NPP Bar Blog

Manager Communication: It was a really busy Monday tonight behind the bar. The bartenders all did great. We started the day with a sold out theater 1 and no working kiosks, Susan handled the upstairs drink rush with very little help from me, as I was mostly focused on the lobby. The 7 oclock round was very busy. The Akira crowd was drinking. Jess and Susan killed it, and Eliel handled sold out theaters downstairs. I was really happy with how service went all night. Customer Comments: I had to ask 4 young kids to leave IT. They were not with an adult, although they were dishonest about it and kept telling me things like my mom is in the bathroom, or that is my uncle in the back of the theater. When they did get to the lobby one guy did call his mom, who came to the theater and was unhappy that we would not let them in without her supervision, but did not want to see the movie. I refunded their tickets. Maintenance: The sankey on the pale ale keg broke when I was changing it to...

Manager Communication:  A slow to steady morning again, gave way to a nice dinner round that was on par with Saturday. Earlier late round shows did well, later shows were no shows or close to it. A well compartmentalized day when it came to business flow; we got to make good staffing cuts and keep things tight. Had plenty of time to execute good service and also get cleaning and batching done without having anyone on the clock for longer than needed. Bar business was steady for the morning and day time, pretty slow at night however. Customer Comments:  It was also covered in the FOH blog, but we had several guest issues and altercations tonight. I dealt with one in the lobby from Theatre 6. The guest in questions broke several rules and was loud and dismissive to Kylie when confronted, so we kicked them out of the theatre They came downstairs heated (well, the woman was heated, her husband was trying to do damage control) and told me they wanted a refund. I explained that ...

Manager Communication:  Still struggling a bit to pick up daytime business, but our 4 o clock rounds got us a lot of walk ins and ticket sales rose nicely, and then we mostly sold out the dinner round and the 9 pm shows. Late shows were a bit slower, but they were also Abominable and Rambo which don't have much of a late night draw. A really good and steadily busy shift, with a so-so bar crowd early, then 1-2 deep with about 2/3 of the tables full in the bar area around dinner time, through 10 pm. Customer Comments:  We had an issue with walk out guests in an altercation in theatre 4, details in the FOH blog. BAR Staff Observations:  Ryan exclusively batched for a few hours mid-day when we were on the slow side and got us well set for the rest of the night. Dylan, William and Susan really held it down tonight, very little support needed even when it came to expo. Ryan and Vanessa got slammed downstairs and got through it without issue, management support helped hand...

Manager Communication : The theaters were pretty busy tonight, but it was on the quiet side for a Friday in Hi-Res. We had a lot of people trying to scan their qr code at the kiosks, I agree we should probably remove the signage on those.  BAR Staff Observations: Susan and Eliel were not very proactive about batching and stocking after the 7 oclock rush, it was pretty quiet down there for a while and neither went to stock or check on the upstairs which was quite busy, or batch anything until I asked them to. I would like to see a little more proactivity from especially Susan who is a lead. 86ed / counts on items: Our Interboro order did not come, and they will not be able to deliver till Monday, so we will likely 86 this weekend. We have most of a keg left now, but that will probably not last.

Manager Communication: It was a good night tonight no major issues to report. Steady for the 7s and pretty busy at the bar afterward with the private party. The meeting went well today, Benjamin is sending a recap to anyone who missed it. Special Events? Jeffs birthday after party was well attended at the bar. They were a great group. They ran up nice tabs tipped well and were very nice. We sent the cubanos out an hour early for them at the hosts request.

Manager Communication: Steady night, really good Theater 3 business.  The event at the beginning of the night was great and Ad Astra sold out.  Steady business at upstairs bar. I cut Ryan after getting some batching done, and we held down service with one on each bar. I will be in a bit before the meeting tomorrow to print out the handouts for the cocktail 101. Customer Comments: A man left the last round of Ad Astra stumbling, I helped get him outside, and made sure he got into a car safely.  Ryan talked to Jovani and looked at the man's tab.  Jovani said the man was not drunk when he came in, and Ryan told me the tab was only for a cider and pierogi.  Beau had just a bit earlier found an empty bottle of wine in the bathroom that he showed me, so this man may have drank this in the bathroom quickly. FOH Staff Observations: Liv and Grace performed great and continued to be very professional and good parts of the team on their last shift.  The...

