I'm not the best person to ask. I pay very little rent for a very nice apartment because I have a cool landlord who A) owns a lot of properties and B) doesn't feel the need to charge us more than the minimum he needs to break even because he lives in the building. I live with 2 guys and we pay $600 each for an apartment that should cost twice that.
Another tip on just landing restaurant jobs, try your best to put a face to the name/get an unofficial interview as in go in person with a physical copy of your resume, ask if theres a manager you can speak to briefly or if there’s a time they will be free. If you cant get the manager, try a supervisor. Just get yourself a chance to be able to speak with someone preferably face to face. I used to walk around the city with 20 copies or so of my resume and would just walk around, go inside cool spots at their non busy hours, and keep a list of what went down with each place. Each place I asked if a manager was around, if they said no, I’d usually ask for a better time to come and keep my resume and come back then. Don’t just give it to anyone. At least get it to a supervisor and be ready with a quick 1 to 2 liner statement to give (unofficial interview) Be confident, be prepared. If u cant do the in person stuff, after applying via an app like indeed etc, call in 3 or 4 days later and say you wanted to follow up on your application and their job availabilities/needs and if you could speak to a manager or supervisor.
Reiterating a few points here, I've taken plenty of resumes over the bar (I'm just a tender, not a manager.) And offered to grab a manager and been told no. I get being apprehensive, but if you can't chit chat you can't be behind the bar.
Then also I've been given resumes at 7 pm on a friday night, it goes in the trash. No question. Being able to be like "bad time dude" really makes a difference.
Lie brother. Lol. Most places dont actually call your past jobs. But if u wanna play it safe, put down a couple years of event bartending work in, even freelance. Or if you have any restaurant exp, just throw in the ‘barback’ title along with what you actually did. Write down you built a good rep with the bartenders and they allowed you occasionally to take drink orders, make em and serve em. Be confident and just let them know you’re a quick learner, and you’re confident in your abilities and ask to have them give you the opportunity to prove that. If you’re good at talking you’l be fine. I’m amazing at talking and have gotten way too many jobs I didn’t know anything about lol now of course be prepared, go look up some courses, memorize the top 10-20 most popular cocktails bc you’l get a stress test. If u ace that you’l get the job. If you’re good at the job, there ya go, you’re a bartender. Now try and build relationships and experience so you can eventually bartend for higher volume spots/fancier spots where you’l make more money. Those spots will check your references and job history though so yes make sure you’re not exaggerating/lying on your resume to high end spots. Go for a hotel bar or somewhere slow where you can fake it till u make it and gain experience. Just depends on your skillset if you’l sink or swim. Most ppl genuinely need the experience, and it will show to your employer/coworkers that you really didn’t have experience. Some can pick it up and convince others they have experience. Try it out. If you sink, and you still wanna bartend, then compromise and find a barback position, and build good relationships with the bartenders, be assertive that you have intentions of moving up to bartending, if you work it right, they’l let you take some orders. GL. (I have 7+ years of serving, and 3+ years full bartending) I skipped barbacking and landed a bartending job but at the time I already had 4-5 years of serving exp. Very different if you have zero restaurant exp.
Just apply to every place you can on indeed and other sites
a lot of places are hiring you just have to look everyday for new postings
and lie about your experience, no one follows up
if you worked as a barback but you know how to make drinks, tell them you were a bartender
Don't apply as a barback or you will only be hired as one
The most money is in specific bars not specific cities. Working in the Best bar in Houston will net you more money than a mediocre one in NYC. Reach out to all of the best bars in all of the cities and be willing to move. All of these anecdotal reports are useless and really just the top 1% of bartenders (by earnings) bragging.
Agreed. I bartend in houston and made 65 last year. 40ish hours a week. There’s bars a few streets up from me where one of my coworkers works and she only took this job to have extra spending money, makes my weekly check Thursday-Saturday over there.
I used to work at a nice restaurant in the heights. 60 seats in the restaurant. 8 at the bar. 2 on for weekend dinner service. I used to work 4 or 5 shifts including BRUNCH. I know. Fuck brunch. But we had refs that would come in and get two bottles of Rose eat a big meal and leave an $80 tip.
I worked about 35 hours a week and I made 98k. And it was easy.
Yep. I used to bb at a really popular Houston dive and made 50ish. Granted, I had the Friday night shift in my schedule. Not sure what I'd pull in without it, but it would clear $300 in tips each week on its own.
No for real--
I work in a bum a$$ college town and one job I made $100 on a game day (football) and the other job on the EXACT SAME STREET I made $700... you can guess where I stayed for the next 3 years.
I then bartended at a super hot-spot bar downtown and never made over $300 for work that simply wasn't worth it... people drink everywhere so find the place where people are drinking
Exactly. I’m not even going to post anything about where I am and what I make compared to the COL now, but I will say if you’re bartending in NYC/LA at 40hrs a week making 100k, I’ve seen that life and while it can be fun it’s not really sustainable/ comfortable. You’re not getting much flexibility/ travel time, especially compared to other professions in the same cities.
In the end It’s all relative to what you make vs where you are and what your personal goals are. There are some amazing opportunities out there if you can do math and aren’t preoccupied with trying to stay trendy.
How do you identify those bars? Without already knowing someone there I mean? Is it just trying them and networking to find those people or are there things you look for?
Places that basically require a reservations to get a seat and require reservations way ahead of time. If you cant get a seat its going to be busy the entire time.
I don't think you read my comment correctly. I wasn't suggesting Houston or NYC at all but suggesting that its better to focus on specific bars not cities.
Second this. If you can live cheap, you can make insane money with a crazy-low cost of living. I worked out there 2 years & know multiple people who went from working the industry to buying enough properties to live off the passive income. They spent no fucking money except for occasional vacations, just worked & saved.
Crazy low cost of living? We have the 2nd highest gas prices, 2nd highest grocery prices, 1st highest car insurance rates. Ya housing prices may be cheaper than San Diego and LA, but it’s still more expensive than the vast majority of the country.
There is money to be made though, but it will take a couple years of seniority to get into a spot to make it in for most people.
If you got in at the right time, everything you said would be true though.
Las Vegas doesn’t even come in at top 5 for highest car insurance rates
https://www.marketwatch.com/guides/insurance-services/car-insurance-rates-by-state/
I’ll give you cost of groceries
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-least-expensive-states-groceries-160108810.html
#4 in gas prices
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/personal-finance/gas-prices-by-state/
Top 5, 4, and #1 still does not even come close to super low cost of living. I moved from Texas and my revenue grew significantly but I still feel how much more expensive it is.
Currently about to move from San Diego. I grew up in a crazy housing market (largely due to Californians migrating there and inflating prices) but Jfc SD is insane. Super fun city but it’s just too much
Only really works if you're willing to stick around for a while. You have to start as a bartender apprentice (a barback) then take the pour class for the union which takes 6 months, then you have to start bottom seniority, most likely on call at one of the union properties. It'll then take 1-2+ years to get enough seniority to actually work semi regularly at one gig. Unless you get super lucky and get in at an opening restaurant, but then you either have to know someone or be a crazy charismatic person (being a good bartender rarely matters in union houses). But even then, they have to hire primarily in house (union) employees and you'll be below all of them in seniority. I got lucky by knowing someone and I got into a new restaurant as my first union bartending job and it's been 6 months and I still only work 1-3 days a week. And when I do work, the money is terrible. It's a brand new Bobby Flay restaurant in Caesar's Palace, which is just to show, it doesn't even always work out if you do get lucky enough for that. And the bartenders making easy 6 figures in union houses aren't leaving until they die (no exaggeration), so you'd have to be crazy crazy crazy lucky to get in one of those places without 5-10+ years of seniority.
That all being said, you can definitely make 6 figures here, but it takes time and commitment.
Well most of the bartenders here keep working until they're 60s/ 70s because they make such good money. But a lot of it depends on timing and how lucky you are. During covid, a lot of the older super high seniority bartenders retired, so a lot of spots opened up. So it really just depends.
Also Vegas is a who you know and how well you kiss ass town. Being a good bartender doesn't matter at all if you can't do that. A terrible bartender that managers like and want to be friends with will do way better than an incredible bartender that isn't memorable to/ doesn't make friends with the managers/ higher ups.
You've left yourself in that position though... if you want to make 6 figures *typically* you'd have to invest at least 4 years into school and then some years into working up, internships, apprenticing, etc. Quick money is private gig bartending in very niche events which is typically reserved for men and women who present a specific aesthetic and have the right connections. Not thinking in the next 5 or 10 years and sticking to a plan is how you (and I) wind up in these positions.
