When it comes to the bar/restaurant business, you'll find that everyone who is not involved in this business views themself as an expert consultant on how to make your establishment better. And I would say 9 times out of 10 their suggestions involve some sort of concept where you spend more money and reduce prices.
i.e. "You know what you should do? You should get this band to play here, they are expensive but really good. They always bring a good crowd, and if you ran a 2 for 1 special, you guys would pack this place and make a ton of money."
Well, thank you for you suggestion, but my response to you is that Communism also looked good in theory. Reality however is that it just doesn't work that way.
I can easily show how these pie in the sky ideas never work by using simple math.
Let's start with a drastically shorten equation for Profits:
Profits = Cost of Drinks * Number of Patrons - Overhead
or
Profits = X*Y - Z
where;
X = Cost of Drinks
Y= Number of Patrons
Z = Overhead of Drinks and Misc. Expenses
In the business world, the bottom line is always the profits. You want to run your business better to improve your profits while making the service you supply better for your customers. Cheaper service does not always mean better service, but cheaper service always means smaller profits. Which inturn lead to less opportunity to better your business. But lets take a closer look at the above suggestion about the band plus 2-1 drink idea to better our business.
The suggestion again was to hire a large band at a high cost (lets say $500 for round numbers) and then serve 2-1 drinks to attract a big crowd. Implementing this into equation format we get the following;
Suggestion:
Cost of Drinks = 1/2 X (half price drinks or 2-1 special)
Number of Patrons = 2Y (double the amount of people that show up)
Overhead = 2Z+500
(this is the part normally overlooked by these self proclaimed experts, and that is normally because they never see the costs associated with overhead so they don't event think about it. So to break this down, the overhead cost of the drinks would double (2Z) because you are selling double the drinks so you have to purchase double the inventory and then add on the additional cost of the 'great band' and you get a drastically elevated overhead.)
So now our new equation for profit, if we were to follow the suggestion would be;
Profits = 1/2X * 2Y - (2Z + $500)
=X*Y-(2Z+$500)
So essentially, by doubling the people that come by reducing the cost of drinks and adding on the cost of band, all that you as the business have done is drastically reduced your profits.
Now, if this equation format is a little too confusing, I will use real numbers to further illustrate my point.
Lets say, again for round numbers
x=$10 per drink
Y=100 People
Z=$500 overhead of drinks sold
Our original equation before making the change would be the following:
Profit = X*Y-Z = $10*100-$500 = $500 .... woohoo!!!
Our new equation after the change would be:
New Profit = 1/2X*2Y-(2Z+$500)
Where again;
1/2X= half price drinks
2Y= Double the amount of Patrons
2Z+$500=Twice the overhead of purchase price of drinks plus the cost of the band
New Profit = (1/2*$10)*(2*100)-(2*$500+$500)
= $5*200-$2000 = $1000 - $1,500 = -$500 .... Ouch!!!
So essentially we went from making a $500 profit to having a $500 loss. Not such a good business move if you plan on sticking around.
I know there are probably several different arguments as to why it is sometimes good to take a loss, namely to increase awareness of your business and boost the number of patrons. But the bottom line always comes down to profits and loss. If you can't make money, you can't run a business and you'll be forced to close.
And if you still don't believe me, then picture it this way.
View your salary as your profits and your job duties as your service. Would you be willing to work at a job where instead of getting paid, you had to pay your company money out of your own pocket just so that you could do work for more people?
That doesn't make sense why would anyone ever pay to work if you didn't make any money?
And similarly, why would a business increase their expenses if it was just going to lose them money?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
People Love to Dance to the Blues
I've been noticing lately that more and more people have been dancing at the bar when we have music every Saturday night. Even Tuesdays you'll see some people venture out into the middle of the floor during open mic night.
I find this entertaining because we really don't have a dance floor, just a relatively large walkway that allows for people to venture into and get busy busting some moves.
I've never really been a big fan of dancing in a bar myself, although I do love to watch other people do it. Personally I don't want to draw that kind of attention to myself willingly. When you are at a club or something with a designated dance floor area, its a little different because there are other people dancing around you, so its not like you're making a spectacle of yourself. But at a bar, you are essentially putting yourself out there because not many if any people are dancing with you. That being said, though, after a few cocktails I often find myself cutting some rug in the 'non-designated dance areas', so I guess its all based on your present state of libation.
