The shift where it becomes real
At some point in the first few weeks you will be behind the bar without someone standing next to you. Usually a quiet one — a Monday, a Sunday afternoon, an early open.
It is genuinely nerve-racking and it is entirely survivable, mostly by doing preparation the day before.
The day before
Get the closing and opening checklists and read them properly. Most first-solo problems are opening problems, not service problems.
Write your own cheat card — index card, apron pocket:
- The rail order
- The house cocktails and their specs
- The wine list, one line each
- The taps, in order
- The POS buttons you always forget
- Phone numbers: your manager, the other bartenders, security if applicable
Sleep, eat, and arrive thirty minutes early for this one.
Setting up alone
Follow the checklist in order and do not improvise a better sequence. Then, before doors: