Restaurant bartender interview questions

What this hire must get done

Write the scorecard before you interview, then hire against it. Set the bracketed targets from your own numbers.

What to tell candidates before the interview

Say the hard parts plainly. People who wouldn't stay drop out early, and the ones who stay knew what they signed up for.

• Show the real hours: setup before doors open, late closes on [Friday and Saturday], holidays, and the checkout after the last guest leaves.
• Say how the bar's tips are shared, who is in the pool or tip-out, and what the hourly rate is.
• Tell them every pour is measured and spot-checked, and every drink is rung before it's served, including drinks for friends and staff.
• Say what you expect about drinking at work, [none on shift, for example]; some states, Pennsylvania among them, ban drinking while tending bar. Promise that a manager backs every cut-off and refused ID, and steps in when a guest harasses staff or another guest.

How to run the interview

1. Same questions, same order. Ask every candidate the questions below and the same follow-ups. It is the only way to compare people fairly.
2. Two interviewers. An owner or manager and someone who does the work. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on how you feel about them.
3. Score right after each answer. 5 sounds like the strong answer, 3 like the mixed one, 1 like the weak one. Use 2 and 4 for answers in between.
4. Rate alone, then compare. Compare candidates question by question, and talk only after everyone has scored. Big gaps are worth a conversation.

1. Situational · Checking IDs

   It's late on a Friday, the bar is three deep, and a guest slides over an out-of-state license you've never seen. The photo matches, but the card feels thin and one edge is lifting. What do you do?

   It shows whether they check the card or the face, and whether a crowd makes them rush.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you check on the card, and in what order?
   • What do you say if you won't serve them?
   • Their friends say the bar served them last week. What then?

   5Strong

   Takes the card out of the wallet and checks photo, birth date and expiry, then the feel and the security features, using the ID guide or scanner if the house has one. Brings in the manager, and if the card can't be verified, declines politely without accusing anyone.

   3Mixed

   Checks the birth date and photo and refuses when unsure, but doesn't know what else to look for, so a better fake would pass.

   1Weak

   Waves it through because the face looks old enough or the crowd is pushing.

2. Situational · Checking IDs

   You card a group of four at the bar. Three are of age and one isn't, so you serve the three. Twenty minutes later you see the fourth one drinking from a friend's glass. What do you do?

   Checking the card is half the job. Watching where the drinks go after is the other half.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to the group?
   • What happens to the friend who passed the drink?
   • Who do you tell, and when?

   5Strong

   Takes the drink away calmly, tells the group the house rule, stops serving the friend who passed it as house policy says, tells the manager right away and logs it.

   3Mixed

   Takes the drink and warns the group, but keeps serving the friend as before and doesn't tell the manager.

   1Weak

   Lets it go because the IDs were checked, or says what guests do after is not their problem.

3. Situational · Cutting off service

   A regular you get along with has had four drinks in about two hours, is slurring a little, and asks for one more for the road. You know they drove here. What do you do?

   Cutting off a stranger is easy. Cutting off a regular who tips well is the real test.

   Follow-ups

   • What signs tell you it's time to stop?
   • What do you say, word for word?
   • They get angry and say they'll never come back. What then?

   5Strong

   Stops service, tells them privately and kindly, offers water or food, brings in the manager, offers to call a ride as house policy allows, tells the other bartenders so no one serves them, and logs it.

   3Mixed

   Stops service and tells the manager, but says nothing about the drive, or doesn't warn the other bartenders.

   1Weak

   Pours the last one because it's a regular, or quietly makes it weak so they won't notice.

4. Behavioral · Cutting off service

   Walk me through the last time you cut off a guest or turned one away, and they didn't take it well.

   Everyone says they'd cut someone off. Their story shows whether they held the line and how the guest was treated.

   Follow-ups

   • What did the guest say, and what did you say back?
   • Who did you bring in, and when?
   • How did it end?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific case. Stayed calm, let the guest keep their pride, didn't change the decision, brought in the manager or security early, and kept other guests out of it.

   3Mixed

   Held the decision but argued back, or waited until it got loud to bring in the manager.

   1Weak

   Backed down once the guest got loud, or says they've never had to refuse anyone in years behind a bar.

5. Technical · Drinks to spec

   The service bar has a ticket for four of the house margaritas. Walk me through how you make them to spec and fast.

   It shows whether they measure, how they build a drink, and whether speed means skipping steps.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you measure with, and when, if ever, would you free-pour?
   • In what order do you add things, and why?
   • How do you know your pours are still accurate late in a shift?

   5Strong

   Reads the spec, lines up four glasses and measures every ingredient with a jigger or the pour system. Builds all four at once, cheaper ingredients first so a mistake costs less. Checks their pours in a measuring glass at setup and spot-checks again later in the night.

   3Mixed

   Measures the spirits but eyeballs the juice and syrup, or makes them one at a time and falls behind.

   1Weak

   Eyeballs every pour once the tickets pile up.

6. Situational · Two bars at once

   Six tickets are hanging on the service bar, three guests at the bar are waving for you, and a bar guest's food is up in the kitchen window. What do you do?

   Restaurant bartending is mostly this moment, and the answer shows who they let wait and how.

