NPP Bar Blog

Manager Communication : Pretty busy day. Paw Patrol was almost sold out with fast flips from open to 6:30PM. Definitely going through a lot of N/A products (changed about every soda bag, lemonade mayhem, etc.). Maya prepped all morning in lobby and Miguel held down Trees until Ian came in. Everyone really kept up with the volume. Once Jenna and Matthew were in, Maya got cut and Matthew batched quite a bit to get us through another busy brunch tomorrow. AB BAR Staff Observations: The night stayed pretty busy. Darius and Gabrielle did great with guest during the POS issues. They gave me great support overall for my first live shift. -DL FOH Staff Observations: Rebecca and Kim were both so helpful at the pass, with full drink trays back-to-back for multiple rounds. AB 86ed / counts on items : 86: Peach Tea, Miller High Life, Del's Hard Tea, Kagemusha. We are down to one Bloody Concentrate back-up. Low on white sugar (so many Paw Patrol Lemonades). Out of limes, Dana is going to keep ...

Manager Communication: Challenging but good night overall. We were a very strong Skeleton Crew! Customer Comments: This was the most challenging part of today, but I tried to practice extreme empathy and I think most of it went well.  Throughout the night a few people wanted full refunds, and I didn't fight anyone about it, but I did try to give them alternatives and most of them took it.  Overall I think most folks left okay and not upset.  BAR Staff Observations:  I got lucky today. I got four leads in Ashley & Tevon who opened and Ian & Matthew who closed. While it was a challenging day for all of us, they really did great work and lifted each other's spirits when it was tough.  FOH Staff Observations: I'm grateful for Raekwon, Brenden, Rebecca, Vlad and Dwight.  Maintenance: N2 machine wasn't working well at some point, after speaking to Dodge and NuCo I think I might've found a loose tap or something and the levels got back where they need to b...

Manager Communication : Relatively mellow, rainy Thursday evening.  Death Wish 3 brought a small crowd to Trees before and after the screening. JH    BAR Staff Observations :  Ian is officially back. His back is still pretty sore so he may need an sit down and an extra hand lifting any heavy bins.  -DL Jeshua was able to get out of her once closers were in and everyone had a chance to grab family meal.  Tevon batched some product, and then stuck around Trees to help Ian with the last round special screening service push in Th1.  Matthew handled lobby solo for the majority of the night without issue. JH FOH Staff Observations : Vlad mentioned to myself and Dana that the new mats we put oout for the rain are much lighter than the previous ones. The doors would flip them almost every time someone walked in, creating a tripping hazard. JH Staff Meeting Agenda notes: Dana needs to be added as an admin/editor to the blog.  He currently cannot access u...

Manager Communication: Pretty good night. Trees had a good Karaoke crowd. Benjamin Button had a good crowd. EL BAR Staff Observations: Gabrielle noticed the lowboys in the lobby bar are collecting a lot of water. She wiped out and dried the inside in the beginning of shift. Matthew cleaned the bubblers in Trees. He pointed out the back wall was extra sticky behind them, most likely from all the backsplash from filling them up. -DL Closers did a good job. EL Special Events? Great Karaoke. EL 86ed / counts on items: Running low on Barbie as we prepare to replace it this Friday. Also low on Paloma until Ancho Reyes comes in. -DL Prep List: Paloma when you get that ancho, and Fistfull of $$$ - EL Pay Outs: $100 karaoke. -EL Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: Domaine Christophe Mittnacht arrived for the Dumb Money Drink Special. -DL

Manager Communication: Pretty easy evening. Okay Trees crowds. EL BAR Staff Observations: Openers Miguel and Ashley set us up, and Ashley batched a bit while Miguel helped Trees through dinner round.  Jeshua was late today. He said he misread his schedule and apologized. Darius had a great close. I was able to route him and he was ready to help with the party.  EL Special Events? The New Jack City video afterparty only attracted a hand full of people who didn't stay long. EL 86ed / counts on items: Dels, Athletic, Barbie not on count yet but very soon. EL Prep List: Paloma when Ancho arrives. EL Pay Outs: 7550 $50 New Jack City host, 5200 Pineapples $8.23 EL

