20 Golden Rules for Bartenders

20 Golden Rules for Bartenders

by | Aug 10, 2016 | Career

It is hard to come up with a single, specific and detailed list of instructions for bartenders that teaches each how to be a good bartender. However, here are 21 golden rules for bartenders that can help advance your career. Find out what a good bartender does and does not do by following these tips:

  • Do all that you can to make your bar patrons and guests happy within the specified boundaries of your employer. This will increase the likelihood of happier customers and better tips.
  • Be mindful of the fact that this is not your bar, your party, nor your booze. Respect that someone else is paying for the supplies you use and do not waste anything.
  • Dress like a pro, because you are repeatedly seen by virtually every customer who walks into the party or restaurant. Present yourself as a well-groomed professional.
  • Understand the types of alcohol that you serve. Study up on the various brands and their qualities, because your customers will have questions about it from time to time.
  • Practice the small details associated with cocktail making. These are the details that can separate the amateurs from the professionals.
  • Keep your money neat. This demonstrates to your customers and employers that you are well-organized and on top of their cash.

Study up on the various brands and their qualities, because your customers will have questions about it from time to time.

  • Sometimes, you will receive a small tip. This is the nature of the business. Don’t sweat it.
  • If you allow clientele to run your establishment, you will never regain control. Be in charge with a friendly, yet authoritative tone. Your customers will respect you for it.
  • Learn why and how to give out comps, because these can be real problem solvers when other things don’t work. Your customers will love you for them.
  • Anticipate what the customer wants before he or she asks. Refilling a glass, replacing a coaster or emptying a full ashtray are the types of small touches that the customer appreciates.
  • Control the bar environment. Is the music too loud? How is the temperature? Your customers’ comfort is proportional to how they will rate their experiences in your bar.
  • Branch out. It is important for a bartender to work continually to gain additional bartender skills because it helps keep customers interested.

If you allow clientele to run your establishment, you will never regain control.

  • Learn some jokes. Read the papers to learn some banter. People tip for your service. Be amiable, because these are valuable skills that will set you apart from other bartenders.
  • Keep your bar spotless. Face bottles forward. Keep the bar top clean, because this leaves a lasting impression that will impress the customers and show them your dedication to the job.
  • Use both hands as you work, because this will help you pick up speed as you mix drinks. Bartenders learn to become ambidextrous.
  • Mise en place is a French phrase describing how one arranges tools and ingredients. Do the same thing each time you set up because it will help you stay organized.
  • Always be seen washing your hands. Do not touch your face or hair. Be cool. Don’t be untidy, because these are the types of things that drive customers away.
  • Converse with customers. Greet them when they enter the bar area, and good-bye when they depart.  Find out how they are doing. This is exactly what customers expect from a bartender and will result in more loyalty from the customers and better tips.

Arranges tools and ingredients each time you set up because it will help you stay organized.

  • Refrain from offering advice, and resist the urge to dominate conversations, because you are here to serve your customers. Everything should be about your customers and not about yourself.
  • People expect a lot from their bartenders. Be careful about which aspects of yourself you choose to present at a given moment and select your conversational material carefully. No customer wants to know about that mole you just had removed from your ear lobe. Keep the conversation light, interesting and friendly.

Looking for bartender positions? Check out Sirvo for great opportunities! 

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U.S. employees spend an average of 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict. Thus, no matter how laid back you are, it’s only a matter of time before you have to deal with some coworker friction. Here are the three major ways coworkers clash, and what you can do to solve it.

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3 Reasons To Have Your Restaurant’s Water Tested

3 Reasons To Have Your Restaurant’s Water Tested

by | Aug 8, 2016 | Management

As a business owner, your to-do list never ends. You wear a lot of hats, you keep balls in the air and your plate is always full. From managing your team to ensuring your patrons and guests are always having a positive experience, the quality of your establishment’s water is probably the last thing on your mind. Yet the toxins and harmful substances found in public water might surprise you. Courtesy of Restaurant Hospitality, here are three reasons why it makes sense to test the water in your facilities.

Your building might contain old lead pipes

Many of us have been conditioned to believe lead is a thing of the past. Over the years, lead has been removed from substances like paint, but unfortunately, we still have to worry about it showing up in our water due to old lead pipes that weren’t regulated until after the 1980s. Unless you’re a plumber, you’ll never know whether or not your pipes have lead in them, which is why testing your water for lead is crucial.

We still have to worry about lead showing up in our water due to old lead pipes that weren’t regulated until after the 1980s.

Lead is one of the most harmful chemicals found in water, especially for children who might be drinking it. The only way to eliminate lead from water is to filter it out. While some people believe that boiling water is the best way to get rid of lead in water, this is actually a myth. Boiling water actually causes lead particles to “loosen up,” making the water even more contaminated than before.

