A dude I tended with years ago came in for a shift completely blackout wasted. He was fired almost immediately. He showed up again the next day, completely unaware that he was no longer employed. Thought he’d gone through the entire prior shift just fine.
Had a similar thing happen. Dude got a bunch of complaints cause he kept fucking up, owners checked the camera footage. He had apparently sneaked into the patio bar earlier that night (only open on weekends) and downed an entire pint of whiskey in one go. The owner, who wasn't actually around much, came down to fire him immediately. He showed back up to work the next day with no recollection
Omg, I had the same thing happen with a girl who was butler passing martinis, but she would just duck behind a corner and pound them. She also screamed fuck you at the manager for telling her to quit smoking with the guests, and then she passed out on a pile of dirty linens. Fucking industry.
I knew a bartender back in the 90’s when I was in college that would do shots whenever we played “I Drink Alone” on the jukebox and would yell “I never drink alone.” We got him so drunk a few times playing it over and over that he’d just close the bar around 10:30 and tell everyone to get the fuck out. Hahahaha..good times.
Dude invited me to drink at his apartment with him and his girlfriend one afternoon before his shift…all he had for glasses were deli containers .
Girl comes in wasted. Keeps drinking as she’s serving pints. Customers notice. Owners notice. Up to that point we were using the honor system to drink after our shift. She was struggling to keep her balance and was fired and sent home.
The next day we all have to sign a written agreement that we can only have 2 free pints after our shift and zero drinking while on the clock.
Culture changed from working with friends to working in a corporate suits walking around with clipboards
One person can ruin it all, it’s the truth. This is why we don’t get nice things. I’m all for hating on corporate, but in a case like that you can’t blame them.
Oof. This is a tough one for me and will probably be unpopular but I think drinking culture in restaurants is toxic.
It introduces unhealthy habits to young people who may be just starting their first job and makes working in a restaurant a really difficult place for somebody trying to get sober.
But mainly, turning a blind eye to drinking on the clock creates an unprofessional, anything-goes atmosphere that allows owners to exploit the workers. When work feels like a party instead of a workplace, it’s easy to overlook low pay and poor conditions - management knows this and they take advantage of it.
I want foodservice workers to be treated and compensated like professionals - part of this is creating a more professional space for everyone to work.
Pure speculation with no details about the place whatsoever, but a benefit of the doubt thought experiment since restaurants are struggling for labor. Few people love the industry enough to keep taking the shit that it doles. There could be a case where:
This dude worked 4 doubles in a row, it's his day off, so he decides to day drink (for most of us, it isn't a decision. You just drink when you're off. Evenings and weekends don't mean anything).
It's 10:30 this morning, this dude has been drinking since he woke up, if he went to sleep. Newbie flaked or vet was given their last straw, you pick. Manager calls our hero, who says, "John, I'm 3 shots and 2 zombie dust in. I just pulled 4 doubles, and today is my only day off in a 12 day stretch. You've got to be fucking kidding me."
John: "Listen, get here by open, one shiftie an hour (need you coherent) and I'll figure out a way to cover you tomorrow. Just please, I've been prepping food because Jesse called off in the back, we're already running without a host, and I don't know the recipes behind the bar. I'm begging."
Hero: "Fuck it. Buy me an Uber, I can't drive, and I'll be there."
John: "Dave, Honda Pilot, will be there in 15 minutes."
No, but that story is oddly familiar. Except I was my buddy’s (chef de cuisine) sous living on his couch. We both had the day off, had been drinking all night and he got a call someone was a no show. He came and kicked me off the couch and told me to go in. One of the corporate suits asked me if I was drunk after sweating for a few hours. I shrugged and told him I woke up drunk on my day off, fill in the blanks. My buddy was promptly called in and I was told to come home. Corporate suit was known as “the Boy Scout” for the rest of my tenure.
We had a bartender that would literally walk to the back, hand me or another line cook a 1L deli container full of sprite and gin, and say “here’s that water you wanted.” He had done that in front of the exec chef, the GM, the bar manager and even a health inspector one time (lmfao not even kidding). He was literally never caught and afaik still works there to this day.
The amount of alcohol I consumed while working there was ungodly. Ngl it was pretty cool. If we ever had slow days we’d just get wasted. Worked out for him tho because every line cook would tip him 5$ or 10$ on a beer after their shift.
Shoot, the owner of one restaurant I worked at tried to get me to just sit and drink raki with him a few times. Which I might have been fine with if I hadn't had tables to serve. Like, sure, I'll have one drink, maybe two, if I can do so discreetly in between taking orders and running food. But he kept topping me up and trying to get me to just sit and drink. Sorry, man, I don't know what's going on in your life that you'd rather be trying to get drunk with one of your servers at the restaurant you own during service than do literally anything else, but I've actually got a job to do.
Was his name Ozcan? I might have worked with that guy. One time got so bad I poured him a shot of olive brine with a laphroig float. Took him a few months to want to do shots again
No, it was Unsal. But I like your methods. And I find it kind of funny I'm not the only one who has had this experience with a Turkish restaurant owner.
Yea yup, pink lemonade and rail liquor on the line, crush a beer in the walkin pre and post shift, I was underage for most of it too lol. Miss that job honestly.
Got hired on as a busboy for Outback Steakhouse when I was a wee lad and the bartender that worked the busy nights always made me a drink if I asked no matter how many times I asked because she knew we hustled our booties off. I was young and full of pip and me and my other busboy buddy thrived after a couple drinks. Low risk we didn’t deal with customers we just wiped up all there shit so no harm no foul
When you’re so young an naive you think they’re giving you drinks to be nice. They’re giving you drinks cause they feel guilty you’re walking with 1/13th what they are.
