Bartending College

I love this place. The tutor was very fun and informative. Learnt a lot about bar tending.

After my first night of bartending, I made back more than what this class costed me!
Tiffany is a fantastic teacher! She’s very knowledgable, friendly, and extremely patient with her students! It took me about 3 weeks to graduate as I wasn’t able to make it to class every day. This school is extremely flexible and lets you take classes anytime according to your schedule!
The first hour or so of every class is lectures, then they set you free to practice what you learned!
The test to pass is difficult, so don’t skimp on studying!
I applied to different places the day I graduated, and was hired within a week! Thank you ABC bartending!

my first Unilocal review!!! took the class last year.
got a bartending job right after finishing 2 weeks of classes
my instructer was Erik with a K !!!
he will teach u everything u need to know!!!
you probably will have trouble finding a job. but do not get discouraged.
tell the interviewer that your instrcuter is very good and you are ready for the job.
btw if u learn and listen what Erik says.
YOU ARE READY!!!

Took a trial class a few months back. It wasn’t what I expected and decided not to continue or purchase the class (they offer free trials or at least did then). Before leaving I forgot my sun glasses. Called back to be told that they have been found and kept aside. Went in and was casually asked if I am joining the class — to which I answered no. They couldn’t find the sun glasses after that. Asked them to check with whoever found them. No luck. Only response they were never here or those weren’t mine.
I learned a little during the class and it seemed good but it wasn’t what I was looking for. This review is more towards the shady handling of the missing sunglasses.

Terrific school. Took the class and got hired before completion! The instructors have great connections. Eric is an amazing teacher. He makes the class entertaining, and teaches you techniques that are not always mentioned in books!
Even if you can’t memorize every single drink, its all about the accuracy in the pours — which you practice every single day! Bar owners love an accurate, precise bar tender… they don’t want to see money going down the drain!
Bar tending provides me with a night job (I have a separate job during the day) so it’s a great way to get income on the side. Overall, this is a great investment towards a rewarding, fun skill.

I took the bartending course last year and it was one of the best decisions I have made. The course covered everything I needed to become a professional bartender and it launched my career behind the bar (I have worked as a bartender for more than five years). Besides attending to class every day for two weeks I had to spend several hours at home studying the bartender manual which contains the drink recipes. This was not an easy task, it was time consuming and sometimes frustrating because there were so many drinks I had to learn; however, students were allowed to stay after the class to practice how to make drinks and that made the learning process much easier. I recommend this course to anyone who wants to become a bartender, however I really believe that at least 95% of restaurants and bars don’t hire bartenders without experience on the floor so anyone who signs up should be aware of the real chances of getting a job in the bar industry.

It IS as good as it gets… LONG time student.(I’m a busy girl! lol)…LOVE the place.price.hours…but what i truly love is TIFFANY! Hands down the most patient yet thorough instuctor around… She actually came in on her days off to help me! (shhh.don’t ask her to do that tho).Slow learner and she never gave me a hard time about that. VERY professional. Always smiling. YOU Rock Tiffany! Thank you!

I just want to say how much I enjoyed this class! It was fun, exciting, and your really learn alot quickly! I took the classes for two weekends and I can’t believe that I’m already done. ERIK is an amazing teacher! He gives lots of examples and will tell you why instead of just giving you the answer! He had our class at work ! And we had good laughs along the way! Jessica, an old student, would come by to help out sometimes and she was wonderful too! I love how once your a student your always a student ! So I was able to come in when ever they were open to practice or retake a section I was confused about! Take this class, you won’t regret it !!

This school is pretty awesome. Erik is pretty laid back and is a really good instructor who knows his stuff. The class itself is pretty laid back and you can leave early when you feel you’ve had enough practice for the lesson. I highly recommend this location if you want to be a bartender or just wanna learn about mixing drinks.

This school is amazing! I had so much fun learning from the instructors here! I had Erik Hope and he is AMAZING!!! He made learning so much fun and made me want to come to class everyday! And learn to be a great and amazing bartender! This school is amazing and wonderful! There is no words that can describe how I felt when I completed the program! I felt amazing and I have to thank Erik for that! If you are thinking to become a bartending come to this school!!!