 Your local utility company can only test so much

Lead is a problem local utility companies can’t solve, either. While local utility companies test for contaminants at their facility, there’s not much they can do once the water is flowing through your pipes. Because every plumbing system is different, testing for lead is a difficult thing to regulate and measure from a community- or city-wide perspective.

Most water contamination occurs in private plumbing systems or service lines supplying your facility.

While local utilities work hard to ensure the water leaving their facility is safe, your facility’s’ plumbing system is like the Wild West. Most water contamination occurs in private plumbing systems or service lines supplying your facility, meaning that even if you have cleaner-than-average city water, your personal water could still be at risk.

Your customers care about the water quality

According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans are increasingly worried about polluted drinking water. The percentage of concerned citizens grew from 55 percent in 2015, to 61 percent in 2016. Give your customers peace of mind by ensuring the water they drink from your tap, water fountain or kitchen is clean. That extends to your soda and ice machines.

Testing your water to keep it free of contaminants like lead and arsenic is an important step that will increase trust and build a better relationship between you and your customers.

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Sirvo and The Colorado Restaurant Association Join Forces

Sirvo and The Colorado Restaurant Association Join Forces

by | Jul 21, 2016 | Sirvo Stories

The Colorado Restaurant Association becomes Sirvo affiliate to offer members a streamlined hiring process tailored to the foodservice industry.

DENVER, COLORADO – July 21, 2016 – Sirvo, the premier web app for hospitality and restaurant recruitment, today announced an alliance with the Colorado Restaurant Association, the leading trade organization for the Colorado foodservice industry. As affiliates, Sirvo and the CRA will join forces to meet the hiring needs of the foodservice industry.

Through the affiliation, Sirvo will be the official provider of the CRA job board granting members a streamlined approach to hiring in the foodservice industry. CRA members will not only be offered discounted member pricing on Sirvo’s platform but their job listings will also be posted on the CRA careers site as well as Sirvo and its partner networks for increased visibility and greater candidate reach.

“By unifying Sirvo’s technology with the CRA network, we have blended our strengths to offer food and beverage establishments across the state an easy and efficient process to hire great talent.” – Stephanie Maxwell, Sirvo CEO

For more information about Sirvo’s partnership with the CRA, click here.

About Sirvo

Sirvo, named Best New Startup 2015 is a modern web app for hospitality recruitment. Sirvo helps better connect employers and job seekers by providing easy access to business and talent profiles, powerful search, as well as collaborative hiring tools for a smooth, streamlined hiring process. For more information about Sirvo, visit Sirvo.com.

About Colorado Restaurant Association

Founded in 1933, the Colorado Restaurant Association (CRA) is the leading trade organization for the state’s dynamic foodservice industry. The CRA represents, educates and promotes an industry comprised of more than 10,800 eating and drinking establishments in Colorado.

How Boilermaker Made It To Upscale Cocktail Menus

How Boilermaker Made It To Upscale Cocktail Menus

by | Jul 20, 2016 | IndiNews

As with most classic cocktail names, no one is really sure when the term “boilermaker” was first used or exactly what was originally served. In the workplace today, the name is associated with the trade union that represents blacksmiths, shipbuilders and a variety of welders and iron workers. The Oxford English Dictionary puts the origin of the word as a term specifically for steam engine builders first used sometime in the 1830s. So it’s appropriate that, throughout its history, the pairing of a strong shot of hard alcohol with a cold beer has always been associated with the working class.

BoilerMakerThat is, until recently, when it’s suddenly become the darling of any number of upscale (some might use the term “hipster”) drinking venues in the world’s trendiest cities, the patrons of which are unlikely to have work-calloused hands or come in at the end of the day covered in soot.

While the traditional dive bar boilermaker was cheap whiskey or bourbon paired with a PBR or Bud, this new incarnation is more likely to be Sazerac or Four Roses paired with a craft beer. It’s also more likely to run for much closer to $10 than any dive bar Boilermaker ever has.

The first evidence of the term “boilermaker” being used for the whiskey-beer pairing comes from British pub menus in the early 1900s.

How did we get from there to here? The beginning of the story is the most unclear part. The first attempts at distilling grain into what would eventually become whiskey began roughly 800 years ago, in the waning days of the medieval period in Europe. At the time, what they distilled was potent, but tasted absolutely nasty. So this is the likely origin of chasing whiskey with a beer to cleanse the palate.

Though it’s widely thought of as an American drink, the first evidence of the term “boilermaker” being used for the whiskey-beer pairing comes from British pub menus in the early 1900s. There was a long history throughout Europe of chasing a hard alcohol with a beer, but the practice was extremely uncommon in the United States until immigrants in the 1800s brought it over with them.

It’s unclear where the name “boilermaker” actually first appeared in the United States, but we do know that by the 1940s it was commonly seen on the menus at bars all around the country.