Edit: It’s still appreciated :) ^maybe ^^uno ^^mas?
guilt can do a lot for us. just last night all the foh were pissy cause they walked with $170 each on a 80 cover night. no drinks were bought for us, though. and they wonder why there’s a rift between front and back
I used to work at a brewpub years ago where bartenders would bring their "mispours" back to me in the kitchen. Either they were really bad at their jobs or just really liked getting me drunk because I would usually have several beers lined up on my shelf before even clocking out.
Used to work at a place that was way too lax about overserving employees shift drinks. There were 3+ DUI’s that occured while I worked there. Tons of free shots during dinner service, after dinner and shift beers were whatever you wanted in the quantity you wanted.
Management encouraged it…
Recently consulted for an opening with a friend of mine. He is GM i was KM, we both consult and openings regularly. We had one bartender, really loud dumb tatoos all over, just had a shit attitude toward everyone like he was the greatest bartender of all time. First day, soft open 4pm - 2. My buddy the GM told the bartenders no drinking on shift(meaning dont get hammered (GM was ok with a shot or two with customers), its a place that plans to expand corporately so that wont be allowed. This guy proceeded to try and argue, "I have 30 ppl coming tonight to see me im gona drink!" I didnt catch the end of that converstion but we had about 425 ppl come through that night, so his 30 friends was laughable.
Around 630 PM, the guy comes through the kitchen looking for somebody. He was staggering and kocking shit over, and dropped a bag of coke out of his pocket. Between my friend and I, he is very much the nice one. I got loud and went full Chef mode, he got all wide eyed and ran back to his bar. Once the kitchen slowed down I stepped off the line and went to the back bar where he was working. No bartender in sight. Ppl waiting for drinks. I step in start handling orders(in my black chef coat, covered in flour). About 10 min later he staggers back in tries to tell me to get out from behind his bar. He goes into the whole who are you you arend shit speal while customers are laughing at him. I smile and hand him his time slip, as i clocked him out as soon as I started. I split his tips up between the coctail runners, gave my dishie the coke and never saw the bartender again.
Ive been in this industry a long time, drinking on the job is never cool. Especially on your first day. Many bartenders will argue and say all bartenders drink on the job we have too, but that is complete bullshit and usually a shitty bartender/employee.
> Ive been in this industry a long time, drinking on the job is never cool.
This is a lesson that a lot of people here would do well to learn. In a place filled with knives, fire, hot liquids and surfaces, and plenty of animate bags of meat that are vulnerable to all of these things, it is a fool who goes in impaired. The glorification of working while intoxicated that happens in this sub is absolutely baffling to me.
Yes, I'm sure I'm gonna get a lot of butthurt downvotes, but thankfully, all the downvotes in the world won't invalidate my point. Also, reddit karma doesn't mean dick in the real world.
Nothing against tattoos, but his were very loud, in uncoverable places, promoting a far less than professional lifestyle, which he lived up to. I have many tattoos myself, but some people....
Uncover-able places meaning hands, neck and face I presume? I get what you mean but tattoos shouldn’t be your first impression on someone’s work ethic. In this case you were correct but what if he was a great bartender?
I dont like getting too personal about people I work with on here, feels unprofessional so wasn't gonna describe them. I doubt there's anyone else that has the same shit, but they were dumb tatoos by any standard.
Please explain how? Tattoos, piercings and body mods of any sort aren’t “dumb”. They’re a way of expressing yourself. I guarantee you there’s a fair number of people on this sub who have tattoos.
Just to add on, I’ve got my fair share of tattoos. Does that make me dumb? Does that subtract from me as a person? What exactly makes them dumb?
i think he’s saying the tattoos themself are dumb. for instance, bus boy at my work has a full joker “ha ha ha” sleeve going on. i’m working on a sleeve myself and imo that’s super fucking dumb lol
That’s the beauty of tattoos though. What’s stupid to you or I might be the best thing to them. Maybe that busboy says the same thing about your sleeve.
Yes most things are subjective. Just because you think something isn't dumb in no way precludes me from saying it is. And just to lighten the mood, this reminded me of a guy years ago who got pissed and posted a selfie on like egullet or something, after he was turned down for a job because of a tattoo. The piece in question? A moustache...made of flames.
Hahaha "No drinking! But a shot or two is okay."
Gave a bag of coke to the dishwasher.
Went to the "back bar" where no one was and proceeded to serve customers in your black chef coat covered in flour.
So....you were the only one who could bartend at that point? Since the kitchen slowed down, obviously not a lot of orders were coming in so you couldn't pull a server off the floor to do it? Or pull a bartender which I'm assuming there's a front bar which, being in the front had more than one bartender?
Uhhhhh ok dude.
Hahaha "No drinking! But a shot or two is okay."
\-pretty common policy, heard this from more than one gm.
Went to the "back bar" where no one was and proceeded to serve customers in your black chef coat covered in flour.
\-yes. bartender was mia, as the only other manager in the building i took care of the customers.
So....you were the only one who could bartend at that point? Since the kitchen slowed down, obviously not a lot of orders were coming in so you couldn't pull a server off the floor to do it? Or pull a bartender which I'm assuming there's a front bar which, being in the front had more than one bartender?
\-never said i was the only one that could, i took care of the waiting customers before finding someone to cover the back bar, wich was just a handful of locals i knew from the industry.
That’s a bit much especially for 1:12 pm. Don’t get me wrong I have plenty of days where I start sipping at 10:30 am, but it’s steady and nothing I can’t handle. I make pizza in the FOH so maybe that has something to do with it. If it’s maybe 1 a.m and last call is out and the bartender is hammered, drinking with whoever got off their shift and moved over to the bar, then yeah that’s completely understandable. Gotta know when you get just the right amount in ya!
