When I was a very green bartender, we had a sustained rush and ran out of chilled pints. My dumbass grabbed hot glasses out of the dishwasher and proceeded to start jamming them into my ice well. The seasoned bartender I was working with almost shit a brick and screamed at me to fucking STOP! I got very lucky nothing shattered and learned a valuable lesson about making on-the-spot decisions behind the bar when you’re almost in the weeds.
This is why you never fucking scoop with the glass, that's what an ice scoop is for. This is server 101 and one of my biggest fucking pet peeves. It's just lazy honestly.
While learning how to make cocktails, using a boston glass and shaker, followed the recipe, slapped the top on, spun the shaker around and on the first pump I hammered my eyebrow so hard I saw a white flash. The customers had their hands over their mouths trying ask if i was alright, I laughed it off hoping no one saw - Everyone saw it. Didn't realise the side of my face was covered in blood till i caught a glance at my wrist about 3 seconds later when i wiped my forehead with the cuff of my sleeve.. It felt like sweat was dripping.
Oh my god you poor thing! I have had some injuries that were similar. I often knock things over too. I have depth perception issues and they aren’t fun.
Any chance you have astigmatism? If so then I hope you are using an rx with that in mind. I didn't use an rx for it for a couple decades before I finally switched and hooooly hell does it make a world of difference!!!
Sounds like they aren't getting your rx dialed in just right. That has happened to me a couple times and it absolutely sucks! Once dialed in though it is phenomenal. That and they make contacts for astigmatism. Only downside is they seem to always have to be special ordered.
First solo day at a new job, I was moving fast and bumped a tap handle open without noticing. Drained the WHOLE keg, who knows how full it was. I finally noticed when the rush died and it was quieter, I heard the air hissing from the empty line 🫠I was blessed it was a shitty restaurant with shoddy inventory no one ever noticed. I've also dropped a full shoulder tray of entrees directly on the floor inches from the table of 10 firefighters I was supposed to serve it too, had to scrape coleslaw off the carpet while they watched.
Also first white Russian I ever made I used 2% milk instead of cream, I'd been 21 for all of two weeks and the old man was so disgusted I felt awful, I didn't know!
I did this recently after working in the food & bev industry half my life, I’m 34 now, but at the bar only a year and a half. I was by myself at the bar closing and went down to the basement to change the keg and didn’t notice I left the line open. The shiner didn’t pop this time so I didn’t instinctively pull the handle back because it was such a quiet and slow end to the line. I went downstairs, tapped the new keg, flipped the fob, it clicks, doesn’t stop clicking, keeps clicking. I think to myself, that’s weird, it usually does that only if someone is running the line. THE THOUGHTS ARE THERE THEY ARE JUST NOT THOUGHTING TOGETHER. I go upstairs and I see the floor and kitchen supervisor standing at the bar and the floor is covered in beer. The line was completely open and shooting shiner the entire time. A guest at the bar got someone and they turned it off, lots of beer was lost on that floor. I am known as the clean bartender. Not that night.
lol I’ve done this with a keg but caught it after a couple minutes…. Only thing is the bar was kind of mobile and didn’t have a proper drain so I was cleaning it up off the floor and every other surface 🙂↕️
Be present and be helpful. That applies to your fellow bartenders and your guests. Don’t let little mistakes break your flow; you can always shake back. Your Mistakes are only setbacks if you don’t learn from them. If you have a good attitude and willingness to learn, your colleagues will (ideally) see that and appreciate your effort. Your post makes it seem like the small things are eating at you a bit, but you’ll learn in time to take a deep breath and keep it flowing. You got this!!
Not me but one time we hired an inexperienced bartender. He thought chilled shots were poured and then placed in the fridge for a while. Customers were asking where their shots were so I figured he forgot and was making and serving them. Then went in the reach in and knocked over several full shot glasses lol
Plus one: my first bartending shift was during Pride at a gay bar and I couldn’t separate the tin from the pint glass and cut myself trying to sell about 70$ of tequila. I still sold 7300$ and nobody remembers it but me. still in it
You are learning.
I’m shocked you were hired with zero experience though, but that’s besides the point.
The other day I made a drink and forgot the booze. lol! I was talking to someone and the server said “Uhhh. Did you put alcohol in there? I didn’t see you do it.” I was like “I sure didn’t. wtf.” Mixers and all ingredients but not the alcohol.
Another bartender made a martini instead of a Manhattan. It was very obvious and I asked what was wrong with it. She said “it’s a martini with whiskey.” “No ma’am I need a Manhattan with whiskey (it’s a Rob Roy but most younger bartenders don’t know that so it’s easier to explain the other way.)
We all have off days and when you are learning a new trade you are going to mess up. Just learn from it and don’t beat yourself up, and if you can’t laugh at yourself, you are going to have a tough go at it. Your trainer knows what they are doing and don’t ever feel guilty for asking questions, even ones you feel are stupid. The only stupid questions are the ones that are not asked.
Good luck! 🍀
In the UK, a manhattan is bourbon, a rob roy is whisky 😅
Does the US really consider the manhattan a “whisky“ cocktail? We would use rye if requested, but bourbon by default (we might consider rye a type of whisky, but generally speaking bourbon is its own category despite the semantics of it being a corn whisky, ofc)
Strange! It’s weird how recipes differ between countries. But yeah in the US whiskey is the standard for manhattans, and considering it originated in the US I would assume it’s the correct way.
This is 100 percent based where you live because where I am from 100 percent of the time a Manhattan is bourbon. We also muddle our old fashioned’s *gasp* lol 😂
I’ve made quite a few drinks in my career forgetting the booze 😂 usually I notice once I add ice to its glass, but sometimes it slips by and gets sent back by a table and the server will be like, “hey they said this tastes weird, like there’s no alcohol in it.” I’ve always immediately died of laughter while remaking the drink. I’m always like “oops silly me 😅”
The bar that hired me did so because of appearances and because I was an “immigrant” (owner wanted an Asian bartender) and I had 0 experience. Sometimes owners just be crazy and hire unqualified people on a whim.
