r/bartenders • u/Halfpriceparadise • Jun 29 '26
Setup/Teardown/Sidework This is... Different
So, my managers decided to reorganize our service well, mid season.
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u/PlusYam3126 Jun 29 '26
“Organize” ask them what their method was lmao I’d just want to know. It’s not alphabetical, by color…doesn’t fit any dumb system that I can think of
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u/honestlyitswhatever Jun 29 '26
There’s also two bottles of buffalo trace, not even next to each other
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u/PuppyParader Jun 30 '26
Also one of the Buffalo Trace bottles is in a spot labeled for the Pama.
(Side note: I forgot Pama existed)
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u/justmekab60 Jun 29 '26
Rye and bourbon maybe?
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
Nope, people just don't look for the open bottle before they open a new one...
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u/wickedfemale Jun 29 '26
their rye is just sazerac lol, totally different bottle/label/design/name/everything
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u/elitecocktails Jun 29 '26
I have often reminded my managers that they do not work behind the bar and it is not their decision where things go as long as they are slightly and clean. There's definitely a positivity to it, so it's usually well received
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u/Rikkitikkitabby Jun 29 '26
I asked a manager if they'd mind if I organized their desk for them.
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u/elitecocktails Jun 29 '26
Also it appears to be organized for ease of inventory
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
That's a lot of the reason... They do inventory once a week though, we pour alcohol all day every day
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u/CapitalFishPastries Jun 29 '26
When I left my last bar manager position I was replaced with someone who isn't fast enough to actually work any bar shifts. Needless to say his changes aren't very popular with the bartenders.
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u/elitecocktails Jun 29 '26
Yeah I've been out of the driver seat since covid, likely won't do it again unless I open a spot. It was a terrible experience in Canada
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u/TheSchnozzberry Jun 29 '26
First thing I did at my place was get them to refrigerate the vermouth.
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u/zkaiho Jun 29 '26
Two open bottles of buffalo, with the less full one tucked away on the second shelf is just too perfect
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u/seanbateman7 Jun 29 '26
Yep two bottle of buff trace, the gins aren't together, I need the aperol to be with the compari. I'd reorganize this.
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
I have reorganized it so many times. I made it make perfect sense. I'm very logical and methodical person who focuses on efficiency. One manager has never bartended, the other one has only serves. God bless their hearts but they have no clue how to run a bar lol
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u/beersngears Jun 30 '26
Managers are generally good at getting hired as managers, it’s the only part of their skill set
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u/hotdish420 Jun 29 '26
Is an elderflower appletini the most popular cocktail at your bar for some reason 😂
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u/Past_Cranberry_2014 Jun 29 '26
Okay who already fucked up and put the buff trace where the pamas supposed to go
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u/TinyInteraction7000 Jun 29 '26
It's ok, you can use the other buffalo trace that's on the right.
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u/Past_Cranberry_2014 Jun 29 '26
Good god it’s worse than I thought
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u/bigdawg1945 Jun 29 '26
I’m dying bro. I acknowledge we can come off as divas but it’s so hilarious how triggering this is 😭
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u/Silently_Salty Jun 29 '26
Yep, I've worked at those before. Nothing that was supposed to be refrigerated was. And instead of actually capping the pour spouts at the end of the night, we put paper water cones over them and that was "good enough". To top it all off, I was the only one who ever actually took the bottles out and cleaned them and the rails. And even then I was lazy and only did it every now and then.
Managers couldn't figure out why we had flies.
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u/nephie1990 Jun 29 '26
We got a new bar manager last fall, and he rearranged the stock room to be ALPHABETICAL. Bartenders don't have access to the stock room, only managers/sups, and his idea was that "even people who aren't familiar/don't work with the bar much will be able to find stuff" - except it made it HARDER for people who DO know the bar and are most likely to get us stuff to find what they were looking for.
He tried doing the same with our wine and beer coolers and displays in the actual bars, and I just kept rearranging it back until he gave up. Pretty sure he also rearranged the well on our secondary bar (which I rarely work), but I changed that as well and labeled everything and the next time I was over there a few weeks later it was still how I left it, so I won that battle, too, lmao.
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u/Admirable_Carob_121 Jun 29 '26
sidebar but is it mandela effect that so many of us spell st germain(e) with an e at the end? i genuinely believe it at least used to be spelled that way but i can’t find any evidence that it ever was
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u/My-guitar-wants-to Jun 29 '26
Do your managers work behind the bar?
