Posts

Showing posts from July, 2019

Benjamin Wednesday 7/31

Manager Communication: Another very solid day.  Got a lot of batching done.  Looking good for Thursday. We again had issues with the 7:30 Lion King.  Rachel included a detailed note in her blog and email.   Customer Comments: We had an issue with this gentleman and his date. Oriel Schmulevich oriel.schmulevich@gmail.com They continued eating outside food after they were told not to.  They had already needed a manager (Megan) to come over and inform them they had to print their tickets after they were rude to the server about it.  Megan then gave them a final warning about food, and they continued to eat.  She called me up to deal with asking them to leave.  I went in t to ask them to leave.  They argued quietly with me, and the movie was getting close to the end, so instead of causing a disruption, I informed them they were not welcome back to our theater.  They were dine n dash, and only ordered 1 cocktail each, which I close...

Benjamin Tuesday 7/30

Manager Communication: Busy for a Tuesday, but smooth.  We stayed good on Prep, got lots of product in, and are looking good early in the week. Good bar business all night.   Customer Comments: I had to turn away several families with 3 to 5 year olds from Lion king.  It would be nice to have the older kids movie after 7 as Toy Story did not sell well, but many wanted to see Lion King.  There were varying levels of understanding from the families, and having this before or at 7 would avoid a lot of these issues. 86ed / counts on items: Shacksbury Cider Prep List: R&D comp checks: Over/Short on Banks: Downstairs Bar was $5 over. Pay Outs: 116.50 for Juan's items for repairs

Jesse Monday 7.30

Manager Communication:  Above average Monday again with sold out shows in several small theatres and near sell outs in theatres 1 & 2 for the dinner AND late round Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. We rocked it and got batching done. A little bit of support needed for Eliel at the dinner rounds for balancing service and ticketing, a bit of support needed for our surprisingly busy late round at HiRes but otherwise, no issues or hang ups. 86ed / counts on items: Natura Sauv Blanc, Herradura Anejo, fully switched over from Ilegal Joven to Montelobos. Prep List:  Will need to add combier to a Firewalk batch. Otherwise healthily batched up today. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping:  Lots en route for tomorrow, Baldor as well, Coke Thursday, Geyser Friday

Jesse Sunday 7.28

Manager Communication:  4s and dinner round were very busy, and we also nearly sold out a 10:00 pm Once Upon a Time! A Sunday rarity, but it gave us great business and energy late. We got some bar crowds throughout the day, a bit lighter than yesterday. Post-dinner round was the heaviest bar crowd. The audience for this movie loves to drink, lots of drinks both in line waiting and then in the theatre again tonight. Managed to also get some really solid batching done and clean the heck out of the place after another mad weekend. Customer Comments:  A lot of the crowd for Once Upon a Time tonight was exceedingly positive before and especially after. I had lots of folks at the bar really pumped about the 35mm showing, remarking that it looked great and they hope we do a lot more. BAR Staff Observations:  Rebecca batched us up to solid pars. Antonio made the error of pouring ginger/lime slush into both sides of the machine and we had to run down to lobby during a small ...

Benjamin Sunday Brunch 7/28

Manager Communication: Busy from the beginning.  Good job on both floors of opening.  I jumped in upstairs for the first drink rush.  We were well stocked to get through it, just had a lot of tickets in 1 and 2. The first in mid shift started upstairs, got everything stocked for round 2, and knocked out the big theaters, downstairs was solid. There was a good spread and pacing that allowed for work to be done between shifts. Ran out of Hamilton Rum right at beginning of dinner round.  Customer Comments:  BAR Staff Observations: Eliel and Ian did great jobs opening, both missed Pepperoncini.  I am going to create an opening pull list for the binders so that nothing gets missed, and I will post one on the wall in bar prep, just so the details are hit on openings,  to ensure consistency. FOH Staff Observations: Really good job on supporting, Beau and Maya were especially present to run drinks during the pushes for their coworkers. Hirin...

