NPP Bar Blog

Manager Communication:  Strongly busy shift on all floors. We started strong in the early rounds and continued with sold out shows through the dinner rounds and the 9 o clock shows. Even the latest of rounds (which was earlier than usual tonight) saw good ticket sales. We had a great bar crowd throughout as well tonight, with fully seated bar seats and tables until 10 pm. After 10, the bars tapered out. Drink rushes were tightly spaced tonight, I spent a few hours alternating between bars to support but everyone was firing on all cylinders and did a great job. Customer Comments:  Really positive guest interactions tonight, lots of first timers. Had a group at the bar that stayed for three rounds after their movie got out and they asked about trivia and said they'd be back just to drink. BAR Staff Observations:  Hex and Jenn got crushed during the dinner round and never succumbed to the weeds. They kept level heads and navigated successfully. Same downstairs with Mal...

Manager Communication:  A very busy shift from start to finish, early rounds were steady but not too busy but as the day went on ticket sales really ramped up. We had busy theates through the very last round, a really good Sunday schedule with Jumanji at 10:20 being the only film not to come close to selling out from the dinner round onwards. Drink rushes were heavy but very concentrated with long lapses in between, which gave us plenty of time to stock and batch and get ready for the next rush. We had good front of bar business through 9:30 pm as well, which kept Caleb, Rebecca and William busy while Vanessa did a great job holding down lobby. Customer Comments:  This also made the FOH blog, but we had a guest in Th6 get glass in their soda pint. Caleb had broken a glass separating two pints over the service bar mats and it seems like some of that glass made its way into the unbroken pint, which got used or the ice well. The oversight is in large part my fault. The na...

Manager Communication: Drink rushes for the 5's and 8's were very strong, with lots of people at the bar between the two rounds as well.  Stocking was solid all night, and drink runners were doing a good job (with a bit of guidance) of going out and bussing the bar and mezzanine during the busy times. Decent late night bar business after Starwars that pushed us to the last call. Customer Comments: People were very extra today.  Had to calmly talk to many older folks who had things to vent.  Everyone seemed to be calm by the end, but it was a lot for everyone, especially the lobby bartenders. BAR Staff Observations:  Everyone did a great job.  It is clear that people are getting tired and a bit on edge, but still very professional.  We had good times to lighten the mood and keep morale up, especially when a Spanish cover of Little Polka Dot Bikini came on Soundtrack. Ryan and Vanessa held down lobby very well, as I had to mostly be upstairs dur...

Manager Communication: Really smooth day and night.  Staffing seemed to be good all day, with ample time for lots of batching in the day. Some steady bar business, and a real drink push during the dinner rounds of Little Women.  Was able to cut everyone before spread of hours. Customer Comments: So many guests tonight leaving the wrong side of theaters.  I think a record. Ryan got a customer's card (it was already a little broken) stuck in the card reader at the downstairs bar mobile bytes.  The customer told me it was fine if it broke more, as they had a new one on order.  She had a great attitude about it and was laughing.  I was able to get it unstuck, but did break it a bit more.  It almost got stuck fully... BAR Staff Observations: Good job all around.  Stayed up on batching and stocking, and everyone used time efficiently. FOH Staff Observations: Kayla rocked the drink rush for 4 & 6 for the late round.  As did all t...

Manager Communication: This should come as no surprise, but this week was by far our highest selling beverage week ever. Customer Comments: We had a woman come out to the bar letting us know she was leaving early due to a very drunk woman next to her. We gave her passes and comped her popcorn. When we went in to investigate the drunk lady Rachael noticed two strawberry limearita tallboys under her seat. She got up right then to go to the bathroom so when she came out we let her know that she would not be allowed to stay for the rest of the film. Not sure how Kristina could have missed those tallboys. BAR Staff Observations: Good crew tonight. I was able to cut everyone before they hit 9 hours. No spread of hours or overtime this week. I think the schedule we had worked really well.

