A Great Irish Toast
I know the chance to toast doesn’t come around too often these days but if it does, here is a great Irish toast:
May misfortune follow you the rest of your life.
And may it never catch up with you!
Andrew
Increase Your Bartending Tips - How You Handle Change
Let me say first of all, that Tyson and I are blessed to bartend in Canada. Why is that? Because we have one and two dollar coins!! It gives a bartender far more options with they way they distribute change.
1. Give your customer as much change as possible without making it overly inconvenient for the them. (In Canada, I would even give $5.50 change back all in the form of coins). It’s amazing how many times you show a customer a mittfull of change and they would rather toss it in your tip jar than have to walk around with a questionable bulge of change in their pocket and sounding like a reindeer as they walk around.
2. Give your customer change with your palm up. It definitely takes some skill to be able to do this without making it seem awkward for both you and the customer. This will increase your tips because the act of you showing the customer the change in your palm is almost like you’re asking “Do you really want this back?” It’s all subconscious of course…
I have found that the best way to do this is to give the customer the bills first, and while you’re handing them the bills with one hand, your other hand is getting the change out of the till (without looking at it) then once you have the change, you show them the change in your palm. At that point it is almost like you are doing them a favor by letting them know you have change for them.
Just try this out and find a way that works for you. I guarantee you will have a lot more customers waving the entire handful of change into your tip jar.
3. Make sure the customer has a fully garnished complete drink before you give them their change. Sometimes a customer will give you the money right away, and it might be tempting to ring it through and give them their change before you’ve completed their drink. A customer won’t feel the need to tip you if you haven’t provided a service yet.
If you try these 3 tips on your next shift, you are guaranteed to make more money!
Cheers!
Andrew
Increasing Your Tips: Time and Place for Flair Bartending
How effective is flair when it comes to increasing your tips? Step out of the bar for a moment and put yourself in your customers’ shoes:
- You’ve been waiting in line for five minutes to get a drink
- The bartender is putting on a lengthy flair show for each and every customer
- You wait in line for a few more minutes
- You hear complaints from other customers around you… “why doesn’t this douchebag stop throwing bottles and start making drinks!?”
- By the time you get to the counter you’re a little irritated that the bartender found it more important to show off than to make drinks. And the customers around you probably feel the same way.
In this situation are customers going to tip more as a result of the flair? A bartender has to know that there is a time and place for flair. When the bar is slow at the very beginning of the night is when the big flair shows should come out. At my nightclub – we blow Bacardi 151 at flaming pyramids of glassware pull out all our flair moves that are just for show.
As the night picks up, the flair is reduced to basic working flair – Glasses are thrown behind the back or over the shoulder, shaker tins are spun, etc. These small moves give you added credibility and respect which will contribute to higher tips, but the key is that they don’t reduce your efficiency as a bartender. Which will almost inevitably reduce your sales and tips.
Speed and Efficiency in High Volume Bartending: Order Taking
When serving hoards of customers there are a few time saving tricks you can use to get faster, and please more people at the same time. I used to work at a bar where space was limited, there was only enough room for one or two people to lean up against the wood, everybody else lined up behind them. In a place like this you don’t have time to wait for the people at your bar to finish doing their shots before you move on to the next customers. I would constantly be waving up the next people behind these customers with my hand to take their orders before they’d even gotten to the wood. Whenever I spotted a regular in the line, I would have their drink ready for them the second they arrived at my bar and simply ask: “any shots or anything to go with that?” The third thing I would do was allow my high tipping customers to avoid the line entirely by coming around the side of my bar to place their orders. In this situation I wouldn’t ignore the next person in line, I’d just make both orders simultaneously, so nobody felt insulted.
At the bar I currently work at it is a little more difficult. I have sprawling bar space where 12 – 15 customers can line up around, and keeping track of who is there first takes a little practice. Generally, I serve in a sweeping motion from left to right, then start at the left and sweep back to the right again. That way if somebody has been waiting longer, they aren’t left out long. Starting at the very left, I take that persons order and begin putting it together. All it takes is to look at the next person to the right, and they are telling me their order right away. I place the drinks for the first person in front of them and tell them what they owe. As I tell them how much, I’m already getting the glassware ready for the next order. I process payment for the first person and take the third persons order, once again simply by looking at them. And so on the routine goes.
