Southern California’s traveling gig bartender, Shaken Not Stirred bartended several events in the past two weeks across the region. I have been very busy the past two weeks and have not had time to keep up with this blog. I have done events in Inglewood, Downtown LA, Pacific Palisades, Fullerton, Beverly Hills, and Simi Valley. All were successful, and I think my clients were happy with my service – I did pick up some more five star reviews and referrals.

I started off the string of events in Downtown LA at the La Kretz Innovation Campus. SheEO sponsored an fundraising event and I served wine and soft drinks to approximately 50 ladies. SheEO seems like a very worthwhile organization, and should appeal to any female entrepreneurs. I hope to do more events with them in the future.

Next I bartended a party in Inglewood attended largely by a local contingent of Nigerian immigrants. They served traditional Nigerian food, like jerk goat, and mint pies. I served wine, beer, and cocktails. The host invited me to work there every Friday night. I was tempted by the offer of ongoing work, but turned it down. An ongoing weekly gig feels too much like a job to me. I would rather see where the universe takes me.

Types of Events for a Gig Bartender

Birthday parties
Weddings
Corporate Events
Fundraisers
Pool parties
Class Reuinions

The day after, I went to Pacific Palisades to bartend a summer/company party. A local law firm held the party for employees and friends. I set up my portable bar on the deck next to the pool. It was a hot summer night, and I got bitten several times by mosquitos, which is rare in California. The host had a very nice selection of liquor and mixers and I was able to make some craft cocktails.

palisades1 — Guests mingle in Pacific Palisades

On Sunday, I traveled to Orange County to the Fullerton Community Center to bartend a wedding. It was a my first time working the venue and it had a large ballroom big enough to seat at least two hundred people. Over 100 people attended this wedding and I kept pretty busy making drinks for all of those people. Luckily they were mostly wine drinkers, which makes to easier for me to serve 100 people by myself.

Mid week I bartended a corporate event in Beverly Hills for one of my best clients. They have hired me for at least a dozen events, and most of the events are one weekdays, which I really appreciate. I brought another bartender with me and we served cocktails to approximately 75 guests. It was deathly hot and humid that night in Los Angeles, with the humidity hovering at 60 percent.

I finished off the week in beautiful Simi Valley bartending a baby shower on Saturday Night. The humid weather subsided, and it was an extremely pleasant night for August in Simi Valley. It even got a bit chilly after the sun went down. I served cocktails to around 50 guests and finished at 11pm.

This coming weekend I have only one event scheduled for Saturday night, but that could change. I will be bartending a birthday party in Northridge. Later this month I have events in Tujunga, San Diego, Irvine, and Hawthorne. All of my Saturdays are booked through October. Please follow Shaken Not Stirred, the gig bartender on Instagram.

bartender for hire, Uncategorized

Bartender for Hire Does Three Weekend Events

June 27, 2017 shakennotstirredinla

Shaken Not Stirred, the Los Angeles bartender for hire had a busy weekend and did three fantastic events over the weekend. Friday night I bartended a short cocktail hour at a beautiful home in Pacific Palisades, on Saturday I did a wedding south of downtown Los Angeles, and then on Sunday I drove out to Mentone to bartend a baby shower. I met a lot of great people and served a whole lot of drinks.

Pacific Palisades Cocktail Party

I set up my portable bar and the back deck that had a great view of the Santa Monica Bay and mountains. The host told me that she has regular get togethers with a few of her friends, and this was the perfect place to do it. We were going to serve martinis and margaritas, but the guests only ended up drinking margaritas. For small parties, I make margaritas with tequila, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and Cointreau, with a salt rim. This was a big hit with this crowd, and I didn’t make a single martini. The two hours went quickly, and I was on my way back home.

South Los Angeles Wedding

On Saturday, the bartender for hire drove to South Los Angeles to bartend a wedding, that was booked months ago. Many brides book their weddings up to a year in advance. I usually don’t like to bid on jobs that far in advance, but often book them six months in advance. Then I help plan the drink menu and shopping list. I arrived at the home where the wedding was being held, and they had a tent setup in the back yard. Nobody was around and everybody was at a different location at the ceremony. I guessed where to set up the bar and I started preparing for the wedding.

The DJ, Ed Deejay Entertainment arrived and they set up their photo booth, and DJ equipment. Event pros instinctively know what to do, and usually don’t need a lot of instruction from the hosts. In this case we were there a full two hours setting up before the hosts arrived and everything worked out just fine. Finally the party got going and I made Mojitos, Palomas, and other drinks for a full eight hours.

