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Black August posted:It's also about who you know, not what. I got a fellow busser who does it for shits and exercise from his day office job. Told me if I can blow the $100 for a few days of bartending school, he'll hook me up to be a bartender with a friend who owns like 3 places. So that's my next move, and I gotta be fast with winter setting in. Bartending school is a scam and I would literally never hire anyone who listed it on their resume, I have done hiring for high end restaurants and the premiere bar group in the SF Bay area. I was voted Best Bartender In The Bay in a local weekly. Don't go to bartending school you dummy.
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Sep 30, 2013 00:47
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 12:24 |
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pastabilities, lol
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Oct 11, 2013 23:02
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Admirable Gusto posted:Thanks everyone LOL. It's gonna fail. A: Ice machine efficiency? Wut?
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Oct 20, 2013 08:42
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Yeah, I must be mutant (not surprised, I have retarded immunity/tolerance to drugs and alcohol) because flexeril does absolutely nothing for me.
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Dec 7, 2013 00:00
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Word. Jesus loving Christ. Godspeed. I really hope you aren't killing yourself for lovely wages.
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Dec 14, 2013 23:35
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That is disgusting and a health hazard. What kind of place would allow him to work with an eye so infected it's swelled shut?!
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Dec 25, 2013 16:12
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:it's me i'm ~gluten sensitive~ That poster is also the author of a thread about his mother's disaster of a restaurant in BFC (it's really loving sad, and why people who have no industry experience should STOP loving TRYING TO OPEN BARS AND RESTAURANTS WHEN THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING and she dragged the whole family and their financial security with them) so I'd take it with a huge grain of salt. Also, LOL gluten sensitivity. On a different note: Just took over a bar position attached to a restaurant, we don't have much interaction with the kitchen other than lineup (bar is more of a draw, at least this time of the year) and Chef is sorta famous, was on Top Chef and seems to have the ego to match. This should be interesting...
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Jan 8, 2014 21:49
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Yeah, he's by all means a good chef, but in my limited interactions with him he seems to really be shooting for stereotypical I AM GOD persona. I've worked with many chefs with Michelin stars and Beard awards, but no one really felt the need to be ego-maniacal during line-up. Then again, I just moved from ten years in Oakland/SF to wine country to take care of my mom for a while and it's a very different vibe up here. Pretty stuffy and behind the times, a lot less experimental, places actually want female bartenders to wear ties and button ups and take out noserings and stupid poo poo like that. Oh well, do whatcha gotta do when mom's got cancer.
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Jan 8, 2014 22:59
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CALL YOUR LOCAL DEPT OF LABOR. IN MANY STATES, IT IS A FINE OF $100 A DAY THAT YOUR PAYCHECK IS INCORRECT. I MADE A SWEET SETTLEMENT THROUGH THE DOL WHEN A JOB TRIED TO gently caress ME.
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Jan 20, 2014 07:08
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Fuzzy Pipe Wrench posted:Guys... Guys! I've found it. I've found the pinnacle of Good Jobs (hourly) in this industry. Catering and Event bartender. Absolutely absurd hourly rate, 100% tips in my pocket and all of the fun of bartending with none of the drudgery of working in a bar! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, young fool, you have much to learn.
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Jan 23, 2014 05:51
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Shooting Blanks posted:Maybe he works for that one magical catering company that doesn't have a slow time of year. I worked for two of those. In Yountville and Marin, two of the most affluent places on the planet and would never, ever loving do that again. Catering/event bartending is absolute hell on earth. I would work at denny's or go back to slinging $9 Bud Lites in hot pants in a strip club 1000x before I would cater again. I'll work events I've consulted on/created but that's it. E: LOL if you think there will be regular tips to put in your pocket. Here and there, sure, but don't rely on that.