Great course! Tiffany and Erik do a great job — careful and enthusiastic. And yes, in my case — having done this course has helped me get a job at a reputable bar. I highly recommend it to anyone considering giving it a try. 2 weeks well spent learning the basics of bartending.

I have been in the club business for quite sometime now and I’ve always been curious about bar tending. I did a bit of research and found this school. At the time they had a 2 for 1 deal, so I signed up my brother and I for the course. i was very skeptic whether this was the place to learn but It was great, it’s worth every penny. I finished the course and I learned so much. Erick was great, that man is hilarious and he takes his lessons serious. You will learn a lot from him, I highly recommend it.

Awesome instructor (Erik Hope)!! Makes the class very fun. Sense of humor and great personality. The class course isn’t easy. If your serious about it then you need to be focused. You need to memorize at least 100 recipes which isn’t so bad. TRUST ME! To be certified, you need to pass a written and practical exam. I thought it would be super hard but it’s not. At the back of the book has 97% of the same written test. Just read the book and you will be fine. I got a 99%. If you can’t remember a flavor or etc, you can go behind the bar and look at the bottles to help yourself for the written. The practical isn’t as bad as well. I got so nervous! Erik will help you relax and calm down. He goes through the test like its a practice test. He repeats what you need to pour so you don’t forget. The best part is he will let you skim through the pour test for a quick second which doesn’t make you as nervous. I passed with a 100%! Erik will certify you with a certificate. Also! You can come back to practice once you get a job or just want to come in for the hell of it. With the studying and the time on coming to class you will pass like me! Good Luck!

Instructor Hollywood is really good, I think this will be my first Unilocal review and probably will be my last as well — that is enough said.
Like John F. said below, if you cannot take a joke in a bar-​tending class, then it is most likely not bar-​tending.
However, I do agree with some review below regarding administrative efficiency. It requires a lot of upgrade and improvement.
The teaching, the class, and the instructors are good, but the administrative process need major change.

So, this class was a birthday present to me from my womanz. She knew that I have been wanted to take a class for some time. Good call on this. I guess I will keep her for now.
First off, you must realize. this is a bartending class. Meaning you learn about alcohol and working in bar. Adult environment. Don’t come here thinking PG13.
Second, have a sense of humor for criminy sakes. If you don’t have a sense of humor or thick skin, you are looking at the wrong class and wrong profession. Being a good bartender is about being able to listen and SMILE. Not talk and frown.
So, now about the class. No alcohol, all the bottles are colored water. Imaging 20 drunk people trying to learn? You do however get to learn the pours, ingredients, equipment, and proper techniques that can make you a great mixologist.
I took the 2day, 2 weekend class. 40 hours, give or take. That is the minimum time. You do however have to option to repeat any class, anytime time, on any day. Once a student, always a student. This is great for those looking to get a job. As this is one of those skills where if you don’t use it, you loose it. So, before a job interview or the such, you can pop in the school for a day or too and get practicing. Or even sit in on a lecture that you need some refreshing on.
Taking this class was a great benefit to me. I already knew how to make drinks, but what I lacked was the skills to make them faster and know the proper technique or equipment to use. Now that the class is done, I just have to take my test and look for a job. Speaking of which, they also provide help in this. After taking the class and getting certified, they have a job placement program. Not bad.
Instructors were great. Very knowledgeable. Lots of enerygy. Literally. Like 4 bottles of it. They were actually happy to be teaching and it showed. They were not just going through the paces, they actually wanted to be there. That makes all the difference in the world when it comes to sharing knowledge.
My thoughts on the 2 instructors we had:
Eric, the main instructor, was full of himself, over confident, loud, crass, and just plain enjoyable. Yeah, it made the lectures interesting. Was a good instructor and knows his shit. Don’t let the loud talking fool you. Just laugh at his jokes and take notes and you will do just fine.
Hollywood. What can I say. FIELDTRIP! :) Great instructor. Took the time to make sure you understood what he was teaching. Yes, he taught what was in the book, but he also taught by showing and giving you helpful REAL WORLD advice. This sinks into me to me more than sitting and listening. I need to actually see and do. I enjoyed his style as it was the most beneficial to me. A good mix of lecture time and lab time.
Would I recommend this class? Absafrickinglootely… What? I’m just sayin.

