I think DerDrache or somebody already made this thread, but I couldn't find it so oh well.

How do I go about becoming a bartender? There's an option bartending license that you can get, but from what I understand, there's no actual certification requirements to be a bartender in Texas.

The classes are about $25 for 3-4 hours, but I'm not really sure what they cover.

How do I go about actually learning how to bartend? I'm assuming that for $25, the classes don't teach you much. I found a place that teaches you how to bartend, and they claim to have an 80% job placement rate, so I guess they could help me. Here's their website:
http://www.pbsa.com/Schools/san_antonio/texas_bartending_school.html
Thats's not the $25 place, by the way. I don't know how much their tuition is.

I guess I'm just looking for tips, advice, and experiences from people who have done it before. What's it like?

I'd like to get a job in one of the fancy hotels downtown. I don't want to work in a club or anything like that. There's a bar in the hotel right across the street from where I work that always has rich white tourists in it, so I'm assuming that they tip well (San Antonio is mostly Mexican, and those fuckers don't tip for shit). Ideally, I'd like to get hired either there or at a bar in a similar hotel.

I'd tip you ;)

Don't work in an upscale hotel or other such establishment unless the tips are figured into the bill. Otherwise you're likely to run into a bunch of rich but cheap assholes who will expect you to pour their drinks with a smile on your face and be cheery when they walk back to their $1,000 per night hotel rooms without having even left you a $5 tip.

Regardless, the best way to become a bartender is to know someone who already does it for a living or to know the owner of a bar. They'll train you as they see fit. Most bar owners I know won't hire someone out of bartending school because they feel as though they have to retrain such individuals rather than build someone from the ground up as they wish.

Club jobs suck as well. College students are cheap and lack class when it comes to paying those who serve them either food or drink. The best places to work are local hole-in-the-wall type bars frequented by blue collar workers. Keep a tip jar behind the bar in plain view and before each shift throw in some singles. That'll catch their eye and you'll get more tips. $1 per beer is superbly common and if you serve fifty guys five beers each, $250 isn't bad at the end of the night.

Oh and expect that as a tip-earning employee you'll be making less than minimum wage.

I'd tip you ;)

$1? :p

Don't work in an upscale hotel or other such establishment unless the tips are figured into the bill. Otherwise you're likely to run into a bunch of rich but cheap assholes who will expect you to pour their drinks with a smile on your face and be cheery when they walk back to their $1,000 per night hotel rooms without having even left you a $5 tip.
.

Upscale establishments are the best place to be a bartender, numbnuts. Rich clients not only tip as the norm, but they tip well.

eggs: I took a 300 dollar course last winter. I haven't gotten a job yet, though I honestly haven't put much effort into it. The place I took the course at has a job-finding agency so I'm going to call them up and check that out after Christmas. My laziness aside, a course is a great idea. You should take a course that is geared toward true bar service, such that you get skills that would apply in a fancy hotel as well as a typical bar or club. You'll learn a lot about drinks, and you'll learn some simple tips that will make you more professional. Ultimately, a 30-hour course isn't going to be enough for you to master anything, but it will give you enough practice and confidence so that you don't feel lost when you're behind a bar.

From a "oral indulgences" point of view, the knowledge you'll get from studying drinks (even just for the duration of the course) will make your own casual drinking more interesting. You can build up a small collection of liqueurs and spirits and make all sorts of cool shit. So, yeah...I took the course and didn't get a job, but either way I feel it was a good investment. It was actually even more useful than some of the retarded courses I've had to pay 4 times as much for here at college.

I never went to bartending school. I needed to take some sort of class in Oregon, which I believe earned me some sort of license, but it wasn't required in California.

I started as a barrista, pouring espresso drinks. That restaurant had a wine&beer license, as did the next one I worked at. Then I found a restaurant with a full bar that was willing to train me up. It's not really that hard when you need to go to school.

Upscale establishments are the best place to be a bartender, numbnuts. Rich clients not only tip as the norm, but they tip well.

eggs: I took a 300 dollar course last winter. I haven't gotten a job yet, though I honestly haven't put much effort into it. The place I took the course at has a job-finding agency so I'm going to call them up and check that out after Christmas. My laziness aside, a course is a great idea. You should take a course that is geared toward true bar service, such that you get skills that would apply in a fancy hotel as well as a typical bar or club. You'll learn a lot about drinks, and you'll learn some simple tips that will make you more professional. Ultimately, a 30-hour course isn't going to be enough for you to master anything, but it will give you enough practice and confidence so that you don't feel lost when you're behind a bar.

