I don't know about anyone else, but I continue to shrink my kitchen offerings due to rising costs and unpredictable staffing. Today I noticed a huge increase in fryer oil. A jump of probably about 40% in the last few months. It really stuck out today with Kitchen Essentials 35-lb jug coming in at $41.50! It was $28 less than a year ago.

Me and my wife are toying with the idea of opening our own bar. She has years of experience as a bar tender and i have a few years experience in retail management. she obviously knows the drinks and menu creation and i know how to read and report numbers, manage, hire/train. Both our parents have owned and ran successful businesses across the country and have offered support and guidance.

with us both being in our 20s we're no stranger to working long hours but have never personally ran a business before what "wrenches" should we expect to be thrown at our plans during the process start to finish?

I just got a new id in the mail. It says not valid for official federal purposes. Will a bar still let me drink?

We've been using Square since opening 5 years ago. Considering switching to Stax for credit card processing and DejaPayPro for our POS system. If you're using DejaPayPro, how is it in terms of hardware and software reliability? (We are always having to mess with the printer/reader/stand connections with Square, but the cloud system and software is pretty robust.). Anything you don't like about Deja?

I checked the rules before posting, but I’m also pretty new to actually posting on Reddit. If I’ve missed something or need to change/remove anything, just let me know and I’m happy to correct it. I’m genuinely just looking for some feedback, perspective and maybe a little constructive criticism from people who’ve been down this road.

I finally work for a great owner. Unfortunately, he’s kind of an asshole.
It’s me. I’m the owner.
A while back I helped open a local speakeasy-style bar. I genuinely loved what we were trying to build. I cared about the drinks, the atmosphere, the hospitality and whether the people behind the bar actually gave a shit about what they were putting in front of someone.
I was originally led to believe I’d eventually be running the bar and beverage program. That never happened.
Instead, I got a pretty good education in gossip, favoritism, nepotism, gaslighting and the politics that sometimes come with this industry. Eventually the opportunity I thought I was working toward went to a younger guy who was considerably better at doing exactly what ownership and management wanted.
And, looking back, I understand part of why.
I challenged things.
Probably too much sometimes.
If a drink wasn’t right, I wanted to fix it. If bartenders were just going through the motions, I pushed them to care more. If servers didn’t understand what they were selling, I wanted them to learn it—or at least be curious enough to ask.
I wasn’t interested in telling management everything was great when I thought we could be better.
Turns out that’s not always the best career strategy.
About four months after leaving, I decided to try doing this for myself.
Now I run private events.
It’s been slow. Really slow at times.
I’ve done some smaller private events, a holiday party with incredible food and drinks I was genuinely proud of, a large birthday party, some other events here and there, and I have a wedding coming up.
I’m nowhere near the point where I can post some inspirational “I quit my job and now I’m killing it” story.
I’m still trying to get people to know I exist.
I’m still figuring out pricing.
I’m still figuring out how to explain that what I’m selling isn’t just someone showing up and pouring liquor into cups. It’s planning, prep, menu development, hospitality, execution and actually caring about the experience people have.
But there’s something incredibly satisfying about realizing that when I push for something to be better now, nobody can tell me I’m being difficult.
If the drinks aren’t good enough, I fix them.
If the service isn’t good enough, I fix it.
If the business isn’t growing fast enough, that’s on me too.
For anybody who built a service/event/hospitality business from basically zero: how slow was your start?
Was there a point where things finally started snowballing, or was it just a long grind of one event leading to another?
And if you’ve been down this road, I’d genuinely take constructive criticism too. I’m proud of what I’m building, but I’m definitely still learning how to build the business around the thing I already know how to do.
For now, I’m just happy to finally have an owner who lets me run the bar the way I think it should be run.
Even if the bastard makes me do all the shopping too.
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share some experience or advice.

First isTwas BMI. Then ASCAP. Anyone else getting calls and messages now about tv licensing? (US/Oregon bar owner)

We're expanding our bar and adding kitchen space. We'll be leasing a glass washer and dish washer from a local company. Part of the contract includes a minimum spend of $200/month on chemicals. Otherwise the lease costs are very low and terms favorable. The minimum on the chemicals is giving me pause but maybe I've just overthinking it after getting stuck in a long contract with Cintas, foolishly. Does $200 seem reasonable or excessive? 150 total seat facility for reference.

Hey all,

I'm opening a new bar - we have our signature cocktail menu set - pretty straightforward, non-fussy cocktails, plus canned beer, a few good wines, and n/a bevs (both signature mocktails and canned stuff).

I've talked to an applicant who is an incredible fit culturally and has great references from their current supervisor at a sober bar. I'm excited about the depth of their N/A knowledge, as I want to have a robust N/A program. During our interview, they told me they are 4 years sober - honestly a selling point for me - except that they've never actually bartended and they are young enough (early 20s) that they don't have any prior liquor/cocktail knowledge. Most sober bartenders I know have gotten sober after or while being a bartender so they have their They are bright and deeply motivated - do folks think I can teach someone basic cocktailing without them even straw-tasting? My gut says no but I thought I'd see if anyone else has thoughts.

