Bartending Legends of Laguna

By OCinSite At-Large | July 12, 2011 1:35 PM

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By Moira C. Reeve | Photos by Steve Zepezauer | Laguna Beach Magazine, Winter 2007

They’re the unsung heroes of the food and beverage industry. They deftly serve your favorite libation and maybe even introduce you to something new. They can juggle dozens of customers at once, recall countless drink orders like Rainman, and remember last year’s patron like it was only yesterday. They are part concierge, part ambassador, part shrink and part scientist. Occasionally, they serve as club bouncer. They are Laguna’s bartenders.

A good bartender sets the tone for your night—and may even tell you when to call it a night. Laguna Beach has a fine array of watering holes, from friendly dives to pubs to elegant cocktail lounges. We’ve chosen seven of Laguna’s finest mixologists from a variety of area bars for you to meet. Pull up a stool.

Bobby—The Saloon
Bobby loves horseracing. The Santa Anita meet is well underway and The Saloon’s televisions are tuned to TVG. During slower moments in the day, you might find Bobby keeping one eye peeled on the ponies. But he always has his mind on his bar.

Being The Saloon’s proprietor is different from just being a bartender. “For one thing, if someone breaks a glass, it’s my glass they’re breaking, or my booze they’re spilling.” The buck stops with Bobby and he takes his responsibility seriously, although he is far from being the staid, stern boss. He still enjoys being behind the only stand-up bar in Orange County, and you’ll find him there on Friday and Saturday nights as well as a few weekdays.

Originally from just outside of Philly, Bobby settled in California after a stint in Vietnam as a Marine Corpsman. “I started working at Ben Brown’s in 1973, tending bar until about 1998. After a slight detour (at Cedar Creek Inn) I moved to the Saloon. In 2004, my partner and I bought the business.”

At 61 years of age, Bobby says that being a bartender “keeps me young. I love dealing with the people and spending time with my customers. However, sometimes the job requires me to be ‘diplomatic,’ particularly when I need to deal with a [customer who needs to be cut off].”

The Saloon is a small but friendly drinking establishment, with its antique mahogany bar—originally from Wisconsin—the centerpiece. “We don’t get fancy here, we’re not flair bartending, throwing bottles around like Tom Cruise in ‘Cocktail.’ We don’t even have a blender here. If you want a margarita, we’ll make it for you, but on the rocks.”

The name of the game at The Saloon is keep it simple, and the four bartenders that Bobby has hired to work alongside him do just that. As far as pouring frou frou drinks or being really stuck to recipes, “We’re kind of loose around here. Some of the upscale restaurants are more by the book, but we’re not,” he says. “As long as you can pour, are nice to people and don’t steal from me, you’re doing good!”

Bobby loves tending bar in Laguna. “It’s a unique little city. It’s small enough so that you can walk around downtown. There’s a great feel to the place. Locals all have their favorite bars, and once they have it, it’s hard to get them to change. We like that we’re a favorite of locals.”

DRINK LIKE A LOCAL: Bobby’s signature drink is a pineapple Cranikazi, made from pineapple infused vodka. “There’s also the ‘no-name’ shot—usually topped with coffee,” he says. “When my partner and I got the place, we had a Filipino bartender, Popo, who used to make this drink, which was named for him. When he left, we couldn’t figure out what else to call it. In the end, we decided not to name it at all!”

Chuck Harrell, The Sandpiper Lounge
Anyone who thinks that entering the Sandpiper Lounge is akin to Pee Wee Herman’s biker bar experience is in for a great surprise. While the Sandpiper, or Dirty Bird, may look a little rough-and-tumble on the outside, and, well, on the inside, too, it’s staffed by good-natured barkeeps and has congenial Chuck Harrell, 61, at the wheel. Co-owned with his brother Chip, the Sandpiper is an establishment that won’t quit.

Originally a restaurant/bar opened by his uncle in 1942, Momma Harrell bought the business in 1969. “We were rolling coins to close escrow,” says Chuck. They made the decision to stop serving food and instead served up live music. And they are open every day of the year. “In 38 years, we’ve only been closed two days, and that was for a minor repair.”

