Continued from my previous post, the second part of my definition of cocktail waitressing deals mainly with the customer and hospitality side.
There are variations on the cocktailing uniform of course, but the serving skills required are all the same. Being a former upscale dining server, I miss the slow-paced style that reigns in the dining room. The bar is entirely different. One minute you're rearranging the chairs hoping for at least enough customers to break even and the next the bar is full and patrons are screaming drink orders at you like it's last call on a Saturday night, even though it's only 5:30p.m. on a Tuesday.
Patience isn't necessary, just a memory that can remember that the guy with the beard got a McClellan 12 neat and his twin brother got the McClellan 25 neat - little variation, big difference (a shot of McClellan 12 is about $20, McClellan 25 is $50). Being that happy hour specials always change I don't find them necessary to memorize - of course most employers do, but just as long as I know the cheapest beer available (at our place Coors Lite), customers are happy.
As my final comment on the noble profession of cocktail waitressing, I leave you with this helpful information: never carry a tray with empty wine glasses through a crowd because all of them will most definitely break, while standing at the bar continually eating maraschino cherries you will undoubtedly be hit on and finally, laughing when a man orders a cosmimosa is not appropriate, no matter how old or large he is.
There are variations on the cocktailing uniform of course, but the serving skills required are all the same. Being a former upscale dining server, I miss the slow-paced style that reigns in the dining room. The bar is entirely different. One minute you're rearranging the chairs hoping for at least enough customers to break even and the next the bar is full and patrons are screaming drink orders at you like it's last call on a Saturday night, even though it's only 5:30p.m. on a Tuesday.
Patience isn't necessary, just a memory that can remember that the guy with the beard got a McClellan 12 neat and his twin brother got the McClellan 25 neat - little variation, big difference (a shot of McClellan 12 is about $20, McClellan 25 is $50). Being that happy hour specials always change I don't find them necessary to memorize - of course most employers do, but just as long as I know the cheapest beer available (at our place Coors Lite), customers are happy.
As my final comment on the noble profession of cocktail waitressing, I leave you with this helpful information: never carry a tray with empty wine glasses through a crowd because all of them will most definitely break, while standing at the bar continually eating maraschino cherries you will undoubtedly be hit on and finally, laughing when a man orders a cosmimosa is not appropriate, no matter how old or large he is.
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