Came to say this. Moved to Vegas last year expecting it to be hospitality heaven. It definitely can be if you stick around long enough, but yeah it's gonna be a long slog. Just to get your pour card will take a year minimum (have to take a 6 month class while working as a barback and the class is only offered twice a year). Just getting a job somewhere on the strip is a challenge, and once you're in, as the other poster stated, schedules, hours, bar you're working, etc are all strictly based on seniority due to union rules. And most people there don't leave and have been there for years.
Once you make it yeah you can def have an awesome life. Vegas is one of the few cities left with semi affordable housing. The union will help with your down payment. Great healthcare, vacation, pay, etc. you can def make six figures.
The other thing to consider though is Vegas kinda sucks. Even with all that possibility I just didn't wanna stick it out there. Most of the city outside the strip is pretty dirty and poor. The strip is like a giant times square, nothing but expensive tourists traps and hordes of obnoxious tourists, all of which you'll likely avoid like the plague if you live there aside from work. Way more dudes than women.
I didn't really wanna dog on Vegas, but I will also say my girlfriend and I hate it here. It is way overcrowded and they're just building more and more housing to try to bring more people in. There are almost 3 million people in the entire metro area of Las Vegas plus 100s of thousands of tourists every day. As a result, everything is crowded, everything has lines and the job market is incredibly difficult for every industry we've seen (my girlfriend has 2 degrees, is fluent in 2 languages, has 3+ years of service experience and 1 year of experience in here field and couldn't get a job in her field and it took her 3 months to get a part time server job).
Also worth noting I have 3 years of bartender experience including over 1 year for MGM Resorts International and not only did they not let me transfer, it took me 3 months to get a bartender apprentice job when I moved here and I only got it because a manager from the MGM property I worked at prior moved here and gave me a barback job that they weren't even hiring for so I didn't work a single shift for the first month after training.
damn sorry to hear that. I bartend across the way at Nobu and always see it so empty in there. I think they fucked up with providing another restaurant with food that can be found at Luger or Americano. Should have gone with a unique concept, maybe brought back Mesa Grill
I appreciate it, but for better or for worse, it won’t be closing anytime soon. Caesar’s Palace and Bobby Flay have a contract and they’re gonna do everything they can to turn it around before voiding out the contract
Tbh though, I blame Bobby and his (marketing) team. They haven’t done nearly enough. Although neither has Caesar’s
They don't even start you as a bar apprentice anymore, you have to work as a bar porter now and be a rug for them to wipe their shit on for 1-3 years before they consider you for bar apprentice ON TOP of being on that on call bullshit, I quit after they made me work on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'd rather see my family and go to college for medical.
But if you can do it, do it, the money is stupid lucrative.
If you like to travel, i would recommend a seasonal rotation. Spend you winters in places like Miami, West Palm or somewhere that crushes for 6 months, then go north for the summer and do it all again. Not saying Maine is good money (because it's not), but I have friends that serve/tend half the year here and half there and they kill it compared to those of us that stay year round.
As someone else mentioned, there are companies that assist. But when I did it a few years back I did just look for places to sublet/crash. Once you've done it once though, you've got contacts/friends/coworkers that will make it easier the next time.
Not any special money there unless it’s changed in recent years, not compared to other places in Florida or even just a decent spot in the town you’re already in
West Palm isn’t really a snowbird destination, so you’d just be getting the regular weekend crowd for the most part compared to places that are going to be busy almost everyday during season and have a better clientele
Damn maybe it’s changed I’m speaking from what I am unfortunately realizing was now 10-11 years ago experience fuck Im getting old…but damn man good for you forget what I said lol
Is it a snowbird crowd coming in?
So I don't think my experience was representative of *every* place on clematis, it was definitely a snowbird hot spot, but also a big destination for other tourist types, specifically (and often unfortunately) a lot of stoolies. They don't tip great but they spend a LOT lol. I had other places down there that were like 3-500 a night which is just really solid as well. We were a pooled house with 4 wells that never stopped cranking from 7pm-3am. We fucking EARNED it, but it rocked.
100k in Orlando, and that's not an anomaly. If you can get into the right restaurant/bar and work 40 hours a week. Had a buddy that did 120k in a year. But that is also possible in a lot of cities as well. Like Atlanta, Chicago, etc. Just gotta know the right place to get into.
Some with Nashville. There's so much talent here (and most of it is mediocre) and with no way to tell the difference because of how many people are coming and going. They mostly go off who you know and when you're new... tough fucking luck. I've been here 6 months and I've had to cycle through 4 jobs at this point. Management is really the driving power behind the banes of the industry in this area.
I do too and re: the person complaining about getting stiffed here: the service in this city is so bad across the board that simply by acting like you give a fuck, having any sort of hustle and being somewhat good at your job, you’re in the top 1% of bartenders and will absolutely dazzle people. Auto grat outside of specific environments/situations (night clubs, large tickets or party sizes etc) is for cowards
I used to and still to a small degree agree with this. But theres definitely places that need it. Ive seen a few places in Florida where servers and bartenders would work all night and get stiffed 9 out of ten times. Walking out on Saturday nights with like $30. It wasnt because of the service. It was the area. These places had to put an automatic 18% autograt on every single check or they wouldnt have been able to staff the restaurant. They were in danger of losing their entire service staff.
I feel you. But the thing is people would 100% say that about their experience about bartending in Atlanta too (someone did in the replies to the comment i replied to) and they would be full of shit. It’s them. It’s not anything else, they just suck. The money was there and they weren’t good enough to make it. Period point blank. So my super hyperbolic response is definitely tailored to that general attitude in this city. As far as what’s happening in a state i don’t live or work in, I’d just be curious to know… why? 100% of the time when people say that Atlanta is full of bad tippers they are referring to the tipping habits of black people. Many of the people who say this shit are ultra woke in every other (purported) aspect of their lives and won’t admit out loud that that’s what they’re getting at, but it is. My comment is in response to that attitude. I don’t know if the Florida shit is the same or rooted in something similar.
Its not the whole state. I bartended in Florida and made great money at a chain restaurant. Then they opened one in another part of Florida and look, I knew some of the people that worked there. They didnt suck. They made money when they worked at our location. But they just said nobody was tipping at the new location and servers and bartenders were leaving in droves because they were basically working for free. It had to be drastic for this company to impose a grat on every order. Because they didnt even like when we would do it for parties of 8 or more, even though it was their policy. They have hundreds of locations and this was the only one I ever saw them do that for. So it had to be really bad.
Yeah I personally love autograt, WHEN I'm at a place that hires good people and puts emphasis on a really good guest experience. I've definitely worked at places with autograt where the servers/bartenders clearly didn't give a shit about guests.
I work at a place that has an 18% service charge that goes to FOH paychecks and then we all keep our tips.
18% of the service pools gets split between the bartenders (me) and everyone else splits the rest. I make 500-1000 a week in tips and then a 1k paycheck every 2 weeks. it’s badass.
Servers make a lot more in tips than I do, but have a smaller paycheck. Good thing is taxes on tips are taken out of paychecks so we end up with returns rather than owing.
Sounds to me like you're asking people to tip twice. An 18% service charge *and* tips? Are tips expected? A decent Manhattan must cost over $20 before a tip! Imagine being an employer and instead of just paying a liveable wage you try and trick customers into subsidizing wages TWICE per check. Gross
Nope, tips are not expected. It’s posted 3 times in between entering the restaurant and ordering your food, in a big box that takes up 1/3 of the front of the menu.
Customers are also allowed to remove the serving charge and only tip their server or bartender if they don’t want to pay it.
Most people tip. I usually average 20% tips still and servers aim for 10%.
I actually made a bunch of Manhattans yesterday and they’re about $12.
I’m not going to argue with you about tips because I know you have no values.
Haha not trying to argue, just curious (albeit a bit passionate) because that is a very unusual setup for anything other than resorts/country/night clubs. Auto-grats should always be communicated, and if you're doing that, it's all good.
To be clear I don't think there's anything wrong with working at a place with autograt, I just think it's messed up that our industry is full of business owners that refuse to pay a liveable wage, and some of them are very greasy in how they pass that cost onto customers.
I actually have very strong values, which motivate my strong opinions. As a now Owner/GM of my own place, I take great care of my people, and my guests know that. A lot of them still tip in the realm of 10-15% (even though they know my people don't need it) because to them, the staff deserve it.