A family business, Chip looks after the office work while Chuck tends bar. Chuck’s son and Chuck’s father have both worked there. His mother, however, was the most beloved of the Sandpiper staff. She passed away three years ago—a big loss not just to the Harrell family, but to the entire community. “My mother was an incredible woman. She was such a fixture of this place. My friends would come in and immediately sit and start talking with her—then they’d get around to saying hello to me. Everybody loved mom.”

It’s that sense of warmth and community that makes the Sandpiper an important local hangout. People from all walks of life come in, due, in part, to it remaining the same after all these decades. “People from the Midwest will come through our doors and say, ‘finally, a real bar.’ This town has grown so much and will continue. But we’ve never felt the need to change,” he says.

You can find Chuck behind the bar four to five nights a week. “I’m probably going to drop dead behind this bar. But people seem to like me, which probably makes my job even easier.  And plus, we really try to deal with people in a low-key kind of way. Bars that have a really intense doorman or bartender can create more problems than solve.”

As far as the drinks go, it’s all about being honest. “We’re not out here to wound you. Some bartenders will make drinks really strong, make you pay the next day, but we just want you to have a good time.”

DRINK LIKE A LOCAL: Order a Crazy Shot: Stoli, triple sec, cranberry and orange juice. It’s tasty and light, and while a couple in moderation will put a smile on your face, a few more will put your keister on the floor.

Dan the Martini Man—230 Forest Ave. Restaurant & Bar
Free Lakers and Angels tickets. Celebrities such as Steve Martin, Ted Danson, Ben Stiller, Kobe and others passing through the front door. Weekends offered for Vegas and Palm Springs guesthouses. Are these the glamorous perks awarded to the media? Some big shot corporate executive? Nope, they are just part of the life of Dan the Martini man—a man who makes people so happy that they enjoy giving back to him.

Thirty years ago, Dan was introduced to the trade in Minneapolis. A friend who was the bar manager at a restaurant offered him a job. “I was a nightclub person, and I loved the job because I could go out at night—but it was to the other side of the bar.”

He was trained well in traditional cocktailing. “Everything I was taught was old school: how to muddle drinks; all the old recipes, such as Old Fashions, Manhattans and Stingers; and what glass to use. I learned all the drinks that many people these days don’t know how to make correctly. I’m probably the last of a dying breed. The flair bartending, all that, they lose the art of the making the drink.”

Prior to the 230, Dan was a staple at The Saloon. “I was working at the Saloon for 9-1/2 years. When the owners opened the 230, they wanted to have a local face, someone who knew their stuff and could showcase martinis. After I started, I put together recipes, testing things with different juices and syrups. We put the logo up in the window here with the little martini glass, and it just all followed. We’ve been doing various martinis now for 12 years.”

Besides knowing the art of the drink, Dan sees bartending as total customer service. The 230 has a broad client base with a solid dinner crowd, young hipsters and older locals. “We have to appeal to a lot of people. We acknowledge people when they come into our bar. If we know their name and know their drink it’s even better. We always make eye contact if we’re busy to let them know we’re on our way.” While Dan isn’t into flair bartending, he does have a signature move: he can stack 15 martini glasses in one hand. A little style doesn’t hurt on a busy Saturday night.

For Dan, the biggest draw of the job is working with people. “I make good money. I’ve made a living out of this career, and the people I meet and the perks I get make it worthwhile. I don’t take advantage of my customers, though, generous as they are. I’ve built a relationship with these people. My customers are really good individuals.”

DRINK LIKE A LOCAL: Order a June Gloom, a martini of Dan’s made of premium vodka, blue Curacao, pineapple and cranberry juices. This tasty mauve cocktail will clear the fog off your coastline.

Jon E.—The White House
Order a Jon E. Daub at the White House and you might have one of Laguna’s most capable bartenders sent over—or you might be staring at a tasty burger named for him. Jon E. has been at the White House for 14 years, and that’s long enough to be honored with a namesake on the menu.

“When you work at a place for a long time, there can be too much of a good thing—even great food. So the night bartender and I would occasionally make up our own meals, just to create a new flavor. A couple of locals would ask about what I made, and then started requesting one for themselves. In the computer you’d have to add all the extra ingredients in the ‘modified’ list. The chef got tired of trying to figure it out when I wasn’t there so they finally put it on the menu.” And that’s where you’ll find the Jon E., a delicious burger served on a dill onion roll, with Swiss cheese, grilled onion, avocado, bacon and garlic mayo.