Bartender for Hire Essentials

Has a portable bar and table
Provides coolers, ice bins, and shakers
Is ABC certified
Helps with bar menu and shopping list
Knows how to make a variety of drinks

Mentone Baby Shower

mentone1 — Portuguese American Club in Mentone

Sunday I drove to Mentone to bartend a baby shower at the Portuguese American Club. Mentone is a small town north of Redlands in San Bernardino County. The Portuguese American Club is a very nice old style venue with a nice bar. I set up the bar as the host set up several coolers with soft drinks, water and beer. Dad’s Tacos and Burritos did the catering they cooked the meat outside where it was a toasty 108. Instaglam provided the photo booth, and the DJ emceed several fun games for the guests. The host hired me for his Halloween party and gave me a deposit on the spot. I have several events coming up, including Ventura, Chino, San Diego, Sylmar, Villa Park, Rolling Hills, and Thousands Oaks. If you haven’t followed us on Facebook, please do so.

Mobile Bartenders, Uncategorized

LA Mobile Bartending Service Does Five Events

October 25, 2016October 25, 2016 shakennotstirredinla

mobile4 — Uber driver taking me to event

Last week was a very busy week for the LA mobile bartending service, Shaken Not Stirred, with five big events all in the Los Angeles Area. Two of the events were at the same residence in Pacific Palisades, there was a fundraiser in Sherman Oaks on Tuesday, a birthday party in Sylmar on Saturday, and then an open house at a store in Venice on Sunday. I think all of the events went well, but I was not operating at full capacity on three of them, because I think I got food poisoning somewhere along the way.

On Monday I was sitting at home at around 5pm in Van Nuys when I got a call to do a bartending job in Pacific Palisades at 630pm. I told the guy I didn’t think I could make it in time. It was not somebody I had ever worked for before. He said, “Would it help you if I sent a car to come get you?” “Yes, that would help me,” I said. He arranged an Uber and within 15 minutes I in the backseat of a Lexus on my way to Pacific Palisades. I did the job, and they sent me home in a different Uber. I must say that spoiled me a bit. Ironically I had done another event at that same house for a different group of people before.

On Tuesday I returned to a house in Sherman Oaks to bartend a fundraiser for the City of Hope Chancellors Club. There were many dignitaries in attendance including the LA County Sheriff, Jim Mcdonnell, many superior court judges, and other political and business leaders from around Los Angeles. The Chancellor’s Club supports the City of Hope in its cancer research and sounds like a very worthwhile cause. I served a lot of wine and a few mixed drinks and the organizers of the event were very happy with me and said they would use me for future events in different parts of the city.

The next day the guy from Pacific Palisades called me again. He offered me another job for Friday night at the same household. He didn’t offer the Uber again and I didn’t ask. It was not last minute. So on Friday I drove out there in my own car (imagine, the horror). I had time to kill in Santa Monica and was hungry. I was looking for a place to eat on the Third Street Promenade. I finally decided on a place with a nice patio and good guitar player performing on the street nearby. It was pricey and pretentious and I was irritated by the slow service. I am not one to usually complain, being in the service industry myself, so that tells you how bad it was. The food matched the mediocre service. I was thinking about writing a bad Yelp review, and a place has to be terrible before I will do that. Well, I went to do the second event in Pacific Palisades and it quickly became clear that something was wrong. I could barely get through the event, though I don’t think it was apparent to the guests I was serving. When I got home I was having fever and chills. I tossed and turned all night and was nauseous.

mobile1 — Grandmother and family at 70th birthday party

The next day I felt horrible and knew I had to do a 70th birthday party in Sylmar that night and then have a quick turnaround and be in Venice for the store event in the morning. I tried to take it easy all day Saturday, but I had no appetite. I hoped that I could make it through the two events I had contracted to do. I showed up on time to the event in Sylmar and I pulled it off, though I must admit I was not operating at full capacity. The people that hired me have a catering company and they were so much help to me. They thought I did a great job, but I felt I could have done better. I was miserable operating on almost zero sleep and very little food. I got home at midnight with chills and fever again and set my alarm clock for seven the next morning. I had to be in Venice by nine.

mobile5 — Band playing at Sylmar birthday party

I made it to Venice on time and with coffee I was able to muster enough energy to pull the final job of the week off. The store Christy Dawn is a specialty vintage inspired dress shop and they were holding a promotion where they had matching dresses for mothers and daughters. I served mimosas and Kombucha. It was a very mellow event which was about all I could handle. The owners were super nice people and they started their business in their garage and are now having great success both online and in their storefront.

