The owners of a new ‘self-service’ pub in Sydney have hit back at critics who suggest they are automating bar staff out of existence.
Buddy’s Bar, in trendy Newtown in the city’s inner west, describes itself as a ‘self-service boozery’ where thirsty patrons can pour their own beers, wines and pre-mixed cocktails.
It has proved a hit since it opened in January, with crowds thronging to the King Street venue – particularly on Fridays and Saturdays when local DJs turn the pub into a dancefloor.
The owners of Buddy’s Bar were savaged on social media for allegedly not ‘paying labour costs’ – they vehemently denied the claim and had five members of staff working when Daily Mail Australia visited on Wednesday
The Newtown Affirmations page laid into the bar in a series of now-deleted posts
But this week the bar’s owners, Jimmy Roe and Duncan McGeoch, were met with a fierce backlash after a popular social media page dismissed their business as ‘self-indulgent w*nk’.
Newtown Affirmations, an Instagram page with over 15,000 followers which regularly shares memes and funny content about the neighbourhood, claimed the owners ‘do not like paying labour costs’.
In a series of posts, the page tore into the two Sydney-based entrepreneurs, demanding to know why they they want to import ‘obnoxious American ideas’ to Australia.
‘I think the whole idea of a bar that doesn’t hire bartenders is pretty ridiculous, and considering we are all talking about the cost of living and skyrocketing rents a business that works to reduce labour costs is not the kind of business that I will attend,’ they wrote.
But now the owners of Buddy’s Bar have hit back, inviting their critics to come for a drink to see for themselves what the place is about.
Duncan McGeoch (left) and Jimmy Roe (right) said the ‘self-serve’ concept was actually about freeing up staff to engage with patrons
‘People are open to their views but I just wish they had come into the venue as can only assume they haven’t been here,’ Mr Roe told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We do have bartenders on – it’s not a totally bartender-less bar, as the headlines would lead you to believe.’
‘Maybe they saw the whole self-serve thing and thought “f*** this”, which I kind of get but you think that they’d at least come in or ask some questions about it first.
‘The self-serve for us is actually about freeing up our staff and giving them more chance to engage with customers, to make sure they are feeling welcome and having a good time rather than saying “there’s the tap wall, sort yourself out”. It’s not that at all.’
When Daily Mail Australia visited on Wednesday evening there were three staff members on the floor – showing patrons how to work the taps and clearing glasses – while two were working in the kitchen.
On Saturday, when the venue was full, they had ten members of staff working.
Mr Roe said they were initially stung by the ‘unfair’ criticism and so they tried to put their side across but found they had been blocked by the Newtown Affirmations page, which has now deleted the posts.
Mr McGeoch showing a new member of staff the ropes
‘It was pretty brutal,’ he said. ‘We had a few local businesses down the road flag it to us. They said: “have you guys seen this? We know you have staff and that you pay them so we don’t know where this is coming from”.
‘Some of them reached out on our behalf and said “hey, I follow your page and I used to love it but this whole mentality of attacking local businesses is not on, we don’t appreciate it, we don’t agree with it – these guys are just two battlers trying to give it a go and support local artists and musicians at the same time”.’
‘They just really latched on to this idea that we are this bar that is money-hungry, automates services and is not hiring any staff which is not the case at all.’
He added: ‘If you go against the grain you are probably going to get a few splinters.’
Mr Roe previously worked in the beer industry, while co-owner Duncan McGeoch worked in the US for a company called PourMyBeer which specailises in the kind of self-serve technology used in Buddy’s Bar.
PourMyBeer actively advertises the fact its services can ‘reduce staff by 20 per cent’.
Although the Buddy’s owners said they eventually wanted to open more venues they insisted they had no plans to ever run a fully automated bar and said they did not think the technology would ever replace bartenders.
‘We love hospitality and we love employing staff,’ said Mr Roe.
‘The sound of a totally empty self-service bar where you just pour your own drinks is horrible.’
Crowds have thronged to the King Street venue – particularly on Fridays and Saturdays when local DJs turn the pub into a dancefloor
Daily Mail Australia visited several local bars to see what they made of the new venue. Next door is Holey Moley’s, a nationwide chain of mini-golf bars.
Diego Aponte, who has worked there for almost a year, said: ‘It’s (Buddy’s) such a small establishment that I don’t think it impacts the industry that much. But perhaps if that practice moved into a bigger venue then I would be concerned.’
