I had the pleasure of visiting a fantastic restaurant in Vancouver for the first time last night. The place is called Joey’s and it’s located on Broadway just east of Granville St. (for those reading this from Vancouver, check it out if you haven’t already).

What an experience! The overall look and feel of the place is phenomenal, very sexy and stylish. Their patio is hands down one of the best I’ve ever seen. The service was incredible - our server was a true professional in the art service. He listened attentively, suggestive sold accordingly and made sure we were taken care of for our entire stay. He was obviously there for us, the customer.

Needless to say, I’ll definitely return.

So after dinner at Joey’s we decided to hit a club downtown (which I’d rather not mention the name of).

I’ve been to this club before and never felt too fond of it. But my buddy insisted. So I thought, what heck, we’re just going for a drink…

Needless to say, I have no intention of EVER returning there.

The bartenders were your typical run-of-the-mill meatheads. Forget about approaching the bar and being served, you had to literally yell and wave them down to get their attention (and it’s not like they were busy either).

In fact, when I finally got the dude’s attention, he told me to hold on while he went to the other end of the bar and did a shot of Tequila with his buddy.

This guy wasn’t behind the bar for the customer, he was behind the bar for himself! I’m always shocked when I see bartenders like that at lucrative establishments. What is the owner/manager thinking? Do they not realize that kind of service turns away scores of good clientele?

It’s paradoxical - When you’re behind the bar for the customer, you’ll reap the greatest rewards of this profession. When you’re behind the bar for yourself, you’ll end up getting the least!

In my first example, the server at Joey’s was totally there for us. The result was a fat tip, a returning customer, and telling my entire network (including you) about how great it was there. (The server’s name was Ryan, for the record).

In the second example, the bartender was there only for himself (e.g. treating his shot of Tequila as higher priority than serving his customers). The result was shrapnel for a tip and a customer who will most likely never return.

Remember, as a bartender you have the power to make or break someone’s evening. Use that power for good. Connect with your customers and give them your full attention. Make them feel important. Be there FOR THEM! What baffles me is that it’s so easy to do this, yet so many fail miserably.

So what about you? Who are you behind the bar for? I’d love to hear your comments so please leave them below.

Cheers,

Jeremy