MMA – Shaken Not Stirred in LA

I did an event yesterday close to home in North Hollywood at a boxing/MMA gym. My client hosted an event to showcase a particular style of stick fighting that is certain to become popular. He contacted me after seeing my Yelp profile, which was my first job via Yelp. I have a couple of Yelp reviews, which I am very appreciative that the people took time to write. People often say that they will write reviews and then they get busy and forget about it. Fortunately, I have no bad reviews – those people always take time to write.

My purpose at this particular event was to serve the people who were invited to event beer and wine. We set up in the parking lot and set up the portable bar and a tent for the appetizers. My client purchased appetizers from Le Pain Quotidien of Larchmont Village, (which I don’t know how to pronounce) that were very classy. I served Heineken, Stella Artois, Bud Light, and Estancia wine. Estancia is a very good wine that you can purchase for about $10 a bottle. We once did a wine tasting with Estancia wines at a restaurant I worked at, and we used it as a house wine.

The event was very easy and I assume it was a success for my client, and it was definitely a success for Shaken Not Stirred. Today I am preparing for a wedding in Valencia. The wedding was booked months ago and is finally happening today. I am taking two servers with me. The catering at these events is usually buffet style and self serve, but people want extra servers on hand to clear tables and help with the cake, etc. I will bartend and one of the servers will probably assist me as a barback during the initial drink rush just after the ceremony. My philosophy is to be of maximum service to whoever hires me, so they can enjoy themselves and not worry about the minute details.

I booked a birthday party/Cinco De Mayo next weekend in Sherman Oaks, also close to home. It is very nice driving five or ten minutes to an event, but I love going to Palm Springs, Orange County, the far reaches of Los Angeles County, and Santa Barbara also. I will get the chance later this summer because I have weddings and events booked in all of those places. Later this month I will be bartending a wedding in Fillmore, where I have never been. The cool thing about being a mobile bartender is that I get to go to new places all the time and meet new people. Never a dull moment in the event bartender business!

So far the month of August is still pretty open, so I am going to aggressively try to get some gigs for that month. I have the portable bar now and will make that available for a very reasonable rate. I need some reunions, pool parties, and graduation parties to round out the summer.

Last weekend I worked an MMA fight event at the Encore Dinner Theater in Tustin. I was basically called in to help their two regular bartenders because they were expecting over 300 people for this event. The turnout was at least that many and needless to say we were busy. I was basically a bar back, but I probably poured 500 beers. Bud Light was probably the biggest seller, followed by Stella Artois and Corona. I didn’t get to see any of the action because I was in the service bar, but it sounded exciting. There were many drinkers and the regular bartender made a lot of drinks – Long Island Ice Teas were probably the most popular. The Encore Dinner Theater was a nice venue and I guess it has been recently renovated. They put on all kinds of shows there besides just dinner theater.

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Last night I bartended a birthday party at a private home in Indian Wells. It was my first time to that community in the Coachella Valley and I hope to go back there again. I stayed at the Indian Wells Resort Hotel and the rates were very reasonable for that nice of a place. There are many resorts right in the same area and they are huge. The Miramonte resort right across the street is incredible. I went over there to check it out and I got lost in the grounds and probably had to walk a mile to get out of there. So, I had a nice bartending gig, and a nice little getaway all in one.

The party I worked at Indian Wells was a birthday party and they had probably 25 guests. We set up a makeshift bar with using a long table and a table cloth. I helped the host make a drink menu and shopping list. At the end, they had a lot of alcohol left over, but I’m sure it will go to good use at another party. I made margaritas, and by the request of the host – the drink of the night was Rockstar and Soju (Korean rice liquor). The hostess served dinner salmon, braised beef, sushi, and salad to 25 people and it was very good. I was impressed how she set up heated serving trays and everything almost all by herself and was so efficient. We used plastic cups for the mixed drinks, but real wine glasses for the wine, which is always a nice touch. Overall, a very nice event, and the kind that I really like to work.

Halloween weekend is next week and so far I have no event scheduled – so please call me if you need a bartender for your Halloween party. I have other bartenders that I can send out as well, male and female. I am based out of the San Fernando Valley, but will go almost anywhere in Southern California and can also provide servers if you need them. My rates are affordable, I am LEADS certified, and I make great drinks!

Tag: MMA

North Hollywood MMA Exhibition Event

Tustin MMA Event and Indian Wells Birthday Party