St. Thomas is the 2 nd busiest cruise port in the world- More “seasonal” than you might like and living on an island is difficult to put it mildly- I did 4 years behind the bar before I went back to the States, which quickly turned into moving to Mexico - I can’t do fast paced living anymore- island time is a real thing, the beauty is the cruise ships are only during the day, no more late nights bartending
It’s the USA but not a State, it’s a little wild west ish - very dangerous if you are not much of a traveler - when a newbie would show up we would take bets on how long they last, most people less than 6 months
8 years ago was pre-COVID and hurricane irma. It’s a different place now. And a lot of bartenders move here because it’s like living in Neverland. It’s a very slippery slope if you can’t handle your alcohol. And cost of living is nuts
I've thought about going management but meh. My boss is an ex bartender gone manager and he said he wouldn't do it again if he didn't need the benefits for his family.
I've heard both sides. I make 85k but I'm culinary not beverage. Management isn't a cake walk but its worth it for the better security since I didn't want to do line work my whole life. And as you get older benefits need to be considered. There's also a path to a lot higher earnings in hospitality once you get into management, especially hotel and resort management. The GM at my hotel makes 130k and thats only about 3 promotions above me. So I guess its a matter of do you want to make good, simple money, or better money in a more challenging environment
Well yeah but I make 50k being lazy and not trying very hard lol. My pay is almost exclusively just good regulars, it's almost never like... challenging busy
Then just keep doing what you're doing til you age out 🤷 check out cruises and shit, see the world. Seems like making any more than what you're making right now is going to be a step up in labor expectations. Vegas seems like a good suggestion like someone else said, you can make BANK out there, but I hear its no joke during busy times. I wonder if Vegas has a slow season? Kinda seems like it would be moderately busy all the time...
I'd get into cruises if I didnt have a family!
As someone above mentioned, I’m pretty sure that every decently popular city has specific bars/restaurants that are good to work at money-wise. I’m from Long Island NY, but now live in Kansas City and serve here at a well-known bar/grill type of place that’s usually always busy. or at least steady. My boyfriend bartends at one of the very high volume BBQ restaurants here. We both make good money!
Hey can you tell me where you work? Im in Topeka and hour away and I’ve been thinking of moving. You can send me a PM if you’re comfortable I would just like some recommendations please and thank you!
NYC always has tons of opportunities to make money in the service industry if you’re willing to live in the outer boroughs or just outside the city and commute in
If you don't mind a commute...living outside DC and working in a Jose Andres restaurant was amazing.
They tip pool and 30% goes to other staff, runners, bussers, etc, but it makes the place work like a dream. I was in the less-fancy restaurant and still every check regularly going over 200+ (from what I recall, the bartenders made more than servers too). Anyways, money was insane. I wasn't paying DC rent -- but I know people there that could and did.
On top of it, vision, dental, health, etc for you AND YOUR FAMILY!
I just can’t get with the tip Pool deal. Just can’t help but think there will always be those few coworkers that suck but still reap the rewards of the hard workers
If you work in that kind of environment, you are vetted the first minute you interview and they will fire you on the spot if you don't pull your weight.
That’s good to know! I’d be willing to give it a try but I’m not in a big city and have worked at a handful of restaurants and bars so I’m not sure where they do tip pooling in my area. Do you know if that’s normal in a fine dining environment or is it more of a casual bar type of practice
30% would be more like a fine dining situation because everyone is involved in making it a pristine experience beginning to end. Other than that, I've had it at a dive bar where we tip pooled and then averaged the hourly.
Tampa, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville.
Or you can do what I did forever and split your time between a beach town in the summer and city in the winter. Before I switched careers I was making well over 100k doing that.
It's really tough to get in any high volume bars in downtown Nashville right now. I know a few people that have moved here thinking they were going to walk into a Broadway bar job and it hasn't really worked out for them. If you know people in the industry in Nashville it helps a lot.
Yeah you’re obviously not going to jump onto broadway but that doesn’t mean there’s nowhere else to start. Most guys I know that did it started in Franklin
I’m nearly in the same boat as you; I move around every few years to cool mountain touristy towns that offer the hiking Im into it. Once I’ve hit most the cool hikes in that area I move to explore a new cool place. The beauty of bartending is basically everywhere needs bartenders so I’d look for the towns that have something to offer you as far as your hobbies and then go there.
New Orleans ain’t what it used to be $ wise and min wage is like 2.35 and hr, some places maybeeee $5 an hour and many owners and managers take advantage of their staff. A lot of toxic environments. Of course, not the case across the board but more often than not.
Go to any major tourism or port city and get those sweet tourism dollars. I'm in Vancouver and the cruise ship season is the time to make bank though since you are American you'd have to plan a bit ahead to get a Canadian job.
We send cruises up to Alaska and I'm told there is tons of money to be made there in the season and then in the off seasons you still have all the locals and workers in trades and natural resources. I've heard legend from colleagues about pay day in Alaskan mill towns when people will come in and blow all their money at the bar because there is nothing else to spend it on. YMMV
To me, it depends on what type of bartender you want to be. If you want to be a volume bartender, you have to chase the crowds and money. Hot clubs in major metros, beach towns/ski resorts, things like that. If you want to do restaurants, you should be looking at (IMO) either high end steakhouses (preferably in major money center cities) or fine dining (with a likely level-up at some point into somm/bev dir work). If you're the craft sort, get into that world, start promoting yourself, and try to get on with different places around the country/globe where you can learn and increase your skills/rep. If you want to make the most doing the least, I would try either a higher end suburban lounge (or cigar bar if you stand the environment; no judgement, I'm just an ex-smoker who can't deal being around smoke anymore) or a major downtown hotel in a major city.
$0.02
Seasonal tourism.
I did a summer job in a whitewater town and a winter job in whatever ski resort I felt like moving to. Tourism is bank. I took every April and November off for shoulder seasons.
Do you mean the highest paycheck or the most money through your career? For a long career, I would suggest touristy places like Vegas, Atlantic City, Miami, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, places that have constant tourism and established properties. For a lot right now, follow the seasons with the resorts or major cities.
I also live in upstate ny and make nearly $100k. Not to sound condescending, but do you only work 3 days a week? How do you make so little as a full time bartender?
I mean it's probably like 60k almost 70 some years but 50 is a nice average I guess. I've gotten complacent and kinda don't do much and just have loyal regulars that get me a few hundred a day for not much work. I want more now though lol. Sure I could just find some better restaurant up here but I'd rather go somewhere new.
Gotcha. Yeah definitely gotta find a balance between cost of living and what you can make. Everyone is suggesting big cities: Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, etc. but anything extra you make is going to be outweighed by COL. If you were interested in staying within the state, I could find you a couple places where you can make fuck you money. Dm if interested.
Yeah, I work at a neighborhood pub in Hudson, NY
I work 5 days, 11-5, open at 12. So it's 30 hours, but only 25 "service hours." I am definitely around the 100k mark and it's easy as hell.
Edit to add:
I had a guy in this week that asked why I got into bartending and I said the money and hours were attractive. He said, "I could see the hours, but I don't know about the money."
I didn't want to break his brain by telling him.
I have been looking into moving to the Hudson/Albany/Troy/Catskill area (from central Vermont). Would you say a 100k position like yours is common? And is COL low?
people have no idea, the amount of people that tried to recruit me for some rinky dink jobs during covid was insane. Like bud... I probably make the same or more money than you.
Buffalo, rochester, Syracuse, Albany/Saratoga all have reasonable COL while having ample financial opportunity. Thousand islands region are great seasonal jobs, or literally anything near the hundreds of lakes. Canandaigua, Skaneateles, Oneida lake, Lake Ontario, there’s so much many to be made, just gotta know where to look for it. I worked at a lake restaurant and made $50k between may and October last summer. Based on your comment, you’re clearly not knowledgeable about the region.
I grew up in Binghamton. I just went to Rise and Shine in Syracuse a few months ago on a visit home. Admittedly I haven't spent much time north of Syr but when I look at median income data it wouldn't reflect what you're saying... and bartending typically hugs the economy very closely. I could see a few positions in Ithaca making *near* 6 figures and some Finger Lakes area businesses killing it for the summer. I could see Buffalo having some hot spots but the extended winters may not be worth it. NYS Electrical Linemen make 6 figures in apprenticeship but imagine working in that cold 3/4 of the year. I'm just surprised to hear that about places like Albany when they have a pretty large cut of their city down in the national poverty numbers.
So you’re basing your opinion off median income levels? I’ve lived, worked, or visited all those areas regularly. Also, no one with money lives in these cities, which is what the median income is based off of. They live in Saratoga, Cazenovia, skaneatles, Canandaigua/victor/Pittsford etc. Canandaigua has several celebrities as well as the sands brothers and basically the entire wegman family tree. There’s so much money here that you just don’t see with raw statistics because the city proper drags them so far down.
