ABC Bartending School

This is a really good school with good teachers. I attended the 2 week course 4 hours a day. You learn to mix the drinks with water not liquor. I think that was great because it gets really really messy & I had to leave to go to my full time job afterwards. My advice is to review the notes because there is a lot to remember. However, They should take more time in helping you find a job & resume review during class. I would recommend this school to my friends.

My roommate and I took a 2-​hour Bartending Boot Camp here. To be honest, it felt like a waste of 120 minutes. If you’re an adult who drinks on a semi-​regular basis, you won’t learn much. The class goes through the basics of tending bar, most of which you could easily learn in a 5 minute YouTube video or article online. No one left particularly thrilled.

I really enjoyed the course. I took the two week class, 4 hours a day, and I definitely got my money’s worth of Bartending knowledge. We learned the basics and how to make a ton of common drinks. We practiced a lot and I feel confident that I will succeed in finding a job. Plus, you can’t get better instructors… You guys are rad! Thanks!

Fast paced but extremely informative and fun! Options for the one week or two week gives multiple opportunities to take the class. I took the one week which was extremely faced paced with a LOT of information to memorize but if you are proactive, it is easily doable! I would recommend this class for sure for anyone interested in bartending. Not only are you taught how to make drinks, but also the workings of a bar and how to interact with customers. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and made many friends!

Stephanie is an awesome instructor! Glad to be a bartender now :) two weeks fast pace class made you learn a lot!

This school is really good, I’m very big on writing reviews for places that deserve it. Although it is indeed my second day I have learned roughly 10 drinks. I am in the evening class which is from 6 – 10 but without a break its till 930. I’ve been wanting to do bartending school since January 2015 but I was very iffy about places because the first thing they try to do is get money out of u, without even explaining shit. Abc, told me to come in sat me down and therally went through everything with me the terms etc, showed me how the certificAte looks as well as the liscense. The only thing I have to say is that it is very hands on duh, but it’s a lot of information. I noticed that I’d learn a drink one day and completely forget it the next becaus we make about 6 – 7 drinks a day maybe, and it’s tough to remember every ingredient from the prior day. All in all it is a lil pricey but you absolutely get ur money’s work like for real!!! The people are super chilled everyone is super cool and helpful, we all help each other, and although it is my second day I am excited in continuing. The teacher is super kool and chilled I forgot her name but she keeps it real. She tells u the do’s and dont’s and tells all the bad habits that most bartenders have. I also thought that 395 $ was a lot for learning how to make drinks figured it’s kinda like YouTube but there’s a lot of shit u need to know like for real, so I do recommend this place to ppl who want their money’s worth.

Definitely not a scam. Instructors are extremely knowledgable and they most definitely prepare you. They all have different tips and real life experience to advise you!

Definitely recommend this school to people that want to be a bartender! You will know every basic stuff in bartending, and you get flexible class schedules to choose. The teachers in the school are knowledgable, professional, and fun. We got a lot of practices, and it was a great experience here!

I took the 1 week class in October 2014. Great school with the best instructors. Got a job the day I graduated. Give them a try. You won’t regret it.

The best school to enroll in, if anyone is looking to become a Bartender. The Instructors are awesome. Believe me when I tell you, the money that you pay is all worth it.

I took this class during my two vacation from my day job and so glad i did. I learned a alot. I have worked as a waitress for several years and knew some things about the basics, but between Matt and Stephanie, I gained a ton of knowledge. The class is filled w/​diverse learning styles and diverse skill levels. Some classmates were already bartenders and wanted to improve on their skill set. Your working w/​an actual bar, but the bottles r filled w/​colored water… That is one of the downsides.
Matt was very helpful with the inside scoop on things, what to say in interviews, how to work ur resume, different types of bars.ect. Stephanie was great with the practical info. Her teaching style suited me best cause i can be a little slow, lol… Between the two of them, i was given enough confidence to start interviewing for jobs while still in class.
This was a great experience. The job placement part is really up to you. They give you tips of trade, terminology and basic practical information. They give you leads for jobs. Was even given info on a place that called the school directly looking for bartenders and told to go directly after class that day. I was determined to get a bartending job before I went back to work. So I with the info they gave me, I flooded Craigslist w/​my new updated resume (craigslist is filled w/​bartending jobs of all types). The second week of class I went on about 2interviews or open calls a day. I just finished my final exam today, got my certificate and had a job lined up yesterday. Id like to thank Matt and Stephanie for that. I used things the both of them equipped me with on that interview…

These scam artists won’t give me my money back!
I looked it up and I am going to rat them to the franchise owner in Florida as a totally sub par operation.
How does this place get away with robbing people?
Talking to a wino in an alley would have qualified me better than this slipshod so-​called bartending school.

