Comments on Bar Stories: What Sells Drinks?

Just an example—at the bar I worked at for years, ...

2007-07-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Just an example—at the bar I worked at for years, we were encouraged to taste new stock and create drink specials for our shifts. The owners knew that because they weren't sinking a big budget into decor and ultra premium spirits etc. (we were once touted as the "dive bar extraordinaire"), that the bartenders were the ones who kept bodies on the stools.

I just can't abide owners/managers who don't invest in their staff via education and empowerment. It results in staff who don't give a shit—and no one likes dealing with those people unless you're just out to get drunk.

I guess my biggest beef with bars that don't put a...

2007-07-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

I guess my biggest beef with bars that don't put any effort into their drink menu is not that they're failing to "shoot for the stars" (I love me a good old dive, after all), but that it shows a lack of care for the work one is doing and the product one is pushing.

There's nothing wrong with cultivating a no-frills ambiance but employee training goes a LONG way to delivering a quality experience. And by quality, I don't necessarily mean blue-cheese stuffed martini olives and crazy cocktail concoctions, but I mean employees who CARE. Who know their product, can answer questions about, can make appropriate suggestions, and who look out for the good of their customers.

You don't need to be fancy to offer that kind of service.

There are a couple of neighborhood bars where I ha...

2007-07-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of neighborhood bars where I hang out that don't have much of any cocktail programs. In one, they have a drink menu that must have been put in place by a manager, because the bartenders make it clear they would prefer not to spend the effort making anything on it. In the other, the bar manager told me that it would be "too much work" to have a cocktail program or even a drink special, in a bar that has plenty of space for fresh ingredients. Neither of these venues I'd call a dive, but both are definitely very casual drinking venues. I guess some bars want to remain just regular bars- but I always make sure never to order anything in them more complicated than a vodka soda.

I agree. I love being in a pub where the bar staff...

2007-07-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

I agree. I love being in a pub where the bar staff are friendly and interested in what they're selling. I usually end up staying in those kind of places much longer than I'd planned, and spending a lot more, too.