Manager Communication:  Theatre flow was slow for the first round, moderate for the dinner round and then dead slow for the late shows; we turned off Rambo and Goldfinch from lack of late night sales. Lobby bar got a nice push for the dinner rounds, hopped back for about 15 minutes to help with ticketing and drinks. Otherwise, Dylan was aces. Trivia was busy upstairs per usual, and the staff handled it in stride. Was able to cut right down to 2 bartenders as soon as Trivia ended and then Ryan and Rebecca closed up while handling a nice, busy bar through the close. BAR Staff Observations:  Rebecca was truly great at serving for Trivia, handling many tabs and tables with only a little bussing and running support from Ryan, Susan and myself. A pretty hard to beat crew for a night like this on tonight, everyone was great. FOH Staff Observations: Drink running was good tonight; servers were prompt but there still seem to be moments when the dedicated runners are cut when thea...

Manager Communication: Decent Monday with some good bar business.  Hustlers crowd continues to turn out, and the Ad Astra crowd was good.  I cut the batch recipe on the Buddy Love after throwing out about 3 qts tonight that was a bit too old. Did some work on the cocktail 101 guide.  Will share tomorrow to see feedback. Customer Comments: Love the Hustlers crowd. BAR Staff Observations: Great team on tonight, got a bit batched after the weekend.  Prep List: Posted Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Chef's Warehouse tomorrow

Manager Communication: Same rough flow as yesterday with a slower late round. Could therefore make some earlier cuts tonight; down to 1 down and 2 up by 8:00 pm. Another really knock on wood, smooth day of service with good guests. A little less drinking tonight in the non-Hustlers films, but Hustlers continues to drive constant drink pushes for the entire length of the film. Bless you Hustlers, you're bringing in a great crowd. Bars a bit slower today too, less bar front business at night, decent for brunch. Customer Comments:  Had a group of 12 celebrate a birthday in the bar, then in Downton and then back at the bar. They were really positive and very fun. Had to speak to a guest who was on his phone twice in Th 1 and then had it go off during the show and did not silence it. He was rude to Gerard first, and then to me as well when I told him he would be asked to leave if we saw it again. BAR Staff Observations: Bartenders were using some pretty ratty day old cut fruit. ...

Manager Communication: A slow start to the day; our lack of kids movies combined with some good weather seems to be putting a slight damper on daytime business. The late afternoon rounds picked up a ton, though and we sold out most shows for the dinner round and the late shows, save for the three very late ones also did well. The Hustlers crowd is amazing and drinks a lot, giving us less of an all at once push and steady tickets throughout the length of the film. Combine that flow with an even flow of guests to the bar for service throughout and we had a very controlled but busy evening tonight. No issues, we managed to batch what we needed and also keep shifts tight, never needing more than 3 behind the bar upstairs and two downstairs. Customer Comments:  Had some guests at HiRes get two rounds of mystery cocktails and then like them so much, they forced us to ruin the mystery and tell them what it was. Lots of very patient guests today, taking sold out shows and seating issue...

Manager Communication: Really good crowds tonight.  Hustlers is continuing to bring out really fun people.  Ad Astra is doing great.  Downton was mostly full all night.  Not a lot of love for Rambo. The wrench and screws that Michael Lawless left on the removed seat from theater 1 were nowhere to be found at the end of the movie. Customer Comments:  Had an older woman at downstairs bar ask Jenn what brandies we had.  Jenn correctly responded that Hennessey was the only one, and the lady angrily told her Hennessey was not a brandy.  Jenn was taken aback and she handed the woman a menu, the woman said she didn't need that, she just wanted to know what brandy we had.  We may get an email. BAR Staff Observations: Really well handled rushes.  Susan and Ian got props from the FOH managers. FOH Staff Observations:  Really well handled drink rushes.  Lots of hands running drinks.  The long wait times in Rambo gave us a...

Manager Communication: Pretty busy night tonight, everything went very smoothly. FOH Staff Observations: Servers are not always able to run trays promptly. Now that we don't have drink runners let's reinforce that as a priority. Also are we still assigning runners to stations to be able to run drinks, I never see that happen? Special Events? The punk crowd was great, they hung out for a while before and after their show. It was a nice addition to the night. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Let's talk about what can be closed early and what cannot, and when to close things down with them. 86ed / counts on items: We will probably 86 blackberry farms this weekend. We barely sell any and it is the only thing we need from 12% so we would not have made their minimum, but we will get a case early next week. Prep List: Looking good for tomorrow. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: We are so happy the elevator is working. Maintenance: I hose clamped the draught drains, so t...

