BARS
Types of Bar
There are
various types of bar, known by different names but all used to serve alcoholic
drinks. The possible range is almost endless. There may be bars serving alcohol
in a hotel’s garden, by the pool (even in
the pool!), in a room full of poker machines, in a corporate box at some
sporting event, or in a licensed café and so on. However the most common names
for bar are:
Public or front bars – The least expensive and basic type of
hotel (or pub) bar is usually called the public bar or front bar.
Lounge or saloon bars – These bars are more comfortably
furnished (and more expensive) than the public bar.
Foyer bars – Superior residential hotels often
serve drinks in the foyer. There is usually table service of drinks available
even if there is no bar as such in the hotel’s foyer.
Cocktail bars – Cocktail bars, found most commonly in
international hotels, are the most luxuriously furnished and lavishly equipped.
As the name implies, cocktail bars specialize in mixed drinks and cocktails,
and therefore bartenders working in them need special cocktail-mixing skills.
They sometimes open only in the evening and they usually offer tray service as
well as bar service.
Club Bars – Club bars, found in some taverns and
hotels, are suitable for use by clubs or special interest groups and are
sometimes reserved for their meetings. Do not confuse a hotel’s ‘club bar’ with
the bars in registered clubs which are a different matter altogether. A big
club often has several bars, for example, a members’ bar (with or without poker
machines), or ‘sportsman’s bar’ with pool tables.
Nightclub bars – Nightclub bars are found in
nightclubs and discos. They serve cocktails and mixed drinks as well as a range
of beers, both local and imported. Often they offer both tray and bar service,
and they are open until the early hours of the morning.
Dispense bars – another type of bar is called the
dispense bar. It is a bar which is used for the preparation of the drinks for
staff who then delivers them to customers elsewhere, for example at table in a
restaurant. It is likely to be less lavishly equipped than a full scale public
or cocktail bar. In many hotels, of course, there is no need for a dispense bar
as drinks can easily be served to the eating areas from the ordinary (fully-equipped)
bar.
Wine bars – Wine bars offer a wide range of
wines, some of which are available by the glass. Usually a limited range of
beers and spirits will be available also. Often a wine bar will be combined
with a smart casual restaurant. Wine bar staff must, of course, be well
informed about wine.
Minibars – Minibars are found in hotel bedrooms
where a range of miniature bottles of spirits, half bottles of wine, a few
beers, mixers, nuts etc. are available for the guests’ convenience. Items taken
for the minibar must be added to the guests’ accounts to be paid for when they
check out.
Banquet bar – This is a temporary setup in the
banquet halls to serve alcoholic drinks during a specific function. The type
and quality of drinks to be served are generally pre-determined at the time of
booking the function. The drinks may either be bought by those who wish to
drink or paid by the host for all the drinks consumed by his/her guests during
the function. The banquet bar collects the required stock either from the main
bar or the cellar. Sometimes, the guest would bring their own liquor bottles in
which case ‘corkage’ charges are
levied.
Bottle shops – The bottle shop attached to a hotel
is, of course, not really a bar, because customers do not drink there. However,
hotel bar attendants are frequently called upon to serve at the bottle shop as
well as in bars.
Design of the bar
The design
of the bars is controlled by laws of various kinds, mostly intended to ensure
hygiene and safety. Apart from the need to keep within the law, good bar design
is important for the efficient running of the bar. Bars vary enormously and the
design of the bar is not something over which the average bar attendant can
expect to have any control. The ideal bar will rarely be found except in
newly-renovated hotels. In an ideal situation there will be a separate work
station for each bar attendant. Each of these work stations should have enough,
but not too much, space and all the equipment you are likely to need.
Each work
station should be plentifully supplied with running hot and cold water. It
should have an ice trough (with a hole so that melted ice can drain away), a
wash-up sink and drainage area, sufficient space for glasses and equipment and
a container for empty bottles. There should be a firm working surface below the
level of the bar counter for preparing drinks and garnishes. Many pieces of bar
equipment, like cash registers and blenders, require electricity. Electric
plugs should be above the working surface but well away from water.
The standard drinks and glasses should be within easy reach.
Ideally it should not be necessary for you often to have to go behind your
colleagues to get some drink or piece of equipment. To serve the most common
drinks it should not be necessary to have to turn your back on your customers.
Every work station cannot be ideal and bar attendants at more than one work
station may have to share equipment. However, a fundamental of satisfactory bar
design is that bar tenders should have to cross each other’s paths to reach
shared facilities such as glass washing machines. If their paths cross,
collisions will occur.
If your work
station is not ideal you must, of course, make the best of what you have. It
may be that some re-organisation can improve its efficiency. If you have the
significant ideas for re-arranging things, get your proposals approved by your
supervisor before putting them into action. What suits you may not suit others
using the same work station.
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