Manager Communication: Really strong sales all day today. I think bar staff levels were perfect. BAR Staff Observations: Really great service all night tonight. It was a little hectic in the morning, but no major issues. FOH Staff Observations: Everyone was in great spirits today despite the long shifts. Great staff tonight. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: I think we should start removing and cleaning the nitro taps daily. They just need to be unscrewed and rinsed, but the nitro was pouring slow due to some grounds in there. I am worried if we start doing it overnight we will lose nozzles. Let's discuss best practices on Friday. 86ed / counts on items: Looking strong on product. Prep List: We are good on product going in to tomorrow, we were able to stay on top of prep today. We do have some gin infusing that needs to be strained first thing tomorrow. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Placed a couple orders for Friday, we needed a few things going in to the weekend.

Manager Communication: Not many drinkers during the day time.  Could have pushed back the mid and closer a bit, as I cut the opener downstairs once the closer was situated, and cut the opener upstairs as soon as the closer was in.  Both Rebecca and William were happy to have short shifts.  I put the staffing notes in the holiday doc. The cereal for the staff cereal bar is on the table outside MOD. Mostly very smooth day, with not a lot of business at the bar, almost all theater business.  A few large families hanging out for a bit at tables throughout the day. Customer Comments: In theater 3 we had a guest whose child threw up on her.  Carmen cleaned it up immediately. A guest from theater 7 came to the bar angrily, saying a server had not taken her order in a long time.  I talked to Alice, and she hadn't seen a flag.  I comped the dessert, and she went over to let them know, and it turned out the guest had put the flag in the menu holder....

Manager Communication: Similar flow of business as yesterday through the dinner round, slightly lower ticket sales but similar pushes. Not much bar front business tonight, which kept things very manageable. Once Th1 & 2's last rushes went in, we were able to cut to two and swing Susan down to close while keeping Jenn upstairs and getting Dylan out because he had a lot of hours this week from picking up shifts. Smooth shift. BAR Staff Observations:  Great work from everyone tonight, Susan got lots of batching done when she got in, Hex and Jenn held down HiRes and then Susan came out for the big rush. Dylan balanced some well sold theatres, and then everyone was tight on their closing duties. Efficient. Prep List:  Made a spritz keg, pumpkin syrup and NA bev batches. Very healthy stock going in to the holidays Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: A bit more Baldor to get us through the holidays tomorrow.

Manager Communication:  A steadily busy day today. Early rounds were strong and without issue, with most of the business concentrated to theatre rushes and service bar. Dinner round hits in fully sold out theatres were very busy, with theatres 2, 4 and 6 very closely sat for our biggest push of the night from 8:30 pm through 9:45 pm giving us a consistent push of drinks to service during what was also our busiest part of the night at the front of the bar. We had greater bar business during these rounds than yesterday with 2 deep and most tables seated. In general, higher volumes of drinking today on all fronts and a really good service from all behind the bar. BAR Staff Observations:  Antonio was spoken to about tapping in management when guests complain rather than fielding those complaints himself and possibly failing to properly reconcile a situation. FOH Staff Observations:  Julie rang in two substantial drink errors during the dinner rounds tonight resulting in ...

Manager Communication:  Busy but well spread showtimes kept things really even keel all night long. We also didn't generate as much bar business throughout the day, being at most 1 deep at the bar with a few tables occupied throughout the day. We were able to time out some batching and prep and get things back up to very substantial levels to keep trucking through the busy week. Customer Comments:  Had a very irate guest in Th6 at 5:30 pm; Nick and Gerard dealt with him and it's in the FOH blog. There was a crew in Th1 during the dinner round show that were pretty intoxicated. Kylie dealt with them and I told them to cut them off, but they never tried to order again in the theatre or at the bar. BAR Staff Observations:  Rebecca, Dylan and William killed it upstairs; never had to bring up a fourth bartender except when we had to do a couple of stocking runs mid-rush but otherwise, drinks were flying. FOH Staff Observations:  The spread out showtimes gave us ...