Manager Communication: God is a Monarchist is batched, and in the binders. Ryan left the frozen downstairs in the on position at the end of the night.  I (Benjamin) addressed it with him, and the machine is fine. The TV remote is charging in the iPad stations in MOD Special Events?: In Fabric was very slow, so we did not see much bar business from it. Staff Meeting Agenda notes:  I think a few of the bartenders may be unclear as to why we "sell out" first run shows when we have a special event in a theatre. Antonio was very confused today over why our dinner round Official Secrets was sold out and what "8a" was. I explained everything to him. Out of curiosity, I asked Malka if she had been told about this and she said that she was always confused by it as well. 86ed / counts on items: This may have been documented last night, but we are out of Hennessy Prep List: Strain Aperol, Finish fake lime juice, Kung Fu Hustle, Blow Up Aperol Spritz Orderin...

Manager Communication: Outside of film feast, a tame night for the theatres with a small push for the dinner round and not much else. Went down to 1 bartender on each floor by 7:30 pm after we got some batching done. We actually had a really good crowd at the bar tonight outside of Film Feast, and then another push after it was over with the Heathers crowd. Susan did great, only had to hop behind for a bit of the post-film feast crowd and Benjamin did a bit before that for the dinner round/service push. BAR Staff Observations: Jeremy opened well and effectively and also got some nice batching done for us. Ryan was a big help for film feast. FOH Staff Observations:  Valeriia was prompt with drink pick up downstairs, seems to have a good handle on things thus far. Special Events?  Heathers Film Feast was attended by a lot of first timers that really loved it, very positive coming out of the theatre. A little less post-event crowd to the bar for trivia and drinks than we ...

Manager Communication: Slow night, but Hustlers brought them out.  Plenty of people to keep the upstairs bar with some business throughout the night.  Also lots of staff as the FOH staff meeting was today.  Jenn had company most of the night. I put the Downton Abbey cocktail in the menu change doc and set the Heads or Tails to be deleted.  We will shoot Wednesday.   The frozen downstairs was too frozen to drain.  Will do first thing in the AM. Customer Comments: A really nice gentleman stopped by the bar after his show, and said he just wanted to make sure the server was alright, as his drink spilled on him a bit because his phone was on the table and it clipped it.  He said he was at fault and just wanted her to know everything is great.  (we did give him passes).  He was very nice. A woman wanted to buy tickets with apple pay, so Eliel loaded a 39 dollar gift card at the mobile bytes station.  The first attempt gave ...

Manager Communication:  Solid 4 o' clocks and dinner round, business was definitely more concentrated tonight, specifically to the dinner round and Hustlers in particular. We had healthy sales all around for the dinner round, but the early and late rounds were slower than yesterday outside of Hustlers and we ground to a pretty big halt for the late rounds overall. Less bar crowd today as well. Made tighter cuts, good team on to make it easy to cut confidently and get sidework done. BAR Staff Observations: No issues tonight, everyone was on their game and made it easy to run service. Wasn't needed behind either bar. FOH Staff Observations: Everyone was really prompt about drinks today. Topher rang a vague ticket for a vodka, soda and grapefruit that we had to parse through, explained how to ring drinks with as much communication as possible. 86ed / counts on items: 5 Blackberry Farms left. Prep List: Well stocked going in to the week. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Bal...

Manager Communication:  It's good to be busy again! We got rocked tonight. From 5 pm on we were slammed with sold out theatres on both floors. Hustlers killed it for us both on service and at the bar, and we ran 2 deep at the bar through all showtimes up to the late nights. Everyone was absolutely on point throughout on both floors. We got the biggest weight of the rush around 9 pm when the dinner round was letting out. This crowd hangs and drinks, with guests coming before and after to the bar so keep cuts slim until the building itself lets out and you know you aren't going to get a big surprise rush. No standout issues tonight. Customer Comments: Had a few guests for Hustlers miffed about being in the hall for the 10:15 pm show and being told to go into the bar to get on line behind some other people. Calmly explained that guests have been waiting ahead of them and the sign at the top of the step clearly stated to wait in the bar. BAR Staff Observations: Especially hi...