From a "oral indulgences" point of view, the knowledge you'll get from studying drinks (even just for the duration of the course) will make your own casual drinking more interesting. You can build up a small collection of liqueurs and spirits and make all sorts of cool shit. So, yeah...I took the course and didn't get a job, but either way I feel it was a good investment. It was actually even more useful than some of the retarded courses I've had to pay 4 times as much for here at college.

The courses here are 40 hours, and they're $395 for the basic course, and $600 for the premier course. I wasn't going to take them once I saw how much they were, but your response has me considering it.

This place says they'll help you find a job too, so I guess will you let me know what all they do for you once you contact them about getting a job?

edit:
I'm so confident you'll like it, I will let you sit in on the first 4 hour class FOR FREE!! Give me a call to set that up!!

I guess I'll go ahead and check it out... I've got nothing to lose, right?

Open a bar in your garage where you serve drinks topless, and you are sure to make a killing.

Open a bar in your garage where you serve drinks topless, and you are sure to make a killing.

What if she's not one of those attractive girls I hear are so common on Totse? :p

What if she's not one of those attractive girls I hear are so common on Totse? :p

That just changes the demographic of her customers. Titties will bring em in, either way.

Upscale establishments are the best place to be a bartender, numbnuts. Rich clients not only tip as the norm, but they tip well.


Rich people are actually notrious for being lousy tippers. Of course it probably depends on the situation and environment. You'd probably make out really well if the tip is part of the bill, but if not don't get mad when you get really shitty tips.

Rich people are actually notrious for being lousy tippers. Of course it probably depends on the situation and environment. You'd probably make out really well if the tip is part of the bill, but if not don't get mad when you get really shitty tips.

Where the hell are you guys getting this from? Is it some deep-seated anger/prejudice against rich people? Most any adult with class (ie. the majority of people in an upscale hotel) will tip, and they'll tip well. Most rich people aren't misers, but in fact, very loose with their money.

Where the hell are you guys getting this from? Is it some deep-seated anger/prejudice against rich people? Most any adult with class (ie. the majority of people in an upscale hotel) will tip, and they'll tip well. Most rich people aren't misers, but in fact, very loose with their money.
You've obviously never worked in an environment where tips are expected but that's populated by rich people. They are NOT good tippers.

Lots of money does NOT equal lots of class. Having worked two jobs where tips were expected I'd say the lower 20% easily tips more than the upper 20%.

You've obviously never worked in an environment where tips are expected but that's populated by rich people. They are NOT good tippers.

Lots of money does NOT equal lots of class. Having worked two jobs where tips were expected I'd say the lower 20% easily tips more than the upper 20%.

Well, are you talking about a bar, or a restaurant?

In a restaurant, people are going to tip you the traditional 15-20%, regardless of how much they make. They'll tip based on how well you served them and how much work they think you did. (ie. if you just served a couple, then expecting a huge tip is unreasonable on your part).

In an upscale bar? If you're serving people at the bar and serving them well, they're going to tip you, and it's going to be more than 1-2 dollars that a lower/middle class person would do. Maybe a bunch of drunk businessmen won't, but a person with some class? Definitely.

I will say that rich people tend to be more scrutinous of service. Whereas the average Joe tips on principal, a rich person tips based on what you deserve. Something to keep in mind. If you expect more than just a buck or two, then your service needs to be worth more than that.

EDIT: Yeah, in fact...it probably is something to do with differing attitudes on the purpose of a tip. Rich people seem to view a tip as a reward for a job well done, whereas average people see it as something they have to do so that they don't look like assholes. A rich person is going to be objective about it, whereas my guess is that an average person would just do it in an attempt to please you. So, my point is, you have potential to get lots of money out of rich people versus average/poor people. Logically, tipping habits are going to be influenced by your own service...it would make more sense to focus on that rather than generalizing how people tip.

Oh, by the way: If you are working in a place with both lower class and upper class people, then it's probably not really an "upscale bar".

All this coming from the guy who dropped $300 for a class and hasn't found a job yet...

Take that for what you will.

I've been a bartender, bouncer, and manager at a local joint, and this thread pops up from time to time. Best way to learn, as has been stated, is to get your foot in the door, however that may be (I started out barbacking before I started pouring drinks), and make sure you learn from those around you. It's not difficult to learn, but it can be very difficult to master.

Last thing I'll say is that don't expect it to be a party. It's goddamn WORK some nights, because you're not there for a good time, you're there to cater to everyone else's good time. I've seen lots of people come and go thinking it's one big party, only to get canned inside of two weeks because they found out differently.

If you find the right gig, though, it can be a helluva lot of fun and damn rewarding both financially and in the fact that customers are very tangible things to judge your performance on; if you did well, they'll tip well, compliment you, and be back for another visit. If not, you'll never see them again.