Manager Communication: Really smooth night.  Day time shows were not drinking much, and Ryan was able to get lots of batching done.  We were able to stay stocked and ahead, except glassware.  May want to break out 1 more rack of Pints.  The schedule seemed very good for the day, with no one over about 9.5 hours.  Raymond was in charge of bathroom checks for PM and he was on top of it! Really good bar business after every Star Wars, including late ones.  People had a good energy and really wanted to talk about it.  Did last call at 1:30 with about 15 folks at the bar! Customer Comments: Not much ticket switching for the night, as mostly sold out shows. BAR Staff Observations: Really good job on staying prepped, stocked, ahead, and communicative. FOH Staff Observations: Bussing in 1 and 2 were very good today.  The bottom floor needs to have the same impetus. Sick Leave/ Call outs: Susan was sick, so Dylan picked up her shift....

Manager Communication:  Star Wars! Customer Comments: The star wars crowd was drinking hard tonight. They were mostly a really great crowd though. I did have to cut off a couple people at the bar. Also there was a woman leaving one of the shows that had to be propped up by a friend and she was throwing up in front of the theater. We also had some vaping kids in a couple different shows. The kids that were vaping all seemed like they could have possibly been under 18, they were right on the cusp. We should consider carding for star wars, as the young kids that weren't drinking gave us the most trouble tonight. I also had to take a drink from a guy who had been carded in the theater and did not have an ID with him. He was able to get a drink from someone else. He came out of the theater to talk to me about it and was very aggressive. He let me know that he "has a passport but wasn't going to bring it to a f&($* Theater." So I let him know that he would not be s...

Manager Communication: Lots of orders and lots of prep today.  Got ahead on ingredients so prep tomorrow will be more about getting the new items ready, the bars set up, and packaged goods in the walk-in.   We prepped up heavy on Bloody Mary concentrate, so should be good going into the week and a half of brunches. Rebecca mentioned to me that William had said at some point he wanted to work NYE, so he may be able to cover for Dylan.  Can Nick or Jesse reach out to him when he is in tomorrow? There were $29 in tips that were left over from last night. We weren't sure whether it was left over from Trivia or from downstairs. They were left in a separate tip container by the glasses in Hi Res. Special Events: 14th Street Block Party, we turned up the lights a bit and the mezz music down for them.  They didn't order very much from the bar, but they were very pleasant Ice has been burned so that the machines can be sanitized in the morning. Prep List: K...

Manager Communication: Busy! A solid dinner round for a Tuesday, our busiest in a while boosted by a really strong holiday movie (White Christmas) and trivia. Kept us busy from 6:00 pm on, really strong work from everyone. Drink running got a little bogged down at the start of White Christmas but all caught up and service was without major issue. The elevator going down caused a couple of issues with specific ADA guests. We had a guest in theatre 2 that had to be helped down by family and a woman in Th1 that was helped up and down the stairs getting to Th1 from the bar elevator. It was a real hinderance out of the blue like that, but we made it work. Customer Comments:  Tons of first time trivia goers tonight, some were a bit impatient not understanding that it wasn't full table service, but we took care of them at the bar and rang food to their table numbers and they were made happy. BAR Staff Observations: On a few occasions Jeremy held down service solo while Susan took ...

Manager Communication: Last quiet night at the bar for a little while, with events the next two nights then star wars mayhem. Everything was smooth tonight. I updated soundtrack for Friday to play during extended holiday hours, I will adjust the schedule on Friday for the following week. W BAR Staff Observations: Ran with just one bartender at each bar all night. everyone did well. Special Events? The Music private event hung out at the bar for a while afterwards, they were a good crowd Maintenance: The elevator glitched out for a minute and wouldn't go to the 3rd floor. It seems to be working now, but we have all the holiday bev orders coming in the next 3 days, so it would be a very serious problem if the elevator stops working. I called Mcglynn out for a check-up in the morning.