Took the 40 hour course last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Learned MUCH. Stephanie and Matt are great instructors, and you can learn different but useful things from both (outside of the curriculum — curriculum is exactly the same). Take a word of advice — it is clearly stated and the student signs off that job placement is NOT guaranteed, as you must go on interviews, jobs are scarce and you have to be the best. The school DOES advertise job openings. The rest is up to you.
Learned 100 drinks and shooters, proper bar etiquette, business aspects, pouring, shaking and serving techniques, and how to tap a keg/​install C02 tanks. The only thing that would have made this exceptional is if we were using real ingredients for some of the muddled drinks/​real wine bottles/​real draft tower. Learning to pour a beer doesn’t take that long, nor does opening wine bottles, but using real fruit for muddled drinks is something else, like mojitos, old fashioned, etc.

Although this is the only bartending school I have attended I am more than sure that this place is the best bartending school in NYC. I attended the school only three months ago and within the first month of finishing the course i found my first bartending gig in Astoria Queens and am making extremely good tip due to the skills and tips I learned from ABC bartending school.
Something you should know about me is that me and school/​instructions do not get along. I dont like to pay attention to things that are mundane and redundant. Thankfully the teachers here have so much passion and energy for teaching the class that they kept my attention every minute of the class. They made the class fun, interesting, and informative. Stephanie (morning instructor) is the best as she is extremely skilled and experienced as a bartender. She also makes sure that every student understands every bit of what she is teaching, which isnt hard to do since there are less than 10 students in each class.
Even after finishing the course the school updates their facebook page «Harvey Wallbanger» (its a drink name) daily with bartending job opportunities in every borough of NY along with many articles and tips for existing and amateur bartenders in any situation.
If you taken this course and felt you did not learn much then bartending probably just is not for you because there is no way anyone or any other school can teach you how to bartend on a professional level better than ABC bartending school. And it is only a plus to be able to meet such awesome and diverse people in the class (both students and instructors. Embrace diversity people this is New York!!!

Absolutely loved this school! The instructors were great, taught us a lot, were very down to earth, interacted w all the students even when we weren’t on break! Had a great time! I was in the class 5 days, couldn’t make any drinks and when I left I could make over 30 drinks! Def a fantastic school!

I would like to personally thank Matt for his expertise, an unforgettable experience while in school; and his friendship and support after graduation. His guidance has inspired me to constantly continue to want to improve my set of skills. He will be your guide and become your guru through learning how to walk the line, continue growing as a bartender, and achieve your full potential in this amazing and highly profitable industry. He runs the show @ABC during the week from 6 – 10.
With all that said, This is what I learned on my own in the past few months working in the city whilst still going back to school to improve my pouring technique. This will give you a priceless insight to what we do in the industry and increase your chance at working for ca$h.
As you gain more experience as a bartender you will learn a few things:
1) No one will just give you a job — You will need to show up and show off. Period.
2) Interviews: Most good places will have you come for an interview/​audition and have you make a minimum of 3 drinks on a bar you are not familiar with (some places even during service — with limited or poor visibility) to see how well you adapt and «feel» where things should be. Fumbling shakers is never a good sign. Also be prepared to make everything if you do don’t have one of the following: a strainer, spoon, mixing glass, muddler? You need to be able to improvise, this will save you a lot of time.
3) Taste everything: Be prepared to have your drinks tasted by everyone, so you do the same and make sure they are good. This is a rule not only during this audition, but also during everyday service.
4) If you pass this audition you will train for at least 3 shifts (with no pay).
5) Recipe knowledge: Most places will have own drink menus (my current place has 25 specialty cocktails, plus 5 different sangrias). You should know these by your second week of employment. I had an owner come in and order a specialty cocktail my first day of training. I had to go to the principal bartender and ask him how to make it and had him taste it before I served it. The owner was impressed that i didn’t just try to wing it. That was one of the reasons I was the only trainee out of 3 still there at the end of the night.
6) Be alert: never be surprised by anything coming at you.
7) Be prepared to do whatever needs to get done. At my previous job I was put in charge of ordering and inventory. I had to learn my distributors and crate an inventory system to keep track of what need.
8) Never stop learning: Learn about your customers, their habits and interests. Get involved in their lives. This will reflect in your tip jar.
9) Most important!!! Have fun: If you are not enjoying what you do, you can’t be a good bartender. Leave all your problems at the door during work. You are there to be the person with positive and upbeat energy. Smile all the time.
Hope this helps, I will continue to add to this as I gain more experience. These are things I learned by making bad decisions so you can make good ones. I am passing my knowledge on to you. AJ