Manager Communication: Pretty good night. No budge had a great bar turnout. A little before and a lot after. A lot of one and dones. EL Customer Comments: Lydia said they'd caught someone trying to dip into the lobby bar tip jar. This was early and it was empty but still something to look out for. EL BAR Staff Observations:  Great team tonight. Darius opened stuck around to work No Budge. Tevon batched and closed trees.  Lydia opened lobby and helped a little with no Budge load in. Jenna closed lobby. No problems. EL Special Events? No budge had a sold out crowd and bit Trees turnout. EL Staff Meeting Agenda notes: All bartenders have rsvp'd for next week's menu change meeting, with only Natasha being unable to make it.  Similarly, all bartenders have submitted their holiday schedule requests (Kelsey submitted under server), except for Miguel.  I sent him an email to see if it was intentional or not, and will update when he gets back to me. JH 86ed / counts on items...

Manager Communication : Busy open. EL BAR Staff Observations: Maya was great opening at Trees. Miguel texted me at 9:12am letting me know he overslept and was ultimately 88 minutes late. I texted Tevon, who was able to come in 10am and help set up lobby bar. EL I gave Miguel a written warning for tardiness. EL Fun Fact! Kelsey passed the frozen-machine-cleaning test with flying colors. Phew. AB Darius is such a positive energy behind the bar, and it was definitely contagious with guests hanging at Trees for multiple rounds. AB 86ed / counts on items: Count on Athletic N/A Lager. Barbie is officially on her last plastic leg, all product is behind the bar. I made a 1/2 batch of Paloma, so both bars are stocked until we get Ancho Reyes. Baba the Rabbit sold extremely well today, both bars are down to about 1 quart until we're back up on Genepy le Chamois. AB Prep List: We should get some Hibiscus Syrup going tomorrow. AB Pay Outs: $3 basil bar groceries EL Maintenance: Water buil...

Manager Communication :  All of the Good Morning, Mr. Breakfast! ingredients are in the walk-in by the alternative milks. Everything is in a bottle with a pour spout. Strawberries in the cambro are already washed and cut. There is about a quart of egg whites prepped that are good for service tomorrow. The bacon Chef Russell prepared was more than enough, I wouldn't anticipate needing more than 20 pieces tomorrow. AB The rain definitely helped drive ticket sales up during the dinner and late rounds, with most theaters filling up, with It Lives Inside in Th2 being the only notable exception.  Pretty solid service pushes at both bars, with many theaters selling out their showings on all three floors.  I don't know if we want to look in to potentially moving It Lives Inside out of the larger theaters during this coming week, but maybe something to consider. JH Customer Comments : There was a gentleman that was in Lobby requesting a refund for the Nitehawk recipe book after...

Manager Communication: Slow Friday at the theater and Trees lounge.  We're ready for Pee Wee. Whiskey is in the walk in with the syrups, one bottle filled and some in a cambro right next to it. We made sure the lowboy was filled with coups. Maple is in the liquor room.  BAR Staff Observations : Based on sales, Eliel and I decided to cut one of the Trees closers shortly after we opened doors.  Kelsey had picked up Natasha's closing shift, but was okay with taking the cut. JH    Tevon got cut after Matthew finished batching, and Jenna got cut at about 9:30pm. Closers Gabrielle and Matthew did great the rest of the their night. Prep List: We still have some in the walk in but we can't batch Paloma because of low Ancho Reyes We'll need some more simple and arbol.  Ordering/Receiving/Shipping :  Baldor arriving tomorrow. JH 

BAR Staff Observations: Kelsey had an amazing Trees open and it was her first since training. Tevon was able to help stock both bars before a sold out TH1 32 Sounds . Matthew guided Dana through a very interesting Lobby close. Filmbot put us through the ringer with credit card communication issues. Thankfully, Dana and Matthew stayed in touch with MOD's when manual entry had hiccups. Trees was the busiest I had seen in a few weeks. Tevon helped through a big push, did some light batching, and was cut. Kelsey and Natasha handled a very high volume bar between the TH6 Krull party and the TH1 post- 32 Sounds  crowd. Kelsey reset Trees and left before 10PM. (Question: Kelsey's number technically has access to adding gratuity, it was just a bit of a grey area in terms of if that's appropriate when behind the bar?) AB Special Events? The TH6  Krull  party mostly hung out in Mezzanine and were very easy to work with (about 30 people). Gratuity was added for all individual chec...

