I've gotten this question a lot from new actors looking for side-jobs and never have an answer for them except turning to google.

What are the best bartending schools in NY?

Anyone had any good experiences with any of them?

i was a bartender for a few years while in college, and never went to bartending school...
i think it's sort of a waste of time and money, since what they really look for is experience. i was lucky enough to get a job where they were willing to teach me. most of the common drinks (margarita, sex on the beach, etc.) are really easy to make, with recipes readily available online or in a book like "bartending for dummies" or something.

the only thing i think a class would be good for is flair bar-tending.

Totally agree! I was a bartender/cocktail waitress for 10 years (first year being an actor I haven't had to bartend as well) and never went to bartending school. Save your time and money. Buy a couple drink books and start learning recipes and drink names and remember a lot of bars/clubs make things their own way with their own style and then will train on the job how they want you to serve/pour. Can't speak for NYC, but in LA hardly anyone hires bartenders off the street who walk in looking for a job most places hired from within or hired people that they knew and had some connection. I had several cocktail waitressing jobs that then turned into bartending jobs when someone had been fired/quit. Make your experience and interest known when you get hired as a server and then start paying attendtion and learning how they do things.

I actually attended bartending school, more years ago than I'd care to remember...

Here's my take on the subject:

ANY TRAINING IS BETTER THAN NO TRAINING.

Many bartenders become bartenders from their "on the job training" as waiters or bar backs (in Las Vegas, for example, you are required to serve a FULL YEAR as a bar back before graduating to the front bar). I never had a job in food service, thus, no experience watching bartenders work, close up. So for me, bartending school was absolutely essential.

While bartending school only provides you with the BASIC ESSENTIALS of properly pouring a cocktail, at least it gave me enough basic knowledge to have confidence enough to go out there and not look like a complete idiot. Miraculously, the owner of a big LA discoteque gave me a chance, and it became my profession for many, many years.

That said, NOTHING beats actual experience, and that includes acting. But although acting classes are never a replacement for actual acting experience, does it follow that we should never attend acting school?

“Whatever works.”

www.robertkim.com
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Throw a lot of parties or have friends that do and get behind the bar. At least they are upfront about why I am invited to so many affairs. I don't mind and I get to socialize...