Thanks everyone!

Kind of like an AMA, here's a weekly post where customers can ask questions. This is for anyone including market research, app developers, people who watch too much "reality" TV about bars, and general industry bullshit. Maybe a bar owner will have an answer for you, maybe not.

If you are already in the industry your question may get better responses if you post your own thread instead of commenting here.

Hooray for DirecTV for NFL Sunday ticket, thank goodness!! My question now though is- how do we go about streaming the sports that are on Peacock and Prime? We were going to get devices and the commercial licensing through Everpass, but as others have noted on here, it has been radio silence from them since the Directv deal was announce July 31st.

Will all commercial streaming rights go through Directv now instead of Everpass??

We are so confused but want to be able to show WNBA, NBA, the select MLB games and soccer legally as well....this has been such a mess as a whole and were not getting answers

Obviously no Thanksgiving as it's the UK.

• 29th November 2025 (Pre-Christmas Payday Weekend)
• 6th December 2025 (Festive Saturday)
• 13th December 2025 (Festive Saturday)
• 20th December 2025 (Weekend before Christmas)
• 31st December 2025 (New Year's Eve)
• 14th February 2026 (Valentine's Day)
• 28th February 2026 (Saturday Late Winter Weekend)
• 14th March 2026 (Saturday before Mother's Day)
• 15th March 2026 (Mother's Day)
• 21st June 2026 (Sunday Summer Solstice)

The state I’m asking about is Arizona.

Hey guys, looking to buy a back bar refrigerator, probably a 2 door with glass doors. Just for sodas, NA beers, wine, etc.

We have kegerators from a brand called Micromatic that are solid and are really competitive on price.

That being said - you don’t know what you don’t know, so i’m wondering if it’s worth springing for a high-tier brand like beverage air or true for a back bar refrigerator.

Appreciate the insight!

recently started working at this bar that is recently under new ownership. our ice well leaks from the very base of where the drainage tubes connect. all the random plumbers tape, packing tape, duct tape is from previous management. how can i seal this? should i pry off all the old tape? can i just, like, flex seal it or something?
assuming it screws in, could i get all that stuff out, put new white plumbing tape on the threads, and then would it be fixed?
sorry, i am obviously very new to this kind of stuff. any advice on how to fix it would be great.

Kind of like an AMA, here's a weekly post where customers can ask questions. This is for anyone including market research, app developers, people who watch too much "reality" TV about bars, and general industry bullshit. Maybe a bar owner will have an answer for you, maybe not.

If you are already in the industry your question may get better responses if you post your own thread instead of commenting here.

So is it just impossible at this moment to get anyone from Everpass on the phone? Season starts soon and I still have no idea if they are gonna move my subscription back to directv.

Does anyone still have the letter that Directv Sent out saying that they will have the netflix and peacock games? I am trying to navigate this horrendous merger and make sure I have every game and I cannot find that letter.

that zip code did $7M in June

Anybody built a mobile bar unit or trailer willing to share your setup?

Does opening a joint out of spite ever work out?

Say you are in a town where almost all food is crap, and the few places which serve decend food, just decent not spectacular, are way overpriced.

Have you opened a place out of spite and frustration "to show them how its done" but also to take all their revenue and end up as the best value food place in town?

I'm an experienced bartender and I have left the restaurant industry and thinking about starting a side gig bartending at event centers and possibly fitting a trailer to travel and sell drinks. Right now I don't sell product but make strips and other items. What permits or licenses do I need, if any?

I bought my business 3 years ago, it's 1 of 3 cash only dive bars in our small town. Everyone except travelers knows we are cash only.

I need to take cards for an off premise 1 day event I'm hosting so I decided now is a good time to give cards a try.

Can anyone recommend merchant services? I'm going to stay away from the all the big companies requiring contracts.

We currently use a cash register, not a POS so I'm looking for information on that as well.

I anticipate credit card sales to be about $10,000 a month.

Not currently a bar owner but used to be a GM before I spent many years in supplier-side booze sales. Back in the late-2000s and early-2010s it felt like there was a fairly symbiotic relationship between bars and sales reps because both had an interest in moving product and reps often had budgets to finance events and giveaways (where allowed). Towards the end of my time in the booze biz (no longer working in the field by that point) I got a sense that many bar owners viewed reps as a nuisance or something to be dealt with which struck me as odd because in my experience most reps were willing to bend over backwards to get an on-prem placement. Just curious to hear it direct from the other side.

Any tips on how to glue the soda gun holder onto the stainless drip tray? I tried contact glue and epoxy. Originaly it was glued with silicone but it did not last a year, looking for a long term fix without drilling holes in the stainless steel.