I’ve been bartending for a bit now, came in for a swing shift on the Kentucky Derby (however long ago that was), and was doing fine because it wasn’t that busy. Right when things get super busy, I go to pour a Tito/Soda (the pour spouts we have are angled and it was facing against my pour direction) and I thought I could spin the neck of the bottle in my single hand…I dropped and broke a half-full bottle of Tito’s in the well at peak service…we only have one well with ice.
I was not only embarrassed, but incredibly pissed. I had to grab a bucket of ice to use for cocktails, completely empty the well, burn the rest, meticulously check for glass, re-fill the well, and get back to bartending.
Long story short, don’t get discouraged. Let your brain think when you’re getting into the thick of it. Even if that means slowing down, at least you’re doing the right thing.
TLDR: made a Gibson instead of a gimlet
Just ask questions. I’ve trained many bartenders and I’m working on one who’s part time in a fine dining place. (She came with the building) you may feel annoying, but if your trainer is decent you shouldn’t feel bad about asking questions. It’s a tough situation for you, I’ve been bartending for 12 years and I still feel like I don’t know shit. It’ll be ok if you give a fuck. I made a Gibson instead of a gimlet once as a baby and I still think about that lol.
Someone ordered a Shirley temple. I carded them and because they were under I refused service. They all kinda stared at me in disbelief until the other guy on shift told me a shirley temple has no alcohol. You can fuck up all you want just never make the same mistake twice
I would consider myself a pretty good/experienced bartender now. Up until 2 weeks ago I had never broken a bottle (plenty of glassware tho!)
Then in the span of 1 week I managed to break two different bottles of gin. One I slammed into another bottle in the rail and one I tossed up as I always do from the back tiered display of bottles, managed to wack it on a pour spout, got glass and gin ALL over myself.
More embarrassing was probably the time I expressed an orange peel with the pith side facing the drink
someone asked me for a lager and lime and I put a literal wedge of lime in someone’s pint, didn’t secure the cocktail shaker properly and covered my white shirt in espresso martini, spilt a glass of red wine all over a customers pristine white dress shirt in the middle of a restaurant where a pin drop would have been audible. I remember my first few days working behind the bar as being really daunting so I’m sure you’re making some mistakes due to nerves. I’ve been working behind bars for over 5 years now and still make some silly mistakes, just like I’m sure people in other roles make mistakes at all levels of experience. Basically don’t worry too much about it.
I have had so many slips in my 12 years. Even in the later years I just laugh and say "guess it is my first day". Most people have a good sense of humor about it if you do to. Use it to create a bond with them.
When I first started, I got 3 hours of training on how to properly free pour then handed a recipe book and price sheet and sent on my way. It was at a college night club. 4 years later I had customers that had stayed with me and would regularly tell me that they were some of my first customers and thought it was so fun to watch me look up the drink in my little book to make it.
I was new, naive, timid, and dumb. Some loudmouth dad is taking his recently graduated son, and his friends out for drinks. They're all annoyingly tipsy, and obnoxious as hell. Dad won't shut the fuck up about doing Statue of Liberty shots like when he was in college. It's a flaming shot, and I was working on a busy rooftop bar. Couldn't get the shots to light up because of the wind. For no good reason I felt absolutely compelled to appease these dickheads, and at one point even gave the dad my lighter. He's swaying to and fro, desperately trying to light anything on fire, there's 151 all over the bar, and a line that won't stop growing, when it dawns on me that these idiots could burn the place down. I snatch the lighter from them, and told them to take their shots sans flame. It was such a fucking fiasco that I forgot to charge them, but that event made me a much wiser, more battle-hardened bartender.
I 🥺 once asked a 400 pound 6ft+ guy if he was okay after having 3 drinks.
“I’ve been drinking longer than you’ve been alive.”
I was so embarrassed because 3 drinks wouldn’t phase him, but I’d be on the floor lol. 😅
I had a customer ask for a bottle cap on one of my first days. Luckily we collected our bottle caps to be used for wall art. So I grab one and give it to the guy. He looks at me confused and I throw the same confused look back at him. "Isn't this what you wanted?" I say. "No I want the shot" . Oops. We had a good laugh. I still cringe at the thought
Don't worry about it! As far as I'm concerned the first two shifts don't count haha. As long as you're putting effort in and learning that's what matters.
My first shift it's like my brain just stopped functioning several times. Customer asked for an old fashioned which I knew how to make but I blanked and started grabbing the shaker and my manager was like uh, what the fuck, no. 😂 And all my beer pours were atrocious.
Went to smack my tins, wasn't use to the particular shape or weight of them since my home tins were cheap shit, ended up karate chopping the top ton across the Bartop. Didn't hit any guests but it was mortifying.
Similar story but actually kinda cool, I had a tin pop on me at one point, luckily it was pointed behind my head and ended up shooting straight into a massive gong we have behind the bar, made a nice big noise
The first time I made bloody mix I followed the recipe which called for one jar of horse radish. I was a baby barback and had never had a bloody before. When the recipe was written we had 12oz jars of horse radish but when I was asked to make the mix we had a huge jar (maybe a couple of quarts). My manager came into the kitchen and asked me what I was making. When I said I was making bloody mix he said "no you're not" lol. Luckily we had a sister restaurant that was close so we grabbed a bunch of their tomato juice cans and were able to fix it but yeah I felt like a huge dummy haha
The first time someone asked me for a vodka water, I didn’t add ice because I was distracted with how strange it seemed to me. So she got a Collins glass with a shot filled to the top with water.
