125 Washington Street
Providence, RI 02903
Providence County
Phone: (401) 272-6950
Fax: unknownWebsite: no website on fileEmail: no email on fileHours: unknown
by John D. on Is bartending school worthwhile? Generally, no. They tend to substitute plastic fruit for actual garnishes, colored water for booze and teach outdated recipes while charging a fairly large amount of money. Professional Bartending School is no different. However, if you're looking to make extra cash as a bartender in a night club or a college bar, Professional Bartending School will give you the right , though dated, recipe collection for those environs and some experience behind a bar using common equipment. It seems that most people can make at least 20 cocktails in 7 minutes after taking the class. The do use only colored water, so I don't know that'd I trust graduates can make a good drink, but they are fast. They pretty much emphasize speed solely at this school and therefore free-pouring over measuring. The quality of the school is that of and old dive bar and the people who work there remind me of some of my favourite people I used to encounter in my bartending days 20 years ago. Space is kind of cramped & the equipment is not in the best condition. Students are told what a proper set up would be and the bar is close to a complete set up, but one does rely on a quite a bit of 'make-believe'. The curriculum covers Cream drinks, Up Cocktails, Shooters, Tall & Highball drinks, Short drinks, Cordial & After Dinner Drinks, Sours and Wine Cocktails. The focus is mainly on shooters and syrupy sweet juvenile concoctions, though. Class covers a set of 'must-know' essential recipes in that range and the other areas mentioned, but completely ignores 'must-know' essential Classic, current, and modern cocktails, and ignores current trends and ingredients. Also absent is significant historical context, which is essential to understanding the cocktail & the expectations of certain drinkers. In an era where the likes of Ted Haigh, Dale DeGroff, David Wondrich, and Gary Regan reign supreme as experts of cocktail history, technique and recipe orthodoxy, Roger Oldham, the author of the text, is an unknown , perhaps a regional Ohio figure, who peaked in skill and knowledge at the cocktail's lowest point, twenty years ago. His book reflects this and seems to focus on a youthful mid-western and Fort Lauderdale drink-as-much-as-you-can-as-fast-as-you-can crowd of decades back. Nonetheless, there is some useful information in there. The organization of the book is pretty darn good. It is, however, a cheaply bound publication one could have done at any Kinko's. Some liquor information is a bit lacking, and the instructor did err himself a bit on liquor information as well. The recipes taught are a bit odd at times, straying far from the standard occasionally. Martini & Manhattan recipe's, for example, are extremely far from the USBG and IBA standards. Fortunately, one can use the text as a guide & find better versions of recipes from established & well-regarded bartenders online. Aside from cocktails, Professional Bartending School covers Beer and Wine service and spends some time on proper presentation of cordials. Beer service is unfortunately ineffectively taught though a Budweiser DVD from Anheuser-Busch and a Guinness DVD from Diageo. Wine service instruction is presented in the text book. Service of cordials is demonstrated and is practiced in the same make-believe atmosphere of the rest of the course. They claim to provide placement assistance, but only provide publicly-available job postings and do not in fact provide any real placement assistance. They do, however give excellent advice on how to interview land a bartending job. Beware highly positive reviews posted elsewhere online. Most appear to be by employees of the school. Sometimes they even use their real names. If you really just need to learn the basics (not fundamentals) of bartending for a nightclub or college crowd really fast, Professional Bartending School will have you up to speed within two weeks. The classes are steep in price, about $600-$700 for 40 hrs of class time. Students may get a discount on tuition. I'd say don't do it; The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan covers all you need to know & is a lot cheaper.
by Andree Mahoney on Not too bad for a bar on the UWS. Drinks are pretty darn cheap for the area- and during happy hour, I spotted some people indulging in a pitcher for themselves because the pitcher was cheaper than getting glasses of beer. Artichoke dip was okay... nothing to write home about.... however bartender was extremely helpful. If I were in the neighborhood strapped for money but desperately wanting to go to a bar, I would probably go there.
by Magaly Deboer on Went at night when it was a bar/nightclub... the drinks were horrible and the scene was really dull - there were people who were older than my parents (and this is a trendy nightclub?!) The DJ was absolutely the worst - he played music from about 4 years ago the whole time... don't get me wrong, old stuff is fun sometimes, but when mixed with current and way old school... we left after about half an hour
