Prep Assistant, Barback

Queen Mary Tavern, a neighborhood cocktail bar in the Ukrainian Village, is hiring for a utility role, to include a combination of barback, prep and inventory duties. This position involves 3 scheduled shifts per week, a combination of bar prep assistant and barback shifts, plus the option to pick up more shifts as opportunities arise. The shifts we are specifically hiring for are a barback shift on Sundays (1:30 - roughly 8:30pm), plus prep shifts on Tuesdays (11am - 6pm) and Wednesdays (1pm - 7pm). Applicants should have availability during those time frames each week.

Inventory takes place on the 1st of every month, which naturally can fall on any day of the week, from 10:30am - 3:30pm. In addition to the fixed weekly shifts mentioned above, we are looking for someone prepared to commit to at least 6 inventories per year (or more, if interested!).

Prep work will include weekly restocking, deep cleaning, bar maintenance, and beverage related prep tasks (making juices, syrups, batches, etc). You'll report to our Prep Director. Our small prep team is the backbone of our operation. We are a casual bar but with a sophisticated beverage program, and in order for it to run smoothly, a large number of small tasks must be completed in exactly the right way, week after week. Excellent attention to detail, ability to follow verbal and written instructions to a tee, and ability to deliver consistent and reliable work every week, are essential. We are happy to train staff in the details that matter to us, as long as they have the patience and commitment to learn them. Compensation for prep shifts is hourly, starting at $22/hr with an increase available after three months, based on performance.

The Sunday shift is a combo host and barback shift. During our popular weekly Raw Bar Happy Hour, you would both greet and seat arriving guests, as well as help the bar keep up with washing glassware during periods when no new guests are arriving. So this is not a "head down" barback position; it involves significant interaction with guests. Hence, the ideal candidate will have experience in working in a bar or restaurant and in standard barback tasks; but will also be friendly and personable for the guest-facing parts of the job. Compensation for the barback-host shift is hourly ($20.00/hr) plus tips. The total hourly pay, combining both wage and tips, typically averages about $30/hr.

The job is moderately physical and requires some heavy lifting — of buckets of ice, cases of citrus, liquor cases, full garbage cans, empty kegs, boxes of broken down boxes, that sort of thing. The pace of both prep and service itself is generally fast. We are a busy and growing bar and expect this trend to continue.

It is common for barbacks at Queen Mary to transition ultimately to bartending, and while we don’t require barbacks to be aspiring bartenders, this path is certainly available and has often been taken in the past. We can’t guarantee that a bartending position at Queen Mary will become available on any particular timeline, but barbacking for us will prepare you well to apply for bartending jobs elsewhere, if that is your goal.

Health, dental and vision insurance, with a significant company contribution, are available to employees who work 30 hours a week or more.

If you work a stage (tryout shift for both you and us) as a part of your interview process, we will pay you for your time at $22/hr.

Thank you in advance for your interest, and we look forward to hearing from you!