A little advice from your friendly TABC certification online and on-site provider

One thing I’ve seen from managing servers and bartenders and also teaching TABC certification courses is seller-servers lose focus of their priorities far too easily. Too many servers and bartenders are scared of making customers angry and therefore losing a tip, and as a result they don’t make proactive decisions to protect themselves, their employer, and the customer. Maybe it’s a lack of confidence, a lack of knowledge and understanding of the law, or maybe these workers just don’t care. In the end, it doesn’t matter … Your punishment will be the same. You’ll still be thrown in jail, charged with a crime, fined, and possibly sued in civil court depending on what happened.

Regardless of how comfortable or willing you are to engage a guest who needs to be cut off or is breaking some other law like giving alcohol to one of their friends who is a minor, it is always a wise decision to inform your manager of what’s going on. At the end of the day, the TABC says the person who actually serves, sells, or delivers the alcoholic beverage is legally responsible for the sale (that’s you) but your manager may have some tools at his disposal that you’re not aware of, and at a minimum it allows you to take a step back and let your manager be the bad guy. Believe me, I know firsthand that being the bad guy is sometimes just a part of a manger’s job. This can allow you to more easily remain attentive to all of your guests and continue doing your job, which is providing great customer service.