onboarding #day-18 #day-21 #bar #release
Goal: Trainee runs the bar well solo on Monday-Thursday shifts. Bar lead on-call. Day 21 review.
The 4 days
Day 18 (Mon/Tue): Trainee runs full bar well solo. Bar lead at side for first 90 minutes, then on-call from the office.
Day 19 (Wed): Same as Day 18. Bar lead on-call from start.
Day 20 (Thu/Fri): Trainee runs busy bar shift. Bar lead is in the room but NOT at the well — works the back bar or floats.
Day 21 (Sat): Trainee is junior bar on the busiest night of the week, partnered with a senior bartender. Full release review at end of shift.
Read each day
By now, reading is review. Each day pick one of:
- A spec they're shaky on
- An SOP they want to deepen
- A technique they want to nail
What the bar lead + MOD watch for across 4 days
- Speed under load (Friday/Saturday rush)
- Quality maintained at speed (no spec drift)
- Communication with floor staff (kitchen, host, server)
- Comp invocation appropriate and consistent
- Pill program execution if any Pill orders come through
- Mistake recovery without bar lead intervention
Day 21 final review
Bar lead + MOD + trainee, 30 minutes. Walk through the 4 nights.
Outcomes:
- Bar full release: Trainee can lead bar Mon-Thu solo and junior on Fri/Sat. Scheduled accordingly.
- Junior-only release: Trainee can junior on Fri/Sat partnered. Needs more weeks before solo lead.
- Re-training: 7 more days of bar shadow work. Day 28 final review.
What's next
If full release: 30-day check-in (counted from Day 14 release).