Free checklist

Bartender Training Checklist

Behind the bar, product knowledge and legal responsibility sit in the same shift. Pouring to the correct fill, describing the beer accurately, checking ID, and slowing or cutting off service are the four things this station is judged on.

The checklist (5 items)

Written as observable actions, so two trainers scoring the same shift land in the same place. In CrewSharp this is the Bar / Pours station in the Brewery / Taproom starter set, filed under Bar, and every item here is editable.

  1. 1Poured to the correct fill and headMust pass
  2. 2Described the beers accurately when asked
  3. 3Checked ID before serving anyone who looked under 30Critical
  4. 4Cut off or slowed service when someone had had enoughCritical
  5. 5Kept the bar clean and glassware stocked

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What usually goes wrong

Two critical items here are both about refusing someone. Checking ID and cutting off service are the parts of the job that require a bartender to be unpopular for a moment, and they are the two that carry the licence.

The items a good total should not outweigh

  • Checked ID before serving anyone who looked under 30
  • Cut off or slowed service when someone had had enough

When to sign someone off

A workable bar for this station: no critical items missed, a score above a line you set for Bar / Pours specifically rather than one number for the whole building, and observed on more than one shift with at least one of them busy. Then date it, so it can expire.

That last part is the one people skip. A sign-off with no date cannot be re-checked, which means a year later you have a record that says somebody was ready once.

Stations that pair with this one

These are the stations someone on this one most often covers alongside it, which makes them the sensible second checklist to train.

Common questions

How do you train someone to cut off a guest?

By rehearsing the words before they are needed and making clear that the decision is backed. Most people who fail this item are not unaware of the standard, they are unwilling to be the one enforcing it without support.

What should be on a bartender checklist?

The 5 items above cover it: poured to the correct fill and head, described the beers accurately when asked, checked id before serving anyone who looked under 30, and the rest of the list. Keep it in that range. Fewer and a pass proves very little; many more and trainers stop finishing it during a real shift.

Which items should count as critical?

On this station, 2 items are marked critical: checked id before serving anyone who looked under 30; cut off or slowed service when someone had had enough. Missing one means not ready, regardless of the total score, because these are the failures that cannot be corrected after the fact.

Scoring it is the part that lasts

Run this Bar / Pours checklist on a tablet between rushes and CrewSharp keeps the rest: who is signed off, when it was last checked, and which item your crew misses most.

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