I find this entertaining because we really don't have a dance floor, just a relatively large walkway that allows for people to venture into and get busy busting some moves.
I've never really been a big fan of dancing in a bar myself, although I do love to watch other people do it. Personally I don't want to draw that kind of attention to myself willingly. When you are at a club or something with a designated dance floor area, its a little different because there are other people dancing around you, so its not like you're making a spectacle of yourself. But at a bar, you are essentially putting yourself out there because not many if any people are dancing with you. That being said, though, after a few cocktails I often find myself cutting some rug in the 'non-designated dance areas', so I guess its all based on your present state of libation.
This past Saturday was no different than others as there were several people dancing to the band we had playing. A good blues band, I really like blues, and I've found that this dancing phenomenon occurs most often when we have blues bands.
(Some Patrons getting busy on the 'dance floor')
I found this pretty amusing video on youtube that clearly shows exactly what I'm talking about. It's of a blond woman working her stuff. Shes dancing right in front of the band, getting totally into the moment and apparently doesn't care that no one else is around her.
God bless her though for having a good time. After all, that's what it's all about.
When you think about it, Blues can really be described as Rock-n-Roll for old people. It has all the same type of music and beats, just slower and more enunciated. You can hear each chord and beat played, and you can understand what the singers are saying. The older you get, the more you appreciate being able to comprehend the music you listen to. Thus the reason your grandparents don't like Tool.
The other topic of discussion that this post could easily bring up is that of White people Dancing. But I'll save that for a later date. If you have ever seen the Dave Chappelle Show skit he does on different races dancing, this woman is dancing exactly like that skit depicted.
The skit aired in episode 203 of the Chappelle show with special guest John Mayer. Apparently it is nearly impossible to find on the internet... but it's hilarious. You'll have to take my word for it. Anyway, the basic gist of it is that Dave says that it's not so much that white people can't dance as it is that they just like to dance to different kinds of music.
"It's not that white people can't dance," he said, it's just that different musical instruments "speak to the soul of a white person" such as the electric guitar.
To prove this point, he brought John Mayer into a office conference room to play his guitar. Then all the people sitting at the table abruptly stopped their meeting, got up and started dancing around similar to the woman in the attached youtube video.
Unfortunately though, I still can't find a clip of it so you can just watch the following video again.
(Some Patrons getting busy on the 'dance floor')
I found this pretty amusing video on youtube that clearly shows exactly what I'm talking about. It's of a blond woman working her stuff. Shes dancing right in front of the band, getting totally into the moment and apparently doesn't care that no one else is around her.
God bless her though for having a good time. After all, that's what it's all about.
When you think about it, Blues can really be described as Rock-n-Roll for old people. It has all the same type of music and beats, just slower and more enunciated. You can hear each chord and beat played, and you can understand what the singers are saying. The older you get, the more you appreciate being able to comprehend the music you listen to. Thus the reason your grandparents don't like Tool.
The other topic of discussion that this post could easily bring up is that of White people Dancing. But I'll save that for a later date. If you have ever seen the Dave Chappelle Show skit he does on different races dancing, this woman is dancing exactly like that skit depicted.
The skit aired in episode 203 of the Chappelle show with special guest John Mayer. Apparently it is nearly impossible to find on the internet... but it's hilarious. You'll have to take my word for it. Anyway, the basic gist of it is that Dave says that it's not so much that white people can't dance as it is that they just like to dance to different kinds of music.
"It's not that white people can't dance," he said, it's just that different musical instruments "speak to the soul of a white person" such as the electric guitar.
To prove this point, he brought John Mayer into a office conference room to play his guitar. Then all the people sitting at the table abruptly stopped their meeting, got up and started dancing around similar to the woman in the attached youtube video.
Unfortunately though, I still can't find a clip of it so you can just watch the following video again.
Chillin w/ Fritz the Kat, Brad the Mailman and Willis the Dog.
Last friday we had a local favorite come to perform at the Grill, that being Fritz the Kat. He has played for us before with his partner Brad the mailman. An interesting combination of names, but they themselves are an interesting duo.
I've actually known Fritz for a while. Growing both his parents worked with my father at some point in the bar business. His older brother would even serve as my babysitter at times.
