This is one of my favorite bar promotions of all-time, and not just because it’s so frickin’ sexy-cool, but because it isn’t a promotion that you run just once (like St. Patrick’s Day Cocktails) or even on a recurring basis (like trivia night). The mug club is an identity. It’s more than a gimmick. When …
How to Start a Mega-Profitable Mug Club for Your Bar Read More »
If you’ve been dreaming ever since you were a child about how you could make a restaurant fail quickly, and you’re ready to walk the walk and take some serious action to make your dream a reality, I’m here for you. Here are 11 highly-effective and powerful tactics that will help you drive your restaurant business into the ground faster …
“Pffft…Corporate restaurants” (imagine my best scoffing declaration of disgust)! You want to know how to suck the soul from a perfectly good restaurant and bludgeon its culture to bloody oblivion? Turn it over to a corporation and watch its livelihood being sucked from it like a vampire draining his victim until he/she is pale and bloodless. Ok, sorry, …
Back in 2006 a terrible mistake was made when the owner of the bar/club I was working at told me that I was the new full time manager for the bar/restaurant. Not that I wasn’t grateful, or even excited to be offered the position. I was a fantastic head bartender with a great following of …
January 5, 2018 |Dave Allred When I started out with Bar Patrol locally here in the San Francisco Bay Area implementing bar inventory and alcohol control systems, I had the privilege of working with quite a few corporate restaurant chains, helping them pinpoint their losses in order to lower their pour cost and variance percentages. …
How One Beverage Director is Costing a National Chain Restaurant Millions Read More »
December 12, 2017 |Dave Allred I want you to do me a favor. After you read this post and watch the video below, I want you to go pour test your bartenders and see how many of them are able to accurately pour a 1.5 oz. shot. You’ll be shocked at the inconsistency. Or maybe …
How to Train Your Bartenders to Free Pour Like a Pro Read More »
November 17, 2017 |Dave Allred I do my best from day-to-day to offer advice, information and resources to help bar owners and managers succeed at a top level. In fact, there is an ocean of knowledge out there that is helpful, some better than others. But here’s what you need to know about running a bar …
Why Your Bar or Restaurant Will Fail Without This One Factor Read More »
I wasn’t aware of this very important concept during my years as a bar manager. It wasn’t until I started Bar Patrol that I started really analyzing the balance between controlling costs and providing a fair value to the guest, because as an owner we want both. You can’t give away the house just to …
Bar Management Tips: The Power of Perceived Value Read More »
Do you have any idea how many oz. your bartenders are pouring in their martinis? You’d better find out or you might just go broke. In this episode of The Ask Dave Show, I talk about martini pours, glass size and how many oz. your bartenders should be pouring so your guests are happy and …
Welcome to The Ask Dave Show. Today my question comes from Joyce in Lusaka, Zambia, all the way down in Africa, and she wants to know how she can help save her struggling bar of 18 years. I’ve got the answer in today’s episode. Check it out.
Are You Ready For Your Next Health Inspection? August 16, 2017 |Dave Allred How come nobody talks about the sexiness of health codes, with all the mold and fruit flies and the prevention of rat feces in the work place? Guess I’m alone in that space. Nevertheless, you’d better make sure that your bar/restaurant is …
Bar and restaurant industry standards are something just about every bar and restaurant owner and manager is aware of (or has at least heard of), and even though you know important it is, you keep putting it off, like pulling weeds from your garden. And as a result, just like your garden, your business is …
Bar & Restaurant Industry Standards: Find Out Where You Stand Read More »
In the world of bars and restaurants, as owners and managers, controlling costs is a repeating mantra that will forever be scarred into brains. However, let me make one thing clear: when I encourage you to control costs, it is not to the detriment of quality or customer experience. Costs can only be lowered so …
As some of you who know me already and read my books, you know that I speak in “laws”. I believe there are certain laws that if you follow and implement, you can be wildly successful in your business. And you’ll want to buckle up and pay attention to this law because this one law …
The Law of Gigantic Personality in Your Bar/Restaurant Read More »
I know what you’re thinking: “Bar owner vs. business owner? What in the hell are you talking about? It’s the same thing.” If that IS what you’re thinking, it’s ok. Don’t feel bad or weird or anything. You’re not alone. Before starting Bar Patrol I probably would have been standing on the same side of …
Bar Owner vs. Business Owner: Which One Are You? Read More »
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