Manager Communication :  Pretty mellow day, with the special screenings in Th1 & 2 really providing the biggest service pops of the night.  Trees had a crowd that built up during the dinner round, with the majority being here to see Death Becomes Her . JH BAR Staff Observations :  Both bars were open by the time I got in, and I had Gabrielle float up to Trees once closers were in and everyone had a chance to grab family meal.  Matthew got out of here after walking Dana through how to breakdown and clean the bubblers.   Dana, Gabrielle, and Maya were great about setting up both before and after the initial service push for Death Becomes Her , alternating who would be point or guest-facing or bussing the floor.  Dana and Gabrielle got out of her a little while after The First Slam Dunk got through its first round of drinks. Miguel held down lobby solo all night and was able to pop up to Trees to help Maya with the post-Death Becomes Her crowd, and b...

Manager Communication: Great night tonight. Pretty smooth shift with many hands. Trivia had a great audience as per usual. EL BAR Staff Observations: Great to have this team today. Ashley and Lydia opened and got ready for Trivia. Maya was the first closer in and really helped set up. Lydia worked Trivia for a bit but was cut since we had Dana who while training, felt right at home behind the bar. Ashley stayed until the floor was reset and left promptly after. Tevon batched two kegs while Maya pre-closed trees. Maya was cut when Tevon was done and he closed the rest of the night. Kelsey was great at lobby and had a pretty good close. EL Special Events? Great full Trivia. EL Prep List: Watermelon G&T needs charging. EL Lost & Found? :  Had a guest stop by lobby who thinks they may have left some keys behind last night in Th5.  Nothing was turned in, but here is their information in case something shows up: Name : Erlend Rydning Email : erlend.rydning@gmail.com Two keys...

Manager Communication: Pretty good day. Slow first round but decent dinner round and nice trees pop before Prince of Darkness. EL 86ed / counts on items: 86 Y tu mama tambien, 10 count on Yuzu Prep List: Negroni keg, simple syrup, arbol tequila

Manager Communication :  Mellow Sunday evening, with a lot less foot traffic and walk in sales compared to the last two nights.  A Haunting in Venice and Bottoms still did very well in any theaters they were in, which kept service moving throughout the night. JH BAR Staff Observations :  Really great work tonight on both floors.  Both openers had been cut by the time I arrived, and each bar ran with two bartenders for the majority of the evening.   Kelsey had her first day live, and Darius said that she slipped right into service without issue.  Since she is closing lobby next Sunday, I had Darius break down the Neon Demon hopper a little early, so that he could walk her through how to clean them.  She got out of here once they had finished that, and Jeshua was cut not too long afterwards.  Darius and Tevon each cleaned their remaining frozies and closed their bars pretty quickly, as service was fairly quiet after ten. JH FOH Staff Observatio...

Manager Communication: A Haunting in Venice has been selling out in lobby, just something to keep an eye on. AB BAR Staff Observations: First round was busy with The Dark Knight and TMNT, and Maya was phenomenal. Natasha prepped all morning for both bars, and batched a bit once Miguel got in.  Both brunch openers were cut before 5. AB  Customer Comments: A customer came to the bar from theater 6 as the last round was getting out and asked to speak to a manager. I went over to speak to him, he was immediately very agitated and rude. I had to calm him down a couple times before I was able to understand the situation from him. He had left a $20 bill on a $13.50 tab and was not given change. I apologized and let him know that I would get his change for him. He said he had already gotten it but he had to ask the server (It was Barry). He said he considered it stealing and would sue the business on Monday. I let him know that he was welcome to, but there was not anything else I c...

