It’s not always smooth sailing in the food and beverage business. Over the years, I’ve had some strange experiences while serving and tending bar, as well as when I have been a patron at an establishment. What are the worst and/or strangest things that have happened to me? Well, I have some stories to share with you; some of them bizarre, some of them funny, and some of them just downright ugly! Superior Connections encourages you to share your comments and feedback about my stories and any of your own dining experiences that you'd like to blog about!
What’s worse than running out of ice during a busy rush (which has happened to me more than once while working at various establishments)?
How about having your ice mysteriously laced with poison without knowing that was happening until after the fact? Bizarre but true! While bartending on a very busy Valentine’s Day evening many years ago, both my customers at the bar and the service staff began returning drinks, complaining that there was a strange taste in them. I remade the drinks, thinking it was just a taste preference thing. Knowing that I had added new, clean ice to the clean, empty bin before my shift, I had no reason to suspect foul play. What I eventually figured out was that on my overhead swinging glass rack, the night cleaner had placed a wick-style air freshener. It had tipped over as a result of my frantically pulling glassware to make drinks and was leaking into the ice bin below!
I had to dispose of all the ice, clean out the bin, and replace it with new ice. Of course, I had to continue to make drinks for customers throughout the busy night, using a makeshift ice bucket while trying to empty and clean out the contaminated bin. The manager comped all of the “tainted drinks” and we replaced them for those customers who wanted new ones. When the complaints started coming in, I made myself a soft drink and tested the ice, and lived to tell about it. Judging from the amount of air freshener left in the can, very little dripped down into the ice. So, hopefully everyone survived this ordeal, but for me, it was definitely a “Calgon, take me away” moment. Stress!
After that incident, I checked all bar supplies and equipment carefully before opening the bar. Making sure all of my restaurant glasses, blenders, and tools were properly cleaned, sanitized and out of the danger zone, I confidently sold drinks from that point on. The only extras that were added to the drinks I served were definitely of the non-poisonous, edible kind: olives, limes, cherries, oranges, celery, onions and filberts, to name a few.
My bartending days are behind me, and now I can appreciate the restaurant equipment and supplies that we sell here at
Superior Products. These invaluable tools helped me create comforting customer service experiences for visitors to the bars and restaurants where I was employed. With nearly 12,000
online products available, you can maximize the experiences you create for your customers at your establishment as well!
Tune in this week and next for more posts detailing strange experiences that I had while serving food in restaurants. I look back and laugh now, but some of these experiences were a bit much! Of course, when I dine out now or patronize a bar, I see that unpredictable things still happen in the foodservice industry, and am pretty thankful that I know longer have to deal with these crises! However, customers have their stories too, and I will share some of my stories as a patron with you later in the week.
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