Jesse Saturday 7.27

Manager Communication:  Non-stop excitement through the very last show. We had nicely spaced showtimes today, which gave us a manageable rush to the service bars and let us put full focus on guests at the bars and tables as well. A decent crowd to the bar this week. The Once Upon a Time crowd drinks. Before, during, second rounds during and after and gave us plenty of work to do through the several show times. We were well batched going in. Prioritizing getting fully set up, with refilled bottles of cocktails, several containers of cut garnishes and several back up bottles of wine open was a must for the service bar, and we rocked it out. Stocking runs had to happen between every showtime. The biggest set back was that we were so consistently busy that we had lots of batching to do at the end of the night to make up for the tons of product and cocktails we went through. Rebecca marathoned a needed long shift and she and I batched out what was needed while William, Ryan and Dylan ...

Benjamin Friday 7/26

Manager Communication: Busy for all 3 rounds.  Really strong bar business.  It is important for a manager to have a bar presence as the line begins to grow in order to direct everyone.  I usually start early and check in on the line every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure it is forming properly.  This helps immensely when it comes time to seat the lines. This group drinks!  Bar outsold food, and the drink rushes were longer than normal.  The big stagger between dinner round 1 and 2 made it very easy from the bar, and allowed for bartenders to take care of bar guests well.  Also gives a good reset time, and I had to guide bartenders a bit through this about when is good and bad to jump out from behind the bar to get things. Customer Comments: Had to turn away a family from the 10:45 Toy Story.  We may need larger print for our age policies. Had a call around 11:30 to HiRes Bar.  A woman was on the ground outside the bathroom.  She h...

Nick Thursday 7/26

Manager Communication :  It was another crazy night. The bar staff seems to be getting a little worn out with how busy and long shifts have been lately. They never really have time to get caught up. We need to bolster the schedule, but we have so many time off requests right now it makes it very difficult. Can we add to the views available on the security cams in the office? I am glad we cut them down quite a bit but there are a few that I think we need to add back on, like the lobby bar and the mezz. Customer Comments: We had a bunch of customer issues today. Especially in the last round of Lion King in theater 3. Ryan detailed them in the FOH blog, but I was there for a couple of them if there are any questions. BAR Staff Observations: Antonio was all over the place for setup. When it was time to open the lobby bar was not close to ready. I talked to him and let him know that he needs to follow the setup, and getting the bar properly set for opening is the most importan...

Benjamin Wednesday 7/24

Manager Communication: Solid Wednesday, but definitely slowed down from the past week.  We were able to batch and catch up on things. I pulled 1 case passion fruit puree and 1 case strawberry puree from freezer for getting ready for weekend.   Customer Comments: Had a woman in theater 1 for the first round of Lion King.  She was being a bit disruptive, and the server had already asked her to not talk and to write down her orders.  There were additional complaints from customers around her, and the server called for an MOD.  I went in and told her that they could not talk, and that if I had to come back they would be asked to leave.  She asked me who complained, and I said that we have a strict no talking policy, and if I had to come back, she would be asked to leave.   She then came out of the theater, and I responded to a call to the upstairs bar for an MOD.  She was yelling at Rebecca, and I approached her, and told her to please not ye...

Benjamin Tuesday 7/23

Manager Communication: Super busy night with trivia killing it.  Super thirsty trivia folks.  Bar was the second highest revenue center tonight.  Movies sold great for a Tuesday as well. I had to jump back and help during the dinner rounds, while tickets were streaming in and the bar was full, but after the rushes, it evened out. Customer Comments: Had a complaint written in theater 7 during the dinner round that an older lady was having outbursts and being confrontational with guests that shushed her.  I went in and told her she had to be quiet.  She walked out 5 minutes after that without paying for her glass of wine.  I comped it, but this was a fine result, just lost a glass of Nitehawk Red. BAR Staff Observations: Everyone killed it.  During the upstairs rush, downstairs was getting hit from both sides, and Elliel held it down with Gil helping out on filmbots and with simple things. FOH Staff Observations: Great jobs all around....