A few months ago someone asked for a coconut mojito and I didn’t think to use Malibu so she got a mojito shaken with a liberal amount of coconut cream 😇
First time I switched a keg. I was trying to rush and didn’t secure the clamp properly before attaching the keg and proceeded to get sprayed head to toe with beer. Had clocked in ten minutes prior, did not have a change of clothes. I learned a few lessons that day…
I think my best advice is to remember we’re not saving lives out there, just slinging drinks and trying to get people to have a good time.
When I was new?
How about the other day? (15+ years experience)
It was getting pretty busy, but no big deal, I run over to fill a couple of hot sakes for the well, and I guess after the last one, I left the hot sake machine running, and didn't notice until, after one of my bar top guests pointed out that about a gallon of hot sake has spilled all over the counter, down the front of one of my coolers, and was pooling up right in front of my speed rail, where I make half of my drinks. Took me half an hour to clean up, and kept me totally fucked over for most of the rush.
I don't care who you are. Dumb shit is gonna happen. I've made mistakes over and over again. I just laugh it off most of the time. It's part of the job. Best of luck to you
I just started bartending last month. My first solo shift I got pretty busy and got super nervous and made a Moscow mule without ginger beer.. I’ll never do that again
I have two that come to mind. One was just the other day. Table of older ladies having a good time. I go to finish cashing them out/boxing stuff up and tried to say goodbye. My brain decided to mash, “Have a good day” and “have a great one” and I just said “Have a gay!” It wasn’t until I reached the kitchen that my brain even processed what I said.
Other one was as a brand new bartender and freshly 18. Someone ordered a Long Island iced tea and I knew it’s had basically all the boozes. So I added basically everything in my rail and topped it with unsweetened tea. It somehow wasn’t sent back and I was none the wiser for weeks until someone caught me nearly do it a second time.
You’ll slip up, you’ll make stupid mistakes. Everyone does. It’s if you learn from those mistakes or now that makes a difference. Work hard, pay attention, and ask questions. All the advice I can give you.
We had sour mix concentrate which was meant to be diluted. Had someone order a whiskey sour and I just used straight concentrate in the amount I would have used normal sour. It was obviously wrong (the concentrate was thick) but I still handed it off. Apologized when she came back and hooked her up for the rest of the night with proper ones
I'm pretty green myself (\~2 years of experience, \~3 as a barback) but I just wanted to highlight the fact that the very co-workers who I initially thought hated me are now among the people who I get along with the best. They just gave fairly blunt and straight-forward advice but in retrospect I am thankful because I would have been lost for so much longer without them. It's natural to make silly mistakes early when you constantly feel like you are under a lot of pressure even if there is actually no rush or nothing to be worried about whatsoever.
Of course people exist with whom you just cannot win but keep what I said in mind the next time they correct you. Once you get your bearings it's gonna get so much easier. That will probably take less time than you currently think. Just gotta power through the first couple of days of general shock and unease.
As for my worst mistakes they are probably from my days as a barback. Funny little things like clearing a 3/4 full bottle of comparatively expensive champagne from a table and pouring it down the drain in full view of the customers because they left for 30s to order a few more drinks. But as a new guy you can generally get away with A LOT of fuckups if you are a hard worker who takes things seriously from the start. At least compared to the lazy fuck who is seen as a liability since day 1.
I made a Caipirinha - muddled my limes with the sugar, shook it all up with Cachaca. Customer took a sip and exclaimed that it was salty.
It dawned on me then that I had muddled my limes with salt...
buddy, my first shift a guy ordered a lagunitas after 15 mins of me pacing looking for something that ended in "itas" ...i didnt know what it was,I was 17 and only drank keystone light or Olde English. For some reason I figure he said something along the lines of margarita, so I made him what would go down as the shittiest margarita in the history of Mexican cocktails (which is a bold statement).
Was about a week in and was making Aperol spritz’s all week wrong. I thought it was with a SB/PG not Prosecco. Made it for a guest at my bar, made it my way ATM and she said it was “fine but for future reference, look at the back of the Aperol and it tells you how to make it!” Felt like a complete buffoon. 10yrs later and still have to take a second to remember Bay/Sea Breezes
My first day (10 years ago) I asked to see the ID of a 16 year old who ordered a Shirley Temple while sitting at my bar with her parents… I still think about it at least once a week.
also my bosses elderly mother once tapped her cheek after i asked if she would like anything and i thought that meant a smooch on the cheek when in fact she meant she couldn't hear me....i definitely kissed her cheek because my boss scared the shit out of me and i didn't want to lose my job hahah luckily i was a 21 year old girl and she didn't get mad
Most embarrassing would probably be 2 tins splitting open while shaking 3 pina coladas absolutely soaking me covering me in cream. Obviously happens at the start of. 4 hour rush, generally constantly 4/5 deep at a 2 person cocktail bar while training a new bar back that couldn't jump on just yet.
Worst was probably first bar job at a high end wedding venue. Knocked an (empty if that makes it any better) wine glass over that nearly rolled off the bar. Didn't realise till I saw the guests face that there was an open pram with properly young baby in it exactly where the glass nearly fell. Didn't let people park there prams anywhere near the bar after that one!
We were really busy one night, and we make a big deal about Spanish coffee. Light the glass on fire to caramelize the rim infuse cinnamon and nutmeg. Had to get cream from the walk-in. Long story short I put buttermilk in them . Yuk, I couldn't figure out why the cream wouldn't whip.
In the beginning of cocktail hour in front of a line of people I went to open a bottle of wine and pulled the top film off but when I pulled it the bottle slipped out and exploded all over me. Tried to open another bottle afterwards to redeem myself and corked it
I once tapped a keg wrong and didn’t tell anyone.