The “slam then drink” approach is widely regarded as the original method, though there’s no real evidence to prove this.

Boiler MakerThe traditional method of drinking is also a subject that is not historically verified and is still very much up for debate. There are three approaches to drinking a boilermaker: slam the shot first then drink the beer, chase sips of the shot with sips of the beer, or drop the shot glass entirely into the beer so that the two liquids mix. The lattermost of these methods was known to be practiced in British pubs in the 1600s, though under a variety of different names such as the “Pop-In.”

Modern bartenders will often call this a “depth charge” so that there is no confusion over what is being ordered. The “slam then drink” approach is widely regarded as the original method, though there’s no real evidence to prove this.

Boilermaker makes the upscale bar a more accessible place for those who don’t have the time to plumb the depths of the craft cocktail.

The only thing that is certain is that whiskey aficionados are cringing at the prospect of any of these options being perpetrated on anything better than a Jameson!

That’s the central point of the Boilermaker, however, and why it’s made a comeback in the most unlikely of places. It makes the upscale bar a more accessible place for those who don’t have the time or inclination to plumb the depths of the craft cocktail or Scotch scenes. It also represents a growing sense of embracing working-class roots in such venues, even if the price point is now at a level that the average working-class patron can’t afford.

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How to Create a Unique Restaurant Concept

How to Create a Unique Restaurant Concept

by | Jul 15, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

A good concept is vital for marketing a new restaurant. Given that there are over a million restaurants in the United States alone, it may seem impossible to find a unique, appealing new niche. The fact is, with enough creativity and passion, you can come up with a restaurant concept that is fresh and exciting. Whether you are in the brainstorming stage of your new business, or you are in the process of re-branding your current restaurant, follow these tips to create a winning restaurant concept.

Be a visionary

The first step in creating a unique concept is thorough brainstorming. Use open-ended questions that allow you to ponder ideas without restrictions. Take note of all the crazy and random thoughts that come to mind. Let yourself have fun with it. Once you have a long list of ideas, you are ready to mix and match them.

Create a scrapbook of notes and images. When you see an appealing design or art concept, take a picture and save it on your phone. As you go through the day, ideas will pop into your head. Whenever this happens, jot it down on paper or in a note app on your phone. At the end of the day, gather everything together into a folder and use it to fuel your next brainstorming session.

When you see an appealing design or art concept, take a picture and save it on your phone.

As you consider ideas, they will spawn other, even more interesting ones. After enough brainstorming, you will be able to pick out some shining nuggets and discard most of the lackluster ideas. Once you have a few great ideas, you are ready to put more practical thinking to work in order to narrow them down based on how unique and inspiring they are, along with their viability from a business and marketing perspective.

Also, be patient. Great ideas don’t happen overnight. Do research. Study the market and examine the trends. Take long walks and let your imagination wander. If that eureka moment doesn’t happen, take a night or two to sleep on it and you will have a fresh perspective and new ideas the next day.

Draw inspiration from others

Isaac Newton, the inventor of calculus and physics, famously said: “If I’ve seen further (than others) it was only by standing on the shoulders of giants.” This idea holds true for great restaurateurs as much as for scientists.

If I’ve seen further, it was only by standing on the shoulders of giants – Isaac Newton

The greatest ideas have been inspired by the genius of others. If your solitary brainstorming session doesn’t yield a true gem, why not look toward some of the most intriguing concepts that are out there and put your own personal twist on it? Also, a lot of the most successful restaurants took old ideas and just improved upon them.

Mix and match ideas

Think about all the most memorable experiences you’ve had in restaurants you’ve visited. One may have had delightfully eccentric menu items, and another may have had a fun and unique design concept. Maybe you had great service that felt genuine and down-to-earth while still exuding professionalism. Take all the best experiences you’ve had and combine them into one “dream team” concept for a winning restaurant.

Take all the best experiences you’ve had and combine them into one “dream team” concept for a winning restaurant.

On the other hand, you may have been to a place that was excellent, except for one blaring flaw. This means the market is in need of someone (you) to come along and do it right.kkl

Create a fantasy league of extraordinary chefs

When developing a great unique menu, imagine you could gather together all the world-renowned chefs you’ve admired over the years. Research and learn more about these icons.

You may be surprised at the ingenious ideas you come up with.

Think about what menu they might devise if they collaborated with each other, or what new fusion of world cuisines they might invent. You may be surprised at the ingenious ideas you come up with by doing an exercise like this, and it is bound to be fun as well.

Some important things to consider when making a final choice are: Would you be thrilled to dine at this restaurant? Is there a restaurant that you wish there were more of? Also, even if your concept is not completely new, if you are inspired by the idea it will have your individual flair that can’t be reproduced anywhere else. If you are passionate about your idea, the energy will be passed on to your staff and the customers will know they are in an exceptional restaurant.

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