I’m a bartender at a restaurant. My job is making drinks for my guests and also all the guests in the restaurant. I feel like I’m usually pretty quick to get drinks out, however servers will LITERALLY hover at bar well after like 30 seconds. It’s like they race to a computer, ring in their drinks and practically sprint to the bar well. I acknowledge them and put their ticket down and say “I got you, give me a sec.” Also just fyi I only say this when I’m legitimately busy. I will say those exact words politely as possible and it always follows up with a frantic “IT’S JUST A MILLER LITE.” And I’m always thinking, okay like I said “I GOT YOU, GIVE ME A SEC.” I guess I’m just venting. But, I really find it highly annoying that servers can’t wait a WHOLE 2 minutes for their drink. They all act like there is man behind them with a knife trying to stab them if he doesn’t get his sweet lemoncella margarita in a span of 30 seconds. They all act like their guests set a timer from when they ordered their drink and when they receive it. Meanwhile tables will go un greeted for 10 minutes. Also they are so impatient to the point where they can’t even wait for their WHOLE drink ticket to be made. Imagine taking 4 separate trips to your table for four beers because you can’t just wait for me to pour all 4. You’re literally wasting more time running back and forth instead of just being patient and consolidating your steps! Servers rarely ask if I need anything and will literally hound me just for a beer the minute I leave the bar while I’m trying to run an appetizer to my guests that’s been sitting in the window for 10 minutes because the servers have NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN impatiently wait for their drink when there are OTHER things they could be doing. It’s so bad to point that my co worker literally halted me as I was INCHES away from the bathroom because she needed a drink. And she followed up with “sorry I saw you were about to go, I feel bad.” BITCH you waved me down like you were lost at sea from ACROSS the restaurant. Quit acting like you’re actually “sorry.” Okay that’s it for me. I really just wanted to vent.
Omg the servers at my job are the most impatient people you’ll ever meet
Mediummy favorite request from bar is “go find the bar backs” when I knew damn well they’re smoking doobies out back bc I was just with them lmao.
Thissssss. "what can I do for you?" = my drink is there when I get back.
exactly. the bartender where I work will always put dirty dishes he has collected like on the edge of the bar if he has to stop and make drinks. So if I go to see if a drink is ready I’ll always grab them and bring them to dish real quick and come back. Or I’ll ask if he needs any salads or stuff for his customers. Sometimes there will be like 2 or 3 other servers just standing there waiting for drinks and it blows my mind they don’t even think to ask if he needs anything when he is the only bartender for the entire restaurant
For real. The bartenders always made my drinks first, but I came with a bucket of ice
Time to slice some limes 🍋🟩
get me some ice for the well
Time to drain the water in the coffee maker and put in fresh (it’s plumbed into the wall so the water just keeps running 😂)
We did this to new servers a couple times. I remember one girl doing it well over 5 minutes without realizing that it was plumbed in.
Should be day one advice. Have a good relationship with the bar and kitchen. Each hand washes the other.
If anything when I go to the bar to pick up a drink for a table, I will just help the bartender tidy up his place or restock some wine. At least do something don't just stand there waiting, it's annoying when you're actually doing work and just having someone standing there.
Bartenders make money on every drink the servers sell. Do the servers you ask to pick up your section make money from your section too?
Edit: Kinda funny a bunch of salty bartenders in the server subreddit are pissed that they expect the server to work for free for them, maybe at a loss, but aren't grateful for money they make them.
Edit: Kinda funny a bunch of salty bartenders in the server subreddit are pissed that they expect the server to work for free for them, maybe at a loss, but aren't grateful for money they make them.
Pretty cowardly to respond in an edit I reckon.
Lol. Dude just referred to team work as "free labor".
Nah I’m responding. You disagree?
I do. Bartenders are a type of server. Don't be a limpet.
Damn you want us to work for you for free. Wow sad.
You're not even a server are you?
In the long run yes. The restaurant as a whole is a team effort. If we all work together to ensure the restaurant runs smoothly it will generate more business and repeat customers. The more business a restaurant receives the more money everyone makes.
salty bartender making money off free labor. you're worse than these business owners. repeat customers doesn't mean the exploitation of labor still isn't real.
You gonna tip them out on that table they clean for you?
I don't see why that's relevant. It depends on the setup of each individual place.
If you have time to lean, you have time to clean. If they have time to stand there, looking at you they have time to do something else. Clean their own tables, clean my tables, get ice, run food, whatever really. Bring the dishwasher a glass of cold water.