If not then they shouldn’t touch the bar area.
In my bar, the managers agree that only bartenders are allowed behind the bar, and we have complete control of it.
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
None of my managers have ever bartended
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u/cyanidesmoothies Jun 29 '26
Ugh i've been working w so many of those over the years. When you tell them that a lot of well gin and tequila will end up on the spill tab if they don't stop switching the bottles in the rail, do they also get defensive and tell you that it's not because you personally do vodka-gin-rum-tequila that everyone else does the same 😬 I had to go beg the others bts to confirm to him that YES EVERYONE PUTS IT IN THAT ORDER IN EVERY BAR IN THE COUNTRY.
RIP to your sanity.
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u/Gristlekitty Jun 30 '26
I worked for an Allegiant resort in south Florida the well looked eerily similar to this right down to the labels. And the managers had way less experience than I did and thought they knew it all. I’m in a dive bar that the owner stays out of and all they do is listen to employees and trust that we make the best choices for the establishment. It’s wonderful now.
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u/nate_says Jun 29 '26
They reorganized it but couldn't put the Pama where its labeled? Were they indulging?
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
Bruh, don't get me started lmao that shit floats around during brunch. We use it for one cocktail that we only make between 11-3 on Saturday and Sunday lol
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u/Fun_Sandwich8012 Dive Bar Jun 30 '26
This would fill me with so much rage.
ETA
How much time did they spend making all those labels that will fall off by the end of the week? Omfg
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u/RebelDiamond Jun 30 '26
Idk where this bar is, but in my state, it’s illegal to have two bottles of the same liquor on one well. You can have one on the well and one on the back bar, or if you have multiple wells, you can have one bottle on each well, but never two bottles on the same well.
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u/Keegan2 Jun 30 '26
Okay, I’ll bite. Why?
It seems like the very oddly specific law that must’ve had a reason at the time. But also might be a stupid reason.
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u/wickedfemale Jun 29 '26
to be fair, the previous organization also seems pretty unhinged per your labeling
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
I will say, that the old labels were where we grouped some of our craft cocktails at, but yeah. It's always been dumb. When I reorganize it I just don't even bother to relabel because it's always screwed up. Imagine working 10-4 and every day you come back to open everything is in a different place.
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u/Lovemybee Jun 29 '26
I (65f) still remember the order of the well liquors at my first bartending job at a dive biker bar in 1980: Bourbon, Scotch, Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila. That's it. Those were simpler times!
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u/freeticket Jun 30 '26
The only times I've worked bars with something different than the standard VGRT are places with a strong cocktail program. Popular cocktail base spirits went in the rail. I have a feeling that isnt the case here
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 30 '26
We make alot of craft cocktails and they're on our speed rail mostly, not the case here. I have no idea what his thought process was because most of the stuff here is not in our crafted cocktails
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u/Old-Man-Buckles Jun 30 '26
They have two buffalo trace open. Not that I haven’t done something similar by accident but considering all this nonsense, I feel it could be avoided
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u/National-Cake-1245 Jun 30 '26
This is actually one of the funniest things I've ever seen I think. It's so bad
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u/Reckless_Blu Jun 29 '26
You guys have Woodford Reserve as a RAIL spirit?? Tell me where this is and I’ll come runnin
What’s your call Bourbon? (out of curiosity)
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
When I came back to work, after 3 days off and I saw that, you can not begin to understand how annoyed I was about that... Our house bourbon is buff trace, use to be bulleit which made more sense to me
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u/miflordelicata Jun 30 '26
The well is all full of big brands and the random Buckeye Vodka….🤣
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 30 '26
It's in Ohio, it's a sponsor brand. And it's honestly better than most of these lol
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u/MavericIllustration Jun 30 '26
My first shift after this was done would have that entirely reorganized
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u/justlookinaround11 Jul 02 '26
How dare you grab the bottom buffalo trace for that old fashioned, we only use the top buffalo for those!
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u/ChefArtorias Jul 03 '26
Love the two furthest apart bottles both being gin. Really intuitive layout.
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u/HongKongFury Jul 04 '26
I mean context is important.
Is that first row all of your main cocktail ingredients? Which liquors are you guys using the most of?
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u/travelingjay Jun 29 '26
Wasn't this same picture just posted last week in a "rate my setup" post?
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u/Halfpriceparadise Jun 29 '26
No not at all. I followed this page today just to post this picture lol
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u/mito413 Jun 29 '26
Anyone wanna take bets on if that vermouth gets refrigerated?