The Mucho Martini Review

How much does online bartending school cost?

October 8, 2011

How much does online bartending school cost? Actually, that’s not the question you should be asking yourself. The question you should really be asking yourself is, “Do I need a certificate from a bartending school in order to land a decent bartending gig…?” And, surprisingly, the answer is a resounding NO!

Let me clue you in to one of the deep, dark secrets of the bartending industry; anybody can do this job, and most of what you need to know can be learned on the job. That’s right, nearly everything you need to know to become a viable bartender can be learned on the job. Heck, every establishment has its own quirks and practices, so some things you learn at one job may not even be transferable to another.

Nearly every restaurant and bar has their own specialty drinks, and nearly their own spin on the classics. For instance, a ‘Sex on the beach’ may be made one way at Applebee’s, and yet another way at Ruby Tuesday. Now, I don’t really know how they make any of the specialty drinks at either one of those places, but I’ve worked enough bartending jobs to know they certainly put their own spin on things in order to further develop their own brand.

Rapid Bartender

One way to break into the biz is to learn a few cocktail recipes and pouring basics and then start applying to places that interest you. Another way get started is to work your way up through the ranks. Most establishments prefer to hire from within, so that they already have an idea of what they are working with in terms of personnel and character traits.

The cost of bartending school would typically end up running you anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand, depending on the scope of the program and the additional services they will provide, like job placement, etc. An online bartending school will typically cost much less, because they don’t have the overhead that comes with running a physical business. Website upkeep is much less intrusive on the wallet than brick & mortar setups.

Many online options will come with a monthly membership fee, so that they can keep their ‘students’ regularly updated. That’s a scam I’d recommend avoiding, as there is no need to pay a monthly fee. If you ask any bartender worth their salt what they think about bartending schools in general, they’ll probably give a sideways glance, and they may even laugh at you a bit. It’s kind of a running joke in the industry.

So as to not make you feel too uncomfortable, or to not come off as too smarmy, I’ll tell you that I actually did attend a New York bartending school, way back in the summer of 1989. I had just moved to NYC and was looking for a way to pass the time. It cost me $250, the class started on a Monday and ended on a Thursday, making it a $62.50 a class. In addition to learning about 50 drinks, we were given some job placement interview opportunities, where I would typically run into all the same people I had taken the classes with. It was actually kind of a joke, but the experience was cool. I ended up landing a job at a cheesy little Italian restaurant, that I was pretty sure was just a money laundering front for some lesser mob types.

Bartending school NYC… ahh the memories. the first thing I learned at that Italian restaurant was that most of the knowledge I’d picked up at the bartending school was stuff I could’ve learned in just as much time being spent behind the bar. In all actuality, any beginning bartender really only needs a cocktail arsenal of 25-50 drinks, including various shots and whatnot. If you can make a martini, a screwdriver, a gin & tonic and whip up few of the trendy, hip shots of the day, then you are well on your way to earning a lucrative living in the industry. That’s all there is to it, really!

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