World Bartender Day: the biggest misconceptions about bartending

‘Bartending is not a real job’, apparently, or so we’ve all been told... To separate myth from reality, we asked bar workers and owners the most common misconceptions they hear, and how reality stacks up.

Owning a bar looks awesome!
In a house behind a church hidden in Melbourne’s CBD, Matthew Stirling co-founded Caretaker’s Cottage. In three fast years it’s found a spot in the 50 Best, and a place in the hearts of locals, tourists and industry insiders. Each night the bar welcomes hundreds of guests drawn to its locally inspired cocktails, friendly staff, and banging tunes blasted through a beautiful bespoke sound system. That sounds fun, right?

With a young family and life outside the bar, owning a venue can be a little all-consuming. “A lot of people see you and assume it's going really well, ‘You must be killing it’. And the reality is, running a small business is really hard,” Stirling confides over a chilled glass of water on a table outside his bar.

“You are constantly thinking about everything. Your head is processing the week-to-week, month-to-month, year-long ramifications of everything you're doing. To everyone who says ‘owning a bar looks awesome!’ I'm like, don't do it!” (*jokes*)

That it’s not a serious industry…
Anna Sebastian, the go-to drinks consultant and founder of Celebrate Her, thinks the industry is not taken seriously the same way as law, medicine or almost any other profession. This affects the government funding and other resources made available.

“If you go into any other industry, you have to have licences, you have to be part of something,” she told a SIP event at London Cocktail Week. “There’s more we can do to get funding, be taken more seriously,” she says, proposing the collection of industry-wide data as a good first step.

…or a serious career
A common charge from those outside hospitality is that it’s a lifestyle, not a career, amiright?

The notion annoys Matt Dakers, a brand ambassador and spirits educator in the UK. “For years everyone kept telling me bartending wasn’t a serious career option, even my parents probably at one point.” (Even while being a YouTube influencer or cryptocurrency trader can set you up for life!)

But data tells another story. A recent global survey revealed four in five bartenders had long-term career ambitions in the industry, and more than two-thirds thought bartending had good career prospects. “Now that I have made a successful career, I would like to tell everyone in the world that being a bartender is, and can be, a successful career,” Dakers says.

The industry is ‘full of degenerates’
Dan Garnell has graced top London bars including Seed Library and Lyaness, the only bar to date awarded the Pinnacle Guide’s coveted 3 Pins.

Even so, an alarming stereotype persists. “I think the biggest misconception at the moment is that we are all degenerates,” he says with a sigh. “A very small amount of us take it too far from time to time, but a lot of us just want to make sure people feel looked after. Whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic, wine, whatever they want, it’s their experience and we’re there to make sure they have the best one.”

Don’t forget the front of house
Any guest greeted and seated when La’Mel Clarke works the floor will have been served drinks, charm and professionalism in equal measures. Even so, he feels front-of-house staff are sometimes less valued than those tending the bar.

“As someone who doesn’t make drinks, and works on the hosting side of the bar, there is a misconception that my job is less important than the bartenders. Because I’m not performing, making a drink, I’m working more in the background.”

That drinks aren’t worth it
For drinkers in a cost-of-living crisis the price of a drink might seem high. Says JJ Goodman, founder of the Cocktail Clubs & Covent Garden Social Club, there’s a misconception around value for money.

“I think we’re always trying to make sure we can produce a great quality product at an affordable price, but the reality is these days it’s quite hard to run a bar business, it’s really expensive. I think sometimes people look at the price of drinks and don’t really understand how much goes into keeping the business afloat.”

Bar owners in Britain and Wales are only too aware, 40 pubs closing each month in 2024 due to the high cost of running business.

The workplace culture is tough
Back at Caretaker’s Cottage, Stirling’s co-founder Rob Libecans has pulled up a pew. A Brit living in Australia the past 15 years, he reveals his own misconceptions about working down under.

“That it would be hot,” he laughs (Melbourne is notorious for its unpredictable weather), but also, the workplace culture. “I was very surprised to find the community very supportive and people progressive. It was the first time I'd had a job where people wanted me to succeed and believed in me to do it.”

So, the next time someone tells you bartending is not a ‘real job’, you might nod and agree: in fact, it’s an unreal job! And more than that, a long-lasting career.

What’s the most common misconception you’ve heard about the job? Share in the comments below or over on our Instagram.