The school is awesome, I had a lot of fun. I would defiantly recommend this school. As far as the complaints — ‘No job placement’ — If you learned everything and payed attention you would be able to get a job by yourself. I don‘t know why you expect people to just hand you a job. It‘s a training, not a job placement program.
Someone wrote that everything the school taught was wrong, cos of some place they got hired… well every place has it‘s own code and rules, so … i don‘t know what you are complaining about. It‘s not hard to figure out

While I agree with Liz K. on several points about this school, I don’t think it deserves THAT bad of a review.
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PROS:
* A LOT of fun. You meet great people here!
* The instructors are knowledgeable, down to earth, and approachable.
* The practice bar is huge and extensive. Sure, it’s all water with food coloring, but that’s still mighty convincing with the tons of brand name bottles stocked on the shelves. They’ve got the whole counter set up for 10 people to practice at once. It can get a little crowded when everyone’s running back and forth to get ice or refills for «juice», but there’s plenty of room to work and do your thing.
* You come out of the class with a pretty extensive knowledge of cocktails — maybe around 80 or so to start you off. The rest you can learn on your own. You also learn all of the name brand liquors, liqueurs, and «types» (gin, rum, etc), which I’ll admit confused me horribly in the past. Now it’s second nature to me.
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CONS:
* No, they don’t place you in a job. They give you leads, which is basically telling you what bars in the area are looking for bartenders. I’ll admit it would be nice to be automatically placed somewhere, but it gives you a reality check to understand that «it’s a job to get a job», and you gotta do most of the legwork on your own. And even if they get you an interview at a place, there’s no guarantee you’ll get a gig if the place doesn’t feel comfortable with you or your skills. Part of being a bartender is knowing how to turn on the charm and sell yourself, and no amount of help from an outside source can fake that for you.
* If you do go out on your own to find a job, be prepared for a LOT of disappointment. Especially in today’s economy, business is VERY slow for a lot of local bars and pubs (I’ve met more than one manager who said he had to work the bar himself to save money), so expect lots of turn-​downs and «sorry, we’re not looking for anyone“s.
* You don’t go into beer. You learn the classifications and how to pour & tap a keg, but I wish they had gone more into the beer brands specifically, because a lot of bars out there focus mostly on beer. You get a list of the «popular» brands and origins, but it’s maybe a 15 minute lesson and it left me more confused than before, and worried I’d be turned down for a job because of my ignorance about different beers. I’ve been trying to study them on my own, but it’s not the same as hearing it from a pro (or an alcoholic).
* Wine is covered less than beer. You watch a video about serving wine, but you don’t get any real education on the subject.
* The class costs $ 395 for two weeks or the one week intensive, plus extra for the workbook. While it’s not a bad price for a class that teaches you so much, and you CAN make up that much in tips on a good night of bartending, it may be months before you actually find a job to pay it off in the first place. That can be frustrating for those of us who need a second source of income ASAP, and want to know that 400 bucks won’t end up just a negative blotch on our bank statements.
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OVERALL:
I’d recommend ABC to friends, if only because you learn so much and leave with a very good understanding of liquor in general. Bartending is a very useful skill to have. It’s like knowing CPR or how to be a lifeguard — you can drop what you’re doing and go into ‘work mode’ wherever needed.
Advice for job searching:
1) You can get good practice (and contacts!) doing private parties and events.
2) Find out where new bars are opening up, and try to get in on the ground floor.
3) Be cheerful and enthusiastic. It’s hard to keep that up when you’ve been to 20 bars already that turned you down, but a smile and good conversational skills do make a difference in this field.

Two Good Words: recreational bartending.
Two Bad Words: No Placement
Ok, so I had a lot of fun at this place, when I signed up to take the week long immersion course. The books are kind of out-​dated, but the teacher updates you. I do feel confident about drinks, and can make about two hundred or so in my repertoire, but not about the POS system, which they glossed over and is one of the things that people who hire me ask about. The teachers here each have tons of experience, but it either contradicts what the book says, or what other professors say. Kind of confusing, but they have a really good bar back there to practice on.
What sucks is, a month after graduating I’m no closer to a job then I was then, because they have a hotline for you to call in, but most of those job leads are posted on craigslist. Weak. If you are going to do a bartending school, I reccomend finding one that is called a bartenders’ job agency in the title, or do some research and find one that really does give you a job, not job LEADS. Leads get you nowhere here. This one cost me about four hundred bucks, and I do feel good about pouring drinks, but as far as the buisness side of landing me a job, they did not deliver.
UPDATE: This review used to be two stars, now it is one. I got placed as a bartender, and nothing they taught me prepared me for what I was doing. Don’t waste your money, because each bar does things differently and this school definitely won’t help. ABC must stand for Already Been Cuckholded, when your credit card goes through.