And most of Skaneatles looks like a mutineer camp when we drove through it to sell meat off the truck.
I never would have guessed any of this. Binghamton is just poor and our "big names" live local.
Even so, a few rich families or patches of nice areas don't necessarily support a 100K+ income as a restaurant hourly. The poor city is your customer base, typically. These must be very well positioned.
I live in a smaller city in Oregon and work four days a week, but make $75k+. And that’s at a smaller tavern that doesn’t result in me getting my ass kicked regularly (except for Fridays, but it’s well organized chaos). Don’t sleep on higher minimum wage states with video lottery…
Not mentioning it's a college town kind of undercuts your point. Towns that are home to the major state universities are always going to be good money for bartenders.
Eh I guess. I’m no where near the university nor are we a sports bar. Our clientele is mostly octogenarians or those close to being one. But I see your point. It’s mainly just a well run tavern with good food and a very solid base of regulars.
I did well in Orlando, San Diego is not bad money wise, my full-time bartenders make 100k+, but it’s hard to find a job here. I would recommend going to an area of California or any other state with a decently low cost of living and a high minimum wage with no lower “tipped minimum wage” so you’re making like $16+ an hour (or more if you’re in hotels or working as a bar lead/supervisor/etc.) plus great tips if you find the right spot.
Bee Cave TX, 80k barely 30 hours 4 days a week. Gotta find the right spot though, I’m a bar manager at a fine dining spot off salary but high hourly so I can still bartend. I get to spend a lot of time with my 19m old daughter so it’s perfect. When she gets older and doesn’t need me as much I can work more
Miami Florida I bartended 28 years now I do it part time along with other businesses. But if I were younger, I would go to club space and fight my way in. Because a single shift there which is I think around 17 hours because they are open from Friday evening to Sunday straight through. That shift is a $1500 shift for those bartenders. No joke $75,000 a year for working one day. I know this because I trained all of the bartenders at a place I was working because they had come straight from bartending school and when this one young lady was done, I said now go finally high-paying job that gives you more time to spend with your kid at home so I told her to go to nightclubs likes club space and see what they had to offer. Or if you like something more as far as dining there’s the Rusty Pelican. You have the hustle and you work six days ia week and you’re on call the seventh as well day but even the servers there make over $100,000 a year you have to have five years experience in the industry. Its fine dining. But you have to move you know. So when server it was training me when I started there and make over $500 on his lunch shift which was 4 1/2 hours long. Said he claimed over 115,000 the year before. They make you learn like six menus and they test you on them and you must score high on them but in the end if you’re younger I got no obligations personally I would go for the club space because it leaves you plenty of free time to actually spend money. there’s more clubs you can pick up another shift. I spent the 90s in Coconut Grove. Literally did not leave a one block radius between living and working. From what I remember it was a great time. Lol.
I mean, yeah, you can if you have a couple roommates and live a simple life. I wasn't suggesting they do that, I was only using his $50k/year as a reference. But it's easy to live without a car in SF, and you can find a situation with roommates where rent is a little over $1k/mo, depending on what neighborhood you want to live in. I was living in a decent neighborhood with one roommate and paid $1.2k/mo up until I moved out a few months ago. I would definitely recommend working 4 days a week and you'd be just fine.
It seems everything’s more expensive everywhere these days. I’m out of bartending game and travel for work, but have place in Nola in case of a layoff I’ll be able to find a good paying bar job immediately and pay rent.
I moved from Orange County ny to Philadelphia 5 mos ago and loving it ! Idk if it’s necessarily the most money but cost of living is low and I love exploring the city
Chicago is where it's at. I work 30-40 hrs a week and clear about 75k. The COL is very reasonable. There are tons of jobs in every sort of environment. My favorite places to work are clubs that do frequent buyouts.
It takes time, I worked at 17 in 3 different states during my 28 year career.
You can definitely find a cash cow in any large to mid sized city. But be careful to fall into the grass is greener trap
Milwaukee WI. I took off so much time last year, worked mostly day shifts with 1-2 nights sprinkled in per week averaging about 36 hours a week and still cleared $68k. My best friend made $88k working 5 nights a week at an easy vodka soda/bottled beer bar. People here be drinkin.
Moving to basically any city without having industry connections there, you probably won’t land a job at one of the good bars right away unless you’re extremely lucky to just pop in at the right place at the right time. My recommendation would be seasonal resort/tourist work, it’s where you can easily get good jobs without prior connections(although those still help) Alaska is a great place to bartend in the summer.
If you can get a job at the beachcomber or some place in ptown, Cape Cod is great from June- August. Housing is tough though, you could possibly camp. I made insane money when I was living in Breckenridge- May and October are the slowest months. Housing is also tough there. I'd buy a van I could live in and just float around.
The Cape used to be a summer hotspot; college kids used to come down during the spring break, competing for jobs in the hospitality industry.
That hasn’t happened for almost a decade.
There are no more hours; housing is completely out of reach for everyone (not just summer workers where it would cost you at least $1000 a month to rent a room and those rooms have all been reserved six months in advance by j1
visa holders)
And if you think someone new to the area could just arrive and get a job at the beachcomber then you’re obviously not a local lol … that would never happen.
You could try to rent a campsite, but you can’t rent it through the entire summer and you can’t camp on the beach or in your car so I would not recommend anyone venture down to Cape Cod thinking they’re going to get a $500 night job bartending or waitressing because those days are long gone…
Never said I was a local. An old roommate of mine did exactly what I described in the Cape last summer, so I shared. Maybe it's not as common but it's also not impossible.
Chicago is competitive but you can easily make 100k if you work 40+ hours I average 25 hours and make about 50k at a relatively chill place
Can confirm. 100-150k is available, but you will feel the work.
I was doing 70k @20hrs in LA but COL is high. Clearing over $110k at 40hrs when my body could take it
How does the cost of living factor in out there?
I'm not the best person to ask. I pay very little rent for a very nice apartment because I have a cool landlord who A) owns a lot of properties and B) doesn't feel the need to charge us more than the minimum he needs to break even because he lives in the building. I live with 2 guys and we pay $600 each for an apartment that should cost twice that.
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I literally said I'm not the person to ask? Did you fail reading comprehension in 2nd grade?
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They asked me, I'm supposed to ignore them? Do you get off on interactions such as this?
This is true. The only issue is finding a place with the hours. You may have to work multiple bars to get 40+ hours
Any tips for getting into bartending in the city? Other than apply for barback positions at every place?
Another tip on just landing restaurant jobs, try your best to put a face to the name/get an unofficial interview as in go in person with a physical copy of your resume, ask if theres a manager you can speak to briefly or if there’s a time they will be free. If you cant get the manager, try a supervisor. Just get yourself a chance to be able to speak with someone preferably face to face. I used to walk around the city with 20 copies or so of my resume and would just walk around, go inside cool spots at their non busy hours, and keep a list of what went down with each place. Each place I asked if a manager was around, if they said no, I’d usually ask for a better time to come and keep my resume and come back then. Don’t just give it to anyone. At least get it to a supervisor and be ready with a quick 1 to 2 liner statement to give (unofficial interview) Be confident, be prepared. If u cant do the in person stuff, after applying via an app like indeed etc, call in 3 or 4 days later and say you wanted to follow up on your application and their job availabilities/needs and if you could speak to a manager or supervisor.
Reiterating a few points here, I've taken plenty of resumes over the bar (I'm just a tender, not a manager.) And offered to grab a manager and been told no. I get being apprehensive, but if you can't chit chat you can't be behind the bar. Then also I've been given resumes at 7 pm on a friday night, it goes in the trash. No question. Being able to be like "bad time dude" really makes a difference.
Lie brother. Lol. Most places dont actually call your past jobs. But if u wanna play it safe, put down a couple years of event bartending work in, even freelance. Or if you have any restaurant exp, just throw in the ‘barback’ title along with what you actually did. Write down you built a good rep with the bartenders and they allowed you occasionally to take drink orders, make em and serve em. Be confident and just let them know you’re a quick learner, and you’re confident in your abilities and ask to have them give you the opportunity to prove that. If you’re good at talking you’l be fine. I’m amazing at talking and have gotten way too many jobs I didn’t know anything about lol now of course be prepared, go look up some courses, memorize the top 10-20 most popular cocktails bc you’l get a stress test. If u ace that you’l get the job. If you’re good at the job, there ya go, you’re a bartender. Now try and build relationships and experience so you can eventually bartend for higher volume spots/fancier spots where you’l make more money. Those spots will check your references and job history though so yes make sure you’re not exaggerating/lying on your resume to high end spots. Go for a hotel bar or somewhere slow where you can fake it till u make it and gain experience. Just depends on your skillset if you’l sink or swim. Most ppl genuinely need the experience, and it will show to your employer/coworkers that you really didn’t have experience. Some can pick it up and convince others they have experience. Try it out. If you sink, and you still wanna bartend, then compromise and find a barback position, and build good relationships with the bartenders, be assertive that you have intentions of moving up to bartending, if you work it right, they’l let you take some orders. GL. (I have 7+ years of serving, and 3+ years full bartending) I skipped barbacking and landed a bartending job but at the time I already had 4-5 years of serving exp. Very different if you have zero restaurant exp.
