My Bar.

Big Dice. I certainly hope that you have considered a piano bar. Nothing better for business than a bunch of patrons huddled around a grand piano and trying to carry a tune. Also consider sketches of famous people adorning one wall:

Misti
Rae
Florence of Arabia
Mapleleaf
Diane and Dys

and, of course, Letty.

Seriously, you will succeed, my young friend.

oops...and, of course--------

Phoenix

Maybe you could bring in BPB for a karaoke night...

Sorry Slap, but we don't get that here, and what's wrong with german beer, anyways?

Letty; I wish we had the space for it, and the funds!

Hey, Mac! Thanks for the tip!!! As long as he'll sing for beer and food...

No, no, no. You need some imported beers. All the better places around here have imports; you should too.

Big

I've managed several bars -- and I taught bar management at the largest bartending/bar management school in the world. In fact, I was the director of instruction for the school.

You are correct. You will work your ass off -- and probably for coolie wages -- for the first few years. Don't kid yourself about that point.


A few other things I might mention:

1) You or your partner MUST be physically in the place every single hour that it is open. It absolutely, positively is impossible to run a successful bar/restauant as an absentee owner.

2) Pick your bartenders with care. The will make or break your business. And keep in mind -- for the most part, you are not "hiring" them -- you are taking them on as partners -- if you get my drift.

3) Be prepared to deal with the fact that you may come to hate your partner in a way you never thought possible -- and also be prepared to deal with the fact that your partner may come to hate you with equal passion.


It is a great business -- but it ain't an easy business. I wish you well.

Keep your eyes open. Think everything through very carefully -- then go over it again.

Good simple food & good music with a quiet place to talk. A nice piano and a stage... open mike nights. No smoking somewhere... smoking somewhere else. My sister used to run a trivia night with prizes on slow Mondays. It brought in a crowd of regulars.

Fingers crossed for you!!!

Chairs/Seating make a big difference....wait..Im at lunch.... ..... Ill stop that but, if you want to know about those...I can tell ya some stuff.

Food is big, drinks are bigger...your bar is what makes you the most money in the overall picture..make it good...make it cozy and yeah...your bartenders must keep people happy and coming back.

Best of Luck!!

Wow!!! It sounds awesome. I almost bought a bar years ago, but I never did go through with it. I still wonder what it would have been like. Frank is right in saying that one of you will have to be in the bar at all times during open hours. I've worked in bars where the owner was rarely there and worked in one where the boss was always there and as much as I didn't care too much about my boss lurking all the time, it actually made the bar run much smoother. It is a lot of hard work, but is all worth it if you're up to it.

Best of luck to you :-D

BD, listen to Frank A., he knows!

Ueberlingen. Uberlingen?? Seem to remember that some of my old girlfriends asked me for a holiday there. At least they asked for it, or someplace that sounded like there. Or was it that they wanted to fly AerLingus?? From what they said it seemed like a REALLY great place to be? Ueberlingen? Or was it Kolnlingen?............................................

This is an aside:

Every time I see a posting from Mr. Stillwater, I think of a tavern -- Mr. Stillwater's!



And since I brought up names -- back when I wanted to own my own bar -- I actually designed a sign for out front.

It was a fanciful rendition of an English Pub's shield separated into two fields. On one side there was the picture of a dragon -- and on the other side was the picture of a donkey or an ass.

And the name of the place would have been...

...ta dah.....The Dragon Ass Pub!

Thanx, Misti. Tony C from over at Abuzz sends his regards.

Thanks a lot Frank and Ceili, it's really great to have someone pointing out basics. After 17yrs in the business carrying plates, mixing drinks, and all that jazz, I tend to think "well, duh, of course man". But what really happens is that you turn "blind", know what I mean?

To have outside help is worth a lot to me, and I'll call y'all when I get stuck, or my partner, gosh forbid that I forget him!

But that's for sure that either one of is always going to be present during business hours... Gosh knows what'll happen when the cats are away!

Oh. You have a partner.

Frank, I must be having another senior moment, who is Tony C?

Actually, I was amazed the other day I got an Abuzz update addressed to me! Can you imagine?

Tony is a friend of mine who use to post over in Abuzz -- in some of your threads. He mentioned to me several times that he enjoyed your posts -- and that the two of you posted responses to each other.

He was not a regular and he may have used a different screen name.

I'll check and let you know.

bigdice

It's the 'Westbahnhof', you are going for?

whoooooooohoooooooooooo!

would there be an A2K stammtisch? would there be internet hookups so we could wave at other A2K'ers when we're there?

when will you know?

Frank, thank you so much, you're the best!