Manager Communication: Got the garnish guide started with a few notes for folks to fill in the garnishes that I was not sure about.  Will do the build guide as soon as all the cocktail specs are in drive. Updated and posted the pull list.  Updated the theater cocktail notes.  Desert Fruit is in drive and printed and in bar binders.   We were very low on Pilsner glasses tonight, so I pulled some from the racks in the liquor room. I figured we would need them since we have a new special in a Pilsner glass and we were quite low at both bars anyway. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Cleaning the dry decks thoroughly at the end of the night: At the end of the night, Ryan W did a deep clean of the middle deck near the 222 terminal and had to throw 2 rags away because of mold and debris. Prep List: Pretty good on prep; should make a Negroni keg, pull the Them Apples keg off the charger. Ordering/Receiving/Shipping : Interboro, Wildman, and Couer came today.

Manager Communication: Slow day all around, we didn't do much pickup from the slow starting numbers. That being said, we had a very lively and busy bar. We got a big push around 8:00 pm and kept a full bar and most tables seated through 10:30 pm. It was definitely the most impressive ratio of bar business to general theatre business I've seen on a non-trivia night, and Dylan did a really excellent job handling the guests. Customer Comments:  Had a lot of first timers tonight join us before and after at the bar, all really positive about experiences. Had one guest in Th2 last round complain he couldn't taste the alcohol in a vodka cranberry. Kevin handled it and explained we have standard pours, and they were welcome to order a double at the bar or a shot to add in the theatre for a stronger drink. No other issues. BAR Staff Observations: Ryan got lots done batch wise tonight, he and Jeremy deep cleaned shelves and mats at both bars. Dylan did a really commendable ...

Manager Communication:  Steady mid and dinner rounds, but well spaced showtimes today and Jumaji having low sales made the drink rushes pass quickly and easily. Spottily had bar crowds at least keeping the bar and a few tables busy through 8:30 pm and then it really tapered off. Late rounds very slow. Made tight cuts and got bars in good shape. Customer Comments:  We had one group come in for the late night Frozen 2 with an 8 year old and a 2 year old. I explained our age policy and they were disappointed, saying that it was a kids movie. We had a ticket sold outside of this group and I explained why we have to be firm on age policy. BAR Staff Observations:  No issues, good work from everyone today let me make cuts and keep labor trim. Vanessa flipped between bars during the mid round for coverage, being short a bartender never hurt us we just had some long shifts out of Vanessa and Antonio. Prep List: Will need Pink Panther tomorrow, good on syrups and infusions ...

Manager Communication: Rocky start to the day.  See Mascha's blog for details.    Solid Saturday afternoon and night.  The schedule was great for getting the rushes out and batching done.  Stayed ahead of it all night. Cut to 2 up 1 down around 10 30.   Rerouted at 11.  Had closers make sure glassware and machines were nice and stocked for the morning team. Customer Comments: Theater 4 dinner round had a difficult guest.  Rachael talked to them at the end and handled it great. I allowed a six year old who was here with her mom and older (teenage) sister into the late round of Frozen.  She was very well behaved.  I explained to the mother our age policy, and she had said she had tried to call around 9 to check.  I informed her the best and quickest way to reach us was through email.  I told her I would make an exception this time and they were very appreciative and sweet. BAR Staff Observations: Rebecca was a few mi...