Just apply to every place you can on indeed and other sites a lot of places are hiring you just have to look everyday for new postings and lie about your experience, no one follows up if you worked as a barback but you know how to make drinks, tell them you were a bartender Don't apply as a barback or you will only be hired as one
The most money is in specific bars not specific cities. Working in the Best bar in Houston will net you more money than a mediocre one in NYC. Reach out to all of the best bars in all of the cities and be willing to move. All of these anecdotal reports are useless and really just the top 1% of bartenders (by earnings) bragging.
Agreed. I bartend in houston and made 65 last year. 40ish hours a week. There’s bars a few streets up from me where one of my coworkers works and she only took this job to have extra spending money, makes my weekly check Thursday-Saturday over there.
I used to work at a nice restaurant in the heights. 60 seats in the restaurant. 8 at the bar. 2 on for weekend dinner service. I used to work 4 or 5 shifts including BRUNCH. I know. Fuck brunch. But we had refs that would come in and get two bottles of Rose eat a big meal and leave an $80 tip. I worked about 35 hours a week and I made 98k. And it was easy.
I used to clear 80k working 4-5 shifts a week in Baytown.
Yep. I used to bb at a really popular Houston dive and made 50ish. Granted, I had the Friday night shift in my schedule. Not sure what I'd pull in without it, but it would clear $300 in tips each week on its own.
No for real-- I work in a bum a$$ college town and one job I made $100 on a game day (football) and the other job on the EXACT SAME STREET I made $700... you can guess where I stayed for the next 3 years. I then bartended at a super hot-spot bar downtown and never made over $300 for work that simply wasn't worth it... people drink everywhere so find the place where people are drinking
Exactly. I’m not even going to post anything about where I am and what I make compared to the COL now, but I will say if you’re bartending in NYC/LA at 40hrs a week making 100k, I’ve seen that life and while it can be fun it’s not really sustainable/ comfortable. You’re not getting much flexibility/ travel time, especially compared to other professions in the same cities. In the end It’s all relative to what you make vs where you are and what your personal goals are. There are some amazing opportunities out there if you can do math and aren’t preoccupied with trying to stay trendy.
How do you identify those bars? Without already knowing someone there I mean? Is it just trying them and networking to find those people or are there things you look for?
Places that basically require a reservations to get a seat and require reservations way ahead of time. If you cant get a seat its going to be busy the entire time.
🤫 we're full
I don't think you read my comment correctly. I wasn't suggesting Houston or NYC at all but suggesting that its better to focus on specific bars not cities.
I read it correctly. I was joking that the bartending scene in Houston is saturated. It's a common joke around here. "Texas is full." :3
"We're full" is common everywhere.
Move to vegas, join the bartenders union.
Second this. If you can live cheap, you can make insane money with a crazy-low cost of living. I worked out there 2 years & know multiple people who went from working the industry to buying enough properties to live off the passive income. They spent no fucking money except for occasional vacations, just worked & saved.
Crazy low cost of living? We have the 2nd highest gas prices, 2nd highest grocery prices, 1st highest car insurance rates. Ya housing prices may be cheaper than San Diego and LA, but it’s still more expensive than the vast majority of the country. There is money to be made though, but it will take a couple years of seniority to get into a spot to make it in for most people. If you got in at the right time, everything you said would be true though.
Las Vegas doesn’t even come in at top 5 for highest car insurance rates https://www.marketwatch.com/guides/insurance-services/car-insurance-rates-by-state/ I’ll give you cost of groceries https://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-least-expensive-states-groceries-160108810.html #4 in gas prices https://www.forbes.com/advisor/personal-finance/gas-prices-by-state/
Top 5, 4, and #1 still does not even come close to super low cost of living. I moved from Texas and my revenue grew significantly but I still feel how much more expensive it is.
Currently about to move from San Diego. I grew up in a crazy housing market (largely due to Californians migrating there and inflating prices) but Jfc SD is insane. Super fun city but it’s just too much
Only really works if you're willing to stick around for a while. You have to start as a bartender apprentice (a barback) then take the pour class for the union which takes 6 months, then you have to start bottom seniority, most likely on call at one of the union properties. It'll then take 1-2+ years to get enough seniority to actually work semi regularly at one gig. Unless you get super lucky and get in at an opening restaurant, but then you either have to know someone or be a crazy charismatic person (being a good bartender rarely matters in union houses). But even then, they have to hire primarily in house (union) employees and you'll be below all of them in seniority. I got lucky by knowing someone and I got into a new restaurant as my first union bartending job and it's been 6 months and I still only work 1-3 days a week. And when I do work, the money is terrible. It's a brand new Bobby Flay restaurant in Caesar's Palace, which is just to show, it doesn't even always work out if you do get lucky enough for that. And the bartenders making easy 6 figures in union houses aren't leaving until they die (no exaggeration), so you'd have to be crazy crazy crazy lucky to get in one of those places without 5-10+ years of seniority. That all being said, you can definitely make 6 figures here, but it takes time and commitment.
I mean considering im 34 I dunno if I have time for all that lol. I'd be like 50 by the time I get the seniority 😂
Well most of the bartenders here keep working until they're 60s/ 70s because they make such good money. But a lot of it depends on timing and how lucky you are. During covid, a lot of the older super high seniority bartenders retired, so a lot of spots opened up. So it really just depends. Also Vegas is a who you know and how well you kiss ass town. Being a good bartender doesn't matter at all if you can't do that. A terrible bartender that managers like and want to be friends with will do way better than an incredible bartender that isn't memorable to/ doesn't make friends with the managers/ higher ups.
You've left yourself in that position though... if you want to make 6 figures *typically* you'd have to invest at least 4 years into school and then some years into working up, internships, apprenticing, etc. Quick money is private gig bartending in very niche events which is typically reserved for men and women who present a specific aesthetic and have the right connections. Not thinking in the next 5 or 10 years and sticking to a plan is how you (and I) wind up in these positions.
Came to say this. Moved to Vegas last year expecting it to be hospitality heaven. It definitely can be if you stick around long enough, but yeah it's gonna be a long slog. Just to get your pour card will take a year minimum (have to take a 6 month class while working as a barback and the class is only offered twice a year). Just getting a job somewhere on the strip is a challenge, and once you're in, as the other poster stated, schedules, hours, bar you're working, etc are all strictly based on seniority due to union rules. And most people there don't leave and have been there for years. Once you make it yeah you can def have an awesome life. Vegas is one of the few cities left with semi affordable housing. The union will help with your down payment. Great healthcare, vacation, pay, etc. you can def make six figures. The other thing to consider though is Vegas kinda sucks. Even with all that possibility I just didn't wanna stick it out there. Most of the city outside the strip is pretty dirty and poor. The strip is like a giant times square, nothing but expensive tourists traps and hordes of obnoxious tourists, all of which you'll likely avoid like the plague if you live there aside from work. Way more dudes than women.
I didn't really wanna dog on Vegas, but I will also say my girlfriend and I hate it here. It is way overcrowded and they're just building more and more housing to try to bring more people in. There are almost 3 million people in the entire metro area of Las Vegas plus 100s of thousands of tourists every day. As a result, everything is crowded, everything has lines and the job market is incredibly difficult for every industry we've seen (my girlfriend has 2 degrees, is fluent in 2 languages, has 3+ years of service experience and 1 year of experience in here field and couldn't get a job in her field and it took her 3 months to get a part time server job). Also worth noting I have 3 years of bartender experience including over 1 year for MGM Resorts International and not only did they not let me transfer, it took me 3 months to get a bartender apprentice job when I moved here and I only got it because a manager from the MGM property I worked at prior moved here and gave me a barback job that they weren't even hiring for so I didn't work a single shift for the first month after training.
Brasserie B is struggling huh?