Jesse Monday 7.22

Manager Communication:  Above average business for a Monday with the weather driving in a lot of business for the already well sold dinner round. We had a steady start to the day with a lot of work ahead getting things off 86 and batched back up after a looooong weekend. Bars were fine, Susan actually got a huge push to HiRes after the 7s let out and the weather was awful, but that was the only time either bar needed support tonight. Otherwise, handled. We had several struggles with the rain that I'm sure have been blogged about. Nothing that infringed on any guest experience, but the flood in theatre 5 was the most substantial issue. I shopvac'd it while Gerard, Rachael and the porters mopped and dried the floors. We took care of the floors, some stored speakers may need attention. Customer Comments:  Had a couple at the bar here for the first time blown away by the changes and menus. They stayed for two rounds after the having full dinner at the movie. In general, we h...

Jesse Sunday 7.21

Manager Communication: Early and dinner rounds were absolutely packed and sold out. We had another wildly busy day with even stronger front bar business during service tonight. Everyone handled it very well, balancing guest service and not running long on tickets. Honestly an impressive service. Susan and Ian traded off during the middle of the day stocking, batching and running glassware while the rest of the bartenders handled the guests and service bar. We consolidated batches and did run out of a few things at the end of a hard to predict and plan for weekend, but overall we made it through well with a steady but slower end of night that let us clean backbars, machines and the walk in. BAR Staff Observations:  Antonio is such a calm, collected bartender that I sometimes think he's missing greets and guests when working the front of the bar, but then everyone is covered with drinks and food. FOH Staff Observations:  Glassware rotations was ideal tonight, lots of bussi...

Nick Saturday 7/21/19

Manager Communication: I take back what I said about the Lion King crowd not drinking. As far as I can tell, today was our highest F&B sales ever. It felt like it. We were normally staffed for a Saturday but we really needed another body tonight. Customer Comments: Had to cut a couple drunk middle aged men off around 12:30. They were very drunk and being creepy to bar staff. I sent them on their way. One of them told me he wouldn't be back. So we have that going for us. BAR Staff Observations: They were amazing tonight. It was a nonstop rush and everyone worked very long hours. Ticket times never went over 8 minutes. Special shout out to Jenn then Rebecca who were the workhorses in the upstairs well. Also Max was great as the drink runner. Hiring/Training: I think we need to hire one more weekend bartender. 86ed / counts on items: We 86ed Firewalk at the end of the night. We have plenty in house we just couldn't keep it frozen.  We are not out of anything cu...

Nick Friday 7/20

Manager Communication: Pretty smooth night tonight for bar service. Nothing much to report. Customer Comments: Drink Sales for such a busy Friday seemed pretty low. It is really noticable the dropoff in drinks when we have kid oriented movies. Prep List: Ryan took care of prep for the weekend, but we will need some batching tomorrow. Lots of Strawberry Lemonade, and a negroni bianco for sure.

Jesse Thursday 7.18

Manager Communication:  Lion King drove good business in today, we did well overall. Lots of walk in pickup for the first round, sold out theatre 2 for both dinner and late show of Lion King. Bar handled it along with steady business seamlessly, only needing 5 minutes of support here and there. Kept William on until 10:00 pm. No issues. BAR Staff Observations:  William, Ryan and Jenn managed to still stock and get some batching done amidst a steadily busy day on all floors. Top marks. Special Events?  Looking for Mr. Goodbar, decent crowd that gave us a nice bar rush before and after as well. 86ed / counts on items: Day in the Life, coming off tomorrow Prep List:  Will need Buddy Love at some point, but machines are very full. Firewalk maybe late tomorrow, but we have plenty in machines and back up to open. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping:  Chefs Warehouse tomorrow Maintenance: Palco came out to fix the thermostat connection for theatre 1, had it back ...

Nick Wednesday 7/17

Manager Communication: Good night tonight. It was very busy with just three bartenders but everyone did great. Let's make sure we let the bartenders do their own closeouts rather than doing it for them. I want them to all feel responsible for their $ and also make sure everyone knows how to do it correctly. FOH Staff Observations: New employees need to be told to put glass racks in to the dishwasher in hi-res, they were just stacking them all night. Special Events? Matrix sold out. food and drink business was very good. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: we need to work on everyones draught cocktail pours. They are treating them like beer sometimes and turning the carbonated cocktails on full, or pouring them off, not pouring them over the ice, etc. 86ed / counts on items: We are on a 2 count of a day in the life. We are pulling it off the menu after tomorrow, so we are OK to 86 it tomorrow. Prep List: I have some strawberry puree coming in for tomorrow so we can batch st...

