February is "Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com, and we'll serve up more than a six pack a week of bar articles all month long. Look for bartender profiles, drink recipes, revamped bar guides and more!
Walk into Hector's, 7118 W. State St., Wauwatosa, glance at the television and ask bartender Patti Haas "What time does the (insert team name here) game start?"
She won't be able to tell you ... not without breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of the players and coaches involved, the result of the last game and the fact that there is a better game on later and that the outstanding UCLA-Oregon game last night.
"I love the reaction I get," says Haas, who is not related to well-known Wauwatosa East basketball coach George Haas even though she says, "I get asked that all the time."
"A lot of guys don't expect a girl to know or care about sports," says Haas. "Then, when I start talking to them it's like they are stunned. I use it to my advantage. When they're getting ready to leave, I'll say 'You can't go now. The next game is on.' Sometimes, I get them to say for another drink that way. It's good for business."
We asked Patti about her bartending career as part of OnMilwaukee.com's bar month ...
OMC: How long have you been a bartender?
PH: Thirteen years. I started out at Bennigan's and then I worked at The Chancery for awhile and then I came here.
OMC: What is your specialty/signature drink?
PH: The house margarita. About 90 percent of the drinks we make here are margaritas, and they're the best. We use good tequila and we make them on the rocks, with salt. Some people ask for blended, but we try to steer them toward just having it our way because we put a lot of alcohol in our drinks. A blended drink tends to separate and not look too attractive after a couple of minutes. I also make a mean old fashioned, I muddle everything together, and when people find that out they'll try one.
OMC: What is the most ridiculous thing you've seen a drunk patron do?
PH: Probably sex in the bathroom. That was the strangest. Other than that, it was probably your standard "drunk people falling down" stuff. The puke 'n rally? I've seen that before. I think I've done that before.
OMC: Have you ever broken up a bar fight?
PH: I like to brag that I'm the bouncer on duty, but I've never broken up a fight. I've threatened people before. I say, "I'll jump over the bar right now!" and they'll say, "Really?" This isn't really a fighting kind of place. We have our moments on opening day and random parties like that where it gets a little out of control. Most people handle their liquor pretty well aside from those big days where tequila is not necessarily needed on top of everything else they've had.
OMC: What are the best/worst pick-up lines to use in a bar?
PH: I hate pickup lines. The best ones? I do a lot of introducing people across the bar. People say, "Can you buy those two girls a drink from me?" It usually works pretty well. Girls are usually like "Sure," especially if they're out to have a good time.
The worst pickup lines are just the pickup lines. All of them are bad. I don't even know how to explain it. Anything that makes you roll your eyes is bad.
OMC: What is the best/worst part of the job?
PH: The best part is that it's my social life. The worst is probably the hours. The older you get, the more the hours suck. You want to have a somewhat normal existence. Somewhat. Not completely.
OMC: Do you go to other bars when you're not working?
PH: I go to bars, yes. I tend to go where my friends are, which for me is Slim's, Fitzgibbons, O'Brien's -- a lot of Irish bars, I guess. But, I do go to other places. It's bartender code. You go in and visit your friends and you take care of them. People who are bartenders are good tippers.
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