With practice this routine should flow and be effortless, allowing you to focus more on the fun you’re having with your customers. I should mention that I still maintain the practice of allowing my high tipping customers to come around the side of the bar to place their orders. Allowing them this prestige causes them to tip even more money, it’s a thing of beauty!
Increase Your Bartending Tips - A Tip From Bartend LA.com
Check out this post at www.bartendLA.com on how to make more tips by using dirty words! I’m not only posting this because I want the folks at Bartend L.A. To like me… I’m posting it because it’s good advice!
Cheers!
Andrew
Increase Your Bartending Tips - Stay Away From the Dicks!
Almost without exception, every night you bartend somebody is going to get under your skin. Drunk people can get obnoxious, this is no secret. I’ve seen too many bartenders let these idiots get to them, resulting in an argument. This is a terrible mistake.
Bartenders are the centre of attention, and a source for entertainment. As soon as customers in the bar see you arguing with a customer, they can see you’re not having fun. This means you’ve just killed the vibe you worked so hard to create. Less people will order drinks from you, thus your sales and tips will go down. I’ve noticed this not only with myself, but with bartenders in other nightclubs when I’ve gone out for a big night. Leave the arguing for the bouncers. In my nightclub, we have radios behind the bar which allow us to call bouncers down discretely to break up any problems. If you don’t have radios, make sure you have systems set up that allow you to contact bouncers quickly to help you get out of any bad situations throughout the night.
If a fan gets aggressive or unruly with a rock star, their body guards steps in and handles the situation. This should be your approach. The second somebody begins killing the vibe you’re setting off – call in a bouncer, it’s their job to do the dirty work, not yours. Handle these situations quickly and discretely, and nobody will ever be able to get to you. Every night will be a great night if there are never any problems!
Increasing Your Tips: Bartender Tricks!
Always cater to the ladies. Over the past 5 years, I’ve discovered the best ways to engage in fun contact with hot girls, here are a few…
Before your shift starts – arrange with management to showboat through the crowd with your shirt off. Have a bottle of Cuervo in one hand, and a bottle of lime juice in the other. Cherry pick the place for the hottest girls, and do some “tequila laybacks. (If an open bar or long table is available, have her lie down, and pour from both bottles at once into her mouth. If not, have her kneel, or sit on a chair. This gives hot girls a close contact opportunity to grope you, take pictures with you, and introduce themselves, which ultimately brings them over to your bar when your shift starts.
Once you’re behind the bar – don’t stop there. If you have a reputation for yourself (which won’t take long to develop) girls will approach you and ask you to perform various fun tasks. If the action is slow going, grab one of your regulars, or even a staff member who is off for the night, and start your fun.
1. Make up a couple of juicy shots (something easy like golf carts) and head around to the other side of the bar with a can of whipped cream. Rip off your shirt, and sit with the shot positioned between your legs. Spray whipped cream down your abs, on your nipples etc, and instruct the young lass to take the shot with her mouth only, then to lick the whipped cream off your body.
2. An old favourite is the tequila body shot. (I only advise this one for girls you are really attracted to!) Have the young lady lick your stomach, and shake salt on the spot she just licked so it sticks. Once again, hop up on the bar and place a shot of tequila between your legs. Have a lime ready in your mouth. Have her lick the salt off your stomach, and take the shot with her mouth only– don’t be surprised if she gets frisky with her free hands. Right after she does the shot, get ready to give her the lime from your mouth….how far you take it from here is completely up to you.
3. For a group of girls, have the most outgoing one lie flat on her back across your bar. Spray a circle of whipped cream around her belly button, and pour a juicy shot in the middle. Have one of her hot friends take the shot right off her stomach.
These are just a couple sample ideas that I’ve tried recently. The crazier you get the better! The whole idea is to draw a crowd to your bar. The more ridiculous and cocky you are, the more fun you and everyone else will have, and with fun comes more TIPS!!