Fritz has been involved in a couple bands in the area, namely playing with Tim Baldwin, Leon & the Forklifts and one of my all time personal favorites, 'Schwannoma'.
They play a funky, blues type of rock that is very unique. I enjoy listening to them because you never really know what you're going to get next.
The night was fairly mellow though, aside from hanging with one of my favorite drinking buddies, that
being Willis the dog.
(Me and Will just hanging out)
Anyway, the night ended up with my struggling to stay awake sitting at the bar around 3am. It was literally one of those occassions where you are just sitting there where your eyelids get really heavy and your head begins to bob. I'm sure it must have been a pretty entertaining if anyone would have noticed it, luckily though I don't think anyone did.
Lately, I find it very difficult to stay up till 4am on Fridays. I think in large part due to my day job that requires me to wake up at 6am. That essentially means I have to be awake for a solid 22 hours if I'm going to make it to 4am. Not saying that I don't ever do it, but it has been increasingly difficult. I guess that must mean I am getting older.
I've actually known Fritz for a while. Growing both his parents worked with my father at some point in the bar business. His older brother would even serve as my babysitter at times.
Fritz has been involved in a couple bands in the area, namely playing with Tim Baldwin, Leon & the Forklifts and one of my all time personal favorites, 'Schwannoma'.
They play a funky, blues type of rock that is very unique. I enjoy listening to them because you never really know what you're going to get next.
The night was fairly mellow though, aside from hanging with one of my favorite drinking buddies, that
being Willis the dog.(Me and Will just hanging out)
Anyway, the night ended up with my struggling to stay awake sitting at the bar around 3am. It was literally one of those occassions where you are just sitting there where your eyelids get really heavy and your head begins to bob. I'm sure it must have been a pretty entertaining if anyone would have noticed it, luckily though I don't think anyone did.
Lately, I find it very difficult to stay up till 4am on Fridays. I think in large part due to my day job that requires me to wake up at 6am. That essentially means I have to be awake for a solid 22 hours if I'm going to make it to 4am. Not saying that I don't ever do it, but it has been increasingly difficult. I guess that must mean I am getting older.
New Awning at Rileys!
We got the new awning put up at Rileys and it looks awesome!
It covers the front facade of the building and we have a bunch of tables out there for dinning. People really seem to be enjoying it and I think it will be a big hit in the summer months.
This has been a plan in the works for a few years now, but we haven't been able to pull the trigger on it until now. Already we are starting to noticed for it too, apparently a reporter from the Gusto was in to look around and take pictures for and upcoming editorial. The article might be in by this weekend, I'll be sure to post it as soon as I know it has been published.
Also, I forgot to take a picture of the front awnings, but as soon as I do I'll be sure to post them as well.
It covers the front facade of the building and we have a bunch of tables out there for dinning. People really seem to be enjoying it and I think it will be a big hit in the summer months.
This has been a plan in the works for a few years now, but we haven't been able to pull the trigger on it until now. Already we are starting to noticed for it too, apparently a reporter from the Gusto was in to look around and take pictures for and upcoming editorial. The article might be in by this weekend, I'll be sure to post it as soon as I know it has been published.
Also, I forgot to take a picture of the front awnings, but as soon as I do I'll be sure to post them as well.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
How Bad? Thriller Bad!
Barguement: bar·gu·ment -noun
1. A debate on any subject which takes place in a bar or tavern and is primarily caused by just the right amount of booze.
"We got into a bargument over who is more doable: Nicole Ritchie or Skeletor."
2. An argument at a bar over a question with no right or wrong answer. Often involves sports, television, sex and work realated issues.
"We had a bargument last night for two hours over whether a lion could beat a bear in a fight."
Have you ever been in a situation at a bar where you find yourself in a heated debate over nonsense? Well these debates are dubiously referred to as barguments, and rightfully so.
Over the years, I have experienced and been a part of countless barguments and it wasn't until this past weekend that I heard the term 'bargument.' What a great name!
I began to immediately think of some of the better barguments I have been a part of. Several came to mind, but then it hit me. The king of the bargument was Cliff Clavin from Cheers. His character revolved around the bargument. He was the guy who always had some pointless fact to point out to assist him in proving his point. Generally about nothing relevant, here is a short list of some Cliff Clavin quotes.
