How to get served and get good service at a bar
So I've been a bartender for almost 5 years, thought I would impart some of my wisdom on y'all.
In the end when it comes to a bar, you want your drinks as fast as possible, and I want to get those drinks to you as fast as possible, with a few pointers we can achieve this and everybody will be happy.
Step 1. Decisions
Decide what you want, before you even get to the bar, that includes your mates drinks. Ladies I know this is hard for you, but you must have some old favourites to fall back on. And to you draught drinkers, when it comes to draught, SAB didn't spends millions of Rands branding their taps for you to miss it, if you don't see a tall tap covered in ice, guess what, that bar does not stock Castle Lite draught. This goes for all draught (especially by SAB) each beer has a unique tap.
(tip, glass over the handle means the respective draught is finished, choose something else)
Step 2. Get to the Bar
Majority of bartenders service customers in in 2 different ways, depending on how busy the bar is, when the bar is relatively quite, and we can keep track of the customers, its first come, first serve. But if the bar gets busy though, we can't keep track of who came first so then most bartenders will start at one end and move to the other side, serving people consecutively, this system mostly works, keeping in mind I can't see who comes and goes all the time while I'm busy with orders.
So you are standing at the bar, you know what you want, have your money/card ready, or at least have your wallet/purse out, so as not be an ass and hold up my time, and therefore your fellow customers time.
DO Try and make eye contact with the bartender, it very difficult to ignore somebody when you have done that
DO Speak up, your ordering your drinks, not need to whisper about it, it's not illegal.
DON'T wave your money, it's annoying and trashy.
DON'T Click your fingers, whistle and bang your glass.
Politeness goes a long way, please thank you etc. Asking how I am, is a bit of a waste of time at a busy bar, a simple "Hi" or "Howzit" will suffice.
Example:Hi, please can I get a Black label draught, two double vodka cokes and 3 shots of Tequila, thanks.
Don't ask for "a beer" you obviously have a preference, why waste time with me having to ask you what that is, also specify in what unit you want that beer, Eg. Black Label Draught, Black Label Dumpie or Black Label Quart
Same goes with mix if the bar has a K-way/Soda stream, and for some reason you think K-way tastes like shit, specify "double vodka and can coke" remember I want to get your drink to you as fast as possible, lets streamline the process.
Step 3. Pay up!
Now you have your drinks, time to pay. Now we unfortunately run on an unjust system of tipping, which means 98% of bar staff make their income from tips, you can't live on minimum wage. on the flip side, tips are very motivational. So on your first round give a bigger then average tip, such as R20 on a R100 bill, now the bartender should recognise you, getting you faster service next time.
Story time, I arrived late to a popular club's birthday party, drinks had been (and still were) free the whole night, the bartenders were understandably quite miserable with life after serving free drinks for 6 hours, (no bill, no tip. And people act like animals when stuff is free) I waited 10 minutes to get served 1 drink, when I finally got it, I gave the guy a R20 tip, his face lit up and asked if I was sure, of course I was. Next time I was at the bar, He skipped 4 people to serve me.
Moral of the story, people who tip, get better service.
Some tips:
1) Don't ask me to give you a bit extra, most bartenders pay for short stock, and if you promise me a big tip, then you are trying to bribe me into stealing form the owner and selling to you.
2) Learn names, very useful for getting attention of your bartender.
That is all I can think of for the moment, hope this helps, questions welcome.
Originally Posted by Graal
