tuuufts,


just a few random suggestions here that I feel might appeal to a novice bargoer, any bartender should be able to make these decently: margaritas, mojito, tom Collins, dark and stormy (if they have ginger beer or spicy ginger ale), seabreeze, maybe try a sidecar if you're feeling fancy-pants

The last couple times I ordered a sea breeze I ended up with a bay breeze after never having any problems before. One of them even asked for clarification that it was grapefruit and not pineapple and I still got pineapple in it!

I mean, it's delicious and all, I don't mind pineapple, but it's just too cloying overall.

Also tom collins are awesome, but that's one where younger bartenders seem to not always know it. Makes me sad.

Wait a bartender doesn't know how to make a tom collins? WTF does he know how to make if he doesn't know that?!?

CQ, you've mentioned sidecar a couple times in this thread, and that is currently my go-to drink in a classier bar when I want a mixed drink. When made in a typical college bar, it usually isn't great (or the bartender won't know how to make it) but when it's made properly, it's fantastic.

What ratio do you typically use? Most recipes seem to have 1:1:1 as the standard, but I personally prefer to go a little heavier on the cognac which better bartenders seem to do by default.

Huh, interesting law - I like it. I don't think that's the law in LA, unless a lot of bars have some random menu that most patrons are unaware of (completely possible).

Yelp is really a great tool for consumers, and I tend to disregard the extreme reviews if they seem like an anomaly... but I can see how you could get very frustrated with some asshat making a review like that.

I don't know why Yelp doesn't do this, but I really like what Trip Advisor does for hotels - or rather, maybe it's just general practice for hotel management there - but if someone complains about a hotel stay, I will often see the hotel management post a response explaining the situation and improvements. I think that's very helpful to potential customers.

DM,

Yes, imo a perfect sidecar achieves a flavor alchemy unmatched by any other drink. here is my recipe.

2.5 oz cognac
.75 oz cointreau
half lemon, squeezed

shake vigorously for very long time. strain into chilled cocktail glass. garnish w lemon peel, caramelize essential oils over flame if I'm going ballsout. best drink ever.

and yes, obv. I agree-much more cointreau than the above makes the drink cloying, which is exactly what you want to avoid.

Adsman, so if I ordered a vodka and tonic in your bar, I'd be getting a 3.25 second pour?

CQ, what kind of count do you usually use on a free-pour from the spout?

I feel like I usually get a 4 count at the bars around here but not sure, maybe I should start carrying a stopwatch!

1) For those that are in the know and have opened their own establishments or purchased and took over existing ones - What process do you go through when evaluating the value of a bar you are looking to purchase?

2) Can you purchase and hold a liquor license without having an establishment? Is it possible to speculate on the value of a liquor license? Buy it and then resell it for a profit?

Thank you in advance for the information.

I usually count 6, but I don't think that corresponds to actual seconds. I want a highball to have around 1.5 oz of liquor

Neuro,

30ml shots are the norm in Italy, that pour count got it a little over that as we liked to be seen as just a little more generous than other bars. Also it depends on what type of pourers the bar is using as they have a big effect on it as well.

Agree very much with the Sidecar love, it really is the one drink that levels the playing field.

Yelp has this. I can post an owner comment. Used it on the bottle thrower's review (which eventually got filtered as well) and one recently which said "BEST TATER TOTS IN PORTLAND. Not on the menu so you have to ask." Thing is we have no tater tots, on the menu or off.

1) A combination of location, size amenities and current income. The last won't usually be good when places are for sale, but try to see as much as possible on current sales and expenses. Try to model that to what you think is possible if you ran the space. We got a place with a decent kitchen but no real food to speak of, a stage but no decent sound equipment and room for pinball that was taken up by crappy pool tables. We had a good idea if we improved those things we could do much better.

2) Not in Oregon. You must have a location, submit floorplans, etc.. And the price is set by the State.

Customer tonight ordered an Irish Blonde... I politely said "I'm not familiar with that one, do you know what is in it? Or I can look it up for you"... Her response was "Figured you wouldn't know *rolls eyes and grabs her phone* it is a mudslide with praline liqueur and frangelico, oh and make it good *throws phone in purse and smirks at me* ."

