By Aillinn Brennan • Special to The Current
The bar industry adds 27 billion dollars to the economy and there are over 70,000 bars who employ over 400,000 people in the U.S. The average household spends about $3,000 a year brunching, lunching, dining and bar hopping. When everyone is saying “have a great weekend” on Friday afternoon, we are working hard to make that happen.
At our bar, you sing happy birthday, you toast your new job, you bitch about your boss, you fall in love, and sometimes you break up. When we ask you how everything is and you say “SOOOO good” we are SOOOO happy.
Behind the scenes when your sipping and snacking and telling funny stories, we’re chopping, slicing, dicing, mixing, stirring, serving and smiling all day. Our cooks are throwing flames and deifying the hazards of gallons of bubbling oil, in the cauldron, that is the fryer. House cut fries and potato chips, means hundreds of pounds of spuds. On a Friday afternoon 50 pound boxes are stacked high. And each one of those Idaho potatoes goes through a hand cutter, with one hand cutting them ALL.
The vibration, and sound carries through the building with a steady whomp, whomp, whomp. The crackle of stacking dishes is a constant, and thank you dishwashers who work so hard behind the scenes washing them all.
There’s a lot of lingo in the business. “Tops” is the term for each one of you. If it’s you and your date, you’re a “2 top.” If you’re a group of 10 you’re a “10 top” and the kitchen has to know we just seated you. “You guys are getting a ten top!”
At the Marion Hose Bar we have a very small kitchen which you can see into from the dining room. You sip your beer and sit mesmerized by the constant activity. As the plates hit the window, the server’s line-up, and decipher what goes where, and to who, fast.
And everyone knows it’s an on-your-feet business and we wear Fitbits. On a record breaking day a server logged 8 miles! That’s a lot of steps in our small 2,000 sq. ft. pub.
It’s a crazy business. Over the past two years we have had lots of fantastic employees, mostly incredibly hard working and talented. But there were a few crazy ones, too. One decided to quit and go out with a bang during lunch service. He departed with the most extraordinary barrage of F-Bombs you ever heard. With his hands waving, and spittle coming out of his mouth, sweat pouring down his brow, and a seriously crazed look in his eye, he made his final exit. We all got a loud and wild gesturing “F@#K you!”
When the dust settled it was Donny who quipped, “At least I got an F-You Donny.” And we all laughed. Our guests got a kick out of the scene too. Upon rushing over to guests at the picnic table to apologize profusely for the disruption, and the disgraceful language, in front of the baby! They said, “We’re here from New Orleans, and now we feel right at home.” And the F Bombs continued in the background all the way down to the court house, echoing in our pretty little town.
We have been at it for two years on October 2 and it truly is a lot of fun being your weekend makers. Happy 2nd Anniversary Marion Hose Bar! AND thank you Frank, Vinny, Shannon, Jacob, Austin, Amanda, Donny, Barb, Christine, Hannah, Tripti, Trish, Sonja, Sam, Tessa, Emily, Joy, Heather and Angie (we miss you). YOU are the Marion Hose Bar.
Aillinn Brennan is proprietor of The Marion Hose Bar located at 16 W. Broadway in Jim Thorpe. For more visit www.marionhosebar.com
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