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Jan 24, 2014 20:32
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Vegetable Melange posted:140 drinks to be batched in a boutique bathroom. Again. Haha, welcome to my life. I think the most I ever did was 970 portions? For Rye on the Road (which was aces for event bartending, not including that in my description of hell above) we would be doing it with egg foams and poo poo. I've watched some hail mary's under Scott Beattie as well. Current job, I've got perlini's and six kegged & carbonated cocktails on tap, ready to go, and whatever I need batched in a bottle or cambro downstairs. Life is sweet, mang  E: Also bought a pair of practically new sanita clogs at a thrift store for $10 this morning. MAKE NO BABBYS fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Jan 24, 2014 |
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Jan 24, 2014 20:46
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Vegetable Melange posted:Rye! That's awesome. Perlinis are also fun, but I have had some serious problems getting consistent carbonated service offsite, because of the nature of the beast. Also tell me you're doing Speed Rack in March. 'Cause that poo poo owns bones. You should have a chat with Kyle Ford, he just did a large amount of bottles of perlini'd rickeys for Cointreau for the San Antonio Cocktail Classic. I find that short of equipment malfunction, the perlinis I make tend to all come out the same but there is variation between bartenders. Not much though, the place I just started while up here in wine country (caring for my mom, breast cancer) is really big on consistency. Remember to cut down on juice because it foams like crazy, and try different shakes/numbers of pumps. Collins style drinks or those with more juice get what I call the "unenthusiastic handjob" shake, where as others you can really beat to poo poo without adverse effect. The carbonic acid is always going to give you that inner-cheek pucker and emphasize tartness, so up the proportion of sugar. Open in a slow process, I usually do in a 2 or 3 part process to reduce foaming. Keep it cold enough that it doesn't get buck with the foam, too. I always want to do Speedrack, but my schedule always conflicts. Ivy is a friend, we do LUPEC stuff together at Tales. A rad lady, indeed. I'll chime in more on catering bartending later, Ive gotta pound this mimosa and head to a meeting.
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Jan 29, 2014 01:30
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gently caress everything about tonight.
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Feb 2, 2014 11:30
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You should stop throwing tantrums/getting into arguments at work when you are merely a dishwasher (I think that's what 'pot' is?) If you're drama in your entry level position, why would anyone ever want to promote you?
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Feb 10, 2014 21:18
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Ughhhhhhhh don't lie on your resume because you will gently caress over everyone else on your shift when you actually DON'T know how to do all the things that you supposedly did every day. I will hate you.
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Feb 12, 2014 19:09
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Trebuchet King posted:What about, instead of lying about skills, responsibilities? One bind I find myself in is that everyone who started after me assume's I'm in a higher position than I am, just because I'm diligent and I know my poo poo, I guess? So while I can't list the higher position on my resume, could I just put down my real position and list the higher position's responsibilites and stuff in the description? No, that's perfectly reasonable.
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Feb 12, 2014 19:34
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No, but I get 20 million people asking if Chef is in and if he will come out and talk to them.
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Feb 13, 2014 05:45
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I have those dreams about bartending at least 3x a week.
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Feb 14, 2014 04:10
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I can almost always tell who is industry just by interacting with them for a few moments, if I or other staff don't recognize them outright. I'll comp something or send out a gift, give them some booze tastings, etc. It depends how much I like them/how important they are if they get large portions of their meal comped. They can pretty much always count on a free drink.
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Feb 16, 2014 20:17
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OH NO SOMEONE WASHING DISHES MIGHT BE STONED!!!! *eyeroll*
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Feb 17, 2014 11:36
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San Francisco has been paying $10.55 an hour for two years, I think it went to just under $11 with the start of the new year. California doesn't do any of the tipped-wage $2 an hour nonsense, either. We also have a Healthy SF surcharge added to each bill for a city-wide healthcare program, probably superfluous now, but was helpful for a few years there. Tons of new restaurants opened/ing, just as many people being hired and fired, I was making $17 + tips at my last restaurant to lead their cocktail program. Stop buying into the restaurant owner bullshit that they'd go broke if they had to pay you a living wage, it's a loving joke and it's how they get away with tip pooling split with managers/BOH and all of that other loving nonsense. One or two well cocktails an hour pays your wage; the markup on liquor is 300% minimum. If they will go under if they have to pay you $8, they shouldn't be loving open. Also, get stoned every day. If your job wants to drug test you to making minimum wage to wash dishes thats loving ridiculous. Having dated most of James Beard 30 under 30 and a lot of Michelin-starred chefs, you're lucky if they're not doing rails on the line. California Uber Alles. E: wrong number MAKE NO BABBYS fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Feb 17, 2014 |
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Feb 17, 2014 18:28
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Tipping out BOH is bullshit because it allows your shady employer to hire you for a pittance wage by floating it out of the tips of FOH, who are the ones who serve and interact with customers. In states where tipped employee wages are less, it makes it possible to classify cooks/prep people as tipped employees, as the poster above pointed out. Your employer ought to pay you a living wage, not use a bullshit tip split to keep wages artificially low.