FYI: If a bartender ask how to make a drink, don't insult them. Chances are they want to make the drink properly and to the recipe specifications already. And then rolling your eyes and making snide gestures just insures that your drink will not be up to par and your going to get slower service.

Do you think that was someone intentionally ****ing with you because they thought it would be funny if people were constantly coming into your place looking for non-existent tater tots, or was the reviewer just confused?

This is exactly what I though when I read that, because it sounds like something I would do. I've placed ads for early morning, weekend garage sales at friends' houses without their knowledge.

Neuro,

A more useful answer to your question might be to count fairly quickly in your head--1,2,3,4...After years of bartending I have a really precise natural count, but obviously it's hard to describe. It's faster than counting seconds, though. Anyway, counting fairly quickly, they should be giving you at least a 4 count or they're underpouring.

As I said, I favor a 6 count, b/c 4 count drinks are still kind of weak, but obv. many bar owners would prefer a 4 count. I don't know if this is true in other towns, but where I used to live there was kind of an arms race with pours. At our rival bar, the bartenders poured the most insanely huge pours, like a 10-12 count for a bourbon on the rocks. It was almost too much, you got one drink there and your night was over.

Mastin,

You work at a casino, right? Can you say which one?

Can't say which, but yes I work at a Casino.

I've asked earlier itt, but if you feel like it, please share a little about casino bartending.

There are plenty of college and cowboy-type bars where everyone just orders beer, shooters, or stuff like Long Islands and captain and cokes, and you'd probably get called a queer and thrown out for ordering something like a Negroni or an Old Fashioned. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a bartender in a college town didn't know how to make those.

Casino bartending can be very rewarding and very frustrating. The benefit to working in a casino is that most people have money on hand to tip and are more than willing to do so especially when they are playing or receiving their first complementary drink. I say it is normally a 4 - 1 tip to stiff ratio where the standard tip is $1. You have to have a personality to deal with any bar guest you might have and the ability to shrug off the free loaders, but the real difference in casino bartending is dealing with the cocktail servers.

On a slow night I'll have anywhere from 4-6 Cocktail servers working at minimum 1/4 of the casino floor, so I'm having to make drinks for all those patrons, my bar guest, and maintain a clean work area. On a busy night we will have one person for the bar guest and one person making drinks for the servers. On these nights I might have 6-8 servers bringing out trays with 6-12 drinks per trip for an 8 hour period (each trip should be roughly 6-10 minutes) so you are constantly pumping out drinks. The servers give us 20% of what they make and we in turn give 20% of our total money to our barback who keeps us stocked up and makes sure everything runs smooth.

The one huge difference between Casino's and Restaurants is working with a liquor gun. It shoots single and .5 shots and is great for slinging your quick drinks (crown coke, gin tonic, vodka soda etc.) It also has a function that allows you to hit a sequence of buttons to pour out set mixes (white russians, long islands, margarita's) which for a well drinks makes life very easy.

I also work in a private lounge with high end liquors and many extra amenities. It is a different animal all together and takes a different personality and skill set to be profitable. Here you have to make the exotic drinks, proper pour technique and know to ask a guest how they want drinks prepared, it is also very profitable. Here we have no cocktail servers so any money we make we give 20% to our barback and keep the rest.

Mastin,

Liquor gun sounds kind of awesome. I would be tempted at the end of a long ****ty night to fire a shot directly into my mouth.

Would you say say that you get a higher percentage of ass holes in casino work? I would assume that's the case, but maybe that's wrong.

i googled liquor guns to see if i could find out how much they cost but they seem very expensive; some poker player should've bought one.

I think I get what minuteman is saying, and I agree. There's a difference between being annoyed and outwardly expressing to a customer that you are annoyed. Even if eye rolling is involuntary, it doesn't make it acceptable, which seems to be the sentiment I'm getting from service industry folks ITT and in general.

Disclaimer: I lived with 4-5 servers/bartenders for a couple years whose significant others were all "in the industry," and when it came to their jobs they and their friends were the most self-important and self-entitled people I've ever met.