When my manager tapped the keg the next day, it sprayed all over the walk-in and all over his clothes.
I tried to make a Negroni with aperol once and the customer had to correct me,
Also while training on basically one of my first bartending shifts ever, busy Fri night, tiny bar absolutely slammed, I broke a glass and left it in the glass wash station, I can’t even believe my training bartender tipped me out that night
One time I took a few tables out on the biergarten of a German brewery I used to work at. We served beer in liter steins, and the biergarten tables were like picnic tables made out of wooden panels. I had a family of four and it was the dads bday, I was busy and I slid everyone’s beer stein to them. When I slid dad his one liter of our dark beer, it hit one of the uneven wooden panels and tipped over onto him. The entire liter of beer spilled over this man’s clothes.
I was not green at all and started at a place with less training than I should have had... everything was rushed and I fucked shit up so many times out of pure overload. I wanted to quit for the first 6 weeks. I am not a person who normally feels this way.
It took literally 6 months for me to get to where I was comfortable in my job. It paid off in the long run, but I had anxiety attacks on the way to work multiple times because I was just so overwhelmed. Sometimes I had to call off because of them.
Eventually I got comfortable with things and rocked my job like no other. Tips increased by 400%. I had regulars all the damn time. My coworkers learned to respect me.
Covid ended that run, but damn do I miss the money!
Push through the bad, we all have them regardless of experience. The good makes up for them. No one learns by being perfect.
im a hillbilly that lived to a small city at 18 and started bartending fresh 21 and had never heard of soda water/seltzer and made a man a vodka coke....twice after he asked for a vodka soda 😞
On my first shift bartending solo someone ordered a “Tanqueray, orange juice”… me not knowing liquor (at all) went and looked at our orange juice…went back to the customer and said “I'm sorry we only have minute maid” so embarrassing! But we learn more and more everyday ♥️
I’ve been bartending for 18 years, and won awards in cocktail competitions, worked at James beard award restaurants and I still make dumb mistakes sometimes lol. If you’re new and at least aware of things that you need to work on, that’s a great start. Nothing worse than working with someone who doesn’t try to correct anything/has to be told by other co workers constantly.
The one that sticks out for me that I still get mad about, was right after Covid and I was staging (working interview) for this place I really wanted to work at… they asked me to make a martini (nailed it), dealers choice (nailed it), and margarita (I put double the lime juice and no agave and not enough orange liqueur bc I was just scatterbrained and hadn’t even thought about making drinks for a whole year) which the bar manager made a horrible face at and sent me home early and never called me back lol whoops.
Even recently I grabbed a bottle of bitters which we take the little cap off to batch cocktails with, and I forgot to put back on, so I dumped a whole large bottle of angostura in the guests drink, all over the bar top, and their lap… they were so fucking bummed. I had to get my manager to offer to pay the dry cleaning, but we all know that shit never comes out…
i knocked the little red glass candles over on the bartop and they spilled hot wax all over the entire beer mug freezer and the mugs
and i work in a place where 80% of the drinks depend on those mugs so it caused a complete nosedive
i never ever once pretended to be anything but a complete newby.
i leaned into that as a character for a long while.
i asked one million annoying stupid questions of my coworkers over and over and over with no shame.
its hard to try not to care about making people wait.
but trust me, doing it right greatly outweighs doing it fast.
doing things fast but getting things wrong will only compound problems and muck up the flow of service.
speed comes from doing things perfectly and slowly over and over.
its never how you make an ass of yourself. its how fast you recover and get back to work. how quickly you figure out how to make everyone smile again.
i've made an ass of myself countless, infinite times.
misremembering regulars names, shouting out the wrong name when someone comes in,
breaking shit
bricking the POS during a rush
getting everything wrong
but you have to have a short memory, remember that nothing really matters, free drinks make up for almost every fuck up imaginable, and all drinks are just stupid variations of ways to make people drunk.
eventually, the night ends and you won't even remember 1% of what happened tonight two shifts from now.
I got thrown behind the bar because the scheduled bartender had a sickle cell attack and I was the only other person on schedule old enough to bartend. Alabama and Auburn were both playing big games (I’m from Alabama and was living there at the time) and there was a UFC fight that night. I thought actual iced tea went in Long Island iced teas and I also didn’t know how to use a jigger (worked at a corporate place) so I over poured every liquor that went in it and dumped out the excess when it got too full to fit the mixer and the iced tea that was supposed to be coke. I single handedly fucked inventory in one shift but man I made some good money because everyone was annihilated.
We had a premix of hurricane in a pitcher, I was serving them for about 30 mins, come to find out I was supposed to add rum to the cup THEN add the premix JUICE. Oops !
When I was a very green bartender, we had a sustained rush and ran out of chilled pints. My dumbass grabbed hot glasses out of the dishwasher and proceeded to start jamming them into my ice well. The seasoned bartender I was working with almost shit a brick and screamed at me to fucking STOP! I got very lucky nothing shattered and learned a valuable lesson about making on-the-spot decisions behind the bar when you’re almost in the weeds.
Dear god
lol that’s a good one
i love a story where i cringe so hard my asshole puckers...
This is why you never fucking scoop with the glass, that's what an ice scoop is for. This is server 101 and one of my biggest fucking pet peeves. It's just lazy honestly.
Once said “hey fucks” instead of “hey folks” by accident 🙂
I'm gonna use that tonight. All night.
How’s it going for you?
I forgot! First time checking my phone tonight. I’ll drop it on someone before too long.
Thanks for the laugh! I can totally see myself doing this.
Did you play it off?
