Bartenders/servers: 2 ways to cut your drinking

Shaun McGuire has bartended in and around Peekskill, NY for years. He knows the community, has a ton of regulars, and has become legit friends with some of them (gone to their weddings, etc.)

This is of course great. As Shaun says, "as a bartender people are paying to spend time with you," and that feels good.

But there's a risk to the lifestyle too, and it's something most—if not all—bartenders deal with at some point: it's very easy to drink too much because there's always an excuse to have a drink.

Part of being a bartender is being the local celebrity, so when you're out and about and a regular sees you, they want to buy you a drink. That's natural enough, so you accept and drink it down. Having received a drink, you want to buy them a drink back. So you do. And on it goes.

It's super easy to talk yourself into a good time, and days of overindulging can turn into weeks, into months, and into years. Shaun's seen it happen and even started down that path himself at one point.

So, what to do? "Make space for yourself to not become a raging alcoholic," Shaun says. Blunt, as he always is, but true.

Here are two strategies he recommends for making that space.

1. When you want to go out for a meal or a drink, do it a little afield from where you work.

Why? If you're not in the vicinity, it's much less likely you'll run into someone you know, meaning it's way less likely someone will want to buy you a drink. This, of course, means its harder to overconsume.

(There's also a nice positive externality to this strategy: if you're going out with your partner, you'll be able to focus on them rather than chatting with regulars or co-workers.)

2. Get an accountability buddy

This is someone who can call you on drinking too much.

The person can be a friend, co-worker, family member, whoever, but that's not as important as this: they need to be someone you look up to or respect or someone who's doing better than you with drinking.

Why? Because if someone's calling you on your drinking you need to respect the person doing it enough to make changes.

It can be awkward to ask someone to be your accountability buddy, but as with most difficult conversations, the outcome is totally worth it.

There are of course other strategies out there to cut down on drinking, but given Shaun's vast experience behind the bar I wanted to share his top two with you.

Check out the interview clip for more on these strategies:

And if you want to hear more from Shaun, check out this playlist on the Brave New Bar Youtube channel.

Why?

To instill confidence in customers that your menu is accurate, which can increase sales.

Beer drinkers have learned not to trust menus at places with rotating selections. We’ve been burned too many times by “oh, sorry, that keg kicked yesterday” to really trust the accuracy of the paper in front of us.

One way you can combat that jaded feeling is by time-stamping your menu with an “Updated on [date]” footer, header, or subheader. It’s a simple addition that can remove any of the negative feelings customers (and bartenders) get when a menu-listed beer isn’t actually available.

How?

First off, only do this if you’re actually providing an up-to-date menu (no "ask or server about rotating drafts" or similar) and your selection rotates regularly (at least a couple times per month). A time stamp from a month ago isn’t additive.

If you are providing an up-to-date menu and your selection regularly rotates, then just add a timestamp—e.g. ”Updated August 17”—to your menu.

You could do this manually—drop it into the footer or subheader of your menu doc. Going forward, make sure editing the time stamp is a part of your menu updating process. (It's easy to forget when you're moving quickly.)

• The New York Times published an interesting article about how many more bars and restaurants are keeping a stock of Narcan, the OD reversal drug, behind the bar as public fentanyl ODs continue to rise.
• Good Beer Hunting ran an awesome article about the history and reception of Chicago's favorite spirit: Malört.
• It looks like the Russian subsidiary of Carlsberg, the famous Danish beer, may soon be nationalized by Putin.
• And finally, in the humorous department: A Mexican restaurant in Toledo caught on camera a man who's been breaking in several nights a week to steal beer and food. He hasn't been arrested yet, but they should catch him soon because video isn't the only lead: "His parents keep calling up here complaining and threatening us and saying that he’s coming home drunk and mean to his mother and father, and we tell her like ‘Ma’am, your son is illegally doing this,’” said server Adonica Castro. Unbelievable.