Jesse Monday 7.15

Manager Communication:  Steady service day, started real slow in ticket sales and finished the night at about 5x starting numbers. Not bad pick up, we got a few nice and highly manageable service hits and a decent bar crowd throughout the day given the business/ticket volume. Got lots of cleaning projects done during down time. Special Events?  Art Opening; no issues, had three bottles of wine at a 10% discount, their hummus platters and stayed for about 2 hours upstairs. About 15-20 guests showed. Prep List:  Will need ginger syrup tomorrow. Pay Outs:  Bar Grocery for film feast needs. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping:  Baldor tomorrow.

Nick Sunday 7/14

Manager Communication: Good night tonight. It stayed busy through the 8 oclock shows and then was pretty quiet for the 10s. We have a bad keg of cold brew, it would not pour when we hooked it up. I placed an order for Tuesday and asked if they can swap it out with a new one when they deliver. Prep List: We will need lots of ginger syrup tomorrow.

Jesse Saturday 7.13

Manager Communication:  A slow start to the day but rapid pick up as the afternoon went on. We built nicely on the sales for the 4s, sold out nearly all the 7s and the late round as well. We were very busy from 6:00 pm onwards, getting crushed on both service and maintaining a steadily busy bar. Lobby was more well spaced and manageable and in between pushes William or Susan would hold down the bar while the other batched and stocked. Kept 3 bartenders behind HiRes throughout with the other bartenders batching and they held it down. Cut to 1 down at 10:00 and 2 up at 11:00 pm. Customer Comments: Spoke to three guests in Theatre 3 after Ellie told them twice to turn their phone off. They were then talking in the theatre and I told them to please keep their voices down and phones away or they would be kicked out. They were very short with both Ellie and myself, but followed rules for the remainder of the night so we let them say. BAR Staff Observations:  Ian is a really gr...

Benjamin Saturday Brunch 7/13

Manager Communication: Slow Saturday Brunch.  William got a ton of batching done.  We are looking good.  Turned the rest of the ginger into ginger syrup.  Have more ginger coming on Monday. The N/A slushie took off well for brunch with all the children. Customer Comments: Gave a few passes for people who had to switch from the 3PM to 3:55 PM Yesterday due to no elevator.  They were a bit disappointed to have to push it later, but were so happy with the passes, and drank at the bar while they waited. I also refunded some regulars who wanted to see Spiderman but could not due to lack of elevator. BAR Staff Observations: Tevon held down lobby, I worked with him a bit on Walkie use, but otherwise his open was spot on. Staff Meeting Agenda notes:  Walkie etiquette.  Email reminder of FAQ sheets for quick responses to common questions.

Benjamin Friday 6/12

Manager Communication: Menu change went off really well.  New drinks seem to be well received.  We are nice and stocked up for the weekend. We just had a solid Friday with no major issues.  It was great! The Mule gave firewalk a good run for it's money.   Customer Comments: We have a teenager who loves us that has been coming for a while who uses a walker.  He came tonight to a theater upstairs, and his assistant carried him.  He is understanding of our situation, but has asked about the elevator.  I told him we are doing everything we can.  He has been very understanding. BAR Staff Observations: Ian did a great job during the rush for Midsommar.  He identified himself where he needs to get better, but I was impressed. FOH Staff Observations: Great job running and communicating.  A really good feel in the building today. Over/Short on Banks: $1 under downstairs. Mobilebytes Issues: Cider needs a ticket stub mod.

Nick Thursday 7/11

FOH Staff Observations: Staff is still not lowering their voices at all in the server stations, and they also use theater 1 as a hallway to the office. Special Events? The Cure show was well attended. There was a Music Video after party in Lo-Res after the event, which was great. No one seemed to know about it in advance. I talked to John and asked that he include those things on the calandar and the manager set up on the event memos. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: The meeting went well today, I think we were able to cover everything important. 86ed / counts on items: We 86ed most of the things coming off the menu over the course of the night. I think this might be the closest any location has had to not having leftover product after a menu change. We will be 86ed Blackberry Farms Classic for the weekend, delivery should arrive Monday. Everything else on the new menu should be good to go. Maintenance: Elevator is still down for a couple days. The guy has been really apolog...

