The REAL Vegas, from a
REAL Vegas cocktail waitress
7 March 2005
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I am planning on moving to Las Vegas this
summer. Though I have no gaming experience, I
have been a cocktail waitress here in Chicago
for the past seven years, and would be doing the
same in Vegas until I find something else that
interests me. Would you know if there are any
special requirements up-front to getting a job
as a cocktail waitress in Nevada? Katie S.
Vodka tonic, Bloody Mary, "Grey Goose, must be,"
three Coronas, and out! This is Cocktailese,
taken from a source laden with information that
even Yours Truly, with 18 years on the inside,
didn't know, nor would he ever have known had he
not come across the following web site http://www.cocktaildoll.com.
So now, to answer your question:
Readers of this column know that with tens of
thousands of gaming-related web sites, I rarely,
if ever recommend any. Not that
they are unworthy of mention, but, the last time
I did, I was hit with an e-mail avalanche saying
"Hey, don't forget my web site, too."
Ah, but I'll take a mailbox full of requests for
this exception. Dollie (not her real name) is a
REAL cocktail waitress in Las Vegas, and has put
together a "nothing held back" insider's look at
the gambling industry from a cocktail server's
perspective. To answer you specifically, Katie,
Dollie will tell you that before you get started
you will need two work cards: a health card and
an alcohol awareness card, she gives you
heads-up that drug tests are mandatory, she
shoots you the low-down on how joining the
Culinary Union will help you tremendously when
applying for a job, and she alerts you that they
run a background check on you, including a
credit report.
With all the behind-the-bar tittle-tattle she
has at her web site, even my wife, a casino
service employee most of her adult life, learned
plenty. Like Dollie, she too believes she is
rarely wrong when it comes to weeding out casino
riffraff!
One exception though, she did marry me.
By the way, per Dollie, at her must-read
tipping-tips page, "must be" means that when a
certain premium brand of alcohol is ordered, it
"must be" the real thing. For example, sometimes
when a waitress orders a premium vodka like Grey
Goose, the bartender will give her a less
expensive brand such as Absolut or even generic
vodka. But if the waitress says, "Grey Goose,
must be," then the bartender will give her the
real thing. As for "out!" well, you'll have to
check out her web site for a hilarious narrative
on what that means.
Yes, readers, a complimentary drink like Grey
Goose can be had for nothin', but as Dollie, and
every waitress I have ever known will say; "The
drinks may be free but the service is not." So,
if you're going to stiff the cocktail waitress,
plan on drinking Shadow Spit in lieu of Grey
Goose.
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