Diary of an Intoxicary

I finally landed a bartending job! About a week ago I received a voicemail from a friend of my Grandmother saying that she heard a bartender at the Double Tree Hotel in Livermore(Springtown) was quitting. I listened to it and forgot about it—I had found in the past that second hand information like this rarely turned into anything, so I didn’t follow it up immediately. Then a few days ago I was listening to my old voicemails and thought to myself that I had nothing to lose—especially since I was starting to look into jobs not in the bar/food service industry out of necessity. I called ahead and discovered that indeed, Double Tree was in need of a bartender for weekends. I went in later that day and had a job interview. I wasn’t expecting much, but I got lucky. The manager decided to give me a shot, and yesterday I began training.
The midweek bartender who is training me is a very friendly man who has been a bartender for twenty years. He has a strong group of regulars, mostly businessmen that come to the Double Tree several times a year on work related trips. The process of learning is slow. Thanks to my time with the SFOB I know the basics of what is expected of me: how to mix drinks, deal with customers, get around a bar, but what I am having difficulty learning is the computerized system of charging drinks and food. I’m especially confused at the moment as to how to charge someone’s order to their room, as many of the customers do.

The bar itself is rather small with only ten stools and it closes at 10pm, which is very early for a bar. It is also connected to the restaurant, and so far it seems that most patrons, regardless of if they are ordering a cocktail or not, will sit at the bar to eat their dinner. This is nice, considering that I am told business is usually slow. From what I’m hear it sounds like the workload will be fairly inconsistent from day to day, as when parties or groups of people that know each other arrive the bar can be packed, but most often the bar will only receive a handful of drinkers in a given night. It sounds like there isn’t much in between slow days and busy days at the Double Tree Hotel’s bar—it’s always one extreme or the other. I think this is a perfect setting for my first bartending job. I can ease my way into the skill of bartending in what is usually a quiet environment and occasionally be given a chance to use what I have learned at larger events.

I need to cut this entry a tad short, as I need to depart for my second day of training in a few moments, but expect a couple new drinks spotlights in the next few days and more consistent blog entries in the future.
I finally have what I have wanted for years, and I am ecstatic.

Cheers!

The hunt continues, and the prey continues to elude me. Just last night I followed another craigslist ad, this time for a bar in Oakland. The ad said to arrive in person on Tuesday night between 8:00pm and 10:00pm. I arrived at about 8:10 and there was already a line to see the manager. I waited my turn, and when it finally arrived the interview lasted less than two minutes. I gave him my resume and told him I was willing to work any shift. He shook my hand and said that callbacks would be at the end of this week or the beginning of next. As I left I saw that the line had grown in size significantly. It was now going through the bar, out the door and down the street. It seems like close to a hundred people were applying for the three positions. I don’t know how good my chances are, but fingers are crossed.

To date I must have hit close to three dozen bars and restaurants, from Livermore to Pleasanton and Dublin, with a couple in Fremont and a few spattered around elsewhere. No where seems to be hiring, and the places that are seem to be finding people more qualified than I to fill the positions. I just can’t seem to catch a break right now.

If I don’t find a job soon I may need to start seeking employment as something other than a bartender or a barback. If anyone knows of a bar that is hiring, or even just looking for a hand temporarily, do me a favor and tell me about it! Use the chat widget on the right and drop me a line. Even if it’s just to shoot the breeze, I’d love to talk to you.

I recognize that this entry was a tad bleak, so lets round it out with a classic bar joke.

A grasshopper walks into a bar. The bartender is quite excited and exclaims “We have a drink named after you!” The grasshopper looks at the bartender, and slightly confused says “You have a drink named Frank?”
Dun dun chhhhhhhhhsh.

Cheers.

If you read my last diary entry you should remember that a couple places in Livermore were possibilities. One as a fill in, and one for catering. Well, I called back the catering job after a week without them getting back to me and I found that they weren’t interested. I called back the place that said for me to expect a call for info on filling in, and she said she’d call me later. I still haven’t been called by anyone.

Less than a week ago someone sent me a link to a craigslist posting for a San Francisco bar, and the posted requirements fit me perfectly. The posting said that no experience was necessary, that their ideal candidate would be willing to work nights and weekends, and would be in their 20s with a college degree. That’s me EXACTLY. I was rather excited, and even checked around online for a couple of minutes to see what I could expect by way of rent in SF should I actually get the position.
I gave that bar a call the same day I saw the posting; it was only three or four days after the posting was put online to begin with, but as soon as I got a hold of the bar manager he quickly said the position had been filled and hung up. That call probably took less than thirty seconds. A bit of a letdown for me, but life goes on.

I was planning on expanding the job search to Pleasanton and Dublin area this week but the weather has been so poor that just walking from bar to bar would have been difficult. As soon as the weather clears up I will get out there, but for the time being I feel like I’m just sitting on my hands, hoping that one of the twenty places I’ve already tried will call me.

In summary, I haven’t had much luck yet, but I am undaunted and will begin expanding my search to other nearby cities as soon as the weather clears up.

Cheers!

Well, I’ve been putting off updating until I had a major update and really, I still don’t have one. I’ve been pounding the pavement looking for a job for awhile, and I’ve given my resume to and/or applied at about fifteen different bars and restaurants in Livermore. I was told that I could expect a phonecall tomorrow for training at a certain bar as a fill-in bartender, just in case someone calls in sick or cannot make their shift for whatever reason. It’s not a regular job, but it’s something at least.
Another possibility that has come up is a certain lounge said that while they aren’t looking for a regular bartender right now, that they are starting to do catering and if I would be willing to work offsite they may have some work for me. The manager said I could expect to hear more details from them this week.

So those are the two biggest hopes I have right now. There are still two more bars in Livermore I want to hit, but if neither of those turn out I’m going to start expanding my search to Pleasanton and Dublin. Wish me luck!

New Years Eve was a huge disappointment for me. As I wrote in my earlier entries, my friend Nathan talked to the owner of a certain San Francisco club about me working a shift on New Years Eve, and I was told that I was all set. After a couple of days the story changed to me being told that I would be used as a barback for the night. After another day that changed to me being told that I would “probably” be given time behind the bar to show what I could do, so that if they liked me I would be brought back for future gigs there. When I actually got there on New Years Eve I was told that I was only going to be given time behind the bar if they needed an “emergency bartender.”
In other words, short of one of their barkeeps breaking their leg while on shift I pretty much wasn’t going to get any time behind the bar. The night wound to a close and they didn’t have a need for an emergency barkeep; I did not get a single moment behind the bar.

What really bugged me though, beyond the story getting changed so many times, was that the bartenders they had there really weren’t very good at their job. Early in the night I went up to one and ordered a 3 Wise Men. A rather common shooter, it consists of a shotglass layered with Jack Daniels, Johnnie Walker and Jim Beam. The barkeep said she had never heard of it. I told her what was in it and she made me three of them.
3 Wise Men is a single drink, I didn’t order three of a drink called “Wise Men.” Rather than try to explain to her that she tripled the size of my order I just paid the $27 and took them, but I didn’t give her a tip.

Awhile later in the evening I went to the other bartender and ordered a dirty martini. She made it correctly and everything, but she was so slow about it it was almost comical.

Suffices to say, last night was nothing like I had hoped or expected, and I wont be going back to that club unless I am told outright that they want to hire me.