Benjamin Wednesday 7/10

Manager Communication: Very busy Wednesday.  In addition to the LSC, we sold stronger than we have on a non-holiday Wednesday for the dinner round.  Also getting a good crowd of drinkers in general.  But especially for LSC. I had to jump behind the bar for a bit when theater 2 was coming in and all the LSC folks were drinking, and once more when the big theaters let out.  Ryan had to help downstairs bar as they were mostly sold too, and I was caught upstairs.  But we made it all work and service bar went off well. Game night drew a crowd of 10 or 15 and drew in a couple of the crowd from theaters for moments.  It is growing, and folks are starting to make it a routine. I did not get a chance to finish the orgeat, as we got slammed.  Will do in the morning.  Customer Comments: Had an angry customer approach the bar from theater 1 angry that his bank statement said he had been charged twice.  I checked and it was a voided transact...

Jesse Tuesday 6.9

Manager Communication:  Steady day, good pick up from a very slow starting book. Got through service without any hang ups or issues, maintained 8-10 guests at the bar throughout the day. Straight forward and successful shift. Cut Susan at 8:30 pm, ran one on each floor. Also had time to get to the back and break out a lot of cases to make room for new menu deliveries. We should do a big walk in clear out tomorrow before we cut everyone to get that ready for our new batches. BAR Staff Observations: Ryan balanced a decent bar crowd and drink rush easily upstairs, Adriana closed immaculately downstairs. Very thorough in set up and breakdown. FOH Staff Observations:  Sam P is just great, hugely helpful and constantly moving and getting things done. Prep List:  Didn't go through much pulling of batches today, still well stocked on core items. Benjamin got the Midnight Sun done and back into service before we got going. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Baldor, Coca Cola a...

Benjamin Monday 7/8

Manager Communication: Solid pick up in sales for a Monday. Batched up and close to ready for menu flip.  Just have to batch a few things.  Dialed in and made the Keanu cocktail.  I am organizing the docs, and will have that finished tomorrow to get the binders ready. Bar business was good especially for a Monday.   I had to jump back for 3 minutes a couple times just for a busy late bit of business. Good day to catch up on things, tomorrow we will be back up on everything. Customer Comments:  Had one suspicious dine n dash get rejected in the last showing of Spiderman.  They paid with a card that was accepted, but did not match any name from the tickets or d n d.  Gerard sent an email. BAR Staff Observations: Susan got us prepped up, Rebecca and Eliel held down the bars. FOH Staff Observations: Good communication Staff Meeting Agenda notes: openings, reach in maintenance 86ed / counts on items:midsommar til tomorrow Prep List: po...

Jesse Sunday 6.7

Manager Communication:  Busy for the 4s and dinner round with business staying steady but definitely slowing for the late rounds. A very manageable day in which we also got a lot of batching and cleaning in anticipation of the menu change done. No issues tonight, went to 1 bartender in lobby at 8:30 pm and 2 up at 8:00 pm and then 1 up with a trainee at 10:30 pm. Customer Comments:  Customers seem to consistently complain that theatre 7 specifically is too cold. It was at 70 and holding all night tonight, had a guests comment on the way out of the 7s and then a guest at the end of the night tell Corey it had been cold the whole time. BAR Staff Observations: Ian Poake trained on the close tonight. He took service bar for the 8:30 pm Midsommar and did a nice job. Had a little trouble prioritizing and getting used to which bartender is responsible for which drinks during a rush, but by the end of the rush he was calling tickets and pulling them himself. He'll be excellent. ...

Jesse Saturday 7.6

Manager Communication: So, so busy. We were sold out for the 4s, the dinner round and most of the late rounds as well. No real rest when it came to service tickets or guest facing business, so most of the stocking and batching was happening as bartenders came on or off shifts. We absolutely made it work and the team did an incredible job, best use of bar manager time was spent at both bars for the afternoon and late rounds as our bar traffic shot way up and we could hop behind the bar where needed and keep tickets under control and control the flow of drinks. Cuts were done conservatively and we needed the staffing, but still got down to 1 down at 10:00 pm and 2 up at 11:30 pm after I got some batching done from Ryan and Adriana. Customer Comments: Had a guest in theatre 7 complain on her way out that she is here often and always thinks the theatres are too cold. Three guests at the bar racking up a tab tried all three movie specials for their last round voting on the best one. M...