   Follow-ups

   • How do the bar guests know you've seen them?
   • Who can you pull in to help, and what do you ask them for?
   • What can you batch?

   5Strong

   Greets the bar guests with a quick word and a time, works the tickets in order and batches like drinks, asks a barback or runner to bring the food, and tells the manager if the tickets keep growing.

   3Mixed

   Keeps both moving, but jumps to the bar guests who tip and lets the oldest tickets wait.

   1Weak

   Ignores one side completely until the other is done.

7. Behavioral · Two bars at once

   Tell me about the busiest night you've worked, behind a bar or at any job, when orders came in faster than you could fill them.

   How they handled the last flood tells you how they'll handle your Saturday.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you let slide, and what didn't you?
   • Who helped, and how did you ask?
   • What did you set up differently the next time?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific night. Kept the work in order, asked for help early, let small things wait but never the IDs or the specs, and changed something in setup afterward.

   3Mixed

   Got through it but by working faster, not smarter, and didn't change anything afterward.

   1Weak

   Can't recall a busy night, or skipped checks and measuring to keep up with orders.

8. Situational · Honesty with product

   A regular asks you to take care of their friend's drink, meaning don't charge for it. Your house rule is that comps go through a manager. What do you do?

   Free drinks feel like good service to the bartender and look like a missing bottle to you.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to the regular?
   • What do you ring, and how?
   • Another bartender does it all the time. Does that change anything?

   5Strong

   Rings the drink, asks the manager if a comp makes sense, logs it if approved, and tells the regular kindly that the manager decides comps.

   3Mixed

   Rings it and logs a comp themselves without asking the manager.

   1Weak

   Hands it over unrung because the regular tips well.

9. Behavioral · Honesty with product

   Think of a time a coworker gave away drinks, skipped ringing them in or took product, and you knew about it. What did you do?

   Bars run on trust. This shows whether they protect the business or the coworker.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you do, and when?
   • How did the coworker react?
   • What would you change about how you handled it?

   5Strong

   Stayed out of it, told a manager soon after, and can say what unrung drinks and missing product cost the business.

   3Mixed

   Didn't take part and told the coworker to stop, but never told a manager.

   1Weak

   Kept quiet to protect the coworker, or took part.

10. Situational · Keeping the bar safe

    At the bar, one guest keeps sliding closer to a guest sitting alone, making comments and sending over drinks that weren't asked for. The guest alone looks uncomfortable and catches your eye. What do you do?

    Bartenders are often the only staff watching the bar. This shows whether they step in early and safely.

    Follow-ups

    • What do you say to the guest who is alone?
    • When do you bring in the manager?
    • If that guest turns the comments on you, who deals with them from there?

    5Strong

    Checks in quietly with the guest alone, offers a new seat or to call a ride, stops sending over drinks the guest didn't ask for, and brings in the manager to deal with the other guest. Knows the manager takes over if the comments turn to them.

    3Mixed

    Helps the guest alone move seats, but keeps serving the other guest and doesn't tell the manager.

    1Weak

    Stays out of it, or keeps sending the drinks because the other guest is paying.

Work exercise: spec and ID drill

Before opening, give finalists [three] made-up spec cards and [15] minutes behind your bar. Water and juice stand in for spirits: they build each drink with a jigger and pour it into a measuring glass to check. No one tastes or drinks anything. Next, show [three] printed cards with made-up names, marked SAMPLE: one expired, one for a guest who turns twenty-one next week, one fine. Last, play a guest who's had too much asking for another.

Use made-up materials, never real customer work, and keep it to the time shown. Follow your own safety rules for anything hands-on.

Reference check questions

Tell finalists you'll call a former manager, and get their permission first. Ask about what they did, not whether they were nice.

• How did they handle ID checks and guests who'd had too much, and did they bring you in?
• Were their tabs, comps or drawer ever off? How did they handle it?
• How did servers feel about getting drinks from them on a busy night?
• Would you put them alone behind your bar on a Saturday? What would make you hesitate?

Questions to skip, and what to ask instead

Ask only what the job needs. Questions that touch age, health, family or pay history can break federal, state or local law, even when you mean well.

• SkipHow much do you drink? Have you ever been to rehab?

  AskExplain the house rule, [no drinking on shift or at the bar after close], and ask whether they can follow it. The EEOC lets you ask whether someone drinks, but not how much they drink or whether they've been in an alcohol rehab program.

• SkipKegs and ice buckets are heavy. Are you sure your back can take it?

  AskRead every candidate the same description: [lifting cases and ice buckets up to fifty pounds and working behind the bar for a full shift]. Ask whether they can do that, with or without a reasonable accommodation.

• SkipHow old are you?

  AskWhere state law sets a minimum age for bartenders, put the same question to everyone: are you at least [your state's minimum age to tend bar]?

Common mistakes when hiring a restaurant bartender

• Hiring the flashiest bartender

  A long cocktail list and quick hands look great in an interview. They don't show whether someone measures, rings every drink or cuts off a regular. The drill shows those in fifteen minutes.

• Hiring a club bartender for a dinner bar

  A bartender from a busy club may never have worked a service bar, taken a dinner order or handled an allergy question at the bar. Ask what share of their drinks went to tables, and test the service bar question hard.

Restaurant bartender interview FAQ