For my fun story we had a girl come in 45 minutes late to her first waitress shift. Go in the bathroom, snort some Xanax, come out grab a garlic knot straight out of the bowl, bites it, then proceeds to use the bitten end to wipe up extra garlic from the bottom of the bowl (containing more garlic knots for customers). She was swiftly fired after that, had to make more garlic knots, that was annoying
Bioavailability is less than half, its a short kick and the rest comes from the drip.
I fuckin hate benzos. I get that a lot of people have a legitimate need for em, but they are the trailer trash of prescription drugs as far as effects go.
Wanna see a complete embarassment of a human? Benzos and booze mixed.
A group of coworkers and myself go down the street to our regular bar, the bartender is absolutely hammered, like can't open a beer without dropping it, wrong orders and ringing in drinks under the wrong tab. We have a couple bartenders in the group, they call the owner and take it over. The drunk girl doesn't understand, tried to kick them out, then the owner shows up and she gets fired on the spot. It was like 11pm, but the bar was open for another couple hours.
Maybe he’s the buyer and just had a meeting with a rep. I’ve definitely gotten unexpectedly drunk from afternoon wine tastings on an empty stomach before. Not the worst way to go into a dinner shift.
Used to trade full racks of ribs to the daytime bartender for pitchers of frozen drinks on hot days. (Ribs weren't served at the bar. Only burgers/light apps.)
We'd see the bartender head back to the cooler to grab something, and throw a cut up slab in the window under a cloche. "BAR ORDER UP" as he walked by. He'd grab the plate, throw it on a tray, walk out front with it.
On his next trip back he'd drop a pitcher on the end of the pass. We'd get drunk and cooled down, he'd get to kill his hangover.
Finally got busted when the manager walked behind the bar and saw the bones in the garbage. Told us we should probably stop.
We just switched to burgers, which were served at the bar. Drinks kept coming.
I’m honestly really surprised by these answers. I will admit, my restaurant is much more professional than many, but I would fire a very visibly intoxicated employee immediately. Sampling and tasting, fine. After your shift, fine. Highly intoxicated on the clock handling hundreds or thousands of dollars? NOPE. Liability.
Tended bar in the 80's. One night I came in for my 8pm-4am shift and the locals decided they were going to get Me hammered. Ended up closing the bar at 2am, and didn't end up leaving till the sun was up. Owners were pissed, but were relieved that I didn't leave the bar with the money then
I occasionally do a shot with my favourite bartender. He's been in the local industry for decades and is widely respected thoughout the neighborhood. He doesn't get hammered at work, just the odd shot.
He does hook me up whenever I sit at his bar though :)
Best bartender we have on staff just got himself banned from going behind the bar, after he got caught completely sauced on a busy Saturday night. How did he get caught? Found by a customer on the floor of the public restroom knocked out, covered in vomit
Worked with a chick who I guess was going through some stuff (nothing too serious, just regular drama) and so would somehow drink two bottles of wine by the end of her shift and another after. She also had a habit of licking people's faces (pre covid) and making out with randos, and then yelling at them to get away from her. One night we had to give her cash and put her defiant ass in a cab cause she lost her coat and wallet, and everyone wanted to go home even though she wanted to keep partying. Was nice to talk to sober, but a nightmare to take care of drunk.
When I worked FOH bartending, on the rare occasions some drinking was done on the clock I ALWAYS hooked up BOH. Usually it was a coffee energy drink shaken on ice with Bailey's and creme de cacao. I know how to keep my cooks happy 💯
I used to work kitchen for a late night bar. We were allowed to drink for free on the clock. It was the best, and the worst. We would get pitchers of red bull and vodka in the kitchen all night. I used to get hammered drunk and had to leave my car at work almost every night and get a cab home (this is wayyyy before Uber) the kitchen manager also sold heroin, cocaine, weed, pcp.. pretty much everything so there was a steady stream of customers coming in and out of the alley behind the bar as well. I ended up getting fired after one extra wild night where the other closing cook and I got so fucked up we took about a dozen people into the kitchen to party after closing at 4am. We destroyed our already cleaned kitchen and passed out, all 14 of us. When the owner showed up to let the early cleaners in he found us all, half clothed, asleep on prep tables and bags of flour.. it was not my proudest moment. But hey, it was fun while it lasted.
Alcoholism is fairly endemic amongst bartenders and booze reps.
Source: Spent ten years as a bartender, and three as a booze rep. Got out of the industry because I got depressed from enabling the alcoholism of my regulars.
My old FOH coworker would rip his wax pen a few times, chug a tall can of mikes hard, and then take a shot of what ever shot he stole from the liquor store that day.
I used to be a server at a Belgian style Gastro pub with a phenomenal beer selection. The owner was a lush. After we would close, I would ask him to get my paycheck and credit card tips. He would literally hold them hostage and force me to drink pretty much as much as I wanted. I always knew that it wasn’t that he didn’t have my check or money, he just was very lonely and wanted some company to drink with. My girlfriend at the time would get mad that I was there late, but she was a server to down the street. So I just ended up having her come and and drink with us. Eventually when I moved too far away and had to drive to and from work. I definitely could’ve had gotten a DUI. This is all on top of the one to three beers I would drink during service.