- It's a little known fact that cows were domesticated in Mesopotamia and were also used in China as guard animals for the forbidden city.
- It's a little known fact that smartest animal is a pig. Scientists say if pigs had thumbs and a language, they could be trained to do simple manual labor. They give you 20-30 years of loyal service and then at their retirement dinner you can eat them.
- I wonder if you know that the harp is a predecessor of the modern day guitar. Early minstrels were much larger people. In fact, they had hands the size of small dogs.
- Everyone is the Swiss Army owns a Swiss Army Knife. That's why no one messes with Switzerland.
- If you were to go back in history and take every president, you'll find that the numerical value of each letter in their name was equally divisible into the year in which they were elected. By my calculations, our next president has to be named Yellnick McWawa.
- If memory serves, the umbilical chord is 90% postassium.
- They did a study between postal workers and chimpanzees. They proved chimps were 32% slower. Of course, they were better with public relations.
- There's no rule against postal workers not dating women. It just works out that way.
- It's a little known fact that the tan became popular in what is known as the Bronze Age.
The reason the bargument was brought to light because my girlfriend and I were lucky enough to blindly walk into one on Saturday night... sober.
It was about 1am in the morning and after a birthday outing for a mutual friend involving dessert at the Cheese Cake Factory followed by some bowling, we headed to Cozumel on Elmwood in downtown Buffalo.
We met up with some coworkers of her from the BAC. They hangout there often as a fellow personal trainer bartends there. So we showed up and met all the people on the patio, and stumbled face first into a heated bargument over the best management practices.
The complaint was the individual in charge was too much of stickler. That they were not loose enough, and because of that made everyone on edge. Which made people concentrate too much on not making a mistake, as opposed to doing their job well.
In contrast they all felt that it is a better management practice to be friendly with everyone and be lenient. Because having fun is more important than being constantly productive. And that in this environment people work better. (This concept is questionable at best)
Now, I feel I may have over simplified and tried to make their arguments clear. Most likely because that is how I deciphered them through loud and sometimes incoherent proclamations that I heard. Remember, I was sober when I showed up, the rest of them were not.
Really what it boiled down to is each person in the circle arguing with each other, but essentially reiterating what the other person said to them. That is the beauty of the bargument, you don't have to actually listen to what the other person is saying, you just have to wait until there is a break in their sentence so that you can start talking again. Either that or just talk louder than the other people in the bargument. This allows for many of the participants in the bargument to be arguing the same point, but not even know it because they are not listening to the other person.
Alcohol is a beautiful thing.
So, as the night progressed I eventually managed to catch up with the group of people I was with. However by this time the heated bargument was long over. Which is unfortunate.
But I was fortunate enough though to see Michael Jackson... kinda.
Apparently there is a dishwasher at Cozumel who thinks he is the second coming of Michael Jackson, literally, complete with jerry curls and all. At the end of the night, he comes out into the main bar room and patiently waits for MJ to be played on the jukebox. Ofcourse people are aware of this, so the promptly play some of Michael Jackson's greatest hits.
Now picture this, you are sitting in a bar at 3am, feeling pretty good, casually talking with people when the song 'Thriller' comes on. Normally, thriller gets a good chuckle as everyone knows the song, and it gets played often for kicks, especially late at knight when people have a good buzz on. But in this particular occassion, Thriller comes on and suddenly some dude in jerry curls starts moonwalking across the floor, flipping his legs up in the air, spinning around in circles and grabbing his crotch ala Michael Jackson. Believe me, it is a surreal experience.
Below are a few pictures I took with my camera phone. The quality is not good, and the guy was moving around too much to get any good ones. But you can get the general idea from them.
ps. There was an old drunk guy that showed up at 3:30am, blabbering nonsense to the bartenders... I'm pretty he was George Carlins twin. I don't have a picture of him though.
1. A debate on any subject which takes place in a bar or tavern and is primarily caused by just the right amount of booze.
"We got into a bargument over who is more doable: Nicole Ritchie or Skeletor."
2. An argument at a bar over a question with no right or wrong answer. Often involves sports, television, sex and work realated issues.
"We had a bargument last night for two hours over whether a lion could beat a bear in a fight."
