Bartenders drinking on the job

[Dan R]

OK, I don't know how laws or customs are everywhere, but I have noticed something here. Bartenders drink on the job. I have never seen this anywhere but here. It is very commonplace. Maybe it doesn't happen at the fine restaurants, but it takes place at any bar. When a round of shots is ordered (also quite common), the bartender has a shot too. They call this place "a drinking town with a historic problem." They print it on T Shirts. Since this is a tourist and beach town, it is pretty much a non stop party. It does not bother me. I was just wondering if this happens other places too.

Dan R

 

[Sidney Vicious]

I did it tending bar in New Orleans - '72 -'80 - it was certainly common in the joints I worked in - don't know what current practice is but would think it is still the norm.

 

[TeleBrew]

I think it has a lot to do with the ownership. There is a sports bar in my town that changed hands a couple of years ago. My friends liked to go there because the bartender would always buy them a round. He would drink, too, and so would the owner. He'd be drunk on a Sunday at noon. Gosh, I wonder why he went out of business?

The new ownership appears to be more professional, and there was a complete change in staff, as well. Needless to say my friends don't go there as much as they used to!

 

[Solcat]

I was at the bar in a mall in the Belagio in Vegas. I think it was Sin City Brewery. Pretty blonde bartender was drinking shots with the patron. At least she called for a ride at the end of her shift, but she said she did it all the time.

 

[Prison Rodeo]

I've lived all over the U.S., except for the far west. Everywhere I've been, this has been the case. Not always, and not every night, but frequently enough that I never even think about it. Not in the corporate places, though (TGIFridays, etc.) where every pour is measured and accounted for.

I suspect that it might increase sales, so most bar owners probably don't care.

 

[bender-freak]

I did when I tended bar back in the early 70's, had to drink to be able to put up with the drunks that were just like me. Never knew bartenders were NOT allowed to drink??

Don't touch the nasty stuff any more myself.

 

[vespa1]

It is practically a job requirement here in Milwaukee.

 

[Jammin'John]

They drink on the job in the little bars around here.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tug...YC9DI0AGd_4CIDQ&ved=0CEUQsAQ&biw=1200&bih=677

JJ

 

[Dan R]

I had no idea it was so common. I had just never seen it done before I lived here. For some reason, I thought it violated some sort of laws or regulations. Well, Cheers everybody. : )

 

[Big John Studd]

I was a big city bartender for years in the 1990s and it was pretty much part of the job to entertain the customers, be up on sports news, have a drink from time to time, etc. You didn't want to be hammered though...we were in charge of a lot of money (typically each bartender would sell about $1500 in drinks) and sometimes had to double as security. The drinking could tend to get ratcheted up after the shift if the waitresses were raring to go. I don't hang out in bars really anymore than I have to nowadays. Last time I went drinking the bartender was too busy facebooking on his iphone to be bothered with the customers, who were also busy facebooking...it was kinda boring.

 

[Brokenpick]

Yeah- I agree: I thought there was some law or rule about it.... but apparently not!
(Or maybe it's like the gambling laws about sports pools, which are never seemingly enforced?) Feel like in bygone eras, I'd see bartenders try to hide their drink..... now not so much!
At any rate, I do see the help drinking in my favorite bars/restaurants in Maryland and New York. Usually subtly and under control... but still out in the open.
I'm all for being able to do whatever you want- and then having your job performance ratings based on your actual job performance.

 

[JCSouthpawtele]

Depending on establishment. I've seen some rules according to how much can be consumed by the bartender as to not be for better terms,in lack of judgment. A drunk bartender might be inclined to allow patrons to shortchanging or giving free drinks. Also a bartender needs to practice responsible tending as to drunks and knowing when to cut them off.
Bartenders may have to test a mixed drink at times so a little bit of drinking behind the bar isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I see some bartenders and wait staff off the clock have to flip a shirt inside out or change out of a uniform shirt in order to belly up to the front side of the bar.

 

[Barbeque John]

In the state of Washington it is illegal for a bartender to drink. For a while, recently, they tried to ban drinking on the bandstand. Didn't have much luck with that. It is also illegal to give you a drink. Washington has a history of being weird. Back in the 60s, if you wanted to walk over to another table in a bar, you were supposed to get a wait person to carry your drink for you. You couldn't call your establishment a saloon, and if you had windows in a tavern you had to paint over them, so passersby couldn't see people drinking, from the street.

 

[telex76]

Lots of it in many bars here in Texas.

 

[Jakedog]

Depends on where you are. I've done my share of bartending. When I lived in Wisconsin, it was pretty much required that I drink behind the bar. All over the town I lived in, every bar did this bizarre dice game where the last person in had to buy a round. You'd find anywhere from two or three, on upwards of 20 people playing. Winner (loser) buys a round. I never understood the game, but as a bartender, I had to play. If you didn't play with the customers, and drink with the customers, you would not have any customers.

When I was living in New Mexico, it was totally illegal to drink behind the bar. New Mexico is the only place I have ever lived where I had to take a class from the state, pay a licensing fee, and be licensed in order to be a bartender. Get caught drinking behind the bar by alcohol enforcement, and you lose your license. You are unemployable. Needless to say, all of my drinking there was done AFTER my shifts.

Even when I could drink behind the bar, I never went overboard with it. As somebody else said, working in small joints your often not only the bartender, but also security. A drunk bouncer is ALWAYS a bad idea. Always.

Here in Cleveland, it's not illegal to drink behind the bar, but most of the better owners discourage it, or forbid it. Some of the seedier dives you'll almost always find a hammered bartender. It's no fun. Customers get neglected, the money never comes out right, and tons of other issues. I've noticed these are usually the places the have the lowest end clientele, do the least business, and are usually in business the shortest amount of time.

 

[soulman969]

It's not illegal here but I've never thought it was a good idea. Although some bartenders I've worked with would do shots with patrons whenever I've bar tended I refused to drink on my shift.

Part of the problem is that if you do you have to drink with everyone, or no one. If you accept and have drink or a shot with one patron and turn another down you risk offending the one you refuse to drink with. That's not good for business or your rep.

Aside from that how do you adequately judge the level of intoxication of a patron if you're half in the bag yourself. When you're behind the bar you're wearing the "captains hat" and the bar needs a sober "captain". JMHO

 

[Andy Summers]

I say, why not! Go for it.

 

[Tim Armstrong]

I used to be a professional brewer in brewpubs and microbreweries, and we were allowed to drink beer during our shifts as "quality control". I quickly learned that my day went better if I waited until the end of the day before doing so...

 

[Bones]

I know some bartenders that are really adept at slight of hand and pour themselves water or juice when patrons buy them drinks.

 

[Big_Bend]

My older son used to be a bartender at a Wings restaurant. The policy was it was ok to occasionally have a drink if a customer bought it. Then new management came in and the policy was changed -- only they didn't tell anyone.

One night at the very end of a long and late shift, a customer bought my son a shot, which he accepted. The next day he went to work and found out he was fired - that security cameras had seen him take the drink and upper management in headquarters now had a zero tolerance policy of bartenders drinking on the job.

Woulda been nice if they had mentioned this to my son first. Oh well, he got a better job soon after that, but it still sucked.