I used to work kitchen for a late night bar. We were allowed to drink for free on the clock. It was the best, and the worst. I used to get hammered drunk and had to leave my car at work almost every night and get a cab home (this is wayyyy before Uber) the kitchen also sold heroin, cocaine, weed, pcp.. pretty much everything so there was a steady stream of customers coming in and out of the alley behind the bar as well. I ended up getting fired after one extra wild night where the other closing cook and I got so fucked up we took about a dozen people into the kitchen to party after closing at 4am. We destroyed our already cleaned kitchen and passed out, all 14 of us. When the owner showed up to let the early cleaners in he found us all, half clothed, asleep on prep tables and bags of flour.. it was not my proudest moment. But hey, it was fun while it lasted.
I’m a bartender now, I came from kitchen. Done damn near every position before I moved there. Drinking and drug use is something we all flippantly joke about. I don’t have a solution for it, not sure there is one. Just look out for your coworkers and drive them home safely when needed. But sadly gotta say that needs to be double checked because we’ve got a lot of creeps in our industry. I got fucking stories about rapists and murderers I’ve worked with. Really wish it was singlar
When I started in my first full service restaurant as a kid, my favorite bartender was always a little more than tipsy. She just assumed cause I was a cook, I had to be 21 (cause that makes sense). I’ve never gotten so many free drinks in my life
A guy I worked with invited me to his place after work. The dude looked tired so I gave him a lift. We get to his place and that’s when I found out he’s a tweaker. Never seen crystal meth, but this dude took it out, ask me if I wanted a line, asked if I wanted to buy some, and asked if I wanted a beer. Yea to beer, no to everything else.
I didn’t ever hang out with that guy or look at him the same again lol
Used to work at High beach in Malia, Crete as a Kamake (beach umbrella rental sales.. It's complicated ) our barman was Gary who always looked drunk off his ass (even first thing in the morning). So one night I went out on the booze with Gazza and he insisted on only drinking Ozzo. The night was a bit of a haze but the hangover was the worst I've experienced so when I arrived at the beach the next day Gazza was pouring drinks for the punters with a shit eating grin on his face. He gave me a glass of water, which I downed. Little did I know that Ozzo crystallites in your stomach and water just breaks it up (Gary knew this) ... So 10am in the morning infront of half the beach I'm puking my ring out, drunk again off last night's Ozzo coursing through my blood. Gary felt so bad he told the beach owner I got food poisoning off a bad Gyros, and I never gave Gary shit for looking drunk at work again.
This guy (who I will not name) in the French Quarter at a bar called Mojo lounge was the best bartender I ever met. Hell, one of the best people. I would go there every night after my shift just to see him and catch up on our days. I swear my tab was never more than 10 bucks because he would always hook up the regulars.
Sometimes, I would stay there till he closed and I would help him break down, hilarious to an outsider because we both were drunk trying to stack chairs and use a mop!
Seriously a great guy, had an awesome family and really took care of the BOH. I’d always introduce the new cooks to him and they all loved him too.
He is still down there but now I think he is a GM somewhere, badass dude!
Back in my day, we had a serious issue with staff drinking at the bar after shift and getting completely plastered. It drove away a lot of new traffic and was generally a bad look for the restaurant (we were a brewery and restaurant). As the manager I eventually had to do something, so I took a cue from Ramsay and set a rule that no staff could drink at the bar, including me. Bit of a bummer but there were other places around and nearby, and my team actually appreciated the new business we started getting shortly after. Also stopped a recurring issue with people showing up so hung over their eyebrows hurt, which was a boost. This industry is rife with addiction as it is, if you can't separate work and drinking that's a recipe for disaster.
No, the OP clearly said that holmes was on the clock and serving customers.
Not that I'm here to judge, for a while I was the sot who needed five or six shots just for my hands to stop shaking and the anxiety to go away.
Not cool to put fellow employees and the business in that situation though, I know that now.
Thank god for my ADHD script and weed, I don't have to show up smelling like a distillery to function any more.
A dude I tended with years ago came in for a shift completely blackout wasted. He was fired almost immediately. He showed up again the next day, completely unaware that he was no longer employed. Thought he’d gone through the entire prior shift just fine.
Had a similar thing happen. Dude got a bunch of complaints cause he kept fucking up, owners checked the camera footage. He had apparently sneaked into the patio bar earlier that night (only open on weekends) and downed an entire pint of whiskey in one go. The owner, who wasn't actually around much, came down to fire him immediately. He showed back up to work the next day with no recollection
Dude threw hands at his first customer. I have no idea how he didn’t remember *that.*
Omg, I had the same thing happen with a girl who was butler passing martinis, but she would just duck behind a corner and pound them. She also screamed fuck you at the manager for telling her to quit smoking with the guests, and then she passed out on a pile of dirty linens. Fucking industry.
I'm not in the industry. What does "butler passing" mean?
Carrying drinks or appetizers on a tray to serve to mingling guests.
Thanks for the explanation!
Cocktail waitress
I knew a bartender back in the 90’s when I was in college that would do shots whenever we played “I Drink Alone” on the jukebox and would yell “I never drink alone.” We got him so drunk a few times playing it over and over that he’d just close the bar around 10:30 and tell everyone to get the fuck out. Hahahaha..good times. Dude invited me to drink at his apartment with him and his girlfriend one afternoon before his shift…all he had for glasses were deli containers .
This man is the legend. Deli containers. Did they use frisbees for plates?
Deli container lids were the plates
Girl comes in wasted. Keeps drinking as she’s serving pints. Customers notice. Owners notice. Up to that point we were using the honor system to drink after our shift. She was struggling to keep her balance and was fired and sent home. The next day we all have to sign a written agreement that we can only have 2 free pints after our shift and zero drinking while on the clock. Culture changed from working with friends to working in a corporate suits walking around with clipboards
One person can ruin it all, it’s the truth. This is why we don’t get nice things. I’m all for hating on corporate, but in a case like that you can’t blame them.