Manager Communication: Nothing Spooky Happened! Slowish Friday, but good dinner round.  The folks for the event loved what we did.  They didn't start ordering food until over an hour in, but they just did so at the bar and it came out fast.  They had a great time, were blown away by the little things like the comped popcorns and tots, and the signs and menus with their logos.  They took them with them. Was able to cut early after the post dinner restock to 2 up 1 down. Customer Comments: Dylan Y had to tell one guest for the party not to vape.  He was very clear with him, and I kept an eye on it.  There was no further issue. BAR Staff Observations: Really strong service tonight. FOH Staff Observations:  Theater 2 had a great post dinner flip having stayed ahead on bussing.  Not as proactive on the 1st floor tonight with bussing. Hiring/Training:  Hex's first solo shift.  She did great!!! Sick Leave/ Call outs: Special...

Manager Communication : Even with the two events tonight it felt pretty quiet. It seems like Jumanji is not going to do so well, sales were very low. The server for the Plex went down around 9pm and was out for about an hour. Hiring/Training: Hex had her final training shift tonight. She seems like she will be able to fit right in. She is on the schedule for tomorrow. Special Events? We had the Prospect Partners staff party in the upstairs bar tonight. It was a pretty good turn-out, service went well.

Manager Communication: Solid day into a good night.  The bar had some hiccups early on, as upstairs was not opened for success.  But they recovered, and everything ran smoothly the rest of the day. The Bathrooms at 7:30 PM were not in good shape.  The 2nd floor women's room was out of toilet paper in 3 of the stalls.  I called for a porter, and made sure the bathroom got closed, and Sergo was up quickly.  He got all the bathrooms back in order and stocked for the later rounds.  No issues later, with a check happening after the late round went in. We were good on staffing and batching, and we were able to reroute just after 11 with no issues. Customer Comments: I had a cab driver come in with a customer's cell phone and wallet, and let me know he had just dropped them off here.  Fortunately, the person she was here with had called the phone 5 minutes earlier, and I was able to call back and get the belongings back to them. BAR Staff Observ...

Manager Communication: Slow Monday, but F&B was saved a bit by theater 2 sales.  Cut Dylan as soon as Jenn got here and he stocked up both bars and did minimal batching. Got Jumanji drink done today, and it is in Menu Change doc. Customer Comments: There was fraud that Gerard caught for the last round.  The couple showed up and tried to use the dine n dash, but Gerard had already refunded it so the server got error.  I informed the gentleman that the D and D would not work, but if he would like to order anything, he could present a credit card and a matching ID.  His date presented both, and they ordered a little food.  When the man went down to the Lobby to talk to Eliel, he got on his phone and called someone and got a new email with new tickets (and it showed up on our end from the same fraud acct.)  Clearly someone is buying lots of tickets with D&D and selling them to others.   BAR Staff Observations: Jenn was 15 minutes late, bu...

Manager Communication:  A busy mid afternoon and nearly universally sold out (save for Beautiful Day and Frozen 2) dinner round made for a very good service. Overall a really smooth day with no major hiccups. The late round dropped off in very extreme fashion, and we were down to 2 up, 1 down after the 7s and 1 up, 1 down by 10:30 pm. Kept a good bar crowd during the dinner round, but after 9:30 pm the bar emptied out and mostly staff and a few groups through the end of the night. Customer Comments:  Lots of seat exchanges tonight and guests asking about printing out purchased tickets. The latter comes up constantly and dominated a lot of the interfacing with guests in the lobby by MODs and bartenders, maybe some signage or more prominent messaging when guests purchase tickets that they just need to show their confirmation email would help. BAR Staff Observations: Spoke to Antonio about him needing to pay better attention when people are expo-ing tickets. He double made ...

Manager Communication: Busy night tonight, Everything sold well except for Frozen, which seems to be slowing down. BAR Staff Observations: Great service tonight. Ryan got us all batched up and then I cut him early, Susan crushed the drink rushes upstairs, and Dylan did the same downstairs. Antonio broke down the cocktail well in hi-Res at 10:45. I let him know that it was way too early to start breaking down and had him set it back up. FOH Staff Observations: Drink running was really solid tonight. Great team effort all around. The 7:30 knives out show in two was not bussed very well. 8 glass racks came out at the end and it took a really long time to flip the theater during an already tight turn. Kylie addressed it with the servers.

