Benefits to bartending in a restaurant

April 15, 6:52 PMBartender ExaminerKathleen Neves

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As a bartending school instructor by day, I always have students ask me what I think is the best bar for them to work at. There is no one right answer to this question. For as many different types of bars there are to work at, there are as many different types of bartender personalities. The type of bar I might prefer to work in might not be the same for someone else. It’s all about discovering what type of bartending environment you want to work in through your work experience.

When I first started bartending, I didn’t want to bartend anywhere near a restaurant (even though I started in one). I wanted to make cocktails and not have to worry about serving food or memorizing the menu. I was a bartender for crying out loud, not a server. Now that I look back on my experience, I realize that I had the wrong attitude towards working in a restaurant as a bartender.

There are many benefits to bartending in a restaurant. First of all, the more you sell, the higher your tabs will be and the bigger tip you will (hopefully) receive. I can sell specialty cocktails all night long and make pretty decent money, but when I sell specialty cocktails, full dinner service and maybe a couple after-dinner cocktails, I’m going to go home with a lot more money in my pocket. Nowadays, I look at serving food at the bar as a pay raise, not a burden.

Another benefit to bartending in a restaurant? The hours. Sure, I might start earlier than the nightclub bartenders, but I am also out of work before midnight and can still either get a good night’s sleep like the rest of the population or go out with my friends after work on the weekends. The whole sleep the day away thing used to work for me when I was younger, but now that I am older, I enjoy being up among the living. I feel somewhat like a normal person, but who has a cool job.

I can’t cook. Even though I tell people I know how to cook, I only know how to cook three or four recipes really well, without burning my kitchen down. On the nights that I am bartending, I know that I am going to eat like a queen thanks to staff meals or generous staff discounts on menu items. This is only a benefit if you enjoy the food on the menu. Luckily, I do.

Let’s not forget, there is plenty of money to be made bartending in a restaurant. Not only are you being tipped out by the patrons who drink and dine at your bar, but your servers are tipping you out at the end of the night as well. The restaurant bartender makes all of the drinks for the entire restaurant. The faster the bartender gets the drinks to the servers, the happier the dining customers will be and possibly the bigger the tip they will leave on their whole bill. Always make sure to maintain happy and healthy relationships with your servers. The servers are customers of the bartenders too.

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