MANAGEMENT AND OWNERS
I have a lot of respect for restaurant, hotel, club managers and owners. This page is only to present the working relationship between bartenders and management and based only on experience and personal observation. There has to be a certain amount of trust and confidence on both sides of the bar. Each has to try to make a "home" for themselves and make the job enjoyable and financially successful. Bartenders, as well as managers will change locations in order to find a suitable position. Always try to leave a job in good standing because when you change jobs you may be working with a manager that you worked with previously in another establishment.
Bartenders are quite often in charge of the establishment in the absence of management personnel. A huge inventory of alcohol and usually more than one cash register is the bartender's responsibility. Bartenders can make a lot of money for the company and also can lose a lot of money for the company. This can be due to experience, or lack of, making drinks correctly or incorrectly or the attitude of the bartender. The bar is a very lucrative, profitable department and is rarely given the same attention as food selections and preparation, the waitstaff and customer service.
Having been a bartender at numerous restaurants, hotels, clubs and country clubs through the years (at some about 5 years), I've seen that most managers and owners are not very experienced with bartending and not acquainted with making drinks and sometimes not familiar with the computers or cash registers. I've worked with only a handful of managers that could get behind a bar on a busy night or if a bartender called out sick for his or her shift. Most could only handle beer or wine and maybe ring the drink on the computer or register and add drinks to customer tabs (a bill at the bar in front of the customer for food and beverages). I've often wondered why owners, but especially managers in restaurant and hotel chains are not sent to a bartending school. I owned a bartending school and had very few restaurant owners that took the course, because they wanted to know what their bartenders were doing.
Managers and bartenders take inventory of all liquor, wine and beer bottles, including partial bottles. This consists of all inventory in storerooms, walk-in beer refrigerators, and inventory behind the bar and in coolers. Some inventory is done nightly after closing and some may be done on a weekly schedule. It is important for managers and bartenders to try to maintain bar sales and inventory to a certain percentage of total sales of the establishment.
Bartenders may also move on to advancement in restaurant and hotel management. There are always openings for good bartenders and good managers especially ones that know both sides of the bar!
Bartenders are quite often in charge of the establishment in the absence of management personnel. A huge inventory of alcohol and usually more than one cash register is the bartender's responsibility. Bartenders can make a lot of money for the company and also can lose a lot of money for the company. This can be due to experience, or lack of, making drinks correctly or incorrectly or the attitude of the bartender. The bar is a very lucrative, profitable department and is rarely given the same attention as food selections and preparation, the waitstaff and customer service.
Having been a bartender at numerous restaurants, hotels, clubs and country clubs through the years (at some about 5 years), I've seen that most managers and owners are not very experienced with bartending and not acquainted with making drinks and sometimes not familiar with the computers or cash registers. I've worked with only a handful of managers that could get behind a bar on a busy night or if a bartender called out sick for his or her shift. Most could only handle beer or wine and maybe ring the drink on the computer or register and add drinks to customer tabs (a bill at the bar in front of the customer for food and beverages). I've often wondered why owners, but especially managers in restaurant and hotel chains are not sent to a bartending school. I owned a bartending school and had very few restaurant owners that took the course, because they wanted to know what their bartenders were doing.
Managers and bartenders take inventory of all liquor, wine and beer bottles, including partial bottles. This consists of all inventory in storerooms, walk-in beer refrigerators, and inventory behind the bar and in coolers. Some inventory is done nightly after closing and some may be done on a weekly schedule. It is important for managers and bartenders to try to maintain bar sales and inventory to a certain percentage of total sales of the establishment.
Bartenders may also move on to advancement in restaurant and hotel management. There are always openings for good bartenders and good managers especially ones that know both sides of the bar!