This weekend is Halloween weekend and the LA mobile bartending service will transition into Orange County to do a Halloween Party in the City of Orange on Saturday night, and then a reunion in Laguna Beach on Sunday. November is looking to be very busy, as there are many corporate weekday events already scheduled.

Mobile Bartenders, Party Bartenders

Simi Valley Going Away Party

December 28, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

Shaken Not Stirred traveled over the hill to Simi Valley last night to bartend a college student’s going away party. The guest of honor was accepted to graduate school at Brown University in Rhode Island, which is no small feat, so a party was in order. I set up my portable bar on the back patio and served drinks to about 100 people in attendance.

There were a lot of scotch drinkers , which makes it easy for a bartender, because scotch drinkers tend to drink their scotch neat, or on the rocks, or with soda and water. We went through several handles of both Johnny Walker Black, and Chivas Regal. Scotch is definitely an acquired taste and several of these guests in Simi Valley had acquired it.

We didn’t discuss making Mojitos when I planned the shopping list with the host, but somebody brought some fresh mint leaves from their garden, so Mojitos were in order. I had may ginger syrup, and a bunch of fresh lemons from the host;s tree. This is the advantage of living in Southern California. Where else can you get fresh lemons off the tree and fresh mint in December. I made Mojitos with rum, vodka, and even gin. People liked the gin Mojitos and I was surprised.

The hosts were of Indian descent, and they served traditional Indian food, like chicken curry, bharta, with Indian bread, and mint chutney. The hosts kept asking me if I had eaten, and different people kept bringing me plates of food. It was all excellent. Overall, the party was a grand success. It was particularly cold in Simi Valley and I’m glad I brought my jacket.

The holiday season is winding down and I am bartending a New Year’s Eve party in Newhall on Wednesday night, and then a New Year’s day open house party in Pacific Palisades on Thursday. It is already 2015. I am looking forward to another great year for Shaken Not Stirred. I have met many great people all over Southern California over the past year and have gained many new clients and friends. I wish all of my clients, associates, and friends a fantastic and prosperous New Year.

Special Event Bartenders

Professional Bartenders and Servers for Los Angeles Events

January 22, 2012June 21, 2012 shakennotstirredinla

Shaken Not Stirred is now serving the Los Angeles area providing professional bartenders and servers for all kinds of events – including parties, weddings, openings, screenings, barbeques, and art shows. Whether you are planning an informal pool party, or formal black tie cocktail reception, Shaken Not Stirred can provide the service you need to maximize the experience of your guests. Our staff strives to make you look good and help to create a memorable event for all involved.

Rob Neighbors has over fifteen years experience bartending and serving in the L.A. area. He has worked in high-end Italian restaurants including Milano’s, Prego, and Frascati of Redondo Beach, where he served as bar manager for three years.

At Frascati, he helped create a wine list and specialty drink menu with Chef Enrico Glaudo that proved to be a hit in the busy restaurant. Rob went on to work at the classic French restaurant, La Rive Gauche in Palos Verdes, where he participated in countless special events, including business presentations, wedding receptions, wakes, and company parties.

Over Rob’s career in the restaurant business in Los Angeles, he has developed relationships with top bartenders and servers and has brought them into his company. Every staff member at Shaken Not Stirred has been chosen because they have proven track records and personal and working relationships with Rob Neighbors. We do not send unknown and unproven entities to your event. We pride ourselves on dependability and prompt and professional service.

What you can expect when you book a party with Shaken Not Stirred:

Rob will consult with you and help you determine what you will need for the party depending upon the number of guests.
Create a specialty drink menu if desired.
Bartenders will show up on time with a bar kit including martini shakers, cutting board, wine opener, pourers, and blender if needed.
No tip jars. All fees will be agreed upon up front.
Friendly, professional service.
Professional attire specific to the event.

We realize that planning and executing an important event can be very stressful, and we seek to minimize your stress by providing seamless, invisible service, meaning that our staff comes and goes without any drama or big fan fare.

To book a party, please contact Rob at (310)280-6103 or email at shakennotstirred1@aol.com.

Rates vary depending on the level of service and type of event. A 25 percent non-refundable deposit will be required at the time of booking. Shaken Not Stirred has both male and female bartenders and servers available. We also have relationships with entertainers and caterers.

At Shaken Not Stirred, you only pay for the service provided for your party and no booking fees. Don’t even try to do the party yourself – let us help you create an event that you and your guests will never forget. Shaken Not Stirred serves the entire Los Angeles Area, including the San Fernando Valley, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, the South Bay,Inland Empire, Orange County, Canyon Country, Ventura County, and Palm Springs.

Tag: Pacific Palisades

Shaken Not Stirred Gig Bartender Does Events Across SoCal