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Feb 18, 2014 14:19
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Stay home when you are sick and get your vaccinations; Comstock Saloon in SF had a staff member expose a bunch of people to hepatitis and had to release press releases saying "if you ate here on dates XYZ you may have been exposed" blah blah blah. And wash your damned hands. Meh, finally got a job in wine country at a bar with a decent backbar; they do everything backwards and I hate it and I think they hate me but I have to be employed as a bartender to compete in Speedrack. I hate it here and am only living up here to care for my mom while she's being treated for breast cancer (I mentioned this before in here but restating so you know where I'm coming from) and I was down in SF visiting my new boyfriend and got offered two jobs while I was out making the rounds and visiting friends (he's a chef.) I want to cry and I miss Oakland/SF and there's almost no work here and definitely no decent work and I'm so stressed and I really want to win Speedrack SF and and and
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Feb 21, 2014 07:10
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Why do you feel such loyalty to someone who is so incompetent and lovely at their job? Even if you like the owners, they hired her and continue to allow it to happen. gently caress them and don't give her notice. Wait until a week before, tell her you quit and she will demand your keys and throw a tantrum, enjoy your few days of vacation before starting the new place. Document all the bullshit in the mean time and prepare a DoL complaint if poo poo gets more sideways on you. A months notice? Pffffft.
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Mar 3, 2014 00:10
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Yo, if you're yelling at staff where guests can hear or see you, you're loving up, son. Immediate firing. Sometimes FOH needs things NOW NOW NOW because the table is being unreasonable or had something hosed up earlier and they're trying to smooth it over. In a good restaurant, you should be able to trust your servers that that's actually the case and push them what they need ASAP. Rarely does that happen, but a good FOH is there to provide that interface and smoothing over with guests because guests are often loving batshit.
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Mar 14, 2014 23:55
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A friend's bar near the Giants stadium here in SF got a bad yelp last year that was like "stopped in after the game on my way to BART, asked Mrs. Bartender to plug in my phone and for a glass of water and she told me I had to buy something to take up a barstool, WHAT KIND OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THAT? Never going here again - 1 star" Pretty sure you gotta be a customer to get customer service, bro. I'm a big fan of the water pitcher/dispenser at the end of the bar so people can self serve, especially when I'm working at a venue or Friday night.
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Mar 15, 2014 19:46
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Oh yeah, we all just laughed at it. The insanity of guests is pretty well known, I just like the "I came into this business to abuse their amenities without purchasing anything and when the bartender suggested that I must actually purchase something to be there I threw a tantrum on the internet." Pffffft. "Customer service"
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Mar 15, 2014 21:12
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I've never worked in a place with specific menu times where if a ticket came in for a different menu time/item the kitchen wouldn't just turn around and say "gently caress you" unless I asked them beforehand.
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Mar 20, 2014 17:44
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I know the place that I'm working at the moment is a total hellhole and that I struggle with the level of (lack of) cleanliness they find acceptable every day, but this just seems super bizarre to me: they have a cleaning service that cleans the floors and pulls the mats behind the two bars every night. However, they just dump the mats in front of the bar each night for the day bartender to pull back behind, they never wash or spray down the mats themselves. To open, one drags three filthy mats (which are the cheap, thin kind with no fasteners or any thing to keep them from sliding around and not heavy enough to stay in place of their own volition) across and into place on (supposedly) clean and STILL WET tile floor. It makes the slipping worse, I feel like my hands are never clean afterwards and there's a hue sticky spot in front of the bar where the dirty mats sat for hours. What. The. gently caress. This job will be the death of me. Four more months.
