10 Traits of the Perfect Bartender for Hire in NYC

#2 Memory of an Elephant - A true sign of a great bartender, is one that remembers names, stories, and the preferred drink of all the regulars who stroll through your establishment on a daily basis. Your bartender is more than just someone shaking a cocktail and pouring drinks. They are your guest's drinking buddy, who just so happens to only sips on sodas, and listen to them. The mark of a perfect bartender is one who has heard enough of these countless personal stories so that they could quite literally be used to help write their autobiography. More than remembering stories, they need to remember drink orders on busy nights. When they are getting slammed at the bar and 10 different people are all yelling drink orders at the same time, you need the right bartender with the right skills to be taking those mental notes and not losing track of anyone's request.

#4 Mother Teresa Level Patience - Patience Exercise Number 1 -Your bartenders are going to get those guests that hum and haw and pick a drink to order and then say, "oh no, wait, wait, wait, I want this other drink instead…" while you're bartender is already in mid-pour. Patience Exercise Number 2 - Your bartender gets a guest that tries to pay their bill with either all pennies and Canadian nickels or a personal check from an out-of-state bank. So the art of knowing how to bite their tongue and smile, and then scream into the dumpster out back at the end of the night, is a check plus-plus in our books.

#5 Professional Professional Professional - Work ethic is not something you can necessarily train, it has a lot to do with a person's character. Having someone for your event staff in NYC who is reliable, shows up on time, works the long hours if need be, and arrives on time the next day ready to get back at it, is worth their weight in gold.

#7 Time Management Skills - Knowing the pace of the orders coming in and being able to quickly adapt to the ebb and flow of the business, is an absolute necessity. On busy nights, they are anticipating a lot of orders, especially for popular drinks. Everything is well-stocked so that there is enough to get through the rush. They can shake a shaker while taking another drink order while telling the bar back to get more water bottles while... By contrast, on a slow night, instead of watching raindrops fall down the window, they know to be polishing glassware, stocking the bar, wiping things down, checking receipts, staying busy because you never know if this will be your only down time before you get your next rush.

# 8 Clean Machine - Another trait of a great bartender is one that holds cleanliness above all else. A bar is the focal point of an establishment, and if it looks a mess, then immediately your guests will start to assume the same about everything else in the place and start to reconsider other places to go to. Your bartender should be polishing glasses and bar tops to shine like mirrors. If they see that their barback or busser is too swamped to clean up after the guests at the bar area, they without asking, take the initiative to go in and clean up anything as soon as possible.

#10 Loves Their Job - Passion counts for a lot. You don't want to hire a bartender in NYC that is just doing it to save up for a sweet ride, or to get into law school. You want someone who actually is excited about coming to do the job, who researches drink recipes and practices them at home countless nights, who takes pride in their craft, the quality of their drinks, and is always looking to improve themselves.