For the Love of Bartending

Restaurant bartenders are a different breed than waiters. For instance, they make far less money than servers, yet often work twice as hard; and they’re usually under a lot of scrutiny from the serving staff.

That’s not to say that restaurant bartenders aren’t appreciated by their colleagues – they definitely are; but bartenders seem to get a lot of flack from servers during the dinner rush.

In order to survive a night of serving full table sections, servers have to work according to their own rhythms. When these rhythms are thrown off by something as simple as having to wait an extra five minutes for a strawberry daiquiri, bartenders unfortunately become public enemy number one. However, since many restaurant bartenders also work the odd serving shift, they’re usually pretty good about taking their ‘enemy’ status with a grain of salt.

A typical weekend bartending shift at my place of employment consists of:

• Arriving at 4 p.m. to stock bar fridges and ice trays;
• Cutting fruit for the garnish station;
• Counting and monitoring the bar till throughout the night;
• Polishing glassware and wiping down bar stools;
• Changing empty beer kegs;
• Making and preparing all drinks – one by one – for every table in the restaurant;
• Serving dinner and drinks to a [usually full] 14-seat bar;
• Answering phone calls for reservations and take-out orders; and
• Helping servers run food during their downtime.

All of these tasks are done by one person – sans help – on a busy evening.

While not every restaurant operates the same way, the basics of bartending remain consistent across the board. Bartenders do more work than they get credit for; that is why bartenders deserve respect, appreciation and a little bit of empathy from the serving staff.

On behalf of servers everywhere, I say: THANK YOU, BARTENDERS.