Manager Communication:  Good night today. Theaters were busy and Trees had some good crowds.  BAR Staff Observations:  Good team today. Openers Jeshua and Ashley got us ready for a busy evening. Ashley batched and Jeshua swung up once Closers were in. Ashley got out at a good time and Jeshua got out a little bit later. The rest of the night went smoothly with closers Gabrielle, Tevon and Darius.  86ed / counts on items: Y Tu Mama Tambien (86 Nixta) Pay Outs: $2.17 Chamomile  Ordering/Receiving/Shipping :  Stumptown will be arriving on Tuesday.  Baldor is arriving tomorrow morning. JH Maintenance :  Jeshua let me know that the Filmbot iPad was dead when he got in this afternoon, and that he saw that the plug had been knocked out of the outlet.  However, even after reconnecting the charger, it did not charge the iPad.  Wyatt brought an extra charger from Th3 server station, and that worked.  This was all sorted before doors, so servic...

Manager Communication: Pretty good shift. Busy busy!  Customer Comments :  Had a few guests who attended the Pavement screening this morning stick around Trees for a couple of hours (after having a couple drinks before and during the screening).  They never got out of hand, but Ashley did let both myself and Eliel know around five that she was no longer comfortable serving part of the party.  At that point, they had not been over served, but based on how long they had been at the bar, coupled with two members of the party getting louder and more animated in conversation as the day wore on, we thought it best to stop service. Some of the guests were okay with our decision, but one did approach me separately to ask 'why we wouldn't accept their money.'  As it was nearly six at this point, I reiterated that we were happy to have them as guests both today and in the future, but that they had been at the bar for almost six hours and it was probably best for them to m...

Manager Communication: Good shift today. Trees Had a good crowd. EL BAR Staff Observations: Opener Gabrielle cleaned bubblers after family meal and got out shortly after 6. Matthew did a great job at Trees and worked til a little into Karaoke. Closers Jeshua and Lydia did a good job. EL Special Events? Karaoke had a great crowd tonight. Most of the people came after 9 but stayed til 11:30pm. More theater regulars are coming to Karaoke. It's slowly growing. EL Payouts: $100 Susan Karaoke Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: All deliveries for the week are in 

Manager Communication: Pretty low but steady day.  EL BAR Staff Observations: Great team today. Ashley and Matthew did a great job training. EL Hiring/Training: Kelsey Day 4. Kelsey closed trees concentrating on cocktails and forward facing service as well as closing down Trees Lounge. Matthew says she needs more work on classic cocktail but she's a promising young bartender. EL R&D comp checks: $58  Ordering/Receiving/Shipping : Baldor & US Foods arriving tomorrow.  I placed an Amazon order for more paper umbrellas and new pour spouts for bottles (the previous order arrived and they work like a dream). JH

Manager Communication : Pretty quiet first round, which picked up as the day went on.  Dinner round brought a lovely crowd to Trees, tapering off around ten. A few guests from the Marie Antoinette screening stopped by Trees for one last drink once their movie let out, and they were on their way out by one. JH BAR Staff Observations :  Lydia and Tevon were prepped and ready to go behind both bars by the time I got in.  Once Jenna got in, Tevon was able to get some light batching done, then was able to get out of here after providing coverage at both bars for restocks and breaks.  Lydia got Darius through the bulk of dinner round service, and got out of here a little after nine.  Jenna held down lobby solo for the majority of the night, and Darius deftly handled a brief pop at Trees later in the evening without issue.  JH Prep List :  We could probably make some more Barbie tomorrow, but both bars are stocked for open. JH

Manager Communication :  Not too much of a bar crowd this evening, mostly guests stopping by for a round before or after their movies.  Service went well, with no last minute walk-in ticketing jumps taking us by surprise. JH BAR Staff Observations :  Jenna really held down Trees brunch with an almost sold out round. A lot of needs were anticipated and communicated. Once Miguel got in, we were able to stock both bars. Note: Miguel has been wonderful keeping an eye on the floor/mezzanine, the bar stayed clean throughout multiple crowds. Darius got in and jumped right into batching, and I was able to make brunch cuts shortly after. AB Easy transition into dinner service, with Jeshua floating back down to lobby once the last big service push of Bottoms was through.  Miguel helped both bars with a restock, and gave coverage for breaks, and got out of here once the dinner round had mellowed.  Darius followed a while later, shortly before the first floor was routed....

