If you’ve ever been out drinking at a bar with a funny, friendly-seeming bartender, chances are you’ve walked away having tipped more than you planned. After all, a good bartender doesn’t just pour drinks. They set the tone and help keep the vibe of the night humming.
For Florida bartender and creator Kendall’s Thoughts (@kendallmathisruns), humor is the key. Her secret? A specific, teasing, cheeky, and perhaps ever-so-slightly sexist bartender one-liners. She says that if you read the room right, you can get away with it.
The Right Words, In The Right Way
Kendall says, “These are my favorite one-liners that I like to use to get people to buy drinks.”
Her absolute favorite one, she says, only works with a male and female couple. After they’ve bought the drink, and he’s handing it to her, she says, “Look at the male and say, ‘You didn’t tell me this is who you were buying the drink for. I need to ID her.'”
“Typically that gets a good chuckle,” she says.
Read The Room
Another bartender one-liner she likes to deploy is a light compliment that’s followed by a punch line. But, she cautions, you have to really be able to “read” the female customer. “Look at the woman, up and down, [and say], ‘I see a really beautiful woman right here … and a gentleman who wants to buy her a drink,” she says. “That one tends to work really well, especially if they’re sitting at the bar,” she notes.
Finally, she says that if the woman buys a beer, and the man gets a drink that she considers “fruity” (fruity as in “fancy,” perhaps), like a Jack and Coke or Tito’s and Red Bull, she says something like, “‘Wow, I really see who wears the pants in this relationship.'”
However, she reiterates that you really have to be able to read the room a bit.
Rage Bait?
Viewers in the comments section overwhelmingly agreed that these one-liners were not it and argued it would do the opposite of what Kendall was trying to achieve.
“The sexist jokes are not it,” commented user Nikki Meyers (@nikkinikkimyers). “That for me would get an exasperated eye roll and turn my typical 25-30% to 18-20% ngl (I’m a bartender).”
Another suggested that she leave the jokes at home and just focus on making drinks. “I would be annoyed if you talked to me like that… Just make the drink and go on, when my drink is empty come back and fill it,” they wrote.
“I’m hoping this is rage bait,” a third said.
It appears that Kendall confirmed her video is, indeed, rage bait in a response.
“First one to get it, lol,” she replied.
She’s Doing More Than Slinging Drinks—She’s Entertaining
So why can (and do) bartenders get away with being bossy, snarky, and mean-funny sometimes? Well, Peter St. Ong, posting on the Econlib forum, says that he used to own a nightclub. And from what his impression is, “A mediocre bartender will act like a service employee, while a good bartender is an entirely different beast. They are rude, they almost universally steal money, and they are a bit primadonnish. In sum, they behave like entertainment professionals.”
The site Chilled notes that the bartender acts as friend, confidante, promoter, marketer, peacekeeper, server, mixologist, observer, and cashier through the night. Because of this multifaceted role, they gain a lot of information about their clients. And for many people, teasing is a way to show affection. It’s also a way to keep the other customers around smiling.
So it stands to reason that if you’re the “vibes cruise director” of the night, then you might keep some bartender one-liners in your back pocket. And if they’re the weensiest bit off-color, well, hopefully your audience thinks you’re funny and not seriously sexist.
@kendallmathisruns Use these I promise they will too well and love you forever #bartending #money #biketoberfest #rallygirl #motorcyclerally