Just got second job, this one is as a bartender at a “gay/lesbian / metro, etc” bar. I am super excited and looking forward to starting this week if all goes well. I am not gay, nor do I drink, nor have I ever been a bartender. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I have worked in restaurants for over 8 years and I am 2 types of certified to be a bartender.
I have heard many people perpetuating a stereotype that gay people are good tippers and saying “oh great, you’ll make lots of tips!” Has anyone else encountered this stereotype? Does anyone know if it has a kernel of truth?
Would you take such a job if you weren’t gay and didn’t drink? would you care what people thought? I’m a teacher and I listed my boss as a reference and made sure it would be okay. she said it’s not a problem.
Any pieces of advice or words of wisdom about being a bartender in general or anything specific to this type of work?
Of course you’ll get lots of tips!
Well, people seem to be implying that I will be getting more tips than I would if I worked at a straight bar
Depends on how hot you are 
Are you willing to work with your shirt off, if you’re in great shape? If so, you’ll be making more money than you do teaching for sure.
Comfortable, thick-soled shoes you can wash; they will eventually get soaked in organics and need sanitizing.
I suspect you’ll be hit on as much as you would being a bartender at any bar - they get hit on a lot IME.
Have fun and enjoy yourself, that’s why you’re there, right? To make good tips and enjoy yourself? You can’t be doing it for the hourly wage, I’m sure.
If anyone makes you feel unsafe, alert management and let them handle it; the liability for giving the bum’s rush or cracking skulls is above your pay grade.
Wash your work clothes separate from anything you like and want to keep.
I’ve heard the opposite stereotype, but any stereotype is little more than a bunch of anecdotes. Your tips will probably depend much more on how busy the bar is, and to a lesser degree on how high the prices are. Even with a group that tips poorly, if you’re very busy, you’ll probably do well.
For the record, no, I’m not that good looking. I am 6’4 about 175 pounds, dark hair dark eyes, tan. I actually have my picture posted to a pictures thread / pictures of the sdmb site, but I’m about 5 or 6 years older now so I don’t look as young. I’ve been trying to get a better body by working out and stuff. I lost a lot of weight, but I still dont have a good body.
I took the job just to ease my boredom and maybe pick up a little extra cash. Plus I don’t get out enough because I don’t really drink, so I figured it would be a good way to meet people and make friends because I do really like to socialize.
It seems like it’s going to be a classy place for this area, they have pate, froie gras, and other such foods on the menu.
I wouldn’t mind being hit on by guys or girls or anyone else. I don’t get why that would bother some people so much. I would be, and have been, flattered. It’s not like they’re going to turn me gay. Even if they did, so what?
My straight friends all make jokes about turning tricks for tips. It seems to be a fantasy of theirs for themselves, but in reality no one would pay for it.
Are you expecting jizz to be everywhere? Like if you luminoled the ceiling, it would be up there?
Find out what the clientele is like. Is it a club at night, or a quieter watering hole. If you go the shirtless route, should you work out a bunch for tips, or eat more if it’s a bear bar.
Do “metro” guys really go to gay bars? Or is it slang for on the DL?
Haha. No I don’t expect anything to be on the walls. Like I said, it’s definitely a classy place.
All of the training was about cutting off people who are drunk, or notifying people if you see drug activity because they and any of their victims can sue the bartender, management, and establishment along with the criminal charges. This is what has gotten the most worried. I know some people can hide it really well.
There are also some very conservative, very religious, parents in the area who already don’t like me for other unrelated reasons. So I’m worried they might try to use this against me somehow.
Hah. yeah that’s a good point about ‘metro’. Maybe it does mean that, I don’t know. I had never thought of it.
This is one of those little things that a lot of people overlook. My bar clothes were generally pretty gross. This is especially true if you routinely change your own kegs. I had separate shoes for the bar as well (cheap black boots for the fancier places I worked and Chuck Ts for the sports/dive bars)
Bartending is a fun job. I enjoyed myself at all of the places I worked at in my 7 years of bartending. You meet a lot if interesting people and, of course, you will also deal with some jerks. On the plus side, those jerks make for great stories.
Ultimately, it is a fun job where you will meet some great and interesting people. My biggest advice is to stay out of the coworker drama and enjoy yourself!
The floor behind the bar is usually wet, the busier it gets the wetter it gets. Ice cubes, glass washer water,spillage from fluids from all sorts of drinks etc… all on the floor.
Enjoy, bartending is fun especially in a busy place.
Yeah that’s probably good advice about the shoes. Ive worked a lot of other restaurants as cook/ dishwasher/ maintenance and I know that it completely destroys your clothes and shoes.
The wait staff and bartenders always seemed relatively clean compared to when I was a dishwasher and would be covered / encrusted in stink filth juice so much that my jeans could stand up leaning against the wall by themselves.
I figured bartenders had it comparatively easy with regards to filth. I guess not. I can see how shoes would get ruined from spills.
Yeah I’m hoping it’ll be busy and not dead. Maybe they can do some sort of promotions beyond just the normal ladies night and trivia night things. I think if they’re serious they should take out ads in alternative newspapers and maybe online
I was only partially joking about the shirtless thing. I’ve never tipped a bartender more at a gay bar because he was shirtless or anything, honestly. I always tip generously, no matter how good or bad the service is, or how hot or how nice the bartender is.
But not all my gay friends are as generous of tippers!
How did you hear about the places you had been, if you don’t mind my asking?
By organic I meant alcohol, soda, fruit from drinks and food from plates; that stuff will get dropped and smushed into the rubber mats behind the bar through the course of the day. You may have washed those mats in your dishwasher job so you know what I mean. It’s not like you’re going to be working in a Three Stooges skit but it can be rush-rush, things get spilled, you don’t have a towel immediately at hand so you have to wipe your hands on your apron or pants before touching a clean glass - shit just happens in the restaurant business.
I forgot to mention strong antiperspirant; not deodorant or cologne, antiperspirant.
You realize that if those ‘very conservative, very religious, parents’ who don’t like you complain about where you work it’s b/c they saw you there and they’re either not so conservative or they’re busted?
Not sure if you’re addressing me, but if you’re asking how I heard about the gay bars I’ve been to, they were mostly from my gay friends who like to go out to bars :). When I first moved to Houston I looked up a couple online, but ever since then it’s always been my friends saying, “let’s head over to…” and then we go.
Also… 6’4’’ and 175 lbs? And you don’t think you’re fit/attractive. Tall, tan, dark and lovely! And you’re super critical of your self-appearance. Are you sure you aren’t gay? 
Yeah I see what you mean now. I just didn’t know bars were that messy, and that it would be mostly stuff that doesn’t wash out. I mean, I expected some beer splashed, but they’re not concrete pourers! Learned something new.
What parents are these? Like at your kid’s school or what?
Oh, you can also expect to a) be a superstar b) have a war to break out, and c) a nuclear war…
With that description you’re going to get hit on a lot, and get lots of tips. Of course the biggest variable is whether you’re wearing assless chaps.