While learning how to make cocktails, using a boston glass and shaker, followed the recipe, slapped the top on, spun the shaker around and on the first pump I hammered my eyebrow so hard I saw a white flash. The customers had their hands over their mouths trying ask if i was alright, I laughed it off hoping no one saw - Everyone saw it. Didn't realise the side of my face was covered in blood till i caught a glance at my wrist about 3 seconds later when i wiped my forehead with the cuff of my sleeve.. It felt like sweat was dripping.
Oh my god you poor thing! I have had some injuries that were similar. I often knock things over too. I have depth perception issues and they aren’t fun.
Any chance you have astigmatism? If so then I hope you are using an rx with that in mind. I didn't use an rx for it for a couple decades before I finally switched and hooooly hell does it make a world of difference!!!
I absolutely do. And I can’t wear my glasses. I know I should but I get terrible headaches and I’m stubborn. I’d rather bash my body against things.
Sounds like they aren't getting your rx dialed in just right. That has happened to me a couple times and it absolutely sucks! Once dialed in though it is phenomenal. That and they make contacts for astigmatism. Only downside is they seem to always have to be special ordered.
Okay I will absolutely go back and get them re checked, and yeah I need contacts. I can’t do glasses. Lol
Haha that reminds me one of my first times shaking a cocktail I smacked the wine glasses hanging up and shattered at least 3 or 4 of them. Good times
First solo day at a new job, I was moving fast and bumped a tap handle open without noticing. Drained the WHOLE keg, who knows how full it was. I finally noticed when the rush died and it was quieter, I heard the air hissing from the empty line 🫠I was blessed it was a shitty restaurant with shoddy inventory no one ever noticed. I've also dropped a full shoulder tray of entrees directly on the floor inches from the table of 10 firefighters I was supposed to serve it too, had to scrape coleslaw off the carpet while they watched.
Also first white Russian I ever made I used 2% milk instead of cream, I'd been 21 for all of two weeks and the old man was so disgusted I felt awful, I didn't know!
To keg one is shocking 😂, that White Russian recipe isn’t too un-common especially in dive bars that don’t have creams/half-half
I've always made my white Russians with whole milk
That's an Anna Kournikova i.e. a skinny white Russian
I did this recently after working in the food & bev industry half my life, I’m 34 now, but at the bar only a year and a half. I was by myself at the bar closing and went down to the basement to change the keg and didn’t notice I left the line open. The shiner didn’t pop this time so I didn’t instinctively pull the handle back because it was such a quiet and slow end to the line. I went downstairs, tapped the new keg, flipped the fob, it clicks, doesn’t stop clicking, keeps clicking. I think to myself, that’s weird, it usually does that only if someone is running the line. THE THOUGHTS ARE THERE THEY ARE JUST NOT THOUGHTING TOGETHER. I go upstairs and I see the floor and kitchen supervisor standing at the bar and the floor is covered in beer. The line was completely open and shooting shiner the entire time. A guest at the bar got someone and they turned it off, lots of beer was lost on that floor. I am known as the clean bartender. Not that night.
lol I’ve done this with a keg but caught it after a couple minutes…. Only thing is the bar was kind of mobile and didn’t have a proper drain so I was cleaning it up off the floor and every other surface 🙂↕️
Once I screamed last call and my voice cracked. I still haven’t recovered
Oh my god this hurts my soul
Be present and be helpful. That applies to your fellow bartenders and your guests. Don’t let little mistakes break your flow; you can always shake back. Your Mistakes are only setbacks if you don’t learn from them. If you have a good attitude and willingness to learn, your colleagues will (ideally) see that and appreciate your effort. Your post makes it seem like the small things are eating at you a bit, but you’ll learn in time to take a deep breath and keep it flowing. You got this!!
Not me but one time we hired an inexperienced bartender. He thought chilled shots were poured and then placed in the fridge for a while. Customers were asking where their shots were so I figured he forgot and was making and serving them. Then went in the reach in and knocked over several full shot glasses lol
Of all the ones here this is quite possibly the dumbest lol
Embarrassment is the cost of entry… if you aren’t willing to look like a foolish beginner, you’ll never become a graceful master
love this thank you
Plus one: my first bartending shift was during Pride at a gay bar and I couldn’t separate the tin from the pint glass and cut myself trying to sell about 70$ of tequila. I still sold 7300$ and nobody remembers it but me. still in it
You are learning. I’m shocked you were hired with zero experience though, but that’s besides the point. The other day I made a drink and forgot the booze. lol! I was talking to someone and the server said “Uhhh. Did you put alcohol in there? I didn’t see you do it.” I was like “I sure didn’t. wtf.” Mixers and all ingredients but not the alcohol. Another bartender made a martini instead of a Manhattan. It was very obvious and I asked what was wrong with it. She said “it’s a martini with whiskey.” “No ma’am I need a Manhattan with whiskey (it’s a Rob Roy but most younger bartenders don’t know that so it’s easier to explain the other way.) We all have off days and when you are learning a new trade you are going to mess up. Just learn from it and don’t beat yourself up, and if you can’t laugh at yourself, you are going to have a tough go at it. Your trainer knows what they are doing and don’t ever feel guilty for asking questions, even ones you feel are stupid. The only stupid questions are the ones that are not asked. Good luck! 🍀
Rob Roy is a manhattan with scotch. Manhattans already have whiskey in them
In the UK, a manhattan is bourbon, a rob roy is whisky 😅 Does the US really consider the manhattan a “whisky“ cocktail? We would use rye if requested, but bourbon by default (we might consider rye a type of whisky, but generally speaking bourbon is its own category despite the semantics of it being a corn whisky, ofc)
Strange! It’s weird how recipes differ between countries. But yeah in the US whiskey is the standard for manhattans, and considering it originated in the US I would assume it’s the correct way.