Struggling is an understatement
damn sorry to hear that. I bartend across the way at Nobu and always see it so empty in there. I think they fucked up with providing another restaurant with food that can be found at Luger or Americano. Should have gone with a unique concept, maybe brought back Mesa Grill
I walk past there every day wondering how the hell that place is still open. Sorry bud that’s rough
I appreciate it, but for better or for worse, it won’t be closing anytime soon. Caesar’s Palace and Bobby Flay have a contract and they’re gonna do everything they can to turn it around before voiding out the contract Tbh though, I blame Bobby and his (marketing) team. They haven’t done nearly enough. Although neither has Caesar’s
They don't even start you as a bar apprentice anymore, you have to work as a bar porter now and be a rug for them to wipe their shit on for 1-3 years before they consider you for bar apprentice ON TOP of being on that on call bullshit, I quit after they made me work on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'd rather see my family and go to college for medical. But if you can do it, do it, the money is stupid lucrative.
Yeah lots of places you can make great money but Vegas is like literally a higher tax bracket level of difference.
Minneapolis. Minimum wage and tips. Find a good place and you get all that plus benefits.
I'm doing just fine downtown, minimum wage is close to $16 and CoL is low. $300/night gets you $100k at full time hours.
Seconding Minneapolis (if you don't mind cold winters). One other nice thing is that it's a town where people REALLY like to drink.
If you like to travel, i would recommend a seasonal rotation. Spend you winters in places like Miami, West Palm or somewhere that crushes for 6 months, then go north for the summer and do it all again. Not saying Maine is good money (because it's not), but I have friends that serve/tend half the year here and half there and they kill it compared to those of us that stay year round.
What are the logistics of doing that? Are you just looking for spots to sublet the whole time?
There's a business called Landing made for people who like to move around, travel nurses, etc.
As someone else mentioned, there are companies that assist. But when I did it a few years back I did just look for places to sublet/crash. Once you've done it once though, you've got contacts/friends/coworkers that will make it easier the next time.
Just want to add a slight correction here…Palm Beach not West Palm Beach…
You sure? Pretty sure Clematis Ave is in West Palm and that's a great place to make money.
Not any special money there unless it’s changed in recent years, not compared to other places in Florida or even just a decent spot in the town you’re already in West Palm isn’t really a snowbird destination, so you’d just be getting the regular weekend crowd for the most part compared to places that are going to be busy almost everyday during season and have a better clientele
Are you speaking from experience? Because I had a seasonal job on lower clematis where I literally walked with a grand a night lol. Sometimes more
Damn maybe it’s changed I’m speaking from what I am unfortunately realizing was now 10-11 years ago experience fuck Im getting old…but damn man good for you forget what I said lol Is it a snowbird crowd coming in?
So I don't think my experience was representative of *every* place on clematis, it was definitely a snowbird hot spot, but also a big destination for other tourist types, specifically (and often unfortunately) a lot of stoolies. They don't tip great but they spend a LOT lol. I had other places down there that were like 3-500 a night which is just really solid as well. We were a pooled house with 4 wells that never stopped cranking from 7pm-3am. We fucking EARNED it, but it rocked.
Also, this was pre-covid, so I could be operating on outdated experience now too lol.
100k in Orlando, and that's not an anomaly. If you can get into the right restaurant/bar and work 40 hours a week. Had a buddy that did 120k in a year. But that is also possible in a lot of cities as well. Like Atlanta, Chicago, etc. Just gotta know the right place to get into.
This has to be in a Disney hotel
Don't come to NYC. The scene is already very competitive and oversaturated. Places are still closing after never getting fully into pre-covid numbers.
Some with Nashville. There's so much talent here (and most of it is mediocre) and with no way to tell the difference because of how many people are coming and going. They mostly go off who you know and when you're new... tough fucking luck. I've been here 6 months and I've had to cycle through 4 jobs at this point. Management is really the driving power behind the banes of the industry in this area.
I made great money in Atlanta.
I’ve never been stiffed as much as I did in atlanta until I found a place that does automatic grat
Yep same here working at the airport. Best mix of lifestyle and money in bartending imo.
I do too and re: the person complaining about getting stiffed here: the service in this city is so bad across the board that simply by acting like you give a fuck, having any sort of hustle and being somewhat good at your job, you’re in the top 1% of bartenders and will absolutely dazzle people. Auto grat outside of specific environments/situations (night clubs, large tickets or party sizes etc) is for cowards
I used to and still to a small degree agree with this. But theres definitely places that need it. Ive seen a few places in Florida where servers and bartenders would work all night and get stiffed 9 out of ten times. Walking out on Saturday nights with like $30. It wasnt because of the service. It was the area. These places had to put an automatic 18% autograt on every single check or they wouldnt have been able to staff the restaurant. They were in danger of losing their entire service staff.
I feel you. But the thing is people would 100% say that about their experience about bartending in Atlanta too (someone did in the replies to the comment i replied to) and they would be full of shit. It’s them. It’s not anything else, they just suck. The money was there and they weren’t good enough to make it. Period point blank. So my super hyperbolic response is definitely tailored to that general attitude in this city. As far as what’s happening in a state i don’t live or work in, I’d just be curious to know… why? 100% of the time when people say that Atlanta is full of bad tippers they are referring to the tipping habits of black people. Many of the people who say this shit are ultra woke in every other (purported) aspect of their lives and won’t admit out loud that that’s what they’re getting at, but it is. My comment is in response to that attitude. I don’t know if the Florida shit is the same or rooted in something similar.
Its not the whole state. I bartended in Florida and made great money at a chain restaurant. Then they opened one in another part of Florida and look, I knew some of the people that worked there. They didnt suck. They made money when they worked at our location. But they just said nobody was tipping at the new location and servers and bartenders were leaving in droves because they were basically working for free. It had to be drastic for this company to impose a grat on every order. Because they didnt even like when we would do it for parties of 8 or more, even though it was their policy. They have hundreds of locations and this was the only one I ever saw them do that for. So it had to be really bad.
if you’re going to insult people for autograt at least use something that applies
Yeah I personally love autograt, WHEN I'm at a place that hires good people and puts emphasis on a really good guest experience. I've definitely worked at places with autograt where the servers/bartenders clearly didn't give a shit about guests.
I work at a place that has an 18% service charge that goes to FOH paychecks and then we all keep our tips. 18% of the service pools gets split between the bartenders (me) and everyone else splits the rest. I make 500-1000 a week in tips and then a 1k paycheck every 2 weeks. it’s badass. Servers make a lot more in tips than I do, but have a smaller paycheck. Good thing is taxes on tips are taken out of paychecks so we end up with returns rather than owing.
Sounds to me like you're asking people to tip twice. An 18% service charge *and* tips? Are tips expected? A decent Manhattan must cost over $20 before a tip! Imagine being an employer and instead of just paying a liveable wage you try and trick customers into subsidizing wages TWICE per check. Gross
Nope, tips are not expected. It’s posted 3 times in between entering the restaurant and ordering your food, in a big box that takes up 1/3 of the front of the menu. Customers are also allowed to remove the serving charge and only tip their server or bartender if they don’t want to pay it. Most people tip. I usually average 20% tips still and servers aim for 10%. I actually made a bunch of Manhattans yesterday and they’re about $12. I’m not going to argue with you about tips because I know you have no values.
Haha not trying to argue, just curious (albeit a bit passionate) because that is a very unusual setup for anything other than resorts/country/night clubs. Auto-grats should always be communicated, and if you're doing that, it's all good. To be clear I don't think there's anything wrong with working at a place with autograt, I just think it's messed up that our industry is full of business owners that refuse to pay a liveable wage, and some of them are very greasy in how they pass that cost onto customers. I actually have very strong values, which motivate my strong opinions. As a now Owner/GM of my own place, I take great care of my people, and my guests know that. A lot of them still tip in the realm of 10-15% (even though they know my people don't need it) because to them, the staff deserve it.
elaborate please
cowardice has nothing to do with auto-grat
I’m fine with you not getting it, but I’m not wrong
I'm getting "autograt is for cowards" tattooed on my body
I'm literally actually doing this
Any airport and work the Lounges. Premium pay and tips. Benefits and hours are also great
Just said the same thing
US Virgin Islands - St. Thomas
St. Thomas is the 2 nd busiest cruise port in the world- More “seasonal” than you might like and living on an island is difficult to put it mildly- I did 4 years behind the bar before I went back to the States, which quickly turned into moving to Mexico - I can’t do fast paced living anymore- island time is a real thing, the beauty is the cruise ships are only during the day, no more late nights bartending
Tell me more
It’s the USA but not a State, it’s a little wild west ish - very dangerous if you are not much of a traveler - when a newbie would show up we would take bets on how long they last, most people less than 6 months
may I message you?