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Apr 30, 2014 22:16
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You mean from still being wet from the cleaning crew? Yeah, I run bar towels over it with my feet before I drop the mats. I'm more just remarking/venting about how stupid and lazy the management there is. I only open two days a week, and from coming in for shift change I can tell you other bartenders don't dry the floor. The mats still slide all over the place (because they're caked in grime and too light) and my clogs still stick to the tops from old spills. E: Yes, murder is for sure #1 on my list. I had to move back to my hometown to care for my mom (breast cancer) from SF/Oakland, where I was a very successful high-volume craft bartender. I was really happy, won awards, worked hard, had great opportunities and completed a new certification or two every year. I was taking a three month working vacation in ATX & NOLA when my mom was diagnosed and had to drop everything and fly home.It took me nearly nine months to find a job here, the first was at a craft cocktail bar that was a total disaster and I declined the offer before I was even done training. Now I work in a pub that's filthy, constantly out of stock of everything, insanely inefficient for less than half my hourly in SF. Moms now cancer free but my savings are shot and I'm battling depression. I make good money working in the attached venue two nights a week due to the volume, but working in the pub portion 2-3 shifts a week is the most depressing, soul killing thing I've ever done, and I used to bartend day shift in a strip club :/. Four more months. MAKE NO BABBYS fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Apr 30, 2014 |
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Apr 30, 2014 22:49
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I should be competing in those Speedrack finals. It's really sad. My life is mostly a mockery at this point.
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May 1, 2014 07:56
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30 Goddamn Dicks & Veggie Melange - thanks y'all. Last week was extra soul crushing and I was throwing myself a bit of a pity party. Working on snapping out of it. In a funny side note, the awful place I'm working got a call to be on bar rescue. One of the girls I work with was like "oh HA HA HA yeah right!!! Why would we go on there?! Were good!" And all I could think was "holy gently caress why wouldn't you this place is TERRIBLE." She wasn't amused when I told her that I know and have worked with a handful of the "experts" that appear on it and though the show can be really cheesy/over dramatized, they have really good insight and advice. Needless to say, she's never worked anywhere else and has been there like four years; she thinks that the fact that lots of people come through and never come back due to bad pricing, lovely cocktails, filthy glassware, poo poo tons of fruit flies/bugs/BIRDS NESTING IN THE CEILING, zero panache/presentation/accommodating service and mediocre food ( I will say that the kitchen seems clean and efforts are made to keep everything to temp, it's just lovely SYSCO poo poo cobbled together... Premade Won Ton wrapper + corn & sauce + deep fry to brown and disintegrating = TAVERN SAMOSAS!!) is fine because WELL WERE ALWAYS BUSY!
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May 4, 2014 23:25
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Vegetable Melange posted:Hey y'all FoH owns if you like drinking and cash. God bless quarterly budgets and expense accounts. MCC was a blast. Hahaha, I received some very funny incriminating photos from people this year, quite entertaining.
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May 13, 2014 23:33
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Yeah, keep your hourly. Salary is death.
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May 14, 2014 19:29
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Oh god, why would you torture yourself like that? 
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May 14, 2014 21:38
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I hear phantom service bar printer noises in my sleep at least 2x a week.
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May 14, 2014 22:53
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Why would you want your bartender on their phone on the floor? Even if it's to send you a ticket, the impression on the guest is that they're being ignored for texting. iPad is better off, people recognize them as being work-related or POS system. Can't help with a specific app, but even if one doesn't exist at the moment, you could probably pay a dev to make one for you easily.
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May 16, 2014 18:36
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No Wave posted:Yeah, just throw a few bucks at a guy to design and build a brand new point of sale interface. Easy peasy! It's not a POS he's looking for, is it? If that's what he needed then just use one of the millions of ipad based POS systems. I thought he was looking for a way to communicate with a bartender. I figured maybe the kitchen made some garnishes or accoutrements for drinks, so he needed something like a messaging system. Bartenders doing what looks like texting on their phones behind the bar is a bad look from the guest's perspective, even if it's not actually texting.
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May 16, 2014 20:11
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 12:24 |
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Isaac Asimov posted:Is there an app for this? I didn't click the link, was going by his description above which sounds more like a ticketing/messaging system. OH GOD IM SO SORRY
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May 16, 2014 21:16
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