As long as it's useful, instead of standing there waiting for their 3 beers, two old fashioned, one mojito and whatever else, 2 seconds after the order was sent in. If it's one beer during a slow period it's a different thing.
If they help you out, you have more time to help them out. I'm not saying that they should not prioritize their own work. The worst part of the tipping culture is that some only give a fuck if they make money on it. What about helping a colleague out, just to be nice.
What about having enough experience and understanding of your own job, to know that your order will take longer, and that the question and lack of understanding is just ignorant, inexperienced or just stupid. It's the same energy as asking if your well done steak is ready 5 min in. It's not, never has, and never will be ready 5 min in.
That word is shit and you should know better than to use it.
Better?
Yes. Thank you.
Maybe not in the US, but here in Australia, yes. We're a team. More times than I can count I've jumped behind a swamped bar to help, and you fucking bet I've had bartender's run my drinks and take orders in return. Wtf is this everyone for themselves nonsense these days.
Idk too many times I’ve sent the drink order in, done multiple other tasks, walk up to the bar only for my drinks not to be ready. And then it’s only when they see me walk up , they realize I need drinks
The bartender at my job will literally be doing nothing at all and will watch me walk up to the bar, get behind the bar and make my own drinks, pour my own wine, beer, grab my own bottled water, etc. then has the audacity to get upset that he’s never over-tipped at the end of the night. Like no, sir- if you’re not doing your job, you’re getting exactly what’s required of us. I work at a corporate restaurant and they’ve even come down and told him he’s not doing enough. 💀
We had a bartender that would sit on her phone or stare at the TV the whole shift and would only realize there was a ticket when you asked/told her about it. She blamed it on her ADHD.
The next bartender couldn’t talk and make drinks at the same time. So he’d be chatting with the guests at the bar, while HOLDING the chit, but not actually make the drinks.
Our current bartender is great at multitasking, makes the drinks quickly, and is super chill…but messes up the glasses and garnishes a lot. I’ll take it though, because at least my drinks are getting made
🤦♀️ I’m the back up bartender, have ADHD and constantly have “ants in my pants”. But I’d still make the drinks, talk to the bar guests and would only take longer than 5 minutes on a chit if I was BACKED up. I loathe bartending as I tend to make more as a server. But I still do things the way any decent bartender would. I don’t understand how some bartenders will use any excuse to not do their job.
That is so freaking frustrating
Right?????? And then when I call him out on it or ask him what I tip him out for he’ll just be like “you’ve always got something to complain about” Well if you do your job, I wouldn’t be complaining!
You should take his job. You're already doing the work. Now get paid for it.
If the bartenders made as much or more than servers at my job, I wouldn’t hesitate.
In my experience that's pretty unusual. Do you know why they don't make as much?
They don’t have a section to themselves and rely on server tip outs. Though hourly they make more.
But they have a bartop right?
Yes, but typically no guests want to dine in at the bartop. And for some reason if we have a busy reservation day, they don’t even offer guests to sit there so the bartender can focus on drinks.
It sounds like there's an opportunity there for a good bartender who can not only keep up with drink tickets but service guests well enough to gain regulars at the bar.
For sure. But my manager is the worst and doesn’t believe that the backup bartender (me) can stay on top of tickets while also taking guests at the bar. He’s got a personal problem with me even though I have always been one of his top performing servers (he prints out monthly numbers, check/guest averages, etc and I am always top 3). Though keep in mind the bartender called out on our busiest day of the year (NYE) and not only were chits finished within 10 minutes (for larger parties) but I also nonstop had a full bar and not one complain on my performance from guests. At least when I’m a server, I’m not depending on tip outs like I do when he had me bartending.
And those are shit bartenders. They will never make more than chump change. You should try to take their job.
Servers are straight up no longer allowed to hover around the bar when I'm on and are not allowed into the bar without permission. Literally everyone thinks bartending is easy until they actually do it. I often look at it like the flip side of the Kitchen. I have my own cheque machine, I have to manage time, I have to think ahead and I have my own pass. You wouldn't go into the kitchen and demand the chef make your food faster? They don't do it to me.
- You wouldn't go into the kitchen and demand the chef make your food faster?
Umm, yes, yes they do. All day, every day.
