For many people, being friends with the bartender is not only a badge of honor but also a way to drink more while paying less. For restaurant managers and owners managing inventory and costs, however, customer interactions, including overpouring, ‘buying’ a round for the bar, and forgetting to enter all the drinks into the POS, can have major financial repercussions. Liz, Noelle, and Guest Host Patrizia are answering questions, including:

• Do bartenders at independent businesses feel more entitled to give away free sh*t?
• Do bad habits spread faster behind the bar than in the kitchen or on the floor?
• What are some of the common ways that customers ask for free stuff?
• Can purposeful waste and negligent stocking be considered stealing?
• How can restaurant managers/owners reduce waste behind the bar?

Work and stress are often synonymous when you work in the restaurant industry, so after a while, it almost feels normal to be a bit on edge whenever you’re on shift. But what happens when the mounting agitation boils over and causes you to leave the business altogether? Yianni, Peter, and Liz are answering questions, including:

• Have you ever left the restaurant industry for an extended period due to stress?
• What is the primary cause of restaurant burnout?
• How do interactions with guests fuel server burnout?
• Has a lack of teamwork ever caused you to lose it on your coworkers?

For a long time, the standard path to success was defined by attending college before accepting a salaried career. In recent years, particularly amid the COVID pandemic, many began questioning the need for a college education. While Nick attended University in Montreal, neither Noelle nor George went to college. Join the trio as they discuss whether paying for higher education is worth it and answer questions, including:

• Has attending college supported your career in any way?
• Is higher education a scam?
• Is field experience more valuable than learning in a classroom?
• What are the benefits of moving out of your hometown after high school?

The potential for debates is endless when it comes to the psychology of ordering. But when deciding whether or not to order dessert, what are the impacts of a written menu vs. verbal specials? George, Noelle, and Nick are answering questions, including:

• Does having dessert make customers more likely to order coffee after their meal?
• Are you more likely to order dessert when given a written menu or verbal specials?
• How many options should restaurants include on their dessert menu?
• Do you care if desserts are outsourced or made in-house?

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of being a human is having opposable thumbs that make it easier to grasp and manipulate objects firmly, but when you’re serving tables, the standard is only to use them for stabilization. Noelle, Liz, and Nick are getting handsy and answering etiquette questions, including:

• What is the proper use of thumbs while delivering plates at a restaurant?
• Do you require your servers to use trays when delivering drinks, food, and/or extra utensils?
• How have cleanliness standards changed in restaurants since COVID?
• Are you grossed out when bartenders use their hands to add garnish to your drink?
• As a customer, have you ever grabbed something – be it fruit or something else – from behind the bar?

As a restaurant operator, the only constant is change, and even the best-laid plans can go to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly. So, what should you do when things aren’t running as smoothly as you planned and the time comes to pivot your business in the interest of greater success? Nick, Noelle, and George are answering questions, including:

• What is the first step towards pivoting your business plan?
• How should you respond when you realize your original plan isn’t working?
• What are some basic ways you can adjust your menu to maximize impact?
• When business owners realize it’s time to make a change, is there an energizing effect?

They say it takes money to make money, but does making money in the long run also require free labor in the short term? Noelle, Yianni, and Liz are discussing their experiences working for free and how its shaped their career paths. Tune in to hear their answers to questions, including:

• Are internships and ‘working for free’ the same thing?
• What does it mean when people say that entrepreneurs work for free?
• In what instances does it make sense to work for free?
• What do you gain when you work for free?

When you own a BYOB restaurant, it’s a pretty common occurrence for tables to offer you a glass of whatever you’re drinking. So, should you accept or decline, and are there any standard rules of engagement? Yianni, Noelle, and Liz are answering questions, including:

• Are you more likely to accept a drink from your customer towards the end of your shift?
• Will you sit down to have a drink with your ‘regulars?’
• What are the true motivating factors when customers offer alcohol to the restaurant owner?
• What are some professional ways to excuse yourself when you get caught in conversation with a customer?
• Are there any business benefits to having a drink with your guests?