Have you ever been in a situation at a bar where you find yourself in a heated debate over nonsense? Well these debates are dubiously referred to as barguments, and rightfully so.
Over the years, I have experienced and been a part of countless barguments and it wasn't until this past weekend that I heard the term 'bargument.' What a great name!
I began to immediately think of some of the better barguments I have been a part of. Several came to mind, but then it hit me. The king of the bargument was Cliff Clavin from Cheers. His character revolved around the bargument. He was the guy who always had some pointless fact to point out to assist him in proving his point. Generally about nothing relevant, here is a short list of some Cliff Clavin quotes.
- It's a little known fact that cows were domesticated in Mesopotamia and were also used in China as guard animals for the forbidden city.
- It's a little known fact that smartest animal is a pig. Scientists say if pigs had thumbs and a language, they could be trained to do simple manual labor. They give you 20-30 years of loyal service and then at their retirement dinner you can eat them.
- I wonder if you know that the harp is a predecessor of the modern day guitar. Early minstrels were much larger people. In fact, they had hands the size of small dogs.
- Everyone is the Swiss Army owns a Swiss Army Knife. That's why no one messes with Switzerland.
- If you were to go back in history and take every president, you'll find that the numerical value of each letter in their name was equally divisible into the year in which they were elected. By my calculations, our next president has to be named Yellnick McWawa.
- If memory serves, the umbilical chord is 90% postassium.
- They did a study between postal workers and chimpanzees. They proved chimps were 32% slower. Of course, they were better with public relations.
- There's no rule against postal workers not dating women. It just works out that way.
- It's a little known fact that the tan became popular in what is known as the Bronze Age.
The reason the bargument was brought to light because my girlfriend and I were lucky enough to blindly walk into one on Saturday night... sober.
It was about 1am in the morning and after a birthday outing for a mutual friend involving dessert at the Cheese Cake Factory followed by some bowling, we headed to Cozumel on Elmwood in downtown Buffalo.
We met up with some coworkers of her from the BAC. They hangout there often as a fellow personal trainer bartends there. So we showed up and met all the people on the patio, and stumbled face first into a heated bargument over the best management practices.
The complaint was the individual in charge was too much of stickler. That they were not loose enough, and because of that made everyone on edge. Which made people concentrate too much on not making a mistake, as opposed to doing their job well.
In contrast they all felt that it is a better management practice to be friendly with everyone and be lenient. Because having fun is more important than being constantly productive. And that in this environment people work better. (This concept is questionable at best)
Now, I feel I may have over simplified and tried to make their arguments clear. Most likely because that is how I deciphered them through loud and sometimes incoherent proclamations that I heard. Remember, I was sober when I showed up, the rest of them were not.
Really what it boiled down to is each person in the circle arguing with each other, but essentially reiterating what the other person said to them. That is the beauty of the bargument, you don't have to actually listen to what the other person is saying, you just have to wait until there is a break in their sentence so that you can start talking again. Either that or just talk louder than the other people in the bargument. This allows for many of the participants in the bargument to be arguing the same point, but not even know it because they are not listening to the other person.
Alcohol is a beautiful thing.
So, as the night progressed I eventually managed to catch up with the group of people I was with. However by this time the heated bargument was long over. Which is unfortunate.
But I was fortunate enough though to see Michael Jackson... kinda.
Apparently there is a dishwasher at Cozumel who thinks he is the second coming of Michael Jackson, literally, complete with jerry curls and all. At the end of the night, he comes out into the main bar room and patiently waits for MJ to be played on the jukebox. Ofcourse people are aware of this, so the promptly play some of Michael Jackson's greatest hits.
Now picture this, you are sitting in a bar at 3am, feeling pretty good, casually talking with people when the song 'Thriller' comes on. Normally, thriller gets a good chuckle as everyone knows the song, and it gets played often for kicks, especially late at knight when people have a good buzz on. But in this particular occassion, Thriller comes on and suddenly some dude in jerry curls starts moonwalking across the floor, flipping his legs up in the air, spinning around in circles and grabbing his crotch ala Michael Jackson. Believe me, it is a surreal experience.