Manager Communication: Good busy night.  It was great having 1 and 2 do strongly.  This Hustlers crowd is great.  Drinking a lot, having some fun. The late hustlers is at a great time for some late night bar business. Let's keep an eye on the beer tap drains.  They sometimes get knocked off and the runnoff leaks.  Not too often, but something to regularly check.   Customer Comments: I refunded 2 senior tickets to a lady.  She had a miscommunication with Susan, about wanting tickets tomorrow at 3, and Susan thought 3 tickets.  It got worked out, and I just refunded them.  She was nice. BAR Staff Observations: Antonio did well on point for the first theater 1 and 2 rush, but he has difficulty communicating so I called out tickets.  For the later Hustlers rush, William took point. FOH Staff Observations: Really good drink support with 1 helping 2, 2 helping 1, and lots of hands in general.  Never saw the drinks get too ...

Manager Communication: The lighting in Hi-Res looks great, now that we have the halos dimmed! Customer Comments: We had a customer who asked for a discount due to disability. Our site says patrons with federal disability status with valid ID (available at box office) They had a disabled mta card which I do not think is valid ID but I did not want to start an argument as I was unsure. We should clarify what is valid disabled status for ticket discounts. We had a couple in the last round of IT that were on our fraud list. They had several chargebacks associated with their name. I spoke to them first and let them know that their card had been declined for the dine and dash and that we would need another form of payment. After some back and forth they were able to pay with cash. Once their tab had been paid I told them that the card on the dine and dash had been reported stolen at that the charge for tickets had been reversed. I told them they would need to repurchase tickets in or...

Manager Communication: There is a beer on the top shelf of the walkin for Nick to try.  Dropped off by 12%. Kung Fu Hustle syrup batch currently has everything in it except lemongrass, kaffir lime, and thai basil. Special Events? Game night was a party tonight! There were only about 10 people there, but they ate and drank far more than they normally do. Prep List: Kung fu hustle syrup needs to be finished cause I forgot to order kaffir lime leaves (they are coming tomorrow). Chile tequila once Altos comes in. Hibiscus syrup Lost & Found?:   A porter gave me Timothy Carey's ID he found in a theater.  I looked up the name and could not contact.  License is in safe. Maintenance: Jack came out today to repair the games in the Mezz. He replaced some buttons and now they're working! He said call him if we need him again because there are plenty more buttons where that came from.

Manager Communication: The bars were very, very busy tonight on both floors due to our two main events in theatres 1&2. Outside of those specific shows, a slow shift for theatres and service bar. That being said, we had plenty to keep us busy. Around 6:30 pm we generated a crowd in HiRes prior to Mobile Suit: Gundam. The Turkuaz group primarily hung downstairs and filled the lobby with a lot of energy. Had to hop back to help Dylan with the crowds and still handle ticketing for some people. Nick and Benjamin stayed on and aided upstairs, but Jeremy, Rebecca and Ryan held their own and once we got into service for theatre 1 and the Turkuaz crowd moved upstairs and then got seated in their theatre, the bars entirely cleared out and we took care of service. We got a great pop at HiRes after the Turkuaz event, which brought in a lot of action through 12:15 am. They tapered off at this point pretty quickly. I got Jeremy out when the crowd came in and was big, but manageable. With no t...

Manager Communication: Slow night.  Got prepped back up on everything.  Good to go back into a busy week.  Lots of events this week. Elevator is back up and running! It did decent for a Monday.   Lion King seems to be RIP.  No tickets to the dinner or late rounds. Customer Comments: People seemed to love Gilbert! Special Events:  Comet, not a lot of tickets, but some bar business.  Mostly staff from here and WB generating bar business. Prep List: Posted Pay Outs: To Liz for Gilbert Gottfried's car services.  I closed out the Gottfried tab to Tenders Talent with a 20% gratuity.

Manager Communication:  A relatively calm day overall. Similarly slow brunch, a few sold outs for the 4s and dinner round that kept us moving between those and bar guests and then an absolute stand still for the late rounds. Kept cuts really tight once the pre-show rushes were over. We had about an hour of no-mans land mid-day due to timing of the shows, so we got a some batches done and Max the runner deep cleaned the coffee station and floors under the ice machine. Customer Comments:  Had some minor issues tonight. The crowd for IT continues to be a little difficult, although no big blow ups tonight we had a lot of theatre calls for managers to speak with guests about phones, talking, outside food etc. BAR Staff Observations:  Caleb and Rebecca are stellar together, which we all know but it bears repeating. Super fast, balancing guests extremely well and they work clean the whole time. FOH Staff Observations:  Shout out to Max for deep cleaning for us and g...