I was a brunch bartender for yeeeeears and this one dipshit server always thought she could do my job better than me; hovered and talked shit about ticket times constantly. The manager actually let her take over the bar after my shift one day and she came scrambling to the back while I was doing my count to ask me how to make a Pendleton Neat. She didn't know Pendleton was a type of very popular whiskey and that "neat" just means "in a fucking glass." Unreal incompetence.
personally I find the competent people ask questions when they don't know something. the incompetent ones have to ask multiple times and never seem to learn.
Yes, but he’s talking about someone who thinks she’s more competent than regular bartender and then outs herself as totally clueless by asking dumb questions
Our manager makes everyone work at least one bar shift so that they understand how difficult it actually is to make a million different drinks quickly and correctly, while also serving bar guests.
There was one server who would constantly complain about her drinks not getting made fast enough - once she rang in four different types of blended cocktails, then complained that they took more than 1 minute…we have one blender. Or she would ring in something incorrectly, tell the bartender after they’d already made it, then get mad at them for not instantaneously producing the correct drink. Anyway, the manager scheduled her for a bar shift, but she didn’t know any of the drink recipes or how to make them (e.g. shaken vs. Blended, etc.), got insanely backed up, and had a complete meltdown within an hour. She never complained after that.
Bluntly this seems like a shitty way to run things? how many customers suffered just to prove a point to that one server? You stuck a green thumb behind the bar knowing it would get busy and overwhelming and then held her to the same standard as a competent and more importantly trained bartender who works as one most or every shift and then were "hahaha"/shock pikachu'd that she melted down? like no shit that was going to be the outcome? stick ANYONE without experience in a job that needs real hands-on to do well and the outcome will be the same.
She wasn’t there alone. The manager was with her and it was one of our slower nights. We only have a scheduled bartender on Friday and Saturday, so the manager wouldn’t chuck someone new on the bar for one of those busy nights and take away the bartender’s shifts.
I hate chit chasers. I serve and bartend at my work, and when I’m on the floor I just bring water to my tables and politely say the bartender is doing their thing and it might take a minute. Especially for more complicated drinks. When I bartend I do my best to be speedy but if I’m getting killed with drinks and also have tables in the bar sometimes it’s going to be a minute. That being said I have a bartender at my work who loves to ignore her chits and only focus on her tables and she will gladly take 20 minutes to get drinks out—that I think is ridiculous. Sometimes I just go back and do it myself and throw the chit away and she doesn’t notice lol
"is this ready yet chef?" Do you see a fucking ticket? No so fucking take the other item to the table you're trying to avoid before that shit is cold. We have the same issues in the kitchen.
I hate having to ask the cooks at my place about shit, We have an open air kitchen that's directly next to busser+service station and the registers so I have to ask our cooks about tickets while the customer glares a hole in the back of my head.
I’ve noticed this too. The conclusion I’ve come to is that managers/training managers aren’t teaching timing anymore. It’s starts at the host station and has an impact on everything all the way to BOH. It really screws everyone including the customer over. No one times things out no properly and they weren’t taught or expected to. A good server knows how to time when they put tickets in to prevent a back log, and they know how to keep the guest entertained if they have to wait 5 minutes. Also like you said, everyone’s drinks and meals should come out at the SAME time. This used to be a really big deal. In some restaurants I’ve worked it in it was totally unacceptable to run one thing at a time, it’s really unprofessional and bad etiquette. But no one is getting taught these things now and everyone is understaffed or lacking experienced staff. And for sure guests notice. Servers always complain about how rude guests are now (and they are) but service sucks most of the time because everyone is busy complaining and no one seems professional.
I worked at Red Robin, CEO banned 'false waits' -- aka they banned timing. no more staggering tables to ensure good service. if there's a table open when they walk through the door, seat them. so many unhappy guests
I think a lot of big corporate chains are making bad decisions because of money. The answer is have less locations and a smaller menu. Not screw your employees and your guests. But they aren’t capable of thinking long term and just do stupid things out of desperation. It’s super similar to shopping malls. They over reached and now they’re screwed.
i for one will not be sad when red robin has to close tons of stores over mismanagement from the top. I watched them thin out their customer base in realtime over this move.
I don’t doubt it. I’m old and live in the Seattle area, which is home base for them. I remember when they branched out of the PNW because they were so hot here in like 1995-2005. I visited a location in Indiana once. The menu is the same but I knew it was doomed. It was much lower quality and felt contrived like a bad replica. They ruined their quality and their image. Not the original locations around here are equally as unpopular because they tarnished their image so badly.
