Jaren's Job Description - Barback

Barback

I have always loved working in restaurants since I had my first job as a dishwasher. I enjoy all the free food that comes with working in a kitchen. I started out as a dishwasher, then I became a busser, and then I became a barback. Many people ask me what a barback is – I usually tell them it is like a glorified busser, and with better tips. But being a barback at a fine dining restaurant is harder than most people think.

A barback constantly takes orders from both the customers and the bartender. At one moment I might be filling a beer for a customer, and the next I might be stuffing olives with cheese for the bartender. My job is to make sure that the bartender has what he or she needs while providing an excellent experience for our guests. It can sometimes be difficult to satisfy both the customer and the bartender, especially when the bar area and restaurant are busy. But over time, I have developed three key ways to be successful as a barback.

Barbacks can be more successful by:

·      Communicating

·      Organizing

·      Managing Stress

I’ll describe how to communicate, organize, and manage stress in a bar atmosphere and why they are important skills to have through personal examples.

Communicating

A successful barback communicates with everyone in the restaurant, including:

·      The bartender and customers

·      The servers, bussers, and hosts

·      The kitchen

A flow chart showing a standard dinner, and everyone involved is shown below:

As you can see, it is important that everyone is communicating with each other since each part of the restaurant is responsible for the guest’s experience. When employees do not communicate, it can ruin the guest’s experience. For example, let’s say I am busy helping out the bartender as a barback. If I don’t tell a busser that a dirty bar table needs to be cleared, the table does not get cleaned. Then if the busser doesn’t tell the host that the table isn’t clean, the host will try and seat new guests at a dirty table. As a result, the customer has to wait longer to be seated.

Organizing

As a barback, it is important to stay organized. Organizing your work area helps yourself and all staff members work quickly. Having an organized work area as a barback means:

·      Keeping enough silverware, folded napkins, and linens at your station

·      Making sure that dirty glasses get put into the dishwasher and get taken out once clean

·      Having beer, wine, and liquor stocked and available for your whole shift

Running out of silverware and napkins can be costly. This takes a barback more time and energy to find these resources elsewhere in the restaurant. Also, this takes away time that could be used helping out the bartender. Staying organized also means keeping beverage glasses clean. This requires a barback to constantly run glasses through the dishwasher and take them out. Having clean glasses decreases the amount of time it takes us to pour drinks. But in order to pour these drinks, they must be stocked at the beginning of the shift. Sometimes a wine or beer will be popular one night, and not so popular the next. It is better to overstock for your shift than understock. Having an understocked inventory may lead to wasted time looking for drinks away from the bar.

   

Managing Stress

Working behind a bar is stressful. Every shift brings new challenges. Maybe your stress comes from an argument with a colleague. Maybe you are stressed as a result of miscommunication or not staying organized. Whatever the reason, it is important to know how to manage your stress. I have found three ways that I like to manage stress:

·      Breath

·      Slow down

·      Remind yourself the situation is temporary

It’s like playing quarterback for a football team. You have teammates – your colleagues – counting on you to do your job and a coach – your boss – who keeps asking for more. With four seconds on the clock and the game on the line, you need to manage your stress. Remembering to breath will help you think clearly. Slowing down your actions will help you regain control of the situation. And reminding yourself that this situation is temporary will alleviate some stress. Now you can hike the ball and throw the game-winning touchdown – or finish out your barback shift, whichever you prefer.

Barbacks develop these necessary skills over time. In a fine dining restaurant, it is even more important to learn these skills to provide customers with a great experience. Customers expect excellent service when they pay much higher prices at such restaurants. But don’t forget that your restaurant operations are also important. In order to be successful as a barback, remember to communicate with colleagues and the customers, keep your workstation organized, and manage your stress well. These skills will provide a more enjoyable work shift.

Flesch Reading Ease: 67.1

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 7.5

Passive Sentences: 0%

Can you find me in this poor quality picture?