Below are a few pictures I took with my camera phone. The quality is not good, and the guy was moving around too much to get any good ones. But you can get the general idea from them.
ps. There was an old drunk guy that showed up at 3:30am, blabbering nonsense to the bartenders... I'm pretty he was George Carlins twin. I don't have a picture of him though.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Revelation of the Electric Squirrels!
A friend of mine from Jersey came to visit this past weekend. It was a surprise birthday trip from his girlfriend. Pretty funny when you think of it because visiting Buffalo at the end of March is not necessarily the standard for weekend getaways. But we had a good time none the less.
Friday night we met downtown Buffalo after he and his girlfriend spent the previous day in Niagra Falls. We coordinated a meeting at the Anchor Bar on main street in Buffalo.
For those of you not in the know, the Anchor Bar claims to be the "Home of the Original Buffalo Chicken Wings."
This venture marked the third time I have gone to the Anchor Bar, the previous two times were also when friends came in to town to visit. But the Anchor Bar because of it's history has become a sort of tourist destination and thus is the place to bring those out of towners who love Buffalo Wings. The establishment has even been featured on Food Network by Bobby Flay in both his Food Nation show and Throwdown.
Personally I think there are many other places in the area that serve better wings (namely the Glenwood Grill) than the Anchor Bar, but the novelty of the place is what makes it unique.
So we hungout there, meeting up with other friends, watched the Sabres blow another game and then sat down for a large portion of chicken wings. Apparently we came at the right time because they had live music this particular night. It was some Jazz ensemble, complete with a lounge singer. They were pretty good, and helped put me in the mood to consume a million chicken wings.
Later that night we all went back to my small bar, the Grill to check out the music and get a night cap or two. We had John Diebel and Russ Guilano (I don't think that is the correct spelling of his name.) John is a bartender/promoter/performer for us. He works a couple nights at Riley's, he also hosts the open mic night on tuesdays as well as another open mic night at the Barbill on Wednesday. Then occasionally he'll play with his band or an accomplish on the weekends.
Russ is in a pretty popular band from the area called Love Puddle. They have played for us a couple times, but Russ has also played with John as a duo a few times. I love when they come to the Grill to play because it usually ends up that we stay out partying until 4am with them occasionally playing a song between tequila shots. It is generally always a good time. However this Friday, business was slow so they only played until around 2:30am. Still a good time and a great show though.
Saturday Night, we went to Riley's. Again to check out another band we had playing there, this time though the band was the "Electric Squirrels." Two guys in this band actually work for us as well. If you haven't been able to pick up on it yet, we are slowly turning into a venue and employment haven for local artists. It's nice though, because I find musicians to be very appreciative and friendly people for the most part.
The Squirrels were good as well. They played a lot of classic rock, a lot of the songs were very recognizable. Definitely crowd pleasers.
As I was sitting there, in the Gandy Dancy, listening to music and watching the NCAA tourney, my friend turns to me in a moment of revelation.
He said he was just sitting there looking at all the liqour on the shelf when he came to the realization that someone had to have purchased all of it, and that someone was me. At which point he began to feel guilty for just expecting to get everything comped and started insisting that the bartenders take his money.
That revelation of his symbolizes the common misnomer society has regarding bars. Nothing in a bar is free, someone somewhere is paying for each and everything.
I feel that most people who come in looking for freebies, just assume that bars are magically stocked with alcohol. That each week, it just shows up, free of charge to us the greedy and uncompassionate bar owners of the world. And then all we do is sell this supply to the public, a supply that we assumabley got for free in the first place, so technically we should give it away for free as well.
However that is not actually the case. Each and every bottle of beer, case of liquor, stack of pretzels and/or basket of chicken wings you ever see in a bar was paid for first by the owners. So when you see bar owners sitting at their establishment and not paying for drinks or food, it's not because they get the stuff for free, it's because they have already paid for it.
Think of it in this light: Picture yourself having a group of friends over on some particular night to hang out. On this night, you do all the prep work in getting your house ready, purchase all the drinks, pay for the catering and then hire servers to both serve the drinks and clean up after your friends. Then when your friends come, instead of offering to help or pay for some of the costs, they just assume that since it's your house they can just come and enjoy themselves for free. If this ever happened, you would probably consider these friends to be moochers.