Starting at the White House on his birthday in January, 1993, the job actually found him. He was bartending at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe when a friend at White House needed help for a short while. “I came down to help my friend out for the weekend and never left. I was a bar back for about a month or two, but I’ve been here ever since.”

Jon E. likes the fact that when it comes to his job, “you can come in broke and leave with money in your pocket! But it takes discipline to save your money. As a bartender, I get used to having cash in my pocket all the time. I didn’t start out disciplined, however. I used to have a great day, thinking, wow, this is going to be a good week. I’d go out that night, spend that money, and it never failed, the rest of the week would be slow, and I’d think, I should have held on to that cash!”

But he’s learned a lot over the years, including the art of perfect drinks. You can depend on Jon E. to give you a drink made to your satisfaction. “While I don’t create my own cocktails, I like to take a drink and fine tune it. I see if I can get it to where it’s even better. Some guys just throw a drink together. When I go to a bar myself, I find that I’m teaching the bartender how I want my drinks, because they’ll put way too much of something in. I’m kind of sensitive to that for my own customers.”

Jon E. loves the atmosphere of working at his Coast Highway bar, but hears the constant call of the Tahoe ski slopes. After working nights started wearing on him, he changed his schedule to days. “People said, what do you want that for? There’s no money in days, they’re slow. But they’re perfect. My schedule now is great. I can switch my days off, and I love to ski and travel, and the job is flexible for that.”

DRINK LIKE A LOCAL: Order Jon E.’s Cadillac margarita. It’s so authentic, you’ll swear it has a hood ornament and taillights. Que Sabor!

Robby—The Marine Room
Imagine being in high school and your family owns one of the coolest bars in town. Now imagine not being allowed inside the doors of said bar until you’re legal drinking age. That was Robby’s dilemma as a teenager. “When I finally turned 21, I started working the door of our bar, The Marine Room, as a bouncer. Then I started bar backing. Clancy Heard, who was a bartender here and also at the Saloon, trained me to be a bartender, and the rest is history. This is the only bar I’ve worked in, and on and off, I’ve been here 15 years.”

Robby fits in nicely with the Marine Room’s clientele. “I like all the regulars. I call them the cast of characters. They are very loyal, and they have thick skin.” Robby is known for pulling pranks on his regulars, from switching wine out to soda, to giving a regular a beer bottle filled with water. “I love to see their faces when they take that first swig. I’ll get the other guys in on the act, too. I will take photos of some of my regulars, and then do something creative in Photoshop with it, bring it back and hang it up on the ice machine for everyone to see.”

Robby is a self-described no-frills, straight-up bartender. “When I’m busy, I’m all about making the drinks and getting everybody served. This place gets really packed.”

Some bars get a little rush here and there, but the standing-room-only weekends make a special challenge for Robby. But he has developed a way to handle it. “I just get in the zone when it’s busy. I have to keep my head down first and not make eye contact. Then whomever I make eye contact with next is the person I’ll serve. I have to just try to whip the drinks out and get everyone taken care of. The thing I don’t like is seeing people wait. I try to keep everybody happy.”

Live music contributes to the packed nights, which can make it rough on a bartender. Robby takes it in stride. “I have to be able to read lips. Some bands can be so loud that I can’t hear people shouting. It’s hard to take their order. I’ve gotten used to “seeing” what they’re saying. And I try to remember what everyone is drinking so that when someone wants another, they can just give me the ‘one more’ sign. People really like it when you remember what they drink.”

Robby has had people come in a month later, and he’ll remember what they ordered. “I think I developed that ability over the years. You develop a lot of abilities in this job. You can watch a person walk in the door and you’ll know whether or not they’re going to be trouble. You are able to read people really well.”

Reading people and adapting to them is all part of the job. “On the weekends we get more people that are new to the bar, customers we don’t know. So there will be people asking for all the different shots, and lots of martinis. It can be a pain, making some of those, but that’s what we do—we mix drinks.”

DRINK LIKE A LOCAL: Beer. Domestic. Although the Marine Room will make you nearly any cocktail—except one. “There’s no muddling here,” says Robbie, “so we don’t make mojitos.”

Related: The Ladies Behind the Bar, Laguna Beach Magazine, August 2011