Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-City Bartender

By Ty Wenzel

Book Overview

After reading Behind Bars, a no-holds-barred tell-all in the spirit of Kitchen Confidential, you'll never look at your favorite bartender the same way again.

Ty Wenzel offers a raw and clever account of slinging drinks in New York City on the Bowery before and during its renaissance. Wenzel, now thirty-six, has just thrown in the towel after a decade at the swank Marion's Continental Restaurant and Lounge--a gig that was supposed to be a temporary escape after corporate burnout, but instead, like with most bartenders, took over her life.

Honest, clever, and often scathingly funny, this memoir at once offers outrageous tales, the dirty little secrets of the trade, and inspired commentary on bar culture and the human condition. Wenzel's candid stories of life behind the bar covers everything: sex, money, celebrities, the tricks mixers play on you to get you to stay on that stool, how to jumpstart your own bartender fantasy, that all-important tip . . . and how "pink drinks" like the Cosmopolitan are ruining civilization.

Behind Bars is also a riveting narrative of Wenzel's life outside the bar, which is complicated by her Islamic background, her drive to save enough money and get out of "the life," and the ultimate realization that the grueling lifestyle that is driving her crazy is also something she has grown to love.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312311036
• ISBN13: 9780312311032
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Shaken and Stirred

In "Behind Bars: Tales of a Big City Bartender", Wenzel skillfully articulates the trials and tribulations of being a successful and popular mixer in Manhattan's mercurial hospitality industry. Wenzel's anecdotes and rants are expressed with both candor and compassion. A must read for any future mixers and restaurant patrons!Well done!C.D. Milne, New York, NY

I think I am one

... an orphan, that is. I've been going to the same bar for years now and just when I thought I was kinda fitting in (yikes!). This book tells so much more than I ever imaginged about bartending and working in the service industry. I promise to be a good tipper, not to make the bartender choose my drink for me, and try to know when I've had enough (or at least believe her when she tells me so). I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats! My hats off to you, Ms. Wenzel. You've created a reality for those of us who only knew what we dreamed it was like. And to think I almost went to bartending school oh so many years ago. I'm gonna let all my friends in on this one.

Fasten your seat belt!

This book is loads of fun. Both informative and catty, Wenzel dishes up her share of dirt from behind the bar. I've always fallen in love with my bartenders, so it was fun to hear what it's like to be on the other side. Made me glad that I'm a good tipper too... I recommend this book for everyone looking for an enjoyable read.

Fun fun fun

Just finished the book yesterday and really enjoyed it. Never worked in the service industry but I got the feeling that I knew the ins and outs when I was done - and it's not for the faint of heart. It's easy to see why servers of any type could get so sarcastic after many years dealing with drunks and irrational diners. But it's funny too. Lots of insider tid bits, pet-peeves (which I'll keep in mind next time I'm ordering at a bar) and a funny glossary of terms I never knew existed. It's not whiny or apologetic. You can take it or leave it if you're an "orphan" (gotta read it to find out what that means) but I know service industry folks will love this. Definitely a fun summer read. Very entertaining. Jim