Using a Groupon deal, I made reservations a couple months in advance to take bar tending training classes over two consecutive weekends. I showed up this Saturday to take the class… along with 30+ other people.
This was clearly a scheduling error (overlap/​double booking?) – there is not enough seats, handbooks, bar stations, or staff to handle 30+ people! However our instructor, Hollywood, was a champ! Not only did he weather this fiasco by himself; he managed to do it all with a smile :).
After going through the intended topics for that day (advance topics not meant for newcomers) he separated newcomers to give a quick essential crash course on basics skills and knowledge of bartending. This worked wonderfully as the quick intro made me feel less overwhelmed/​bored by topics that are not yet very relevant to me and the non-​newcomers got to advance in their course topics without being held back on the account of newcomers. Hollywood modified the lunch hour and even stayed after class ended (on his own time and dime) to let the newcomers practice to our hearts content.
The only lasting irritation I have is about some dude (didn’t catch the name, I just knows he handles the money and paperwork side of things). Comes in during the afternoon (while the newbies are practicing and the rest of the group was out to lunch), was made aware of the giant morning fiasco, and his one and only concern was if everyone paid for the class in full. No apologies or explanation from him about the fiasco; after he confirmed everything was paid for he went back to the other side of the building (casino school) and I haven’t seen him since. Gee buddy… thanks for making me not feel like a walking dollar sign!!!
The rocky start of this class had me worried, but by the end of it I was having a lot of fun learning to mix and pour a proper drink! I can’t wait to start the second set of classes next week! Ask for Hollywood – he’ll take care of you, he actually cares about the quality of the classes that you’re paying for.

My friend and I always thought bartending would be a fun thing to learn, so we signed up!
Guess what?! It was awesome! We had a blast learning the drinks!
If you do decide to take some classes go to Erik’s! He might be somewhat… well…eccentric with his humor BUT it makes the class more entertaining and you remember the drinks with ease! He knows his stuff!
We passed with flying colors! Now off to make back the money we spent on the class!
Can’t say anything about the job placement. I’ll update on that once I try it out.

Erik and Rob are super helpful and a lot of fun! I definitely feel that I will have a leg up going into the field. They know so much about Bartending but they also know a lot about other stuff. Makes for very good conversation.
There is a lot to memorize for the test and you need to get at least 90% on the written test in order to pass. Rob and Erik are there for you along the way and you can take as much time as you need, retaking classes if you need to, and coming in to practice pouring drinks.

I went to NBS because I bought the Groupon for the 40 hour bartending class. There were multiple options of class configurations to choose from and if you miss a class, there are options to make it up the same day or sometime in the future. Attendance is relaxed, as far as WHEN you take the classes, so long as you get all your hours accounted for. Lots of parking available behind the strip mall it’s located in, and it’s easy to find: about 2 blocks from Shoreline on El Camino.
The instructors are AWESOME. Erik will tell you all about Scotch in a brogue and then demonstrate the best way to dispose of a dead body. Rob is super-​mellow, and makes sure you know what he’s talking about. Both instructors are currently bartenders, so they can give you current knowledge on drink trends and what it’s like to work in a bar.
This isn’t just messing around with alcohol. There are 60 to 90 minutes of lecture to start each class (I took the 4 hrs per day for 8 days), then you go behind the bar and practice how to mix the drinks from the day’s chapter with glasses, ice and colored water. That’s 32 hours of in-​class work and I’d agree that the other 8 hours can definitely be spent reading the text book at home. At the end you have a written and practical test (which I still haven’t taken though I finished class 2 weeks ago), before you can be certified. Whether you take it for fun (like me), or because you want to work at bartending, this school will definitely give you all the information you need.
Thanks, guys!

Erik, the head instructor, is cool & funny. Curses alot. Haha. He makes the class very fun & enjoyable. Bar-​like setting. :)