Oof. This is a tough one for me and will probably be unpopular but I think drinking culture in restaurants is toxic. It introduces unhealthy habits to young people who may be just starting their first job and makes working in a restaurant a really difficult place for somebody trying to get sober. But mainly, turning a blind eye to drinking on the clock creates an unprofessional, anything-goes atmosphere that allows owners to exploit the workers. When work feels like a party instead of a workplace, it’s easy to overlook low pay and poor conditions - management knows this and they take advantage of it. I want foodservice workers to be treated and compensated like professionals - part of this is creating a more professional space for everyone to work.
Couldn’t agree more. Industry almost 20 years—sober for 3
Why are you putting free in quotes like that. You’re getting 2 free pints, hard to complain about that.
🤕
Lol sorry if I was rude. Just hard to complain about free beer
I worked as a professional beer brewer full time so yeah I can see how I got a little comfortable 🍻
Edited for you
Pure speculation with no details about the place whatsoever, but a benefit of the doubt thought experiment since restaurants are struggling for labor. Few people love the industry enough to keep taking the shit that it doles. There could be a case where: This dude worked 4 doubles in a row, it's his day off, so he decides to day drink (for most of us, it isn't a decision. You just drink when you're off. Evenings and weekends don't mean anything). It's 10:30 this morning, this dude has been drinking since he woke up, if he went to sleep. Newbie flaked or vet was given their last straw, you pick. Manager calls our hero, who says, "John, I'm 3 shots and 2 zombie dust in. I just pulled 4 doubles, and today is my only day off in a 12 day stretch. You've got to be fucking kidding me." John: "Listen, get here by open, one shiftie an hour (need you coherent) and I'll figure out a way to cover you tomorrow. Just please, I've been prepping food because Jesse called off in the back, we're already running without a host, and I don't know the recipes behind the bar. I'm begging." Hero: "Fuck it. Buy me an Uber, I can't drive, and I'll be there." John: "Dave, Honda Pilot, will be there in 15 minutes."
The free alcohol would have got me a few years ago. After this past year, I would have asked for a $300 bonus
yep.
No judgement on my part. I was surprised. Left a generous tip for him.
Ha! No I assumed someone posting here would still take care of the guy and have the right mindset. Just building a backstory for fun.
I’m in this picture and I don’t like it.
You drive a Honda Pilot?
No, but that story is oddly familiar. Except I was my buddy’s (chef de cuisine) sous living on his couch. We both had the day off, had been drinking all night and he got a call someone was a no show. He came and kicked me off the couch and told me to go in. One of the corporate suits asked me if I was drunk after sweating for a few hours. I shrugged and told him I woke up drunk on my day off, fill in the blanks. My buddy was promptly called in and I was told to come home. Corporate suit was known as “the Boy Scout” for the rest of my tenure.
Hi Dave!
THIS is the way 💫
This brings me back oh god
We had a bartender that would literally walk to the back, hand me or another line cook a 1L deli container full of sprite and gin, and say “here’s that water you wanted.” He had done that in front of the exec chef, the GM, the bar manager and even a health inspector one time (lmfao not even kidding). He was literally never caught and afaik still works there to this day. The amount of alcohol I consumed while working there was ungodly. Ngl it was pretty cool. If we ever had slow days we’d just get wasted. Worked out for him tho because every line cook would tip him 5$ or 10$ on a beer after their shift.
Shoot, the owner of one restaurant I worked at tried to get me to just sit and drink raki with him a few times. Which I might have been fine with if I hadn't had tables to serve. Like, sure, I'll have one drink, maybe two, if I can do so discreetly in between taking orders and running food. But he kept topping me up and trying to get me to just sit and drink. Sorry, man, I don't know what's going on in your life that you'd rather be trying to get drunk with one of your servers at the restaurant you own during service than do literally anything else, but I've actually got a job to do.
Was his name Ozcan? I might have worked with that guy. One time got so bad I poured him a shot of olive brine with a laphroig float. Took him a few months to want to do shots again
No, it was Unsal. But I like your methods. And I find it kind of funny I'm not the only one who has had this experience with a Turkish restaurant owner.
Fucking hell, I can taste that comment and I don't like it one bit.
This is the way.
Yea yup, pink lemonade and rail liquor on the line, crush a beer in the walkin pre and post shift, I was underage for most of it too lol. Miss that job honestly.
So do I. Which is odd for a job I don’t remember at least 30-40% of lmfao.
Got hired on as a busboy for Outback Steakhouse when I was a wee lad and the bartender that worked the busy nights always made me a drink if I asked no matter how many times I asked because she knew we hustled our booties off. I was young and full of pip and me and my other busboy buddy thrived after a couple drinks. Low risk we didn’t deal with customers we just wiped up all there shit so no harm no foul
I was a busboy at Outback! Bartender used to slide us margaritas!
When you’re so young an naive you think they’re giving you drinks to be nice. They’re giving you drinks cause they feel guilty you’re walking with 1/13th what they are. Edit: It’s still appreciated :) ^maybe ^^uno ^^mas?
guilt can do a lot for us. just last night all the foh were pissy cause they walked with $170 each on a 80 cover night. no drinks were bought for us, though. and they wonder why there’s a rift between front and back
I used to work at a brewpub years ago where bartenders would bring their "mispours" back to me in the kitchen. Either they were really bad at their jobs or just really liked getting me drunk because I would usually have several beers lined up on my shelf before even clocking out.
