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Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and Informative
Review: I have always loved bartenders. It was a treat to read Wenzel's account of mixing drinks in NYC and what a joy/nightmare it can be. Her prose is raw yet polished, her stories sometimes horrifying. I learned a lot from it and despite her pleas to stop hitting on bartenders, I will continue to do so because I am further compelled by them after reading her book!
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Summary: Witty yet Thoughtful
Review: I read Behind Bars in one sitting. The double-entendre of the title is appropriate for this memoir because "the life" is not all that it's cracked up to be. I really felt that I was sitting in front of Wenzel at her bar on the Bowery listening to her tell her tales. The pace was wonderful in that it felt like a busy, crazy night at a hotspot in Manhattan. I wish I could have gotten a drink from Wenzel before she threw in the towel. Her Islamic background made it more interesting, more than a chick-lit story of a girl in the big city. It was thought provoking in that her background was everything but where she ended up. Her prose is bitingly witty and brutally honest, yet as the time passes she softens to her regulars/orphans and the job itself. She doesn't pussy-foot around where tipping is concerned, and in fact, I've heard my own fave bartender talk about the topic in this way. In fact, I plan to get Behind Bars for her for Christmas, if she doesn't beat me to it. I already told her about it. Lots of add-ons: funny glossary, recipes, pet-peeves and famous quotes about booze and bars. Definite buy. Jane Threlfall
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Summary: You think you know your bartender...
Review: I was given this book as a Christmas gift because I'm always going on and on about my favorite bars and the mixers there. When I finished reading Ms. Wenzel's memoir on slinging drinks on the Bowery for a decade, I laughed and high tailed it over to one of my favorite bartenders. I handed it over to him and said, YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS! All the times they told me that they're going to write a book about their experiences behind their bars... well, Wenzel did it first! And it was hilarious and eye-opening at the same time. I thought that the listed "pet peeves" were great as well as educational for hardcore regulars, and the glossary taught me the insider language. There are a lot of gross things about restaurants and the service industry, and Wenzel tells it straight up... literally. Her writing is raw, fun and at times very thoughtful and eloquent. She's had plenty of touching moments to balance out the in-your-face truths and sometimes frightening anecdotes. Her Islamic background was interesting as were other elements of her life outside the bar. Want to ask your bartender out? She'll tell you how to do it.
Want to know how to get a drink faster? She'll tell you what to do.
Want to know if you're tipping correctly? She'll really let you have it.
Ever wonder what they're thinking as you're babbling on? Wenzel doesn't pussy-foot around with what bartenders think. Truly fun. And if you love it as much as I did, pass it on to your favorite bartender. They'll not only love you for it, they may get you a round on the house! Cheers!
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Summary: This book accomplished what I always wanted to
Review: I've never written a review for a book I've read on Amazon before, but I felt compelled to do so here. I was given this book for Christmas by two separate people, probably because I'm a bartender myself. Let's face it, a bartender's memoir isn't exactly to be read as the apex of literary accomplishment, so I'm not sure why people can be so aghast at Behind Bars' few flaws. Wenzel has captured exactly what it's like to serve drinks to a vast myriad of people (drunks, suits, etc.), with such an honest verve that I felt as if I were sitting in front of her listening to the anecdotes on a really busy night. Her writing is raw and extremely fun. The Islamic bent from which she comes from was an interesting facet of the mix, too. This book isn't War & Peace, but it is really fun and, for me and many other bartender's I've loaned out to, quite representational. I don't think many of my customers know that I'm using "sex appeal" to keep them coming back for more. In fact, I think they are under the impression that I really am riveted by everything that comes out of their (most of the time) drunken rants. But I'm not. And Wenzel explains this, and why. I think raving drunks won't like this book because it reveals their weakness too much. Wenzel does NOT sugar-coat anything. Her poignant and sometimes harrowing narrative was very intimate for me, and I wished I'd visited her on my last trip to New York (back when she was still tending bar on the Bowery). We could have commiserated together and laughed at it all. I await her next work eagerly, which I read about on her site. Overall, not pretentious like some other "insider" books I've read, fun and very revealing.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining insider book
Review: Wenzel's account of her bartending years took me on a surprising ride. I had thought it was going to be a light story about slinging drinks in New York but turned out to be much more. I learned that bartending is not all that it's cracked up to be, great anecdotes, drink recipes, a funny insider glossary, and her poignant tale of growing up a Muslim woman in America. Just when you think she's become as cynical as she could possibly become, she finds the humanity in it all. It's uplifting and entertaining and teaches people how to behave in public without being too bossy. People who are opposed to tipping their servers may find the tone a little back-handed, but then again, it's a memoir by a bartender who is literally telling it like it is. It's a brutally honest read for anyone who ever fantasized about becoming a bartender. Tom Cruise in that movie is a joke after reading this! And bartenders everywhere will love that Wenzel unveils the truths of dealing with the crazy public after a couple of Cosmos!
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