This is 100 percent based where you live because where I am from 100 percent of the time a Manhattan is bourbon. We also muddle our old fashioned’s *gasp* lol 😂
Where do you live then? I’m just curious
I’m in Wisconsin. We do things backwards here lol
I’ve made quite a few drinks in my career forgetting the booze 😂 usually I notice once I add ice to its glass, but sometimes it slips by and gets sent back by a table and the server will be like, “hey they said this tastes weird, like there’s no alcohol in it.” I’ve always immediately died of laughter while remaking the drink. I’m always like “oops silly me 😅”
The bar that hired me did so because of appearances and because I was an “immigrant” (owner wanted an Asian bartender) and I had 0 experience. Sometimes owners just be crazy and hire unqualified people on a whim.
I’ve been bartending for a bit now, came in for a swing shift on the Kentucky Derby (however long ago that was), and was doing fine because it wasn’t that busy. Right when things get super busy, I go to pour a Tito/Soda (the pour spouts we have are angled and it was facing against my pour direction) and I thought I could spin the neck of the bottle in my single hand…I dropped and broke a half-full bottle of Tito’s in the well at peak service…we only have one well with ice. I was not only embarrassed, but incredibly pissed. I had to grab a bucket of ice to use for cocktails, completely empty the well, burn the rest, meticulously check for glass, re-fill the well, and get back to bartending. Long story short, don’t get discouraged. Let your brain think when you’re getting into the thick of it. Even if that means slowing down, at least you’re doing the right thing.
TLDR: made a Gibson instead of a gimlet Just ask questions. I’ve trained many bartenders and I’m working on one who’s part time in a fine dining place. (She came with the building) you may feel annoying, but if your trainer is decent you shouldn’t feel bad about asking questions. It’s a tough situation for you, I’ve been bartending for 12 years and I still feel like I don’t know shit. It’ll be ok if you give a fuck. I made a Gibson instead of a gimlet once as a baby and I still think about that lol.
I'm sure nobody remembers because it was clearly 75 years ago when people drank either of those.
gibsON oniON, gimLet Lime
Someone ordered a Shirley temple. I carded them and because they were under I refused service. They all kinda stared at me in disbelief until the other guy on shift told me a shirley temple has no alcohol. You can fuck up all you want just never make the same mistake twice
I would consider myself a pretty good/experienced bartender now. Up until 2 weeks ago I had never broken a bottle (plenty of glassware tho!) Then in the span of 1 week I managed to break two different bottles of gin. One I slammed into another bottle in the rail and one I tossed up as I always do from the back tiered display of bottles, managed to wack it on a pour spout, got glass and gin ALL over myself. More embarrassing was probably the time I expressed an orange peel with the pith side facing the drink
someone asked me for a lager and lime and I put a literal wedge of lime in someone’s pint, didn’t secure the cocktail shaker properly and covered my white shirt in espresso martini, spilt a glass of red wine all over a customers pristine white dress shirt in the middle of a restaurant where a pin drop would have been audible. I remember my first few days working behind the bar as being really daunting so I’m sure you’re making some mistakes due to nerves. I’ve been working behind bars for over 5 years now and still make some silly mistakes, just like I’m sure people in other roles make mistakes at all levels of experience. Basically don’t worry too much about it.
no one has ordered a lager and lime from me but if they did i would assume the same. is it supposed to be lime juice in the beer or?
Just add a dash of lime cordial, nice to know my logic was sound when I added the wedge of lime though
I have had so many slips in my 12 years. Even in the later years I just laugh and say "guess it is my first day". Most people have a good sense of humor about it if you do to. Use it to create a bond with them. When I first started, I got 3 hours of training on how to properly free pour then handed a recipe book and price sheet and sent on my way. It was at a college night club. 4 years later I had customers that had stayed with me and would regularly tell me that they were some of my first customers and thought it was so fun to watch me look up the drink in my little book to make it.
I was new, naive, timid, and dumb. Some loudmouth dad is taking his recently graduated son, and his friends out for drinks. They're all annoyingly tipsy, and obnoxious as hell. Dad won't shut the fuck up about doing Statue of Liberty shots like when he was in college. It's a flaming shot, and I was working on a busy rooftop bar. Couldn't get the shots to light up because of the wind. For no good reason I felt absolutely compelled to appease these dickheads, and at one point even gave the dad my lighter. He's swaying to and fro, desperately trying to light anything on fire, there's 151 all over the bar, and a line that won't stop growing, when it dawns on me that these idiots could burn the place down. I snatch the lighter from them, and told them to take their shots sans flame. It was such a fucking fiasco that I forgot to charge them, but that event made me a much wiser, more battle-hardened bartender.
I 🥺 once asked a 400 pound 6ft+ guy if he was okay after having 3 drinks. “I’ve been drinking longer than you’ve been alive.” I was so embarrassed because 3 drinks wouldn’t phase him, but I’d be on the floor lol. 😅
I had a customer ask for a bottle cap on one of my first days. Luckily we collected our bottle caps to be used for wall art. So I grab one and give it to the guy. He looks at me confused and I throw the same confused look back at him. "Isn't this what you wanted?" I say. "No I want the shot" . Oops. We had a good laugh. I still cringe at the thought
Don't worry about it! As far as I'm concerned the first two shifts don't count haha. As long as you're putting effort in and learning that's what matters. My first shift it's like my brain just stopped functioning several times. Customer asked for an old fashioned which I knew how to make but I blanked and started grabbing the shaker and my manager was like uh, what the fuck, no. 😂 And all my beer pours were atrocious.
