What are /r/BarOwners' favorite Products & Services?

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This is worth every penny. It scans licenses and passports. You can also leave notes in the app. If someone gets a lifetime ban and tries to come in a year later, this will alert your door guy. I cannot praise this little gadget enough.

Food & beverage has a lot of minutiae that requires managing; sourcing, dealing, and negotiating with suppliers, insurance companies, inspectors, authorities, accountants, banks, neighbors, staff, and customers. Do you take over another bar (failed or successful) or start from scratch? Do you buy or rent real estate? Do you purchase or lease equipment? Do you serve bottled and/or draft beer; short-draw or long-draw; air or glycol-cooled? Are soft drinks and mixers sourced from bottles or a post-mix beverage system? What will your beverage program look like? How big of a backbar will you need, how much dry storage and cold storage?

Your long-term success will depend on your staff, your team, because success requires a team effort. Set and insist on appropriate expectations. Treat people fairly. Hold them accountable. The food and beverages you serve will only contribute about 40% of your success. Patrons respond to the entire experience.

I recommend reading Ramona Shah's Straight Up: Real World Secrets to Running a Killer Bar. It's the best book I've ever read on the subject.

I also strongly recommend hiring a consultant at least through opening; someone who has a general understanding of the entire operation and can help coordinate the different facets of the business, such as the front and back of house; someone who knows where money needs to be spent and where it doesn't, someone who knows all the pitfalls to avoid; someone who can help keep your feet planted firmly on the ground. Opening a new place is difficult enough. Knowing what to include and not include in a five-year business plan takes experience. What POS system(s) is most appropriate and helpful for your operation? Knowing how to layout a bar and kitchen and the mise en place required takes experience.

I wish you much success.

The best book on bar management that I've ever read is Ramona Shah's Straight Up: Real World Secrets to Running a Killer Bar.

I have a dive and a lot of my regulars are tradesmen. I've also put out request for recommendations on nextdoor.com and searching all the craigslist posts that are offering skilled trade services. A couple of my employees are coming in to help with the grunt labor, because they are going crazy sitting at home. Keeping the max of 5 people in the place at a time (3,000sf) so we aren't creating a hazardous situation. Whereas, my customers are gathering in large groups at home. My biggest problem is the slow down in the delivery of materials.

I was in the same spot. I had a a gun and I didn’t go through enough product, it ended up expiring and took up tons of space. I tried to put soda on my tap and, like others have said, there isn’t enough pressure to get good soda water. I ended up buying a soda stream and an adaptor hose (link below) that connects to a full size CO2 tank. It’s a little finicky, (I would recommend getting a regulator) but it’s way cheaper than buying a carbonater.

www.amazon.com/dp/B087BBZRSS/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_fabc_X6ZG77KGD6Z1AMMZ5ZE0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

If you haven’t referenced it please take a look at “Meehans Bar Manual” by Jim Meehan. Mr. Meehan is an award winning bar tender, bar owner and writer. He references some of the best bars in the world and how they are layer out.

Meehan's Bartender Manual https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748622/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_J4CB8J2GHJZXDSW31G25

Great luck on your endeavor and welcome to the club.

FWIW, I worked at an upscale brewpub that did everything via Square on iPads with this case and that worked out great. The case was tough and held a little card/chip reader. I liked them because when you got a table going "oh shit we have to be at the airport in 20 minutes," you could still settle the bill in less than ten seconds.

Well. Most of the more affordable options are going to be push-button/electronic. Decent tumbler safes are pricier because of the more intricate mechanisms.

You can go the keyed route.

Mesa makes nice tumbled units but they ain't cheap. This is one of their smaller depository models.

~Good luck!