Sure
Interested in hearing more also. Even if you copy and paste whatever you sent to the other people asking
Money wise - I was making 8.50 an hour and averaging 550 or so in tips, this was 8 years ago
8 years ago was pre-COVID and hurricane irma. It’s a different place now. And a lot of bartenders move here because it’s like living in Neverland. It’s a very slippery slope if you can’t handle your alcohol. And cost of living is nuts
upstate is paying crazy money for all service industry. Do you have management experience? Can easily make 60-80k in the LP region right now
I've thought about going management but meh. My boss is an ex bartender gone manager and he said he wouldn't do it again if he didn't need the benefits for his family.
I've heard both sides. I make 85k but I'm culinary not beverage. Management isn't a cake walk but its worth it for the better security since I didn't want to do line work my whole life. And as you get older benefits need to be considered. There's also a path to a lot higher earnings in hospitality once you get into management, especially hotel and resort management. The GM at my hotel makes 130k and thats only about 3 promotions above me. So I guess its a matter of do you want to make good, simple money, or better money in a more challenging environment
Oh 100% management is a no brainer if you're BOH, the pay raise is insane. As a bartender it's not as drastic.
I mean you said you're making 50k and the pay raise for jobs currently listed is 60% more than what you're making lol
Well yeah but I make 50k being lazy and not trying very hard lol. My pay is almost exclusively just good regulars, it's almost never like... challenging busy
Then just keep doing what you're doing til you age out 🤷 check out cruises and shit, see the world. Seems like making any more than what you're making right now is going to be a step up in labor expectations. Vegas seems like a good suggestion like someone else said, you can make BANK out there, but I hear its no joke during busy times. I wonder if Vegas has a slow season? Kinda seems like it would be moderately busy all the time... I'd get into cruises if I didnt have a family!
Not Florida I’ve worked here my entire life, save about 8 months, and it’s the most saturated I’ve ever seen the industry.
I left your area to come to Nash only to find it even more saturated. I honestly wish I hadn't but it was necessary.
I've always heard Vegas is the move of you want this to stay in this long term. They have union so you get full benefit and actual hourly plus tips
As someone above mentioned, I’m pretty sure that every decently popular city has specific bars/restaurants that are good to work at money-wise. I’m from Long Island NY, but now live in Kansas City and serve here at a well-known bar/grill type of place that’s usually always busy. or at least steady. My boyfriend bartends at one of the very high volume BBQ restaurants here. We both make good money!
Hey can you tell me where you work? Im in Topeka and hour away and I’ve been thinking of moving. You can send me a PM if you’re comfortable I would just like some recommendations please and thank you!
PM’d :)
you become a snowbird. spend 4 months in south florida and 8 months in some resort town
NYC always has tons of opportunities to make money in the service industry if you’re willing to live in the outer boroughs or just outside the city and commute in
If you don't mind a commute...living outside DC and working in a Jose Andres restaurant was amazing. They tip pool and 30% goes to other staff, runners, bussers, etc, but it makes the place work like a dream. I was in the less-fancy restaurant and still every check regularly going over 200+ (from what I recall, the bartenders made more than servers too). Anyways, money was insane. I wasn't paying DC rent -- but I know people there that could and did. On top of it, vision, dental, health, etc for you AND YOUR FAMILY!
I just can’t get with the tip Pool deal. Just can’t help but think there will always be those few coworkers that suck but still reap the rewards of the hard workers
If you work in that kind of environment, you are vetted the first minute you interview and they will fire you on the spot if you don't pull your weight.
That’s good to know! I’d be willing to give it a try but I’m not in a big city and have worked at a handful of restaurants and bars so I’m not sure where they do tip pooling in my area. Do you know if that’s normal in a fine dining environment or is it more of a casual bar type of practice
30% would be more like a fine dining situation because everyone is involved in making it a pristine experience beginning to end. Other than that, I've had it at a dive bar where we tip pooled and then averaged the hourly.
Be the big fish in the little pond.
Ever thought about seasonal bartending? I have been thinking about Alaska or Maine for the summer next year
Puerto Rico. COL is low, no federal taxes, and the bar scene is awesome.
I’m bartending in Massachusetts and I’m close to $125K/yr
Tampa, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville. Or you can do what I did forever and split your time between a beach town in the summer and city in the winter. Before I switched careers I was making well over 100k doing that.
Kinda hard to move twice a year and try to line up places/jobs. Source: trying to do this for 2 years now
Just gotta stick with it and be realistic about where you want to be. Source: I did it for 13 years
It's really tough to get in any high volume bars in downtown Nashville right now. I know a few people that have moved here thinking they were going to walk into a Broadway bar job and it hasn't really worked out for them. If you know people in the industry in Nashville it helps a lot.
Yeah you’re obviously not going to jump onto broadway but that doesn’t mean there’s nowhere else to start. Most guys I know that did it started in Franklin
I’m nearly in the same boat as you; I move around every few years to cool mountain touristy towns that offer the hiking Im into it. Once I’ve hit most the cool hikes in that area I move to explore a new cool place. The beauty of bartending is basically everywhere needs bartenders so I’d look for the towns that have something to offer you as far as your hobbies and then go there.
Vegas….maybe New Orleans.
New Orleans ain’t what it used to be $ wise and min wage is like 2.35 and hr, some places maybeeee $5 an hour and many owners and managers take advantage of their staff. A lot of toxic environments. Of course, not the case across the board but more often than not.
Go to any major tourism or port city and get those sweet tourism dollars. I'm in Vancouver and the cruise ship season is the time to make bank though since you are American you'd have to plan a bit ahead to get a Canadian job. We send cruises up to Alaska and I'm told there is tons of money to be made there in the season and then in the off seasons you still have all the locals and workers in trades and natural resources. I've heard legend from colleagues about pay day in Alaskan mill towns when people will come in and blow all their money at the bar because there is nothing else to spend it on. YMMV
To me, it depends on what type of bartender you want to be. If you want to be a volume bartender, you have to chase the crowds and money. Hot clubs in major metros, beach towns/ski resorts, things like that. If you want to do restaurants, you should be looking at (IMO) either high end steakhouses (preferably in major money center cities) or fine dining (with a likely level-up at some point into somm/bev dir work). If you're the craft sort, get into that world, start promoting yourself, and try to get on with different places around the country/globe where you can learn and increase your skills/rep. If you want to make the most doing the least, I would try either a higher end suburban lounge (or cigar bar if you stand the environment; no judgement, I'm just an ex-smoker who can't deal being around smoke anymore) or a major downtown hotel in a major city. $0.02
Seasonal tourism. I did a summer job in a whitewater town and a winter job in whatever ski resort I felt like moving to. Tourism is bank. I took every April and November off for shoulder seasons.
Do you mean the highest paycheck or the most money through your career? For a long career, I would suggest touristy places like Vegas, Atlantic City, Miami, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, places that have constant tourism and established properties. For a lot right now, follow the seasons with the resorts or major cities.
International Airport. Best job ever
Interested. Can you elaborate?
I also live in upstate ny and make nearly $100k. Not to sound condescending, but do you only work 3 days a week? How do you make so little as a full time bartender?
I mean it's probably like 60k almost 70 some years but 50 is a nice average I guess. I've gotten complacent and kinda don't do much and just have loyal regulars that get me a few hundred a day for not much work. I want more now though lol. Sure I could just find some better restaurant up here but I'd rather go somewhere new.
Gotcha. Yeah definitely gotta find a balance between cost of living and what you can make. Everyone is suggesting big cities: Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, etc. but anything extra you make is going to be outweighed by COL. If you were interested in staying within the state, I could find you a couple places where you can make fuck you money. Dm if interested.
Yeah, I work at a neighborhood pub in Hudson, NY I work 5 days, 11-5, open at 12. So it's 30 hours, but only 25 "service hours." I am definitely around the 100k mark and it's easy as hell. Edit to add: I had a guy in this week that asked why I got into bartending and I said the money and hours were attractive. He said, "I could see the hours, but I don't know about the money." I didn't want to break his brain by telling him.
I have been looking into moving to the Hudson/Albany/Troy/Catskill area (from central Vermont). Would you say a 100k position like yours is common? And is COL low?
No and no.
people have no idea, the amount of people that tried to recruit me for some rinky dink jobs during covid was insane. Like bud... I probably make the same or more money than you.
What city?? Syracuse is broke as fuck, Binghamton is a joke, Elmira is a truck stop,... Buffalo??
