Opening a new Bar

Bars & Bartenders
1

Hello everyone, I’m currently in the process of opening a bar. Quite literally from the the ground up. If you had the opportunity to do so. What are things often overlooked in a Bar Design and opening that you would focus on? I appreciate the feedback. Cheers

2

Although I have experience opening multiple venues of varying sizes as General Manager, I can’t really comment from an operator/owner perspective, however The Cocktail Bar by Chall Gray is a great book covering the foundations and common pitfalls.

When it comes to the drinks side it’s important to realise that most guests aren’t that bothered with your drinks knowledge or recipes. As long as the drinks are above a certain “This is great” threshold, you’re good. The experience and how you make guests feel are FAR more important.
We typically only remember two parts of any night out. The emotional peak and the ending. Never underestimate a fond farewell and being attentive to guests even after they’ve paid their bill.

Best of luck with the project!

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  1. all your mixed drinks should be original, and feature ingredients you’ve created or modified
  2. you should provide constant background music consisting of familiar radio hits from the 1970s and 1980s, and keep it loud to keep the old folks away
  3. you should use a reservations system that compels you to request your customer’s telephone number first thing when they enter
  4. you should permit your bartenders to offer a parting round of shots to their “friends”
  5. your menu and prices should be carefully designed around a minimum spend-per-customer model, and you should train your bartenders and servers to upsell to premium wines and spirits
  6. refer to your non-alcoholic drink options as “mocktails”, because you’re a bar, after all
  7. if your bar is full, you absolutely should not help redirect the overflow to your competition (they’re your competitors after all)
  8. you should have a sound strategy to win a bar award
  9. you should invest in a lavish brand-forward web site
  10. at night, you should keep the lighting as low as possible, so that your customers cannot see what you know is really there
  11. you should absolutely stick with paper tabs and receipts printed in microscopic type—much classier than those new fangled portable terminals
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Missed this the first time around. I do have a couple more rules:
12. your most experienced bartenders should always be doing pop-ups somewhere
other than your bar
13. if somebody manages to order an actual classic cocktail your bartenders must
make sure to switch out as many ingredients as possible for other, dimly-related
ones
14. if you are a famous bartender you must never be seen behind the bar unless it is
for television
15. if it’s a choice between paying for employee health insurance and a fancy PR
agency, go with the PR

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