Manager Communication: Slow daytime rounds.  Jenn slept through her alarm, and was late to her shift.  Jesse wrote her up. Family meal was very small, and about half the staff did not get any. We staff perked some meals and the kitchen made an additional 10 wraps.   It definitely affected morale.  The It theaters for the rest of the day were all very difficult.  Opening week is bringing out a culture clash between rather aggressive different style of moviegoers, and it is certainly very difficult to deal with, as it was with Us.  All sides have valid points, but on opening week, there is so much passion and aggression and they are all wrong. The fire alarm went off at 11:10 while there were a few sold out theaters.  I was rerouting on the ground floor and immediately helped clear the ground floor while the other managers helped upstairs. We were fully evacuated before the Fire Department was here, and the staff was incredible in helping g...

Manager Communication: Getting back up there in business.  The staggered schedule was good for bar business, as lots of people were at the bar continuously. There was little time to prep during service because of the staggered times.  Susan got into spread of hours to do the couple things we really needed for tomorrow.  So let's keep an eye on her hours this weekend. Downstairs wasn't doing much for the late round so I cut to one bartender there. Customer Comments: Rachel smelled weed in the women's bathroom downstairs, when only one stall was occupied.  We informed Michael, and waited and 2 women walked out of that stall, and Michael confronted them.  They adamantly denied smoking (they may have been just rolling as there were cigar leafs on the floor), but smelled of weed.  To make it quick, I just refunded their tickets and asked them to please not come back. Had a guest on his way out the door, light his cigarette in the vestibule.  I t...

Manager Communication: Come Home is batched, new spec sheet is in binders, born to rum is pulled. 9 Union kegs are downstairs by the elevator.  Make sure they are picked up. Started a chef's order for friday, Jesse if you can fill it in. Is it possible to purchase a new can opener? A few of the bartenders have mentioned that they're having trouble using the one that we currently have. Special Events?  Freaks and Geeks rush was quite easy. The event brought in a lot of people, but the bar didn't get a crazy amount of business afterwards. I jumped back there with Jenn for about 5 minutes, but I wasn't needed other than that. 86ed / counts on items: I think we're out of lavender bitters. Couldn't find any in the back. Benjamin made a lavender bitter tincture in the meantime that we used for the keg that was made today Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Interboro Pilsner kegs came tonight. 2 kegs are in the walk-in. I wasn't able to lift them, so so...

Manager Communication: Theaters did nothing tonight, and Trivia was solid, but not as crazy as normal.  I cut Grace as soon as Trivia died down, and Malka and Rebecca held it down.  I jumped back only during the close out checks rush. BAR Staff Observations: Rebecca served, Malka held down the bar, Grace started trivia, restocked and got out, Antonio held down a quiet lobby. Special Events? Trivia, good crowd, a little slower than others, but still good f & b sales. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Product freshness and rotation. Prep List: Posted Maintenance: The alarm in the closet was going off with TROUBLE as the message.  I reset it twice, and it reset.  I called the company just to make sure nothing was serious.  Is there an update on why this keeps happening?

Manager Communication: Really nice and steadily busy day. We had a seriously almost dead even flow of business throughout the day, lots of families in the early rounds that were the slowest, but everything after that picked up with a mix of every demographic. Theatres were really busy with tight but manageable staffing, lots of support from everyone in management got us through pretty unscathed. Bar kept a crowd throughout the middle of the day, definitely slowed at night. Late rounds were not that late; the latest going in at 9:15 so things tapered off and we made smart cuts. Customer Comments:  Had a guest show up 5 minutes after the elevator broke down and exchange his tickets for a gift card due to not wanting to go up to the third floor. Had a few complaints of long wait times in theatre 7 when Topher was running it solo with back to back 40 person shows. He had support throughout from management, but two separate tables complained about long waits for drinks, comped the...

Manager Communication:  A similar day to yesterday for the initial rounds, slow and steady. The dinner round picked up slightly more than yesterday and our late round was for sure busier than last night, giving a nice push to both bars for theatre tickets and a crowd at the upstairs bar. Kept 2 on at upstairs bar until 10:30 pm. All pushes handled easily, had to hop behind briefly when the 7s let out and the bar got packed while we got our late round push, but otherwise no hang ups. Customer Comments:  Had a few guests at the bar that have made themselves semi-regulars, coming in to just hang around once every couple of weeks. They had the Born to Rum and a few Blow Ups and loved it. BAR Staff Observations:  William and Antonio did a really solid job at HiRes with the surprising late pushes. Rebecca was hugely helpful stocking both bars and batching us up for tomorrow. Prep List: Batched really well to get through the entire day tomorrow if we need to without batc...