Manager Communication : Pretty easy start to the day with Maya and Natasha. Lydia got in and stocked. Natasha got some quick batching done before her cut. Miguel helped me organize some kegs which was a huge help. Miguel also handled a large bar crowd solo like a champ before the closers came in. AB It was very busy from about 4:30-9:30 in the bar. Theaters were mostly full and we had a  really nice crownd in trees from the meetup group. ND FOH Staff Observations: Maria is always such a solid presence. ND 86ed / counts on items : There is a one bottle backup of Plantation Dark and Plantation Pineapple behind both bars. More has been ordered for Monday.  Prep List : We will need basil syrup (need basil) for next Watermelon G+T keg.  Pay Outs : $150.00 Ariel/Brunch Club Ordering/Receiving/Shipping: We are low on Amarena Cherries and we will need basil for G&T. pour spouts

Manager Communication :  Quiet first round, with the exception of TMNT, which sold Th6.  Definitely one to watch for first round, as we are down to one showing a day.  The dinner round Bottoms continues to sell really well.  JH Dinner and last rounds weren't too bad tonight but it was slow for a Friday. Smooth Shift. EL BAR Staff Observations: Openers got out shortly after dinner round. Ashley did a bunch of batching. Closers were great. Good team tonight. EL Staff Meeting Agenda notes :  All three closers for bar were scheduled at 5:30, which didn't leave us a lot of wiggle room with regards to family meal and the second round Bottoms in Th1.  Service was not negatively impacted, but it was tighter than it had to be. JH Over/Under: Trees Lounge was over $10. Wondering if Jenn forgot the Payout cash? EL Pay Outs :  $10.99 (toasted rice syrup (for fall drink)) JH

Manager Communication : Bars are short again on pour spouts. This time, they seem to be breaking instead of going missing. AB BAR Staff Observations : Andrea was able to leave once Matthew got in at 4:30PM. He trained Kelsey's Day 3 which seemed to be a breeze. Once Natasha got in, she batched a few necessities and went straight into a busy Bottoms service. Gabrielle stayed through the first SpoonsToons&Booze push, and stocked Trees before she left. AB Hiring/Training :  Kelsey had her Day 3 Lobby Close train with Matthew. She took the lead with all things FilmBot. Matthew has a very solid and clean close, and broke down when/what to start and why. Kelsey wanted to practice some classic cocktails once they finished at Trees. She is very motivated and looks for guidance with bar tools, technique, etc. There are some inconsistencies with cocktail guides that were given to her versus what is in the bar binders, maybe we can comb through those this week and clarify our spec standar...

Manager Communication :  Tomorrow's schedule switched around a bit to help cover Miguel's Lobby open. Andrea gracefully offered to open Lobby, however has to leave by 5:00PM. Matthew offered to come in early at 4:30PM to assist the switch, and will now train Kelsey on her day 4 Lobby Close. Natasha got swung up to Trees with her same 6:30PM in-time. Phew. AB BAR Staff Observations :  Pretty slow and smooth overall, until the very end with a complicated guest (see FOH Staff Observations). Natasha got plenty of prepping & batching done before her cut. Lydia stayed for the Bottoms 7:15PM push, and helped with bubblers before their departure. Jeshua held down Lobby Bar and closed swiftly. AB Customer Comments : An altercation occurred which eventually prompted me to call the police for assistance removing an intoxicated guest. I witnessed a man (last name Etkin which I learned from his Trees Lounge #J13 tab) in the Staff Only section by the kitchen office. I let him know and a...

