Barback or bartending school?

im confused, school would train me on the ins and outs of the bar and different drinks and mixes and lingo and stuff. but being a barback would give me cool expierence.

im not really interested in clubs and such but restaurants and hotels, classy placesBarback or bartending school?
I went to bartending school, found a job within a month and a half, in a lounge.



Every place is different, and it doesn't matter the type of establishment, only what the bar manager wants.



Bartending school helped me a lot, because it gave me a basic semblance of drink recipes, cordials, ect, yet I had no experience, so I was still a fresh slate. So basically - they could train me as they needed, but didn't have to start from the ground up.



However, a lot of bar managers think bartending school is a joke and won't hire you without real life experience. You just have to hit the right spots. But going in with schooling and no experience is better than going in with nothing at all.



Regardless of what people say, barback jobs are rare. There are much fewer barbacks then bartenders for many reasons. One, a lot of places simply don't need them, unless they're an extremely high volume place. In most places, the bartender simply takes on barback responsibilities - cleaning, stocking, etc. Two, the places that do have them, don't need them all the time, mostly at night and on weekends. Otherwise, like I said, the bartender will just do their job.



The biggest thing is, a bar might have 5 or 6 bartenders, but I guarentee you they won't have more than 2 barbacks.





It really depends on what the manager wants, but I recommend bartending school.Barback or bartending school?
What do they call it

A sheepskin?? a document that says you know just a little more than the guy that breaks the tables, 'the busboy'.

If that doesn't HELP you ,, then you may not want to work for an opinionated bigot that looks down on individual effort to gain knowledge.Some of that schooling will inform you that the MONEY is made by the owner.
You can go to the school but honestly I think it's a waste of money. I would go with your idea. Start as a bar back and then get trained to be a bartender from there. I have worked with people right out of school and they were horrible. No real experience. Plus, the drink recipes they were given were nowhere close to what they should have been. It's different everywhere but from the ground up is the best way to go.Barback or bartending school?
Absolutely a waist of time %26amp; money! The only way to learn is hands on. Start off small...your local small bar, so you can familiarize yourself with the different products. Then as you feel more comfortable, move to a busier establishment. That is exactly what I did. I've been behind a bar for 10 years....it's sooo much fun %26amp; tons of cash, as long as you're cute! ;) As far as a barback, all you do is wash glasses %26amp; stock beer...how would you learn anything doing that.
I've been in the restaurant biz for a long time at a pretty high level, and wouldn't even think about hiring a bartender out of bartending school. It's a complete waste of money and you don't learn anything. You can learn more in one shift as a barback then you would at bartending school. Don't waste your money.Barback or bartending school?
I personally got my experience in one of those hole in the wall bars. It's on hand experience and then you go forth. Learn a little every tyme you switch jobs. Every place has their own recipes for their certain kind of drinks like margaritas, pina coladas. So yea you can go to a bartending school but I don''t reallly think it would hlep you a whole lot becuz you'd probably 4 get what u learned unless you mkae them alot.