God, talk to me more about timing! Like, your table hasn't even tasted their app and you're sending the entrees back. What? Hosts double and triple seating one server while another has only one table. Servers ringing in one drink at a time on the second round instead of asking the entire table if they want their beverages refreshed. Overwhelming kitchen and bar and themselves. The worst is me training them over and over to read the table and they just do whatever anyway.
I try not to make it all about Covid or generational differences but I swear SOMETHING happened in the last 5 years and people are so self focused and whiny. I used to have a strong “lead by example “ mentality when training. But 4/5 new hires that need to be trained come in ready to talk about how unfair and difficult everything is. Not every table is a Karen. When servers whine it’s like a disease that spreads through the whole house. And anytime they’re asked to follow any type of protocol they act like “my rights are being taken away”. It’s like “dude, you’re a server. If you wanna be a civil rights activist go to law school or join the ACLU. Not everyone is out to get you “ So yeah. Sometimes we’re trying to teach them about timing and they’re already thinking about how unfair it is that someone is telling them what to do. I despise agism and generation hating, so I refuse to blame any one type of person. I just know that people have changed a lot.
Oh god, there's a server at my place who swears half the regulars are nasty and rude people. She'll come up to me and say good luck. I guess her well wishes work because I've never had a problem with any of the people she claims are bad. And it's unfortunate, but she is only 18 years old, and it has me raising an eyebrow quite often.
My favorite is when the GM comes over while we have slow periods and asks us to do something. She'll mutter under her breath "Why don't you do it?" as he walks away. Like, girl. Please. He asked you to wipe down a table what the hell.
Also had another young server say she wasn't going to do something menial that was asked of all of us (I think it was moving the dining chairs off the floor so it could be cleaned) because women get paid less than men. I asked if she was making $3.94/hr because that's what we're all paid. Her response was to tell me that the gender gap is a real thing and until it's not, she wouldn't be helping. Ummmmm, okay? I don't see how this little protest helps women in completely seperate fields obtain better pay, but go on.
So many new servers seem like they've completely forgotten what the word "serve" means. They actively hate their guests and demand that they get tipped 20% or better when they basically provide crap service. You don't get 20% when you only give a 10% effort.
I'm ranting, but you've hit the mark with your response.
There’s a big difference between hard work and being mistreated. I can not understand what these people expect. Everywhere you go in society it’s like “go to college so you can get a specific type of job”. How do people walk in, do half assed work and then not understand why there has to be a person in charge for things to work right. And if you want a job where you don’t sling food, roll silverware or wipe tables you’re gonna have to try harder and do what it takes. I didn’t finish college. That was my choice. So I knew I would have to bust my ass for a long time to get anywhere. And I didn’t get to where I am now by walking in and complaining, always thinking things are someone else’s responsibility, or expecting to get everything I wanted. I guess not everyone aims to be a strong person.
Are you me? Lol! I also didn't finish college because I burnt myself out serving full time and attending classes full time. There's moments where I'm feeling particularly lazy and sluggish, but I'm still doing what's expected of me. Albeit sluggish, but my shit is finished. And occasionally the occurrence rises, but I'll pay coworkers to do some of my work if it's a particularly bad day. IDK, maybe because I'm a millennial and the work hard mentality was ingrained in me at a young age, but there seems to be a large gap between younger and older generations.
There should be room for empathy. Such as when a server crammed all night for their test. Like, go on, get out. I got you. However, if it's a daily occurrence, eff off. Go do your work. It'll take you 20 minutes tops. And there are some servers who just don't understand that and complain after pulling in $200+ on a five hour shift. I have to explain to some how other jobs work because they have no idea how easy they have it with serving. Go work at a grocery store or factory or something that will only pay you $12/hr if that. No, you've only been here a month, you're not getting a raise. Sorry, your out time is not set in stone. You knew this when you got hired. If you want a lot of money for laying around doing almost nothing, maybe try only fans?
lol…only fans. I swear that’s the stuff that really does make society lazy. I don’t want to do what anyone asks me to so I’ll just buy a webcam instead. So dumb. Some things have to be earned one way or another. Not this crazy new mentality that “I have a right to be given money by my employer, and it better be enough to get my nails done, have a nice place to live, and at least 5 Stanley cups. And how dare anyone expect me to close” wtf? I started out with a host job, eventually became a house manager, then figured out I was better with the food than the chef, eventually an area manager with 14 kitchens, and now I have my own business and work for local small government and I help other people start food businesses. There has to be humility involved. And I cleaned some grease traps along the way. Hard work is a reality. And putting others first, absolutely can’t forget that.