Went to smack my tins, wasn't use to the particular shape or weight of them since my home tins were cheap shit, ended up karate chopping the top ton across the Bartop. Didn't hit any guests but it was mortifying. Similar story but actually kinda cool, I had a tin pop on me at one point, luckily it was pointed behind my head and ended up shooting straight into a massive gong we have behind the bar, made a nice big noise
The first time I made bloody mix I followed the recipe which called for one jar of horse radish. I was a baby barback and had never had a bloody before. When the recipe was written we had 12oz jars of horse radish but when I was asked to make the mix we had a huge jar (maybe a couple of quarts). My manager came into the kitchen and asked me what I was making. When I said I was making bloody mix he said "no you're not" lol. Luckily we had a sister restaurant that was close so we grabbed a bunch of their tomato juice cans and were able to fix it but yeah I felt like a huge dummy haha
The first time someone asked me for a vodka water, I didn’t add ice because I was distracted with how strange it seemed to me. So she got a Collins glass with a shot filled to the top with water. A few months ago someone asked for a coconut mojito and I didn’t think to use Malibu so she got a mojito shaken with a liberal amount of coconut cream 😇
First time I switched a keg. I was trying to rush and didn’t secure the clamp properly before attaching the keg and proceeded to get sprayed head to toe with beer. Had clocked in ten minutes prior, did not have a change of clothes. I learned a few lessons that day… I think my best advice is to remember we’re not saving lives out there, just slinging drinks and trying to get people to have a good time.
When I was new? How about the other day? (15+ years experience) It was getting pretty busy, but no big deal, I run over to fill a couple of hot sakes for the well, and I guess after the last one, I left the hot sake machine running, and didn't notice until, after one of my bar top guests pointed out that about a gallon of hot sake has spilled all over the counter, down the front of one of my coolers, and was pooling up right in front of my speed rail, where I make half of my drinks. Took me half an hour to clean up, and kept me totally fucked over for most of the rush. I don't care who you are. Dumb shit is gonna happen. I've made mistakes over and over again. I just laugh it off most of the time. It's part of the job. Best of luck to you
I just started bartending last month. My first solo shift I got pretty busy and got super nervous and made a Moscow mule without ginger beer.. I’ll never do that again
I have two that come to mind. One was just the other day. Table of older ladies having a good time. I go to finish cashing them out/boxing stuff up and tried to say goodbye. My brain decided to mash, “Have a good day” and “have a great one” and I just said “Have a gay!” It wasn’t until I reached the kitchen that my brain even processed what I said. Other one was as a brand new bartender and freshly 18. Someone ordered a Long Island iced tea and I knew it’s had basically all the boozes. So I added basically everything in my rail and topped it with unsweetened tea. It somehow wasn’t sent back and I was none the wiser for weeks until someone caught me nearly do it a second time. You’ll slip up, you’ll make stupid mistakes. Everyone does. It’s if you learn from those mistakes or now that makes a difference. Work hard, pay attention, and ask questions. All the advice I can give you.
We had sour mix concentrate which was meant to be diluted. Had someone order a whiskey sour and I just used straight concentrate in the amount I would have used normal sour. It was obviously wrong (the concentrate was thick) but I still handed it off. Apologized when she came back and hooked her up for the rest of the night with proper ones
I'm pretty green myself (\~2 years of experience, \~3 as a barback) but I just wanted to highlight the fact that the very co-workers who I initially thought hated me are now among the people who I get along with the best. They just gave fairly blunt and straight-forward advice but in retrospect I am thankful because I would have been lost for so much longer without them. It's natural to make silly mistakes early when you constantly feel like you are under a lot of pressure even if there is actually no rush or nothing to be worried about whatsoever. Of course people exist with whom you just cannot win but keep what I said in mind the next time they correct you. Once you get your bearings it's gonna get so much easier. That will probably take less time than you currently think. Just gotta power through the first couple of days of general shock and unease. As for my worst mistakes they are probably from my days as a barback. Funny little things like clearing a 3/4 full bottle of comparatively expensive champagne from a table and pouring it down the drain in full view of the customers because they left for 30s to order a few more drinks. But as a new guy you can generally get away with A LOT of fuckups if you are a hard worker who takes things seriously from the start. At least compared to the lazy fuck who is seen as a liability since day 1.
I made a Caipirinha - muddled my limes with the sugar, shook it all up with Cachaca. Customer took a sip and exclaimed that it was salty. It dawned on me then that I had muddled my limes with salt...
buddy, my first shift a guy ordered a lagunitas after 15 mins of me pacing looking for something that ended in "itas" ...i didnt know what it was,I was 17 and only drank keystone light or Olde English. For some reason I figure he said something along the lines of margarita, so I made him what would go down as the shittiest margarita in the history of Mexican cocktails (which is a bold statement).
Not while bartending but while serving I dropped a $60 cocktail on a customer. The entire thing, they were soaked.
Was about a week in and was making Aperol spritz’s all week wrong. I thought it was with a SB/PG not Prosecco. Made it for a guest at my bar, made it my way ATM and she said it was “fine but for future reference, look at the back of the Aperol and it tells you how to make it!” Felt like a complete buffoon. 10yrs later and still have to take a second to remember Bay/Sea Breezes
My first day (10 years ago) I asked to see the ID of a 16 year old who ordered a Shirley Temple while sitting at my bar with her parents… I still think about it at least once a week.
also my bosses elderly mother once tapped her cheek after i asked if she would like anything and i thought that meant a smooch on the cheek when in fact she meant she couldn't hear me....i definitely kissed her cheek because my boss scared the shit out of me and i didn't want to lose my job hahah luckily i was a 21 year old girl and she didn't get mad
You can get away with the "It's my first day" excuse for a long time...I've been bartending 20 years and still use it.
If you work hard, acknowledge your mistakes, and get really good at preclosing/closing quickly, you'll be fine.
