About
Bar Consultant, SEO / Online Marketing Expert
My name is Reese Richards and I’ve been involved in the bar industry since way back in 1992. In that time, I’ve worked in every position imaginable in bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants all over Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada as well as in Taiwan (more on that later).
My goal when I first started creating this site was simple: create a bartender training site so that my bar consulting clients had a way to train their staff after I finished my contract.
Now it’s here to help anyone who wants to learn bartending become the best (and best paid) bartender they can be.
You can connect with us and ask us any bartending questions you have on our BarsandBartending Facebook Page.
Over many years in the restaurant / bar industry, I’ve been a:
- Busboy
- Barback
- Host
- Server
- Bartender
- Supervisor
- Assistant Bar Manager
- Bar Manager
- General Manager
- Bar Owner
I LOVE the bar industry
….still do to this day. There’s nothing better than getting paid (very well) to be the center of attention, listen to good music while you work, meet new and interesting people and be the life of the party. Many times after I got back from a night working the bar, I’d count my tips and be stunned that I just made that much money having that much fun.
How I Started in the Bar Industry
My introduction to the bar industry is not how most people usually get started. I needed a half credit to graduate from high school and an easy way to get that half credit was to take a summer co-op program (where you work somewhere for free and get “paid” by way of credits at school). Since I didn’t like the idea of working somewhere through the summer strictly for the experience and not making any cash, I started thinking about co-op placements where I could possibly make some money at the same time. And that’s how I thought about applying to a hotel for my summer co-op placement; so that I could work in their bar / restaurant and hopefully make tips along the way. Through my co-op placement, I hosted, served and bartended in the bar and restaurant of this 4-star hotel (and yes, I did make some tips ?
My First Bartending Gig
When my co-op placement finished, I got hired on as a host / waiter. During the weekends, I would host and during the week I would wait tables. Eventually I moved to the bar and bartended there for the next 5 years. After a total of 6 years at the hotel, I decided to go back to college and graduated (with honors) from Business Marketing in 2000. During my latter years at the hotel and the time that I was in college, I was bartending at various pubs and restaurants around the city. I eventually came to manage for a chain of English pubs called the Royal Oak pubs.
After I graduated from college, I continued to manage bars and clubs until eventually leaving my hometown of Ottawa, Canada to travel the world. After visiting the U.S, Mexico, parts of Europe and Asia, I somehow I ended up settling in Taiwan, Republic of China. After 8 years in Taiwan, I returned to Canada working as a bar consultant through my company BarCPR.com while still managing my own portfolio of online real estate.
After enjoying the beautiful weather in Asia for 8 years, I opted for the nicest weather in Canada and as such I currently live in beautiful Victoria BC.
What About This Site – BarsandBartending.com?
Back in Canada, the owner of the club I was consulting for asked me to put together a training program. Knowing that I was leaving after my contract to continue traveling, he wanted to make sure that his current and future staff had a solid training program in place.
This was to be the beginning of BarsandBartending.com I had already been shooting bar trick videos as part of the social media campaign I was implementing at the bar. From there, it wasn’t a far stretch to start making bartending training videos. At that point, however, I didn’t know what HTML was let alone knowing how to build a full-blown website from scratch. So, I started researching all the different programs on the internet that help newbies to build their first websites. After bouncing around to different platforms, the site is now and will remain a WordPress site.
What is Reese Richards Drinking?
Here’s a List of My Favourite Drinks – so that if you see me in the pub you know what to buy me ?
Beer – currently drinking Red Arrow Lager brewed 20 min up the road from my house.
Spirits – Canadian rye whiskey (Canadian Club-CC or Crown Royal) and ginger ale (a.k.a – rye & ginger, CC & ginger, Crown & ginger)
Cocktail – Bloody Caesar
Ingredients: 1oz Vodka, salt & pepper, worchestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins), Frank’s Red Hot sauce (or tobasco), celery salt-rimmed highball, garnished with a lime wedge, gherkin pickle and a cocktail onion (if I’m feeling crazy, I might add a splash of dill pickle juice as well)
Shooter – Sambucca
Bomb Shot – Dr. Pepper
1oz Amaretto (in a glass shot glass) dropped in a rock glass with 3 parts beer, 1 part coke
I hope you enjoy the site,
Cheers,
Reese Richards
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