Bartender American Professional Schools

Let me start off by saying my teacher, Don, was amazing. He’s personable, knowledgable and made what I did learn fun. I signed up for this course because I’m a single mother and what I’m making now in my other two jobs is not enough, so I thought I could add to the days/​nights I have free. I made my first of two payments and started the course. I only signed up to go to the Schaumburg location because the others are too far. About a little less than halfway through the course I was sitting with the teacher and he said, «Hey, I need the other half of your tuition.»
ME: Well, I’m taking off work early tomorrow to come and do the classes I haven’t been able to get because they don’t work with my schedule. Can I just pay you tomorrow?
HIM: Don’t you have a credit card? Besides, the owner came in and took all my files. He never does that. At least it’ll look like I did something today. (he laughs)
ME: Ok (I pay him the last payment) I’ll see you tomorrow around 3pm
The next day I leave work early, grab some lunch, and head to the school. There’s a HUGE white truck/​van taking up three spots in the lot. I grab my stuff and start walking in. There’s a man standing outside on the phone and as I walk past him, he says, «What do you think you’re doing?»
ME: I’m going to class. What do you think I’m doing.
But now I’m looking around and the owners of the truck are dumping whatever they can into trash cans and taking them out past me.
MAN: There’s no class. They were evicted this morning.
ME: WHAT!!!
The sound of the hundreds of bottles being emptied into the dumpster outside is distracting
MAN: Yeah, they were thrown out. You can’t come in.
So I walk out and sit in my car. They JUST took my money 12 hours before. I called the school’s main number and a guy named Nico told me to come to their location and we’d work something out. He said I was only twenty minutes away and he had no idea what had happened.
An HOUR and twenty-​five minutes later I pull up in front of this janky looking strip mall with a check cashing place and I think it was a tarot card reader. I was afraid to park my car on this busy road. I walked in and found Nico and another man sitting in what I’m assuming was the office. I told them both there’s no way after working a full day that I’m going to drive over an hour to a part of town that I wouldn’t want to walk out at night by myself and I would like a refund.
NICO: I’m not authorized to do that. But I’ll leave a message for the man who can.
ME: Is it going to be the owner? Because apparently he doesn’t know how to pay his bills. I want you to make sure he has all my info.
(He starts to write my name and number) I was on edge, I’ll admit. I’m usually not that aggressive.
NICO: I don’t know. The owner doesn’t know what happened.
ME: I’ll tell you what happened. Nobody gets their sh! t thrown out on the lawn for missing one payment. He knew. That’s why he came in and took the files yesterday. He KNEW.
(Blank stare from Nico)
ME: So can you write down the name of the guy who’s going to call me and where is he?
NICO: Oh, he had to run out. I don’t know his name.
ME: You don’t know his name? You work with the guy and you don’t know his name?
(Now, it’s the owner, I know this now. And he ran out because I called my teacher and told him the school was being emptied into a dumpster.)
NICO: Uh, his name is Frank
(There is no Frank. He panicked not knowing if he should tell me the owner’s name)
ME: Ok, I’ll wait for his call.
No phone call ever came. So I contacted the bank I paid with and they gave me my money back. All of it. But I wasted SO much time and have nothing to show for it. Now I have to start over and find a new school, not located anywhere near me, and pay more because all the Christmas deals are over. They handled it like a$$hats. That’s all. Nobody contacted me to try to make anything right. I am positive they couldn’t have forgotten I came in. Just a shame for me and the 50-​something other students who hadn’t taken their test or finished the classes yet.

I need to share a BIG SHOUT OUT to my instructor LIZ! Her energy and enthusiasm were superior and lasted the all day. She was an AMAZING teacher that knows everything about everything. Her stories and speed drills really helped put all the information together.
I came into Bartending School with no experience. After graduating I have the confidence to jump into my first job with ease. Liz taught the ins and outs and ways to succeed. I have nothing bad to say about the school. Everything you need to know to be a superior bartender, you will learn it here. I HIGHLY recommend this school! Liz is the BEST!

I cannot say enough good things about my experience with the classes I took. I always wanted a profession in bartending, but never knew where to go or how to get started. I searched on the internet and wanted to try this school since it was close to my home. I called the office and told them I was skeptical, so they encouraged me to just stop in on a class and observe. WOW, was I excited to see everyone working hands-​on and with each other. I knew that this was the place I wanted to attend.
The classes helped me with so many facets of bartending that I still adhere to today. While drink recipes are a major focus, the class also concentrates on pouring, cleanliness, and hardware knowledge. In fact, I think that the returning of all equipment and bottles to its original location is probably the most important thing I have learned and has pretty much become my mantra.
The course was also fun and educational with stories and jokes. Don was an awesome teacher, and his experience and stories would leave you waiting to hear more. I always looked forward to attending classes and would stay until the last minute.
Maybe the best about the program is the job placement service. After completing the courses, I was then worried about how I would find a job in bartending. However, the placement service they use could not have been any more easier. I took the coursework in March of 2014 and was able to have my first job the first week of April. I was looking to advance my career several months later, and again, the school provided me with a link to a position that I absolutely love working at today.
Bartender American Professional Schools has changed my life by helping me to pursue a career I have always wanted and continues to guide me as I make my bartending journey. I would HIGHLY recommend this facility to anyone considering a field in bartending.

Don is a fantastic teacher that has spent countless hours in and after classes to teach me everything I’ve bombarded him with. The location of this school is cozily parked right next door to Binny’s beverage depot (see my review for that fine establishment) so you can do homework at the same time without doing any additional driving!
The course is structured partly to be theory where Don lectures, combined with video courses on proper handling practices, pouring techniques, how to handle customers who have had too much and how to earn decent tips. The second part of the instruction is hands on practice pouring drinks that are made out of colored water to match the consistency of their real-​life counterparts.
Thankfully the course can be completed in two weeks or longer if you have an insane schedule like I did at the time. Don was accommodating and let me stretch it out further to match my work schedule. Combined with an excellent sense of humor and some helpful classmates, I feel more confident when tending the bar at parties, even though I’m not trying to make a vocation out of this. I can’t say enough good things about Don though, you don’t find many teachers like him.
Whether you’re going to make a full-​time profession out of bartending or were just like me who wanted some practice for the occasional shindig, this school is an excellent place to start.