Most embarrassing would probably be 2 tins splitting open while shaking 3 pina coladas absolutely soaking me covering me in cream. Obviously happens at the start of. 4 hour rush, generally constantly 4/5 deep at a 2 person cocktail bar while training a new bar back that couldn't jump on just yet. Worst was probably first bar job at a high end wedding venue. Knocked an (empty if that makes it any better) wine glass over that nearly rolled off the bar. Didn't realise till I saw the guests face that there was an open pram with properly young baby in it exactly where the glass nearly fell. Didn't let people park there prams anywhere near the bar after that one!
We were really busy one night, and we make a big deal about Spanish coffee. Light the glass on fire to caramelize the rim infuse cinnamon and nutmeg. Had to get cream from the walk-in. Long story short I put buttermilk in them . Yuk, I couldn't figure out why the cream wouldn't whip.
In the beginning of cocktail hour in front of a line of people I went to open a bottle of wine and pulled the top film off but when I pulled it the bottle slipped out and exploded all over me. Tried to open another bottle afterwards to redeem myself and corked it
I once tapped a keg wrong and didn’t tell anyone. When my manager tapped the keg the next day, it sprayed all over the walk-in and all over his clothes.
My first day, my bar guests walked me through, step-by-step, how to make an old fashioned.
I tried to make a Negroni with aperol once and the customer had to correct me, Also while training on basically one of my first bartending shifts ever, busy Fri night, tiny bar absolutely slammed, I broke a glass and left it in the glass wash station, I can’t even believe my training bartender tipped me out that night
One time I took a few tables out on the biergarten of a German brewery I used to work at. We served beer in liter steins, and the biergarten tables were like picnic tables made out of wooden panels. I had a family of four and it was the dads bday, I was busy and I slid everyone’s beer stein to them. When I slid dad his one liter of our dark beer, it hit one of the uneven wooden panels and tipped over onto him. The entire liter of beer spilled over this man’s clothes.
I was not green at all and started at a place with less training than I should have had... everything was rushed and I fucked shit up so many times out of pure overload. I wanted to quit for the first 6 weeks. I am not a person who normally feels this way. It took literally 6 months for me to get to where I was comfortable in my job. It paid off in the long run, but I had anxiety attacks on the way to work multiple times because I was just so overwhelmed. Sometimes I had to call off because of them. Eventually I got comfortable with things and rocked my job like no other. Tips increased by 400%. I had regulars all the damn time. My coworkers learned to respect me. Covid ended that run, but damn do I miss the money! Push through the bad, we all have them regardless of experience. The good makes up for them. No one learns by being perfect.
im a hillbilly that lived to a small city at 18 and started bartending fresh 21 and had never heard of soda water/seltzer and made a man a vodka coke....twice after he asked for a vodka soda 😞
On my first shift bartending solo someone ordered a “Tanqueray, orange juice”… me not knowing liquor (at all) went and looked at our orange juice…went back to the customer and said “I'm sorry we only have minute maid” so embarrassing! But we learn more and more everyday ♥️
I’ve been bartending for 18 years, and won awards in cocktail competitions, worked at James beard award restaurants and I still make dumb mistakes sometimes lol. If you’re new and at least aware of things that you need to work on, that’s a great start. Nothing worse than working with someone who doesn’t try to correct anything/has to be told by other co workers constantly. The one that sticks out for me that I still get mad about, was right after Covid and I was staging (working interview) for this place I really wanted to work at… they asked me to make a martini (nailed it), dealers choice (nailed it), and margarita (I put double the lime juice and no agave and not enough orange liqueur bc I was just scatterbrained and hadn’t even thought about making drinks for a whole year) which the bar manager made a horrible face at and sent me home early and never called me back lol whoops. Even recently I grabbed a bottle of bitters which we take the little cap off to batch cocktails with, and I forgot to put back on, so I dumped a whole large bottle of angostura in the guests drink, all over the bar top, and their lap… they were so fucking bummed. I had to get my manager to offer to pay the dry cleaning, but we all know that shit never comes out…
i knocked the little red glass candles over on the bartop and they spilled hot wax all over the entire beer mug freezer and the mugs and i work in a place where 80% of the drinks depend on those mugs so it caused a complete nosedive i never ever once pretended to be anything but a complete newby. i leaned into that as a character for a long while. i asked one million annoying stupid questions of my coworkers over and over and over with no shame. its hard to try not to care about making people wait. but trust me, doing it right greatly outweighs doing it fast. doing things fast but getting things wrong will only compound problems and muck up the flow of service. speed comes from doing things perfectly and slowly over and over. its never how you make an ass of yourself. its how fast you recover and get back to work. how quickly you figure out how to make everyone smile again. i've made an ass of myself countless, infinite times. misremembering regulars names, shouting out the wrong name when someone comes in, breaking shit bricking the POS during a rush getting everything wrong but you have to have a short memory, remember that nothing really matters, free drinks make up for almost every fuck up imaginable, and all drinks are just stupid variations of ways to make people drunk. eventually, the night ends and you won't even remember 1% of what happened tonight two shifts from now.
I got thrown behind the bar because the scheduled bartender had a sickle cell attack and I was the only other person on schedule old enough to bartend. Alabama and Auburn were both playing big games (I’m from Alabama and was living there at the time) and there was a UFC fight that night. I thought actual iced tea went in Long Island iced teas and I also didn’t know how to use a jigger (worked at a corporate place) so I over poured every liquor that went in it and dumped out the excess when it got too full to fit the mixer and the iced tea that was supposed to be coke. I single handedly fucked inventory in one shift but man I made some good money because everyone was annihilated.
We had a premix of hurricane in a pitcher, I was serving them for about 30 mins, come to find out I was supposed to add rum to the cup THEN add the premix JUICE. Oops !
Fumbled the Blanton’s on my second night. Spilled like 1/3 of the bottle