Manager Communication: Despite not having a ton of ticket sales it was a pretty hectic night due to the two events.  Special Events? Spoons tonight and service was brisk. Normally we pull the opener downstairs to help with the rush, but there was a lot going on in the lobby with the theater 7 event so It was just two of them upstairs. Right as the rush started the printer jammed causing some confusion and a glass broke in the ice well. Despite it all drinks went out pretty quickly, Susan did a great job. We started a little low on milk. Blessing had 3 cases set aside for the cereal bar, but the cooks broke into one of them to make ice cream. We made it through, but on our very last quart. Highest sales ever for the special cocktails tonight. Maintenance: the right icewell in the lobby is draining kind of slow, I will plunge it tomorrow night.

Manager Communication: Southern did not come today.  Will most likely come tomorrow.  Left a good amount of space free for it. Got some nice organizing and cleaning done. Two detectives came in today to get some information about our theatre capacity, number of exits, and our general contact information in case of an emergency. They spoke to both myself (Rebecca) and Benjamin and we gave Jess as a point of contact. They told us to call them if we ever need them for any reason and they gave us their cards which are hanging on the corkboard in the managers office. BAR Staff Observations: Pretty slow night tonight, but all bartenders did very well! Prep List : -Ginger Syrup -Chili de Arbol Tequila -Vanilla infused Bourbon -Finish the Clarence Worley batch (Needs Macadamia Milk before being completed) Ordering/Receiving/Shipping : Empire and Interboro came today.  

Manager Communication:  Slow theatre service tonight, we built slightly on the starting ticket sales but overall it was very tame. Opening round pretty dead, decent dinner round and then a very slow late round. Kept staffing tight, busy trivia set the bar apart and had us hustling despite a slower night in the theatres. Customer Comments:  Lots of new trivia teams tonight and everyone had a great time. BAR Staff Observations:  Susan was an ace at serving trivia, Dylan and Ryan held it down. Had the staff cut to 2 at 10:30 pm, Jeremy out by 11:00 pm and twas just Susan. Special Events?  Trivia was high energy and really good tonight. We had a friend of the hosts come around 6:30 pm and debut a card game she made about movies and lots of teams showed up early to play. Generated good sales all night. 86ed / counts on items:  Mystery Cocktail kicked, Into the Woods kicked. Prep List:  Into the Woods, Pink Panther, Silent Era Keg Ordering/Receiving...

Manager Communication: Slow night, got lots of prep and cleaning and organizing done. All cocktails for tomorrow's tasting are in doc, ingredients are prepped. We need a bit of product before we can finish a few batches. Should be in tomorrow.  BAR Staff Observations: Jenn held it down for the one push we had while Susan organized and batched. Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Wipe all tables EON 86ed / counts on items: count on Into The Woods (will pick up lime bitters) Prep List: posted Pay Outs: $15 Kitchen Brioche Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Couer, Empire, Serene tomorrow

Manager Communication: Another busy day from start to (nearly) finish. Sold out shows, with the exception of Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, through the afternoon and dinner rounds, and Knives Out at 9 pm also sold incredibly well. Contrasting that, our late shows were near no-shows, although Lighthouse did somewhat well. Typical Sunday hard stop on volume of drink orders let us cut labor effectively without issue. Decent bar crowds through 10 pm, with most of the tables seated as well as the bar. Mostly staff after that. Customer Comments:  Had some guests that accidentally bought tickets for the 9:45 am JoJo thinking it was a 9:45 pm show. Exchanged their tickets for Ford v Ferrari, very disappointed at first but they were glad we could exchange. BAR Staff Observations:  Both bars got hit consistently hard throughout all rounds, everyone held it down. Prep List:  Really strongly batched on syrups and ingredients, will need a negroni keg, Into the Woods and mo...