Servers will literally ring in 4 tickets in a row that add up to 18 or so drinks and run up and ask “did you get my ticketttsssss????!!!” Or “I also need a…”
You can tell the experienced servers from the less experienced because the less experienced ones will “treat their section like one table” therefore back logging all ticket printers. And experienced ones know how to time.
The worst is the running partial tickets. Honestly, I'd put a stop to that by double making the drinks, leaving them out for management to comp as spills, and explaining that when servers take partial orders and constantly call verbal orders, you can't be expected to keep what has and hasn't been made.
Been there.. but sounds like a culture thing. MGMT on them for ticket times, reviews, table touches, etc. this leads then to ~incorrectly~ take it out on you. MGMT will use anything to keep staff angry with each other, blaming each other, as this makes it harder for staff to be angry and organize against the real antagonist which is MGMT itself.
Anyway I try to remind myself this quite often when in a rush and certain coworkers do things in their own particular and seemingly inefficient way.
Those servers are poorly trained. I'll go up to the bar and check and if I see my drinks being made, I'll wait because I'm confident the bartenders can have them ready to deliver within a minute or so. If I see the bartenders busy and not working on my drinks, I leave to go do something else. (my current place is not really a “team spirit" type of place and there's little to do to help the bartenders out.)
If the drinks are taking too long, it's time to go back to the table and say "I'm sorry for the wait, the bar is a bit behind/fetching an ingredient/replacing a keg. How are we feeling about the menu?" Or I run other people's drinks.
That being said, I did have the displeasure of working with a bartender who stood and watched one of our tvs for 20 minutes instead of... IDK... Pouring a beer? I did stand there and made it uncomfortable after it became evident he was too fucked out of his mind to remember that I asked for the beer ten minutes ago. Amazingly, he was not fired for being one of the worst bartenders in existence that everyone in the restaurant complained about-even guests.
And NOW you know how the kitchen feels about servers. Add onto your rant their constant begging for free food.
Send them on a little errand for you, if they complain tell them “you got time to lean you got time to do literally anything else” or to clean lol
It is annoying for the bartender when servers do this. That being said, if you’ve been a server you should try to expect this and have empathy for them. They’re just feeling stressed about what they’re trying to get done just like you are. Everyone is thinking about themselves. Don’t let it bother you, try to be nice about it and learn to ignore them because this is for sure a human thing that’s been happening for decades at least! It’s just what happens. I did it when I was a server and servers did it to me when I was a bartender. You just have try to let little things like that go so you can focus on what you’re doing.
Ticket racers. Grrrrrrrrr!
Time to pre-buss your tables as I'm about to use plastic...shoo!
Fast drinks are a way to keep otherwise rude customers happy.
"And I have orders ahead of yours, so chill, ya wee wanker"
If your drinks aren't ready RUN SOMEONE ELSE'S or ask me if I need anything from the other side of the restaurant.
If you pitch in I will put you first in line at service bar.
Also, don't come tell me what you just rang in. I have the ticket and believe it or not I CAN READ.
It never bothered me. What bothered me was when I made a drink, and it sat there dying while the server was MIA. I prefer a server who's trying to do a good job.
The inverse is true at my place, where the bartender will hang out in the back and I have to remind her any time that I ring in drinks that I have some that need to be made. Or she won’t notice the ticket until I say “hey when you have a sec could you make that ___” because by the time I have to ask, it means my tables are already getting impatient because other people already got their soft drinks and they don’t realize I have no control over the bar
Yeah I'm tipping you out. If you have time to say "I've got you. Just give me a sec.", just hand me the beer.
Every other server ahead of you is tipping me out too
And the measly little percentage you give ain't shit compared to what MY GUESTS leave.
If we did all the wines and beers first every time, the cocktails on other tickets would literally never get made.
Run someone else's drinks, or ask if I need anything from the kitchen.
You attract more flies with honey than vinegar
There are no other servers at my place. And I do help the bartenders. And the servers help me when I bartend. But I'm not waiting for a beer. I'll just get it myself.
Z z c x
They only do this to female bartenders btw
not true lol
Whenever I had servers just staring me down waiting for their drinks, I would make them go do something for me while I made the drink. If they can just stand there and stare, there's no reason they can't be helping you pre bus or run food. This also helped me build good relationships with the better servers because they knew I would give priority to their drinks for helping me out.