Benjamin Friday 4/5

Manager Communication: Steady night, lots of sold out shows.  Lots of bar business throughout the night. Got caught up on prep and were solidly staffed for a great night. Family meal came out in the portions we usually have for a slow Monday, and we had a lot of staff on long shifts who did not get any. Really smooth tonight all around. BAR Staff Observations: All around great.  Shout out to Rebecca for coming in and getting us prepped. FOH Staff Observations: Great turns all night.  Was impressed with the quickness in theaters 1 and 2 and the preparedness!  But everywhere good. Hire/Train: Ian Roake Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Staff drinks policy/ urging staff to not hang out so long after shifts Kitchen pickup on staff tickets Prep List: Liberty Bell batch, Red Currant Syrup Over/Short on Banks:$1 over downstairs $5 over hi-res A Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Baldor for tomorrow posted

Nick Thursday 7/4 (Fourth of July)

Manager Communication : Another very busy day. We were better staffed then yesterday and drink service was good. The first round upstairs would have been too much for William but I was able to help out. Next year we will staff better for the holiday, I added some notes to the Holiday recap. The server for the Hi-Res tvs was down, Dylan doesn't know how to work the system yet. He is going to reach out to Kris when he gets in in the morning and see if he can get it running. Customer Comments: We had a disabled regular come in tonight for Late Night in theater 4.  She is a very nice lady and was really disappointed she couldn't see her show, but there was no way we could get her up there without the elevator. I refunded their tickets, gave them passes to see Yesterday in three, and yellow passes to come back and see late night next week. They were understanding. Several interesting customers tonight. A couple older ladies drunk and passed out in theater 3. Two more people p...

Benjamin Wednesday 7/3

Manager Communication: Busy night, short staffed and short stocked.  Day before a midweek holiday should be treated staffing wise as a friday night.  Especially with new movies. We had so many liberty lemonades, so Susan batched the rye and ginger liqueur together.  It is labeled with instructions. I got all the orders up and put away with tony's help.  The guys from Interborro also were amazing, as they brought their kegs up the short flight of stairs, and helped me and tony with the other ones!  They are amazing. The lobby was not rerouted til after film bots closed.  I am just finishing now.   Mid and Closing MOD's need to take initiative to take over from openers and know that everyone is staying longer in general. I also batched the rest of the Brenevin, and we are low on Ginger Liqueur, as well as Apperol. BAR Staff Observations: Susan and Rebecca killed it.  It is a long shift for everyone, but we got you set up for tomorrow. ...

Jesse Tuesday 6.2

Manager Communication: Breakneck pace the entire day and night with full theatres and trivia in the bar. We had tight staffing with 2 up, 1 on trivia service and 1 in lobby. Had to hop behind the bar several times for support, but we got through drink rushes unscathed without being overwhelmed and pulled off a busy trivia as well. Nick stayed through the heavy service as well and helped us get through a packed bar and seemingly endless service rush. Midsommar specifically seems to drive in a big drinking crowd, keep it in mind and be conservative about cuts this week. We barely made cuts tonight due to the high volume of business even for the late shows. Got Eliel out at 11:00 pm after he closed out trivia service, Cut Susan and had her out by 11:45 pm. Malka stayed through the close because we still had bar traffic and lots of late closing work to do due to the volume. Customer Comments:  We had a major issue with a group of 12 that Gerard sent an indepth email about and was...

Benjamin Monday 7/1

Manager Communication: Menus are updated for tomorrow.  Decent Monday, not a ton of bar business, got a ton of prep done for the craziness of tomorrow.  Got all ingredients for new drinks tomorrow, will prep in the morning. Customer Comments: Had to refund a woman who tried bringing in a 3 year old to the late Toy Story. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Keep ice wells full at all times. 86ed / counts on items: Austin cider, Mikeller raspberry blush Pay Outs: $10 for marmelade for yesterday cocktail $52 for kitchen ingredients Filmbot Issues: Got a star web printer error at the bar unit, reset the printer, and got it working again