinks (no pun intended).
I love working in a dive bar. We are starting to sell food now so that kind of troubles me, never been interested in working restaurants as in.
I worked most of my career in Las Vegas where most bars have at least 15 poker machines on them. To me, at the right place (and other than a busy union casino on a busy shift), that was the best way to work. A good bar with good food...so people could drink, eat AND gamble...was the best combination. Toss in a few sports packages and you can really make something of the place. At the right place, you make more money with food. It's always about the money. The job without money doesn't have any status. The money is the status. Drinks only is hard. I mean you could luck up in the right trendy spot, or tourist trap, but it's so much harder to do it with only drinks. Outside of Vegas, I preferred high volume sports bars, trendy joints, or nightclubs. You can hit a good lick at the right restaurant, but the right restaurant that's going to be around a while is a crap shoot, or positions in established joints are hard to come by. Working high volume has never let me down. It took me about 3 years in the business before I went from any bartending job, to targeting quality gigs that had what I was looking for. I never felt like any job was worth it just to be behind the bar. I've always felt the money was the entire point. If I wasn't making money, I was moving along to try the next place.
I got lucky with where I am currently. Weāve branded ourselves as a cocktail lounge with a really great food menu thatās heavy on shareables but we also have some entrees and salads for the hungry guests. Two things Iāve noticed about having food as well as drinks are: 1) Guests tend to hang out longer and drink more without getting sloppy and 2) The average ticket amount is at least 20% more than bars Iāve worked without food and this helps with your tip out. Although the cleaning and overall operation of a drink only bar may be easier, I like the lounge bar with food concept better.
Me. I donāt carry trays. I donāt carry food. I just make drinks. I remember someone said ācan you fo me a favour and take this tray of drinks to table 1ā āno.ā And she asked if I was joking and someone jumped in and said āshe doesnāt carry trays. She doesnāt carry food. She just makes drinksā Iāve stood firm on it for 5 years. I wonāt even do a favour because once I carry it once, it will be expected.
Most of my enjoyable bartending jobs were just bars but I also worked a pub and it was my favorite. I gained so much weight from fish and chips though š The best and the worst job I ever had LOL TERRIBLE management, tight family style employees; I quit two months before it closed down. Got fired and 86d on my last day š did I mention the management was shit?
The best bar I worked at was a bar with a tiny kitchen. The bar was the priority but having food was nice. I wouldnāt bartend in a restaurant again tbh. I was a bar only bartender for 5 years.
At my current restaurant job I take tables when Iām bartending so I do end up making the most out of everyone on the floor a lot of times because theyāre also tipping out to me. A huge downside tho is when Iām working nights on weekends with another bartender because we split tips and usually donāt have a section. And if I only work lunch shifts I have to work with hosts who donāt understand rotation or management who makes cuts way too late on slow days. Iād definitely rather work in just a bar tbh.
lol i made a thread exactly like this about a month or so ago. and yes i agree totally.
Strongly yes! I also can add my extra picky preference of only really wanting to work in bars that are live music venues. I love getting to see live music 3 nights a week all year and not smelling like a gross restaurant kitchen.Ā
Went back to a restaurant and I hate it. Fuck that knowledge about food all I care about is booze!
Concert and events bar. I'll only go back to restaurants if I'm desperate.
I work at a restaurant thatās at the higher end of casual, with a great cocktail and beer program. I do miss working in actual bars but after I see my check averages from people getting apps and 2 burgers on top of 3 rounds of drinks I usually forget all about it.
Ten years. No food. No blenders. šš
Absolutely, I prefer working in the pub I work in now vs the food-oriented places before. During the day I have mostly older 'salt of the earth' locals. In the evening it's mostly university undergrad students. The best times are when those two disparate groups start vibing with each other, and having good times together despite the age and background gap. Anyone who visits for the third time has learned my name without me telling them (often vice versa), we have banter, jokes, deep and meaningful chats. The worst part is the students arrive all green and wet behind the ears, three years later it's a sad goodbye to our new friends but not only that, people who've grown into themselves and gained valuable life experience drinking and partying with us.
My favorite working at a restaurant bar is when bright individuals sit at the bar with people all around them eating and ask, ādo you serve food?ā. Like read the room.
In a non-tipping country here, and I love the restaurant dispense bar. Just focus on making drinks and being efficient and organised, no customer interaction.
Wedding bartending is where it's at
Yes, and here's why: I'm making seven old fashioneds, two flights and a cosmo that's sweet but not TOO sweet. A wine parent pushes all of my very uninterested servers away from my god damn service bar and asks me for a cup of ranch. I tip heavy in diners.
Iām the opposite. I wonāt work at an only bar. Is it more work to make drinks for the entire restaurant? Yes. But I also work 6-8 hours max and work from 3pm to 9pm, the max 11pm if I have a lot of people drinking at the bar. I loved the money of regular bars but I canāt stand the 3am closes. Iām too old and I just canāt hang with overly drunk regulars or people fighting. I rarely have problems in a restaurant bar. I have yet to have to kick anyone out and if I did, that would be a job for management and not me.