Buffalo, rochester, Syracuse, Albany/Saratoga all have reasonable COL while having ample financial opportunity. Thousand islands region are great seasonal jobs, or literally anything near the hundreds of lakes. Canandaigua, Skaneateles, Oneida lake, Lake Ontario, there’s so much many to be made, just gotta know where to look for it. I worked at a lake restaurant and made $50k between may and October last summer. Based on your comment, you’re clearly not knowledgeable about the region.
I grew up in Binghamton. I just went to Rise and Shine in Syracuse a few months ago on a visit home. Admittedly I haven't spent much time north of Syr but when I look at median income data it wouldn't reflect what you're saying... and bartending typically hugs the economy very closely. I could see a few positions in Ithaca making *near* 6 figures and some Finger Lakes area businesses killing it for the summer. I could see Buffalo having some hot spots but the extended winters may not be worth it. NYS Electrical Linemen make 6 figures in apprenticeship but imagine working in that cold 3/4 of the year. I'm just surprised to hear that about places like Albany when they have a pretty large cut of their city down in the national poverty numbers.
So you’re basing your opinion off median income levels? I’ve lived, worked, or visited all those areas regularly. Also, no one with money lives in these cities, which is what the median income is based off of. They live in Saratoga, Cazenovia, skaneatles, Canandaigua/victor/Pittsford etc. Canandaigua has several celebrities as well as the sands brothers and basically the entire wegman family tree. There’s so much money here that you just don’t see with raw statistics because the city proper drags them so far down.
And most of Skaneatles looks like a mutineer camp when we drove through it to sell meat off the truck. I never would have guessed any of this. Binghamton is just poor and our "big names" live local. Even so, a few rich families or patches of nice areas don't necessarily support a 100K+ income as a restaurant hourly. The poor city is your customer base, typically. These must be very well positioned.
I live in a smaller city in Oregon and work four days a week, but make $75k+. And that’s at a smaller tavern that doesn’t result in me getting my ass kicked regularly (except for Fridays, but it’s well organized chaos). Don’t sleep on higher minimum wage states with video lottery…
What city in Oregon?
Eugene
Not mentioning it's a college town kind of undercuts your point. Towns that are home to the major state universities are always going to be good money for bartenders.
Eh I guess. I’m no where near the university nor are we a sports bar. Our clientele is mostly octogenarians or those close to being one. But I see your point. It’s mainly just a well run tavern with good food and a very solid base of regulars.
I was making six figures in Austin before I left the industry to be a SAHM. I worked M-F during the day.
I made 72k at a steakhouse in San antonio
I did well in Orlando, San Diego is not bad money wise, my full-time bartenders make 100k+, but it’s hard to find a job here. I would recommend going to an area of California or any other state with a decently low cost of living and a high minimum wage with no lower “tipped minimum wage” so you’re making like $16+ an hour (or more if you’re in hotels or working as a bar lead/supervisor/etc.) plus great tips if you find the right spot.
I’ll do 160 this year in Tampa at the rate I’m going. Just gotta be in the right spot.
I work in New Jersey in a suburb. It’s not cheap to live here, but I also bring home $2000-2500 a week.
I'd love to hear more if you don't mind? Im in NY and looking to put my head down and just work this summer
Consider Pittsburgh. Cool city, COL lower than most places. Also, a resort in the Caribbean.
Singapore is wild. And pays good.
Casino hotel
Bee Cave TX, 80k barely 30 hours 4 days a week. Gotta find the right spot though, I’m a bar manager at a fine dining spot off salary but high hourly so I can still bartend. I get to spend a lot of time with my 19m old daughter so it’s perfect. When she gets older and doesn’t need me as much I can work more
Miami Florida I bartended 28 years now I do it part time along with other businesses. But if I were younger, I would go to club space and fight my way in. Because a single shift there which is I think around 17 hours because they are open from Friday evening to Sunday straight through. That shift is a $1500 shift for those bartenders. No joke $75,000 a year for working one day. I know this because I trained all of the bartenders at a place I was working because they had come straight from bartending school and when this one young lady was done, I said now go finally high-paying job that gives you more time to spend with your kid at home so I told her to go to nightclubs likes club space and see what they had to offer. Or if you like something more as far as dining there’s the Rusty Pelican. You have the hustle and you work six days ia week and you’re on call the seventh as well day but even the servers there make over $100,000 a year you have to have five years experience in the industry. Its fine dining. But you have to move you know. So when server it was training me when I started there and make over $500 on his lunch shift which was 4 1/2 hours long. Said he claimed over 115,000 the year before. They make you learn like six menus and they test you on them and you must score high on them but in the end if you’re younger I got no obligations personally I would go for the club space because it leaves you plenty of free time to actually spend money. there’s more clubs you can pick up another shift. I spent the 90s in Coconut Grove. Literally did not leave a one block radius between living and working. From what I remember it was a great time. Lol.
i do pretty well bartending in san francisco. you can make $50k working between 2 and 3 shifts a week.
You can survive on less than 1K a week in San Fran?
I mean, yeah, you can if you have a couple roommates and live a simple life. I wasn't suggesting they do that, I was only using his $50k/year as a reference. But it's easy to live without a car in SF, and you can find a situation with roommates where rent is a little over $1k/mo, depending on what neighborhood you want to live in. I was living in a decent neighborhood with one roommate and paid $1.2k/mo up until I moved out a few months ago. I would definitely recommend working 4 days a week and you'd be just fine.
I work in NYC. A simple life as a bartender is crazy to me lol.
Yeah, I lived and bartended in SF for 6 years (2014-20) and sure the CoL is high, but I was getting $15/hr plus plentiful tips.
Underrated city New Orleans. Hourly will be bad but cost of living is cheap, it’s fun and you can make great money in right spot
Cost of living isn’t all that cheap anymore, some would say expensive.
It seems everything’s more expensive everywhere these days. I’m out of bartending game and travel for work, but have place in Nola in case of a layoff I’ll be able to find a good paying bar job immediately and pay rent.
Cost of living is not cheap anymore.
Miami.
Ft Worth isn’t that competitive yet & growing fast. Edit: no state tax
I moved from Orange County ny to Philadelphia 5 mos ago and loving it ! Idk if it’s necessarily the most money but cost of living is low and I love exploring the city
Chicago is where it's at. I work 30-40 hrs a week and clear about 75k. The COL is very reasonable. There are tons of jobs in every sort of environment. My favorite places to work are clubs that do frequent buyouts.
Atlantic City, NJ Low cost of living, 24 hours of serving, many different bars and restaurants.
Hoboken NJ is good for solid bartenders to just show up and crush it
It takes time, I worked at 17 in 3 different states during my 28 year career. You can definitely find a cash cow in any large to mid sized city. But be careful to fall into the grass is greener trap
Jackson Hole
Cowboy Bar 1- 3K a night
San Diego
Vegas, drink runners at the win clean up like $400-$800 a shift. I can’t even imagine what bartenders do.
Milwaukee WI. I took off so much time last year, worked mostly day shifts with 1-2 nights sprinkled in per week averaging about 36 hours a week and still cleared $68k. My best friend made $88k working 5 nights a week at an easy vodka soda/bottled beer bar. People here be drinkin.
Key West, for sure...
Moving to basically any city without having industry connections there, you probably won’t land a job at one of the good bars right away unless you’re extremely lucky to just pop in at the right place at the right time. My recommendation would be seasonal resort/tourist work, it’s where you can easily get good jobs without prior connections(although those still help) Alaska is a great place to bartend in the summer.
Vegas
If you can get a job at the beachcomber or some place in ptown, Cape Cod is great from June- August. Housing is tough though, you could possibly camp. I made insane money when I was living in Breckenridge- May and October are the slowest months. Housing is also tough there. I'd buy a van I could live in and just float around.
The Cape used to be a summer hotspot; college kids used to come down during the spring break, competing for jobs in the hospitality industry. That hasn’t happened for almost a decade. There are no more hours; housing is completely out of reach for everyone (not just summer workers where it would cost you at least $1000 a month to rent a room and those rooms have all been reserved six months in advance by j1 visa holders) And if you think someone new to the area could just arrive and get a job at the beachcomber then you’re obviously not a local lol … that would never happen. You could try to rent a campsite, but you can’t rent it through the entire summer and you can’t camp on the beach or in your car so I would not recommend anyone venture down to Cape Cod thinking they’re going to get a $500 night job bartending or waitressing because those days are long gone…
Never said I was a local. An old roommate of mine did exactly what I described in the Cape last summer, so I shared. Maybe it's not as common but it's also not impossible.
I made great money bartending in Houston TX. Housing is affordable & there’s no state income tax
Florida
What part?
Miami
Must speak Spanish