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Not talking like a full on bar brawl, but say a couple comes in and the girl starts punching the guy and throwing shit. Do you try and physically remove the person and take some hits or do you call/flag down a cop and stay behind the bar until they arrive? I work a dive that attracts a lot for some reason (probably because we don't have security), and if a fight starts, some guests will get mad if I don't physically step in and in the process take some hits while breaking it up. But I've seen a guy get stabbed for doing that.
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The goal is to shut it down before it happens. Dont over serve and address people who maybe forgot where they are… but if it still pops off, a baseball bat to the bar top gets everyones attention. I turn the music off n the lights up and stop serving till the issue is resolved. A good bar crowd will usually assist you, as they dont like the bright lights and an angry bartender
i'm a 110lb chick who runs a dive by myself four nights a week for four years. this happens.
stop serving and lights up are the right answer. be the bigger bear, i've yelled out most fighters; but try to avoid touching them at all costs. of course there are times when this is absolutely necessary but if this is necessary, then you need to call the police. being on the phone, screaming to an operator while you're also breaking up the fight is usually enough for someone to leave. once they hear someone describing them, they're done. i've done this dozens of times. if shit hits the fan and things get more violent, you have back up coming. if it doesn't, you can call the cops off.
i'm sure there's someone reading this thinking: who has time for that? or who wants to have cops at their bar for a fight? be very aware that people like to sue if they're seriously injured in bars by staff. or injured in a bar at all. insurance pays well. just call the cops.
I’m a 6’5” 320 lbs dude who usually no one fucks with and she has written some of the best advice I’ve read. I do all of these things but I do have the advantage of being able to firmly hug most humans into submission, although hugging has resulted in me being bitten a few times.
There’s no real good answer but have security. But I find the best thing when you’re a little worried you don’t have control is just trying to get a big voice. If you’re the loudest voice in the room that’s not making threats or using profanity, saying sensible things. You can usually find some reason and at very least drown out some bullshit no one wants to hear.
Keep a super loud air horn behind the bar and when the fight breaks out blast that shit. It will make the entire bar stop what they’re doing and look and it may just give you enough time to scream “if you don’t knock that shit off I’m gonna 86 you and every member of your family, your friends, and your postman!”
Hopefully the situation will then become so ridiculous it will just fizzle out.
This is a great idea
Honestly, I'm kinda small and scrawny but if I see things heating up between some of my guests, the adrenaline gets pumping and I'll slam my bar (with the bottom of a shaker or something noisy) and let out a something real loud, but inoffensive. "Simmer down or take it outside!" Extra points if you quote your grandma or something.
I have had to kick threatening people out with zero back up before. I even had a customer come in the next day to tell me she “didn’t like how I handled it”. Motherfucker, you break glasses on our patio every Sunday getting wine drunk while I work 4pm to 4am serving your ass. You watched me glass eyed while I had to keep puffing up and forcing this guy off the property while you drank bubbly rosé.
That job was the worst.
Luckily, MOST of the time, the BOH dudes from other spots were there and would 100% back me up if they had to. It just so happens that people only did wild shit when they weren’t around…
Don’t step in. Just tell them to take it outside. Let the entitled customers get “mad” that you didn’t step in. Not worth it.
I knew a girl who would get the soda gun and spray em till they calmed down! Personally, I have a bad habit of getting in-between stuff but it usually works. Sometimes I'll have someone grab me and be like - YO, YOU ARE TINY. and I remember that it's not always a good idea to get in the middle.
Dangerous place in the middle, depending on where you work the regulars will jump in so their bartender doesn't die. Always helpful to have people like that around.
this is me lol I have zero problems getting in the middle. if I end up hit, I am 1000% positive that the one who hit me won't make it out of the bar alive. my regulars are ruthless. i'm usually in the middle with my phone to my ear screaming at a 911 operator.
I mean if it's happening enough you have to ask get security. It's not your job to deal with that, you're there to serve drinks. That being said we have a bat so that's pretty fun. Biggest thing to help if you don't have security is learn to yell like drill sergeants do. You can get really loud with it when you figure out how to and that usually shocks people enough if they werent expecting it that you can break it up if you get lucky.
This is what I do. I'm a 5'2 Asian female that used to tend a dive across the street from the projects. Solo. I can get real loud if I need to, at least loud enough to make them pause and allow me to de-escalate the situation. Or I tell them to do whatever they want, but to take it the fuck out of my bar. Say it loud and forcefully. I've had real gangsters respect that. I was also a pro-level snowboarder and mosh-pit aficionado for 25 years and know how to take a hit, so I'm not afraid to put myself in there if I need to. Most of the time a random, much bigger male patron would step in if they saw I was about to and save me from myself though! A couple of times it got a little scary, but I'm still here.
So, female solo small dive bar bartender here. My regulars are usually the ones breaking up the fights. I've only stepped in once to the actual fight. I'll be right there trying to claim everything down, but my regular pull the fighting people a part.
We don't really get that at my workplace but when people get aggressive they are informed that we'll call the police, and if they keep doing it we phone the cops. Ideally it doesn't get to that situation but these things happen. I just put on a stern voice and tell them to calm down or leave, and it usuallly does the trick.
I'd never physically engage a customer. Maybe it's different for men but as a female i'd be insane to try and break up a fight between guests.
keep a baseball bat next to the well. turn the music off and lights up. no one gets served until the people fighting are gone. cops as a last resort.
Peacemaker-baseball bat slammed on my POS counter and all the lights on. The assholes leave or shut down the whole bar, the trash usually takes itself out. Also I have the direct dial number for my local 911 dispatch.
Full lights on, air horn and public call out.
I call the cops. I don’t even think twice. I’m a 42 year old female. My fighting days are past me. I call the cops and let the cops handle it. Usually they leave before it gets to that point.
Don’t ever jump in. It’s not your duty and all it takes is being in between the wrong people and you are gone.
I have been in my share of fights, taken a bottle to the face, had shot glasses thrown at my head, gotten in between a fight and gotten punched, been nearly punched in the face by grown men and it’s not worth it. I’m standing behind the bar and letting them know the police are coming.
Hopefully there are a couple regulars in the bar who can back you up when shit hits the fan. As others have said, deescalation is the best strategy. I’ve seen managers amp up parties because of their own fear/anxiety about getting involved. Have your phone ready, try to avoid getting physical if you can (e.g. pulling them away, etc)., and let them know the cops are coming.
Don't get between. Yell something stupid and try to defuse. Never call the cops because they never fucking help. You can say you will however if that helps defuse.
If a girl comes in and does that separate. Maybe say "you go this way dude." It's not your place to step in and stop someone from fighting someone physically. That's on them and it won't be you held legally accountable. If you do step in you might be.