Manager Communication :  Pretty quiet first round, with Th1/2 doing pretty well in the dinner round and Speed Racer bringing in a good group.  Trivia dominated service at Trees, even with less people attending than the last few times. JH BAR Staff Observations :  Both bars were open and in the process of resetting by the time I got in.  Darius floated up to Trees to take the floor for Trivia, while Ian and Jeshua focused on bar guests and the service pass.  Maya held down Lobby, and Ashley was able to cover so she could restock and take a break during Trivia.  Both Darius and Ian were able to get out of here once the floor was reset after Trivia, and Jeshua closed Trees without issue. JH Special Events? Trivia was a bit more mellow this week, with less people than usual, but it still filled up the entire floor and most of the bar.   The Manhattan Project sold out as the special, and we got through a couple bottles of the special'd wine, too. JH 8...

Manager Communication:  Pretty steady all night tonight, but never hectic. 5 bartenders for the day was the right number.  frozen machines, bubblers and lowboys have been cleaned and emptied.  BAR Staff Observations: Solid crew tonight. Darius and Miguel got us rolling, I was able to get them out after the dinner rush. Lydia and Jenna took us down the home stretch. 

Manager Communication : Pretty slow day. EL Very similar evening ticket sales as last night, with the same walk-in purchase trends.  Less of a bar crowd at Trees tonight, with the bar empty by 11:30. JH BAR Staff Observations:  Great opens from Matthew and Natasha. Matthew batched a bit and got out as soon as 2nd mid came in at 3pm. Mids Miguel and Jeshua were great. EL Miguel floated up to Trees to help with the last round Th1 Bottoms service push, and got out of here shortly after.  Jeshua stuck around until that same screening let out, to help Darius with any guests who came to the bar.  Darius and Maya cleaned the frozen machines and closed each bar without issue. JH Staff Meeting Agenda notes:  Jeshua is on the Tip Pool Sheet twice.  Can someone please remove the bottom line Jeshua? JH Prep List:  Another keg of Watermelon Gin & Tonic should be made tomorrow. JH Over/Short on Banks:  Pay Outs:  $18.22 (Grapes & Maple Syrup (Fall ...

Manager Communication:  Definitely saw a lot of walk in ticketing sales for the later rounds of Bottoms and The Equalizer 3, which kept service bopping until around ten.  We are definitely in the slower times, but should keep an eye on staffing and batching for weekend nighttime service.  Had a small group come in before an event in the park, and that definitely brought a great group through Trees from about 8:30-9:30. JH BAR Staff Observations:  Openers were off the floor by the time I got in, and the remaining bartenders were very flexible in anticipating service needs.  Tevon floated between Trees and lobby during the dinner round, based on theater times, and helped each bars with restocks before heading out.   Once the last Th1 Bottoms dropped checks, Ian went down to lobby to help with some later round service and covered for Jeshua to grab a break and restock.  Jeshua closed lobby without issue, and Gabrielle and Ian closed Trees shortly aft...

Manager Communication: Pretty smooth shift. Not super busy at Trees. A few pops but overall easy evening.  BAR Staff Observations:  Pretty great team tonight. Openers Tevon and Matthew got the night set up and Tevon batched while Matthew led dinner service at Trees. Jeshua and Darius worked very well together during the last round and to close. Matthew helped Tevon with two batches, so he could get the hang of things. I feel Darius is really growing in his role.  FOH Staff Observations: Theater 7 said their tickets felt a bit neglected. They said that they felt it was because they were little pops of tickets so they weren't always noticed.  Ordering/Receiving/Shipping : Baldor tomorrow.  Amazon orders should be arriving this weekend, too. JH

Manager Communication: Good night. Bottoms early crowd was great. Busy Trees with the th5 private event before and after.  BAR Staff Observations: Great group today. Openers Tevon and Jeshua stayed full shift working Trees and Tevon batched.  Closers Ian and Matthew were great.  Hiring/Training: Kelsey had a good Lobby bar open shift with Tevon and then Matthew. Matthew had her work the tickets by herself during one of the load-ins, only jumping in to help when needed. Still has a lot to learn but showing great promise.  Special Events? Th 5 event had a great Trees crowd before and after.  86ed / counts on items: Manhattan Project  Prep List: Simple Syrup please.  Pay Outs: $3 Malta 5200, $50 event 7903