All this coming from the guy who dropped $300 for a class and hasn't found a job yet...

Take that for what you will. My take, having been a bartender, bouncer, and manager at a local joint is a little different, so I think I'll save it, lest I step on too many precious toes.

I think "local joint" (in Wyoming, of all places) is the operative phrase. I'm talking about things along the lines of a 5-star hotel, where it's a nonstop pampering fest.

I think "local joint" (in Wyoming, of all places) is the operative phrase. I'm talking about things along the lines of a 5-star hotel, where it's a nonstop pampering fest.

Perhaps, but I've also done the work, my friend. Thus far, you've not. Running your mouth without the experience, regardless of what lines you were thinking along, is still being an internet wanker.

From what my friends who worked in that arena of restauranting/bartending have told me, neither extreme is accurate. Currently, my uncle owns two four star restaurants in Tulsa, and he has told me that gratuity comes in all kinds, regardless of your clientèle. Affluence, at least according to my (admittedly purely anecdotal evidence provided by) my few acquaintances and by my uncle (who was the head sommelier prior to being the head manager at the America Restaurant in Kansas City, MO, a five star joint, and now the owner of two four star joints in Tulsa) in that arena, doesn't equal an affinity for leaving high gratuity, nor does it disqualify them from doing so.

However, no one will be starting at a 5 star hotel as their first bartending gig, so I think our argument here might very well be immaterial.

The bartender school will be useless to you without experience. Almost anybody can mix drinks, but not everybody can multitask or remember a wide variety of drinks on the level necessary to serve in an effective manner.

School can be a starting place, but you need to find experience. Good luck.

Generally speaking, the best way to be a bartender, is to be a really hot 25 year old woman.

I've learned this lesson a whole bunch of times, because a bunch of my friends always have parties and charge $5 for a cup to drink from the keg(s) all night, and also have a cash bar. I always insist on manning the bar, just because I like doing it, and it's a good way to meet cool people. Sometimes I make a couple dollars in tips, but whenever my friend mary (a very hot 25 year old woman) takes over on the bar, she will get tipped all the time, and sell like twice as many drinks as I do.

Generally speaking, the best way to be a bartender, is to be a really hot 25 year old woman.

I've learned this lesson a whole bunch of times, because a bunch of my friends always have parties and charge $5 for a cup to drink from the keg(s) all night, and also have a cash bar. I always insist on manning the bar, just because I like doing it, and it's a good way to meet cool people. Sometimes I make a couple dollars in tips, but whenever my friend mary (a very hot 25 year old woman) takes over on the bar, she will get tipped all the time, and sell like twice as many drinks as I do.

You're comparing a crappy house party to a bartending gig?

Heh.

Never mind, I'm being obnoxious. Regardless of the setting, yes, attractive females tend to sell more drinks and get better tips. That shouldn't discourage anyone else from trying, though.

eggs: I took a 300 dollar course last winter. .
and that kids is how you skullfuck a nigger

Mexican Banquets, is where the money is. Work for a hall, even if you don't get great tips, you still get a nice cut from the hall, this also includes weddings and shit.

and that kids is how you skullfuck a nigger

LOL

women dont make very good bartenders, it's a very violent, mean environment you wouldn't know what to do when someone started threatening to jump behind the counter and beat your head in. you'd just start crying and get your head beat in.

LOL

women dont make very good bartenders, it's a very violent, mean environment you wouldn't know what to do when someone started threatening to jump behind the counter and beat your head in. you'd just start crying and get your head beat in.

Because clearly there's no staff in any bar present to keep that from happening, and all women are so weak that they can't deal with some drunken asshat.

Uh, yeah, 99 percent women are weak when it comes to controlling drunk men. She's gonna end up like that police officer that got beat up by the black guy on youtube, just in the wrong job at the wrong time (which is 24.7).

and most staff at bars can't even control fights.

Uh, yeah, 99 percent women are weak when it comes to controlling drunk men. She's gonna end up like that police officer that got beat up by the black guy on youtube, just in the wrong job at the wrong time (which is 24.7).

and most staff at bars can't even control fights.


You must be going to some real dives. The staff I trained when I was the head bouncer were quite qualified to deal with fights, and fights themselves were few and far between, and certainly didn't last long. Sounds like some of the joints I used to see when I was running around with some of my old rodeo cowboy friends.

I'm not even going to comment on your misogynistic comments, other than to state that I highly disagree. Given your short posting history, though, I'm speculating that you're just trying to get a rise out of us, i.e., trolling, and I would encourage you to stop if that's the case.

Why are you so out of touch with reality?

Titties will bring em in, either way.

Quoted for truth