NPP Bar Blog

Manager Communication: Great ticket sales and sell outs today; Avengers just won't quit. The slower, comparatively, daytime showings give us plenty of time for set up and prep and then from 7 to close, things stay busy. Worked well with 3 bartenders on today, only a few instances of manager help and coverage needed to get through. Presence definitely needed at Lobby prior to showtime and at HiRes for pre-shows to expo, as Lobby gets stretched thin by ticketing and questions and then the bar upstairs all focus goes to service bar. Definitely more drinking crowds during weekday night shows, our sales mix is much more liquor/wine/beer than NA. Cut to 1 bar up at 10:30 pm, cut Lobby at 11:15 pm and re-routed so Susan could get out soon after. BAR Staff Observations: Susan is just a rockstar on Lobby solo, a tough shift that she handled extremely well. FOH Staff Observations: Servers on weekdays with busier showtimes are still adjusting to lacking drink runners, lots of manager su...

Manager Communication: Very busy from the get go.  About 4 to 5 times our ticket sales, and more for food and beverage. Running with 1 bartender down and 2 up worked with the strong bartenders we had on.  But there was no time built in to get prep done, which was fine for today.  It just makes the prep shifts have to be on point and focused.  I will be doing a prep list for each day to assist with this. Customer Comments: We had an allergic reaction to Bell Pepper.  I was informed by a man who came into HiRes and told me someone was puking upstairs in the drinking fountain.  I rushed up, and she was apologizing, and I told her not to worry, and walked her down to the bathroom.  She told me it was just stomach related and not life threatening as I walked her down.  We spent the next ten minutes figuring out what happened and finding the chain of mistakes. The rest is described in the FOH blog. A man in a wheelchair will be coming to the 3...

Manager Communication: Similar flow tonight as last night, which was expected. The only showtime to not sell out was the late Avengers, and even that sold strong for a Sunday night. A bit more family driven with the crowds for the showtimes leading up to the 7s and 11s, the drink mix felt a little less adult today but the volume was absolutely comparable. Well handled, good staffing for the level of business. Still managed to batch and make tight cuts; went to 1 in Lobby at 9:30 pm, went to 2 in HiRes earlier tonight as well (10:00 pm) and Susan, Rebecca and Ben rocked it out as our closing team between floors. Drink running was tough with one runner today; we could use a conversation about organizing cut staff to assist with drink running in a coordinated way to help with busy shows and times like this. Ran lots of trays, ebbed and flowed service when stations got backed up but if that could be complemented by a cut server or two, they're far better and more efficient about runn...

Manager Communication:  Noble Tree sent us a keg of watery coffee.  Had to keep it 86'd.  I will talk to them tomorrow, and get it here by Tuesday. Spoons was easy, and everyone held down the early rounds great.  Captain Marvel and Us did well as well, and it was a good flow.  Much fewer bar business after shows with the long lines.  Even though we have the upstairs seating, people see the uncomfortable space and don't want to stay like they do when we have more downstairs seating. Customer Comments: Mostly good energy from folks.  A few returned tickets from those who could not sit together, which is a change from most days this week. Had an interaction that Jesse and I handled.  Man and woman fighting with each other before a show.  Moving between floors.  Jesse told them to move it outside if this was going to continue.  They then were coming up the stairs as their Endgame was seating, so I held them at the stairs as th...

Manager Communication: Busy all the way through today. Spoons went smoothly, lots of families for the early shows and drink sales coincided with that. However, once we hit the 4s, 7s and late rounds the dynamic shifted big time. Decent bar business in between shows, although we never built much of a crowd. The lines, when they dominate the entire bar for movies like this, definitely make a difference in how people view the bar, and we don't get the kind of bar business we get on other busy weekend days. Showtimes went really well from a bar perspective; drinks went out quickly and well, we slowed when the theatres got backed up and for the first time in a while we never hit a snag with glassware. Cut openers when the 3 o clocks got in, cut the swings when the closers got in, went to 2 up and 1 down after the final round and re-routed the Lobby at 11:45 pm. BAR Staff Observations: Ben, Dylan and Jeremy rocked it out upstairs; huge hits for the large theatres were handled withou...

Manager Communication: Busy service, but rather smooth.  Good amount of drinks at the bar made the drink rush a bit steady instead of crazy at the beginning, but the drink rushes were much longer than anything we have experienced.  Ryan dropped an empty keg while changing it, and it cut the line for the Riesling right near the sankey.  I was able to cut the line a bit and reattach it, so it is working again, but we will need to get a clamp.  I kept an eye on it, and it was fine, since it is low pressure nitrogen.  So I will pick one up Sunday. People are drinking cold brew til late with this movie, so make sure we are restocking creamers even for the last rounds. We are looking good on prep, Lemonade will have to be made early, but then we should be good on batching as we have times to. I made sure at the cuts and for the close everyone was setting up as best as possible for tomorrow. When we have a second closer upstairs during these long movies, w...

Manager Communication: Busy night.  Good sales for captain marvel and sold out 9 to 5.  Got lots of organization and prep done.  Added a shift to be picked up tomorrow, let's keep an eye on it to approve. I posted a prep list for William, and we should be pretty set for the weekend. I did not get a chance to print signs for the walkin sections, but let's keep on people about the orderliness, as I did more to organize it yet again, and it will help us not miss things or make too much of things. It may be tight staffing tomorrow, so make sure that Rebecca knows to move bartenders between floors as she sees fit.   On all cuts, we need to make sure everything is getting done properly. Customer Comments: BAR Staff Observations: 3 was a little lean today cause the 9 to 5 and captain marvel were crazy, but Malka, Susan, and Ash killed it, and everyone stayed a bit extra to get everything set up.  Great shifts all around, and we are ready. FOH Staff...