5 ways to Increase Your Bartending Tips - Tip Jar
4. A full jar is better than an empty one - Some bartenders are tempted to empty their tips every few minutes so it looks like their not making much. They think that this might draw on some sympathy from their customers. That is definitely not the case. If a customer sees that no one else is tipping you, they won’t feel bad if they don’t either.
5. Tape a large bill - This is the dirtiest trick in this list… But it is also very effective. Tape a large bill ($10, $20, or $50) so that it stays visible in your tip jar (i.e. against the front glass) This way, no matter how much money goes in customers will still be able to see the bill. Psychologically, this will entice customers to tip you in a higher range. They will feel stupid leaving you a quarter if someone else left you $20.
Try these out on your next bartending shift and you are guaranteed to make more money.
Cheers!
Andrew
Increase Your Bartending Tips - Show Vs. Go
To increase your tips you need to realize that your customers fall into two distinct categories:
Those that want to chat, party and have a great time at your bar (Show)
The quiet, serious(ish) customers that want their drink asap (Go)
The good news is that both customer categories are equally profitable. The better news is that if you follow the steps detailed below you will squeeze maximum dollars out of each group.
Your first step is to identify the category a customer falls into which is pretty obvious once you’re looking for it (Go = Quiet, Show = Loud). Your second step is to treat them accordingly:
Show: Most important thing is that you remember their name. Once you’ve identified that they are there to party, introduce yourself to them. I’m really bad with names so I’ll even write them down if I have time. Take your time when making their drinks, and make a bit of a show out of it by using working flair, humor, whatever. When they approach your bar, act like you are genuinely excited to see them. These customers also appreciate free shots etc. far more than their conterparts. Anything you can do to make them feel special will fatten the amount of cash they leave in your jar.
P.S If it is obvious that a “show” customer has a lot of money. The best way to make sure you get all of it is to let them know they can skip the line to get a drink from you. That way they’ll be going to you all night, and they will definitely appreciate the special treatment.
Go: Most important thing is that you remember what they drink. These customers are very easy to serve:
- Identify what they drink
- When they approach your bar simply ask them if they would like another ______. Or if it is a bottled beer have it in your hand ready to crack open at their nod
- Go for speed, but don’t look rushed (even if you are completely slammed, it is important to maintain a look of confidence and control… Looking rushed is for amateurs!!)
P.S If a “Go” customer has a lot of money, the best way to make sure you get it all is to wave them up to the front of your line and have their drink ready to go.
On your next shift start to try to fit every customer into one of these 2 categories and then treat them accordingly. Let me know if you notice a difference in your bottom line. Take it from a 6 figure bartender: This Works!
Cheers!
Andrew
Welcome To Frickin Bartending
Why Frickin Bartending?
Yeah, we called it frickin bartending… Why?? Because all the good domains are already taken by bastards with shitty bartending websites. How are we different than those websites? We are better.
The idea for this website started when my best friend and I were enjoying two of the most highly caffeinated drinks on the planet, and we started talking about bartending as we often do. We are both bartenders at popular nightclubs, and we spend a lot of time sharing stories about drunk idiots, drink recipes, women, how to increase tips, the science of pouring a good drink and most importantly how to make ourselves look as cool as possible behind the bar. Because like it or not, the best part of bartending is feeling like a rock star. Or is it the money? Whatever. We’ll get into that later.
How Did We Think Of This Crazy Idea?
To get back to the point. As my friend and I were talking this morning, we realized that our information was being wasted on ourselves. We thought, “wouldn’t it be great if there was some kind of medium that would allow us to share what we have learned about bartending with all the other bartenders in the world?” And then it dawned on us: We live in the age of technology! And more importantly, the age of the internet! As a result, we decided to make this site. Our goal is to make it the center of the bartending universe. They say the most important step in a 10,000 mile walk is the first one so behold our first step: frickenbartending.com (I’ll try to keep the quoting of cheesy proverbs to a minimum as we go forward).
By the way. Make sure you bookmark this site. Becuase if you don’t, you’ll never find it again. And you will have an unshakeable feeling of regret for the rest of your life as you think of what could have been.
Cheers!
Andrew