‘That said, since we’ve opened we have seen a drop in people on Fridays and Saturdays because I guess because we are right next door,’ he said.
Meanwhile, a bartender at Earl’s Juke Joint, a saloon-style cocktail bar a few doors down, said he sympathised with the need to save costs.
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‘I can understand why they might want to reduce labour costs because it’s such an expensive part of running a bar,’ he said. ‘Even here, we’ve struggled to keep labour costs down when it’s a bit quieter.
‘But I don’t really get what the appeal is apart from the gimmick of pouring your own drink. It doesn’t seem to have a lot of other substance to it. It’s like a shell with a wall of taps and that’s it. Although they have some DJs which is cool sometimes.’
‘Ultimately, I can’t get too mad at it because it’s its own thing – nothing will replace a properly-made cocktail by an experienced bartender.’
No one on the street seemed particularly angry about it.
Ben, a 40-year-old engineer who lives in neighbouring Erskineville, expressed surprise people were even getting upset about it.
‘I reckon there’s enough jobs in hospitality here’ he said. ‘There’s so many places actively looking for staff right now.’
‘There’s plenty of other, more important, things to get upset about.’
WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE IN THE SELF-SERVE BAR
I travelled to Buddy’s Bar in Sydney’s oh-so-trendy Newtown on Wednesday evening with something approaching dread.
The idea of a ‘self-service’ bar immediately conjured a vision of a stale drinking hall full of terribly-poured pints and totally devoid of any atmosphere.
But there was nothing soulless about scene that greeted me when I arrived. There was a mixed crowd of around 40 to 50 people, running the gamut from besuited office workers to tattooed hipsters. Many were sat out on the street chatting with friends and soaking up the late evening sun.
We were greeted at the entrance bar counter by co-owner Duncan McGeoch who explained how it worked. You top up a card with however much money you want to spend before you are shown how to use it on the tap wall. So far, so simple.
Pouring the perfect pint – or schooner – is harder than it looks
Essentially, you just place your card on a slot behind the taps before and wait for your name to appear on a screen before you’re free to pour away.
There were three staff members – identified by the towels draped over their shoulders – on hand to help.
‘The towels are an identification thing so people know who is staff but also a bit tongue-in-cheek at myself pretending I’m doing something,’ laughs co-owner Jimmy Roe who was chatting to patrons all night.
I played it safe to start with and inexpertly pulled couple of schooners of Buddy’s lager. At least now the only person you can blame for a badly-poured drink is yourself.
The whole thing is extremely user-friendly. But behind the tap wall there is a complex series of valves and pipes equating millilitres poured with dollars spent.
‘When you tap your card that opens a solenoid or flow-valve,’ says Jimmy.
‘If there was no music you would be able to hear the click as it opens and the booze flows out.’
‘As the fluid passes through there’s like a little spinning hamster wheel which measures the volume of fluid coming through and then calculates the price.’
The lagers go down well and the place fills up.
Now, there’s nothing more infuriating than being stood at a bar while desperately trying to catch the bartenders eye as they serve everyone before you so it is refreshing to have the option for a quick re-fill entirely in your hands.
But it isn’t simply a free-for-all. After three drinks your card won’t work until you check in with a member of staff who will assess how sozzled you are.
‘That just gives us an opportunity to make sure there’s not someone going unnoticed sitting in the back corner punching ten schooners,’ explains Mr Roe.
Thirsty work
They also have bouncers on the door on Fridays and Saturdays, to make sure they are complying with RSA laws.
I decide to push the boat out with a Philter Hazy Lager.
As I pour, I can see the money on my card draining down – a sobering thought which reminds me of filling my car at a petrol station but in reverse. It makes me think of a forecourt attendant – a job that used to be commonplace before it became normal for people to fill their own tanks. Suddenly I feel a pang of guilt. Is drinking here doing bartenders out of a job?
‘I would never like to see it replacing bar staff because that interaction between bartenders and guests coming in is such a beautiful thing,’ says Mr Roe.
‘People go out for that experience.’
I am reassured but further alarm bells ring when Jimmy says they are toying the idea of supplying Guinness – a drink that demands the respect of being poured by an expert bartender.
‘That’s one we’ll probably leave to the professionals,’ he eventually concedes.
‘And I think Guinness would probably be happy with that too.’
I’ll drink to that.
