Responsible service and food safety

Hospitality is looking after people. The drink is how we do it, and the drink is never the point. Everything in this guide follows from that: knowing what a drink actually contains, helping a guest enjoy the evening and get home well, saying no without shame, and keeping the bar as clean as a kitchen. None of it is about making anyone drunk, and none of it includes advice on how to.

What you need

• A jigger, so every pour is a known quantity
• Water glasses and a pitcher on the bar, filled before the first drink
• A card or note in the bar listing the nine major allergens and the drinks that contain them
• Hot water, dish soap, a food-safe sanitizer with its label, and clean towels
• In Nevada, if you serve or sell for pay: your alcohol awareness card

Steps

1. Know the standard drink. The CDC and NIAAA definitions agree: a US standard drink is 0.6 fl oz (14 g) of pure alcohol. That is 12 oz of 5 percent beer, 5 oz of 12 percent wine, 1.5 oz of an 80-proof spirit, and about 2 to 3 oz of a 24 percent liqueur. A 2 oz martini at 40 percent is roughly 1.3 standard drinks; a negroni (1 oz each of gin at 40 percent, Campari at 24 percent and sweet vermouth at about 16 percent) is about 1.3; a highball with 1.5 oz of spirit is one. Count by alcohol, not by glass.
2. Say what is in the glass. Offer the standard drink count when a guest asks, and never hide the strength of a drink behind sweetness. A tall fruit drink with 3 oz of rum is two standard drinks and tastes like juice; say so.
3. Pace the evening. Pour water with every drink, unasked. Put food on the table before the second round. Leave 20 minutes or more between rounds when you are hosting, and let the guest lead rather than topping up. The CDC frames moderate use as no more than two drinks a day for men and one for women, and advises people who do not drink not to start; a host's job is to make the lighter option the easy one. Offer a nonalcoholic version of whatever you are serving, made with the same care.
4. Refuse service gracefully. The signs are familiar: slowed speech, unsteady movement, spilled drinks, a sudden change in mood. The approach is quiet and private. Move close, lower your voice, and say what you will do, not what they did: "I'm going to get you some water and something to eat, and we'll call it on the cocktails for tonight." Offer food, water, a seat, and a ride. Do not negotiate, do not lecture, and do not make a scene in front of the table. If you are the host, arrange the ride yourself. A guest who is refused with kindness comes back; one who is embarrassed does not.
5. Never serve a minor, and never serve anyone who will drive. Check ID when you are not certain and do not apologize for it.
6. In Nevada, hold the card. Nevada law (NRS 369.630) requires anyone who sells or serves alcohol, or works security, at an establishment in a county of 100,000 or more people (Clark County, home of Las Vegas, included) to hold an alcohol education card from a certified program, obtained within 30 days of being hired. The card lasts four years. The program (NRS 369.625) runs at least two hours and covers how alcohol affects the body, recognizing intoxication, state and local law, preventing fights, spotting false identification and preventing sales to minors. Fines fall on the establishment: $500, then $1,000, then $5,000 for repeat violations within 24 months. Providers include the Nevada Restaurant Association's ServSafe Alcohol course with a proctored exam. A bartender working in Summerlin or Centennial needs this card on day one.
7. Disclose allergens. The FDA names nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Sulfites must be declared on packaged food at 10 parts per million or more. In the bar these show up as:
   • Egg: whiskey sour, pisco sour, flips, any foam. Aquafaba is the egg-free swap.
   • Dairy: Irish coffee, cream drinks, milk-washed and clarified milk punches (the milk is strained out, the allergen is not).
   • Tree nuts: orgeat (almond), amaretto, nocino, hazelnut liqueur. Coconut cream in a pina colada is not a tree nut under FDA labeling; say "coconut" anyway.
   • Sulfites: wine, vermouth, sherry, prosecco, most grenadine.
   • Gluten: beer in a michelada; distilled grain spirits are generally regarded as gluten-free, but flag flavored products. Write these on the menu or say them when you serve. If a guest declares an allergy, make the drink with clean tools, a fresh shaker and a fresh spoon.
8. Keep a kitchen standard of clean. Follow the CDC's four steps. Wash hands for at least 20 seconds before service and after handling egg, citrus or raw fruit. Wash tools, boards and the bar top with hot soapy water after each item and at the end of the night, then sanitize food-contact surfaces with a food-safe sanitizer mixed and timed exactly as its label says, and let everything air dry. Refrigerate juices, syrups, dairy and egg within two hours and keep the fridge at 40 F (4 C) or below. Replace bar towels daily. Discard ice that has had hands in it; use a scoop, kept outside the bin.

What can go wrong

• "Just one more" from someone who should stop: hold the line kindly. Water, food, ride.
• A guest reacts to a drink: ask what they ate or drank, call for help at once if there is swelling or difficulty breathing, and keep the glass for reference.
• Egg-white sour left at room temperature: discard any egg mixture after two hours.
• A cloudy, fizzing syrup: fermentation. Pour it out and wash the bottle.
• Sticky bar top at the end of the night: syrup residue feeds bacteria. Hot soapy water, then sanitizer, then dry.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "About Standard Drink Sizes."
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, "What's a Standard Drink?"
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "About Moderate Alcohol Use."
• Nevada Legislature, Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 369, sections 369.600 to 369.635.
• US Food and Drug Administration, "Food Allergies."
• US Food and Drug Administration, "Food Code 2022."
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Preventing Food Poisoning."