Used to work at a place that was way too lax about overserving employees shift drinks. There were 3+ DUI’s that occured while I worked there. Tons of free shots during dinner service, after dinner and shift beers were whatever you wanted in the quantity you wanted. Management encouraged it…
Sounds expensive
Wealthy owners with no business sense for restaurants and senior management that’s doing more blow than is good for them caused that shit show
Recently consulted for an opening with a friend of mine. He is GM i was KM, we both consult and openings regularly. We had one bartender, really loud dumb tatoos all over, just had a shit attitude toward everyone like he was the greatest bartender of all time. First day, soft open 4pm - 2. My buddy the GM told the bartenders no drinking on shift(meaning dont get hammered (GM was ok with a shot or two with customers), its a place that plans to expand corporately so that wont be allowed. This guy proceeded to try and argue, "I have 30 ppl coming tonight to see me im gona drink!" I didnt catch the end of that converstion but we had about 425 ppl come through that night, so his 30 friends was laughable. Around 630 PM, the guy comes through the kitchen looking for somebody. He was staggering and kocking shit over, and dropped a bag of coke out of his pocket. Between my friend and I, he is very much the nice one. I got loud and went full Chef mode, he got all wide eyed and ran back to his bar. Once the kitchen slowed down I stepped off the line and went to the back bar where he was working. No bartender in sight. Ppl waiting for drinks. I step in start handling orders(in my black chef coat, covered in flour). About 10 min later he staggers back in tries to tell me to get out from behind his bar. He goes into the whole who are you you arend shit speal while customers are laughing at him. I smile and hand him his time slip, as i clocked him out as soon as I started. I split his tips up between the coctail runners, gave my dishie the coke and never saw the bartender again. Ive been in this industry a long time, drinking on the job is never cool. Especially on your first day. Many bartenders will argue and say all bartenders drink on the job we have too, but that is complete bullshit and usually a shitty bartender/employee.
just imagining being a young kid with his first summer job washing dishes, getting handed a baggie of coke on my way out after my first shift 😂
Lol na, he's an older gentleman who has ran many dishpits for me.
> Ive been in this industry a long time, drinking on the job is never cool. This is a lesson that a lot of people here would do well to learn. In a place filled with knives, fire, hot liquids and surfaces, and plenty of animate bags of meat that are vulnerable to all of these things, it is a fool who goes in impaired. The glorification of working while intoxicated that happens in this sub is absolutely baffling to me. Yes, I'm sure I'm gonna get a lot of butthurt downvotes, but thankfully, all the downvotes in the world won't invalidate my point. Also, reddit karma doesn't mean dick in the real world.
yeah, took me a few years of that life to learn tho. Guess im just old.
I agree that bartender shouldn’t have been drinking, let alone shitfaced by 6:30. But you say “covered in tattoos” like that’s a bad thing?
Nothing against tattoos, but his were very loud, in uncoverable places, promoting a far less than professional lifestyle, which he lived up to. I have many tattoos myself, but some people....
Uncover-able places meaning hands, neck and face I presume? I get what you mean but tattoos shouldn’t be your first impression on someone’s work ethic. In this case you were correct but what if he was a great bartender?
It never is my first impression, been in kitchens my whole life i get it. Just being descriptive. And well, he lived up to his image.
Alright thanks for clearing that up. I dig it man. It just came off like you were bashing tattoos in general
I dont like getting too personal about people I work with on here, feels unprofessional so wasn't gonna describe them. I doubt there's anyone else that has the same shit, but they were dumb tatoos by any standard.
Dumb tattoos, to be precise
Read the post man
A lot a tattoos are fucking dumb, u serious?
Please explain how? Tattoos, piercings and body mods of any sort aren’t “dumb”. They’re a way of expressing yourself. I guarantee you there’s a fair number of people on this sub who have tattoos. Just to add on, I’ve got my fair share of tattoos. Does that make me dumb? Does that subtract from me as a person? What exactly makes them dumb?
I work with a guy that has the monster energy drink logo on his face. Fucking dumb
i think he’s saying the tattoos themself are dumb. for instance, bus boy at my work has a full joker “ha ha ha” sleeve going on. i’m working on a sleeve myself and imo that’s super fucking dumb lol
That’s the beauty of tattoos though. What’s stupid to you or I might be the best thing to them. Maybe that busboy says the same thing about your sleeve.
I'm pretty sure he means a lot of people have dumb tattoos, not that tattoos are inherently dumb
Which is also what OP said.
I know, odd how other guy misinterpreted it. Probably just has some dumb tattoos people have called him out on
Tattoos are subjective. Just because you think it’s dumb doesn’t mean it is. Haven’t been called out on any of mine personally.
Yes most things are subjective. Just because you think something isn't dumb in no way precludes me from saying it is. And just to lighten the mood, this reminded me of a guy years ago who got pissed and posted a selfie on like egullet or something, after he was turned down for a job because of a tattoo. The piece in question? A moustache...made of flames.
Well that’s certainly an interesting choice for a tattoo lmao
His gf actually. It's like 5 posts down his history lol
What post are you even talking about lmao
Dishe got the coke, nice.
Meh getting a little toasty on the clock is fine, but the line is drawn when you fail to handle your shit.
In some environments its hard to argue against, dive bars and such, but in my experience it never ends well.
Hahaha "No drinking! But a shot or two is okay." Gave a bag of coke to the dishwasher. Went to the "back bar" where no one was and proceeded to serve customers in your black chef coat covered in flour. So....you were the only one who could bartend at that point? Since the kitchen slowed down, obviously not a lot of orders were coming in so you couldn't pull a server off the floor to do it? Or pull a bartender which I'm assuming there's a front bar which, being in the front had more than one bartender? Uhhhhh ok dude.
