WE WORK HARD FOR OUR MONEY! Who works Harder?

Updated: August 1, 2008

Just like the song says… “We work hard for our money”. So hard… I laugh every time I hear a self proclaimed professional bartender say “I can work circles around any Flair bartender and out ring them anytime!”… Really… I say put them to the test and lets find out who really works harder and smarter for the money once and for all! So guess what we did…

For the last 3 years I along with other professional Flair bartenders have had the privilege to work in Atlanta, Georgia for Cinco de Mayo. The venue is the “Rio Grande” where Cinco de Mayo is an absolute all out party in “Hotlanta”. For years the owner Mendrous “Pops” Popadoplus has had his staff and so called local power bartenders work the event increasing sales and knocking out drinks for a profitable holiday. Well 3 years ago Flair bartending veterans Patrick Kelly and Dave Monterde convinced “Pops” to bring in a team of Flair bartenders for the event to entertain the crowd all while out ringing the bartenders the previous years. That was the challenge thrown down and shortly after that the team was assembled and they flew us all to Atlanta for the start of something that grew into so much more then we ever expected.

The Dream Team consisted of Robyn Closson, Sean Story, Joey Torres, Tim Plummer, Dave Monterde and his brother, Tony Cogburn and myself. When we all arrived to the “Rio Grande” early that morning we were amazed on how much setup “Pops” and the crew put into this event. There were multiple stages set up for bands, several portable bars and beer tubs set up throughout the property, garbage cans full of pre-made margaritas, a row of porta-potties, a portable BBQ pit and much more.

We set up and we waited for the rush to come… and we waited… had lunch and we waited. Cinco de Mayo that first year fell on a Friday so we came to the conclusion we wouldn’t get hit until after people got off of work and were ready to party. We were right but boy did we underestimate how many people would actually show up! I was on point due to my volume Flair bartending experience from Club Safari every weekend and instantly utilized my system for handling large crowds, some of the other Flair bartenders were overwhelmed at first but quickly followed suite and the registers started ringing. This was the first time I used a T1 line for the credit card machine and WOW did it make a difference! No more waiting for the authorization and wasting time at the register or not making drinks… as soon as you swiped the card the receipt started printing. That helped speed things up a lot.

For seven hours we got pounded with drinks and the majority of the time we all threw in some quick working Flair to entertain the guests that were blown away with the talent behind the bar that day. From local news coverage to the satisfied patrons at the bar, at the end of the night we were all happy… some of us tired and beat up, but all happy. The year before the bar rang $10,000.00… that night we reached $46,000.00! To say the least everyone including the owners were very happy and convinced bringing Flair bartenders to this event every year was now the standard.

Now that we used that example to help strengthen our position, lets talk about the difference in the amount of work between a professional Flair bartender and an average bartender behind the same bar. Mauro Garrido and I were talking about this the other week… “We do so much more work during a shift then a regular bartender” he said, and this is true! Think about it for a second… a guest comes up to the bar and orders a Midori Sour. The regular bartender goes through the motions to greet the guest, make the drink and handle the cash sale. The professional Flair bartender goes through the same motions and more… we greet the guest (usually but not always in a more enthusiastic approach), make the drink (a hell of a lot more entertaining and memorable using Flair and probably tasting better because professional Flair bartenders train to be accurate and have a great knowledge in Mixology, so you know the drink will be made correctly), handle the cash transaction (trying to encourage the guest to start at tab to increase return business). All of this gets tiring by the end of the day because it is a lot more physical work… its hard work… but also very rewarding and something a professional Flair bartender is very passionate about.

And at the end of the shift, a professional Flair bartender’s sales are usually higher then a regular bartender’s sales. The many professional Flair bartenders I talk to on this subject all agree and will attest to this on a regular basis. Now keep in mind there are always exceptions to the rule (regulars, seniority, bar placement, etc…) but on the majority Professional Flair bartenders will ring more then a regular bartender behind the same bar.

Again this is my professional opinion and if you think I’m wrong… I challenge you to put it to the test and submit an article to debate over.

To Flair & Friends,

-ROB HUSTED-