Bartender of the week: Ginda Bayliss, Mickey's

June 30, 7:59 AMDallas Bartender ExaminerRobert Stahl

Ginda Bayliss is a bartender and manager at Mickey’s, a popular bar in Dallas’ gay district. Originally from Picher, OK Ginda started bartending over 15 years ago after leaving the Navy and a painful incident there that almost broke her spirit. “I was in the Navy for four years,” Ginda says, “and it was great at first. I got to travel and be a photographer, and I loved it. Then me and these eight other girls were put on trial for being gay.” Ginda, normally effervescent and carefree, pauses for a moment, struggling to hold back tears. “It was a witch hunt. I was 21 and didn’t even really know who I was at the time, and now I was going through this. I had to get a lawyer. I eventually won my case, but it took a lot out of me. It was humiliating.” Ginda left the Navy at 26, finding herself at a crossroads. “ I think I was traumatized. That event changed me. I was untrustful and scared to touch anyone. I didn’t know who I was anymore.“

Unsure of herself and still struggling with her sexuality, Ginda moved to Dallas to stay with an uncle, who urged her to apply for a waitress position at TGIFridays. Wowing them with her confidence and personality, she was hired as a waitress on the spot. Ginda was content, at least for a while. “One day, someone told me that my personality was better suited to being behind the bar,” she remembers, “so that’s what I did.” Ginda completed her bartender training at TGIFriday’s and stayed there for several years, entering local bartending championships and making a name for herself. She left there to take a job at Classic Sports Bar in Richardson. Around that time she accepted her own sexual orientation, coming out to her family and friends as a lesbian. In time, Ginda regained her confidence, and soon made her way to Dallas’ gay district. She works there to this day, making new friends and going out of her way to make her customers feel welcome. Ginda is also known for creating original cocktails like the fantastic Sexy Trio.

Your name is unique. Nickname?
I swear I get asked about my name every day of my life! (Laughs.) Well every day I get asked that, and how big my boobs are! People are always wondering how I got my name. No, my real name is Ginda. The story is, my mom had best friend named Linda, who later became my aunt when she married my mom’s brother. My grandmother’s name was Virginia, so we called her Gin for short. So my mom just kind of came up with the name Ginda.

As far as nicknames, my mom always said I had the gift of Gab, so she called my “Gabby” growing up. My close friends, my family, all my cousins, always called me “G”.

What life lessons has bartending taught you?
How to communicate better others, with people I don’t know. It’s also taught me how to listen. It definitely teaches you to get over being shy, because there’s no time for that. You have to be able to relate to your customer immediately.

You really learn to get out of your shell. I see new bartenders who come in at first and they’re shy, and keep off to themselves. And over the course of a few weeks, you see personality begin to emerge, and they change. They come alive, and kind of come into themselves. I get to witness this, and it’s pretty amazing.

In what ways is bartending difficult? Rewarding?
It’s difficult to just be on all the time when you’re behind the bar. When you step behind the bar, you’re a constant entertainer. You can’t run away from it, you can’t hide from it. Your customers want to know that that you’re looking at them, that you’re paying attention. And you can wake up and just be in one of those moods, and we all have them, or something can have happened that has just made you sad, and you have to put that aside and just be on. It’s amazing that the customers that come in often, that have gotten to really know you, well they know your personality, and they know when something’s wrong.

It’s rewarding, because even though I’m just a person behind the bar serving someone a drink, they too, in turn, pay attention to me. I’m there. I’m not just some fixture on a wall. They know I’m a person, and that I have feelings, that sometimes I’m a person that can be happy, and sometimes I can be sad. They know that there are days when I can move mountains, and days where I can’t pick up a pencil.

What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you while bartending?
I told you that not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask about my boobs. Well, one day I was working at TGIFriday’s, I hadn’t been there very long, and this guy came in and told me that if could make a drink using my boobs, he’d give me $100 tip. I said, “You got it!” I placed a shot glass in my cleavage, and poured a buttery nipple into it, placed a cherry on top, then I walked it over and fed it to him! $100 bucks, just like that.

What sets you apart from other bartenders?
I don’t know if there’s anything that sets me apart from everybody, because I think there are lots of bartenders just like me. I think I’m very personable. I actually care… I want my customers to have a good time, and I want them to come back. And when they do, I want them to ask for me. I want to make their experience in the bar to be as pleasurable and memorable as I can.

You can put this in the article, that I am not a joke bartender (laughs)! I’m one of those people that if you tell me a joke it takes me a couple seconds get it. Instead of jokes, I give a lot of hugs. Sometimes you have to come out of the bar, and thank them personally. You have to let people know you’re glad to see them. I’ll come out of the bar and hug everyone in the group!

I love when people come in because they want someone to talk to, because I like to talk. I like to gab. I mean, I get to do this job, have fun, and make money doing it.

Is there someone you'd like to nominate for bartender of the week?   Shoot me an e-mail and tell me what makes your favorite bartender so special!  Reach me at andthebartendersays@gmail.com.

For more info: Ask Ginda to make you one of the drinks in her Sexy Trio at Mickey's, 3851 Cedar Springs Road, 214.219.MICK

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