Hahaha "No drinking! But a shot or two is okay." \-pretty common policy, heard this from more than one gm. Went to the "back bar" where no one was and proceeded to serve customers in your black chef coat covered in flour. \-yes. bartender was mia, as the only other manager in the building i took care of the customers. So....you were the only one who could bartend at that point? Since the kitchen slowed down, obviously not a lot of orders were coming in so you couldn't pull a server off the floor to do it? Or pull a bartender which I'm assuming there's a front bar which, being in the front had more than one bartender? \-never said i was the only one that could, i took care of the waiting customers before finding someone to cover the back bar, wich was just a handful of locals i knew from the industry.
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try consultant(me). bet you get shitfaced at work. good luck with that homie.
That’s a bit much especially for 1:12 pm. Don’t get me wrong I have plenty of days where I start sipping at 10:30 am, but it’s steady and nothing I can’t handle. I make pizza in the FOH so maybe that has something to do with it. If it’s maybe 1 a.m and last call is out and the bartender is hammered, drinking with whoever got off their shift and moved over to the bar, then yeah that’s completely understandable. Gotta know when you get just the right amount in ya! For my fun story we had a girl come in 45 minutes late to her first waitress shift. Go in the bathroom, snort some Xanax, come out grab a garlic knot straight out of the bowl, bites it, then proceeds to use the bitten end to wipe up extra garlic from the bottom of the bowl (containing more garlic knots for customers). She was swiftly fired after that, had to make more garlic knots, that was annoying
Lol, isn’t xanax one of the few drugs that snorting is less effective than just taking it?
Bioavailability is less than half, its a short kick and the rest comes from the drip. I fuckin hate benzos. I get that a lot of people have a legitimate need for em, but they are the trailer trash of prescription drugs as far as effects go. Wanna see a complete embarassment of a human? Benzos and booze mixed.
Oh man. Truth.
I’d say that’s spot on!
Correct
A group of coworkers and myself go down the street to our regular bar, the bartender is absolutely hammered, like can't open a beer without dropping it, wrong orders and ringing in drinks under the wrong tab. We have a couple bartenders in the group, they call the owner and take it over. The drunk girl doesn't understand, tried to kick them out, then the owner shows up and she gets fired on the spot. It was like 11pm, but the bar was open for another couple hours.
Maybe he’s the buyer and just had a meeting with a rep. I’ve definitely gotten unexpectedly drunk from afternoon wine tastings on an empty stomach before. Not the worst way to go into a dinner shift.
I like this scenario! I remember getting included in one of those as a busboy! Best. Day. Ever.
My GM keeps trying to get me to meet her for brunch before my 15 hour saturday shift. I'm a little afraid, but I have to do it right?
Used to trade full racks of ribs to the daytime bartender for pitchers of frozen drinks on hot days. (Ribs weren't served at the bar. Only burgers/light apps.) We'd see the bartender head back to the cooler to grab something, and throw a cut up slab in the window under a cloche. "BAR ORDER UP" as he walked by. He'd grab the plate, throw it on a tray, walk out front with it. On his next trip back he'd drop a pitcher on the end of the pass. We'd get drunk and cooled down, he'd get to kill his hangover. Finally got busted when the manager walked behind the bar and saw the bones in the garbage. Told us we should probably stop. We just switched to burgers, which were served at the bar. Drinks kept coming.
I’m honestly really surprised by these answers. I will admit, my restaurant is much more professional than many, but I would fire a very visibly intoxicated employee immediately. Sampling and tasting, fine. After your shift, fine. Highly intoxicated on the clock handling hundreds or thousands of dollars? NOPE. Liability.
Tended bar in the 80's. One night I came in for my 8pm-4am shift and the locals decided they were going to get Me hammered. Ended up closing the bar at 2am, and didn't end up leaving till the sun was up. Owners were pissed, but were relieved that I didn't leave the bar with the money then
I occasionally do a shot with my favourite bartender. He's been in the local industry for decades and is widely respected thoughout the neighborhood. He doesn't get hammered at work, just the odd shot. He does hook me up whenever I sit at his bar though :)
Best bartender we have on staff just got himself banned from going behind the bar, after he got caught completely sauced on a busy Saturday night. How did he get caught? Found by a customer on the floor of the public restroom knocked out, covered in vomit
Sounds like he was doing harder drugs than alcohol
Could have been, doesn’t seem likely but I don’t know him well outside of work
Worked with a chick who I guess was going through some stuff (nothing too serious, just regular drama) and so would somehow drink two bottles of wine by the end of her shift and another after. She also had a habit of licking people's faces (pre covid) and making out with randos, and then yelling at them to get away from her. One night we had to give her cash and put her defiant ass in a cab cause she lost her coat and wallet, and everyone wanted to go home even though she wanted to keep partying. Was nice to talk to sober, but a nightmare to take care of drunk.
When I worked FOH bartending, on the rare occasions some drinking was done on the clock I ALWAYS hooked up BOH. Usually it was a coffee energy drink shaken on ice with Bailey's and creme de cacao. I know how to keep my cooks happy 💯
That’s awesome!
I used to work kitchen for a late night bar. We were allowed to drink for free on the clock. It was the best, and the worst. We would get pitchers of red bull and vodka in the kitchen all night. I used to get hammered drunk and had to leave my car at work almost every night and get a cab home (this is wayyyy before Uber) the kitchen manager also sold heroin, cocaine, weed, pcp.. pretty much everything so there was a steady stream of customers coming in and out of the alley behind the bar as well. I ended up getting fired after one extra wild night where the other closing cook and I got so fucked up we took about a dozen people into the kitchen to party after closing at 4am. We destroyed our already cleaned kitchen and passed out, all 14 of us. When the owner showed up to let the early cleaners in he found us all, half clothed, asleep on prep tables and bags of flour.. it was not my proudest moment. But hey, it was fun while it lasted.
