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FeedThe Bar Exam
Our resident party boy tested a few great places to get your drink on.
These earn the As.
research assistance by Caitlin Birch Published March 19, 2009 at 08:08 AM
(page 13 of 14)
The Trials and Tribulations of a Hot Bartender
Hey, can I buy you a drink?
Jen Brendle, 28, hears it all the time from doting male fans at Union City Grille in Wilmington, where she tends bar two nights a week.
Her popularity has led to her own signature drink, the Brendle-tini (with Absolut pear, Godiva liqueur, Licor 43 and cream), plus gifts from her devotees. Drinks, dinner invitations, bottles of wine and even New York Mets tickets are placed at the Altar of Brendle.
Bartender Ashley Schuler got a marriage proposal.
“This Mexican guy, his visa was close to expiring, so he offered me $8,000 to marry him,” says Schuler, 23, who tends bar at Washington Street Ale House. She considered the offer carefully, but declined.
“You form personal relationships with these people because you’re seeing them once or twice a week, which is sometimes more than your close friends,” Brendle says. “So you get to know about them personally.”
But Brendle knows exactly how to play the game. “Of course, one of the biggest rules is you never let them know you have a boyfriend,” says Brendle, who does. “You either have no boyfriend or, like, five.”
Schuler gives hope to all the—ahem—“regulars” out there. She met her boyfriend on the job.
“At times it can be overwhelming,” she says. “You can feel them watching you, which is creepy and a little annoying, but I try to keep it professional.”
Says Brendle, “I realize these guys probably are coming in for me, so I want to make them feel special.”
How deliciously diabolical.
Page 14: Why Dewey is Bar Capital of the Coast