So from now on when you are at a bar, instead of demanding "hey, it's you're bar, you don't have to pay for it, so buy me a drink", just be knowledgeable and courteous enough to respect the fact that we do actually have to pay for it. And when an owner gives you a drink, show some gratitude instead of just expecting it. And if you really want to make a good impression, buy them a drink back, believe me, they'll really appreciate it.
Friday night we met downtown Buffalo after he and his girlfriend spent the previous day in Niagra Falls. We coordinated a meeting at the Anchor Bar on main street in Buffalo.
For those of you not in the know, the Anchor Bar claims to be the "Home of the Original Buffalo Chicken Wings."
This venture marked the third time I have gone to the Anchor Bar, the previous two times were also when friends came in to town to visit. But the Anchor Bar because of it's history has become a sort of tourist destination and thus is the place to bring those out of towners who love Buffalo Wings. The establishment has even been featured on Food Network by Bobby Flay in both his Food Nation show and Throwdown.
Personally I think there are many other places in the area that serve better wings (namely the Glenwood Grill) than the Anchor Bar, but the novelty of the place is what makes it unique.
So we hungout there, meeting up with other friends, watched the Sabres blow another game and then sat down for a large portion of chicken wings. Apparently we came at the right time because they had live music this particular night. It was some Jazz ensemble, complete with a lounge singer. They were pretty good, and helped put me in the mood to consume a million chicken wings.
Later that night we all went back to my small bar, the Grill to check out the music and get a night cap or two. We had John Diebel and Russ Guilano (I don't think that is the correct spelling of his name.) John is a bartender/promoter/performer for us. He works a couple nights at Riley's, he also hosts the open mic night on tuesdays as well as another open mic night at the Barbill on Wednesday. Then occasionally he'll play with his band or an accomplish on the weekends.
Russ is in a pretty popular band from the area called Love Puddle. They have played for us a couple times, but Russ has also played with John as a duo a few times. I love when they come to the Grill to play because it usually ends up that we stay out partying until 4am with them occasionally playing a song between tequila shots. It is generally always a good time. However this Friday, business was slow so they only played until around 2:30am. Still a good time and a great show though.
Saturday Night, we went to Riley's. Again to check out another band we had playing there, this time though the band was the "Electric Squirrels." Two guys in this band actually work for us as well. If you haven't been able to pick up on it yet, we are slowly turning into a venue and employment haven for local artists. It's nice though, because I find musicians to be very appreciative and friendly people for the most part.
The Squirrels were good as well. They played a lot of classic rock, a lot of the songs were very recognizable. Definitely crowd pleasers.
As I was sitting there, in the Gandy Dancy, listening to music and watching the NCAA tourney, my friend turns to me in a moment of revelation.
He said he was just sitting there looking at all the liqour on the shelf when he came to the realization that someone had to have purchased all of it, and that someone was me. At which point he began to feel guilty for just expecting to get everything comped and started insisting that the bartenders take his money.
That revelation of his symbolizes the common misnomer society has regarding bars. Nothing in a bar is free, someone somewhere is paying for each and everything.
I feel that most people who come in looking for freebies, just assume that bars are magically stocked with alcohol. That each week, it just shows up, free of charge to us the greedy and uncompassionate bar owners of the world. And then all we do is sell this supply to the public, a supply that we assumabley got for free in the first place, so technically we should give it away for free as well.
However that is not actually the case. Each and every bottle of beer, case of liquor, stack of pretzels and/or basket of chicken wings you ever see in a bar was paid for first by the owners. So when you see bar owners sitting at their establishment and not paying for drinks or food, it's not because they get the stuff for free, it's because they have already paid for it.
Think of it in this light: Picture yourself having a group of friends over on some particular night to hang out. On this night, you do all the prep work in getting your house ready, purchase all the drinks, pay for the catering and then hire servers to both serve the drinks and clean up after your friends. Then when your friends come, instead of offering to help or pay for some of the costs, they just assume that since it's your house they can just come and enjoy themselves for free. If this ever happened, you would probably consider these friends to be moochers.
So from now on when you are at a bar, instead of demanding "hey, it's you're bar, you don't have to pay for it, so buy me a drink", just be knowledgeable and courteous enough to respect the fact that we do actually have to pay for it. And when an owner gives you a drink, show some gratitude instead of just expecting it. And if you really want to make a good impression, buy them a drink back, believe me, they'll really appreciate it.
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