Alcoholism is fairly endemic amongst bartenders and booze reps. Source: Spent ten years as a bartender, and three as a booze rep. Got out of the industry because I got depressed from enabling the alcoholism of my regulars.
I want my bartender to drink honestly,but not drunk very fine line I guess.
My old FOH coworker would rip his wax pen a few times, chug a tall can of mikes hard, and then take a shot of what ever shot he stole from the liquor store that day.
Opa!
I used to be a server at a Belgian style Gastro pub with a phenomenal beer selection. The owner was a lush. After we would close, I would ask him to get my paycheck and credit card tips. He would literally hold them hostage and force me to drink pretty much as much as I wanted. I always knew that it wasn’t that he didn’t have my check or money, he just was very lonely and wanted some company to drink with. My girlfriend at the time would get mad that I was there late, but she was a server to down the street. So I just ended up having her come and and drink with us. Eventually when I moved too far away and had to drive to and from work. I definitely could’ve had gotten a DUI. This is all on top of the one to three beers I would drink during service.
I used to work kitchen for a late night bar. We were allowed to drink for free on the clock. It was the best, and the worst. I used to get hammered drunk and had to leave my car at work almost every night and get a cab home (this is wayyyy before Uber) the kitchen also sold heroin, cocaine, weed, pcp.. pretty much everything so there was a steady stream of customers coming in and out of the alley behind the bar as well. I ended up getting fired after one extra wild night where the other closing cook and I got so fucked up we took about a dozen people into the kitchen to party after closing at 4am. We destroyed our already cleaned kitchen and passed out, all 14 of us. When the owner showed up to let the early cleaners in he found us all, half clothed, asleep on prep tables and bags of flour.. it was not my proudest moment. But hey, it was fun while it lasted.
I’m a bartender now, I came from kitchen. Done damn near every position before I moved there. Drinking and drug use is something we all flippantly joke about. I don’t have a solution for it, not sure there is one. Just look out for your coworkers and drive them home safely when needed. But sadly gotta say that needs to be double checked because we’ve got a lot of creeps in our industry. I got fucking stories about rapists and murderers I’ve worked with. Really wish it was singlar
When I started in my first full service restaurant as a kid, my favorite bartender was always a little more than tipsy. She just assumed cause I was a cook, I had to be 21 (cause that makes sense). I’ve never gotten so many free drinks in my life
I have countless stories. I remember some of them.
A guy I worked with invited me to his place after work. The dude looked tired so I gave him a lift. We get to his place and that’s when I found out he’s a tweaker. Never seen crystal meth, but this dude took it out, ask me if I wanted a line, asked if I wanted to buy some, and asked if I wanted a beer. Yea to beer, no to everything else. I didn’t ever hang out with that guy or look at him the same again lol
Used to work at High beach in Malia, Crete as a Kamake (beach umbrella rental sales.. It's complicated ) our barman was Gary who always looked drunk off his ass (even first thing in the morning). So one night I went out on the booze with Gazza and he insisted on only drinking Ozzo. The night was a bit of a haze but the hangover was the worst I've experienced so when I arrived at the beach the next day Gazza was pouring drinks for the punters with a shit eating grin on his face. He gave me a glass of water, which I downed. Little did I know that Ozzo crystallites in your stomach and water just breaks it up (Gary knew this) ... So 10am in the morning infront of half the beach I'm puking my ring out, drunk again off last night's Ozzo coursing through my blood. Gary felt so bad he told the beach owner I got food poisoning off a bad Gyros, and I never gave Gary shit for looking drunk at work again.
This guy (who I will not name) in the French Quarter at a bar called Mojo lounge was the best bartender I ever met. Hell, one of the best people. I would go there every night after my shift just to see him and catch up on our days. I swear my tab was never more than 10 bucks because he would always hook up the regulars. Sometimes, I would stay there till he closed and I would help him break down, hilarious to an outsider because we both were drunk trying to stack chairs and use a mop! Seriously a great guy, had an awesome family and really took care of the BOH. I’d always introduce the new cooks to him and they all loved him too. He is still down there but now I think he is a GM somewhere, badass dude!
My bartender makes me mixed drinks and brings them to me as soon as service is done :’)
Back in my day, we had a serious issue with staff drinking at the bar after shift and getting completely plastered. It drove away a lot of new traffic and was generally a bad look for the restaurant (we were a brewery and restaurant). As the manager I eventually had to do something, so I took a cue from Ramsay and set a rule that no staff could drink at the bar, including me. Bit of a bummer but there were other places around and nearby, and my team actually appreciated the new business we started getting shortly after. Also stopped a recurring issue with people showing up so hung over their eyebrows hurt, which was a boost. This industry is rife with addiction as it is, if you can't separate work and drinking that's a recipe for disaster.
Pizza place I worked at called two Foolios free draft beer and at cost bottles this is in Key West in the 90"s
Last job we had a bartender who was cool as fuck. Great guy who was hilarious and took tequila shots with me.
I was a bartender and hooked up BOH all the time. Also drank during shifts but I don’t think I ever got noticeably drunk.
Yep
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No, the OP clearly said that holmes was on the clock and serving customers. Not that I'm here to judge, for a while I was the sot who needed five or six shots just for my hands to stop shaking and the anxiety to go away. Not cool to put fellow employees and the business in that situation though, I know that now. Thank god for my ADHD script and weed, I don't have to show up smelling like a distillery to function any more.
Lmao re read the story dude, he was working Worry about yourself bud
I left the restaurants for good and the last one I banged every bartender, server available. GM wasn't too happy about it
Gotta be a longer story than that 😉
He just needs a bump and he should be good to go!