So there I was, a few days before my big Halloween party the Saturday before Halloween, and the…read moreloser friend of a friend who had agreed to bartend for $30/hour gave me the Marcia Brady "Something suddenly came up" excuse and bailed. Rather than rely on 'friends' again for someone reliable, I started looking up and requesting quotes from catering and bartending companies from a third-party website. I ended up choosing a more expensive competitor, since I didn't want some low-rent schlub who didn't know how to mix even the most popular of drinks (as I read with horror in Yelp reviews of other companies), but they were all booked. Same with choice number two. Grr. Stupid Saturday night parties!
I finally bit the bullet and called On the Rocks Bartending Services, which had the lowest quote. At first I thought I had misdialed, since the woman who answered merely asked, "Hello?" with some uncertainty in her voice that suggested she didn't recognize the number. I explained that I was a customer to whom her company had sent a quote for a party. She said she would have to get back to me after calling her business partner, since she was unaware they had done this. I was nervous because, you know, tick-tock, tick-tock.
About an hour later, she called me back and said they had one last bartender, Miguel. Whew! I was mildly relieved, yet still nervous, since I was, indeed, getting the *last* person on their roster. Why wasn't he booked first? Or second? Or third? Was I getting the schlub who didn't even know how to mix margaritas? Would it be a disaster of biblical proportions? Since beggars can't be choosers, I gratefully booked him.
Fast-forward a couple of days and several emails where I updated OtR with my drinks menu and other details, and it was the night of the party. Miguel showed up early with all his mixing supplies ready to go. He was clean-cut and smartly dressed in all black with collared shirt and tie. In showing him where everything was, he came across as totally friendly, professional, and competent. He definitely knew what hew as doing! Double-whew!
I had spent two hours setting up the bar on the hardwood floors of my living room with everything he would need: booze, glasses, coolers, ice, garnishes, the whole shebang. Everything was draped and lit in Halloween style.
The party started, and Miguel was a hit. I had opted to pre-pay Miguel's tips, since I would never in a million years put a tip jar out, obliging my guests to partially pay for the drinks I served them at my own party. The no-tip surcharge was a 66% increase in the per-hour rate, and it was totally worth it. Despite having already been pre-paid his tips, Miguel worked his butt off like he was still trying to earn them. He was fast and efficient, and no one really had to wait long to get their drinks. Funnily enough, our agreed-upon ending time came, and the party was still going strong. In previous parties I have thrown at my house, the party had always been winding down at this hour. I definitely attribute some of this party's longevity to Miguel's fantastic service.
So. Sounds like a 5-star review, right? It essentially is. On the Rocks' "last bartender" to be booked for a popular Saturday night gig was fantastic, and I will totally request Miguel by name again for my next party. But here's the thing... After I had sent a complimentary email to OtR about the great service, I started breaking down the bar I had set up in my living room. Much to my heart-attack inducing dismay, I discovered that the hardwood flooring beneath the bar had been completely trashed. Over the course of the evening, water and booze had leaked or spilled all over the floor and seeped under the heavy ice chests, which had been repeatedly pulled out and pushed back in the normal course of mixing drinks. Unfortunately, the heavy ice chests being dragged across the wet wood resulted in a huge scraping pattern on my dark-stained floors, revealing the lighter wood underneath. Where the water had seeped between the planks, slight warping and more discoloration occurred.
I take full responsibility for the damage, since I am the one who set up the bar without any floor protection whatsoever. I am the one who had set the dim lighting, which may have made seeing the spills impossible. Even if On the Rocks offered to help pay to replace the flooring, I would graciously decline. I will pay my own 'idiot tax' so I don't repeat my mistakes in the future. (And it's going to be a very painful tax.) Miguel did nothing wrong and acted in the normal course and scope of his duties. I will, though, take off a star, since dragging a heavy ice chest on a wooden floor repeatedly--even if it's a small amount--is something an experienced bartender should be wary of irrespective of how busy it gets.
Still, though, it is in the neighborhood of 'innocent mistake,' and I will gladly have Miguel again and highly recommend On the Rocks.
