Bar equipment – be well kitted out to meet customer needs

When it comes to opening a new bar, there are a great many things to think about, not only do you have to ensure that you have running water, electricity and gas, trained staff, a delivery schedule, a reliable stockist and of course prospective clients, you are also going to need bar equipment. Bar equipment covers a broad spectrum of items that you must have in order to have a fully functioning bar. This article aims to explore a few of the ways to help set out the bar for maximum efficiency.

The first thing to work out would be the size of the bar and how many bar areas there will be in your premises. Once this has been decided then you will need to think about the number of staff you want to have along the bar, the number of till points and their location then the pumps and taps. All of these are your basic requirements when it comes to bar equipment. There are of course a great many other items that will need to be addressed, but if you can get all of this sorted out first then it will make the rest of the bar equipment purchasing a lot easier. Think carefully about the position of your tills in relation to your taps, the best way to approach this is to map it out, go into a range of bars and see what works best and identify any potential drawbacks to your design. Remember these bars have all been running from this set up for a while and therefore it should be a reliable blue print to work from when organising the positioning of your bar equipment.

The tills are generally placed on the back bar, this allows for a greater space on the front bar for service and also offers you a better level of security during busy periods. The taps will always be on the front bar with the brands facing out and the drainage areas should be positioned correctly to allow for the excess to run off cleanly into drainable buckets or troughs. Glassware needs to be easily accessed, whether it is pint glasses or high balls, they should be on hand and close to the drinks they are designed to serve, so pint glasses under the front bar and high balls on the back bar by the spirits. Your fridges need to be accessible to all of your staff and visible to the public so that they can select their drink prior to ordering as this will help to cut down on time spent at the bar. A fixed bottle opener is a great time saver as it cannot be lost, positioning this just by the fridge is a quick way to ensure the bottle is opened when delivered the customer. All spirits that are available should be opened and have pourers attached, jiggers need to be on hand and clean ready for long and short drinks to be served at speed. These are all simple starting points that can be easily achieved before you move forward. It is easy to find good quality, good value bar equipment online.

back