Few people have influenced the modern bar industry from as many angles as Tobin Ellis. A veteran bartender, award-winning bar designer, inventor and author, Ellis has spent more than two decades helping operators improve efficiency, profitability and the guest experience through smarter bar design and operations.
Through his firm, Studio Barmagic, he has worked with hospitality companies around the world, while his innovations, including the Tobin Ellis Series Bartenders’ Cockpit, have helped redefine how bars are built and staffed. He has also been a longtime advocate for hospitality professionals, from co-founding the Flair Bartenders Association to creating resources that helped operators navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this Q&A, Ellis shares his perspective on the future of bar design, operational excellence and the biggest opportunities facing bar and restaurant operators today.
You’ve said great bar design is operational strategy—not decoration. Where do operators still get that wrong?
What are the most common design mistakes that hurt speed and revenue behind the bar?
How can operators redesign or tweak an existing bar to improve workflow without a full rebuild?
What does an efficient bartender “cockpit” look like in a high-volume setting?
How much does bad design really cost a bar in lost sales or labor inefficiency?
In the hundreds of plan reviews and revenue leakage reports Studio Barmagic has conducted over the past 20 years, while it of course depends on size, volumes, market, etc… the typical revenue leakage is high six figures to low seven figures annually. The last repost we did found a bar in Miami Beach that was adding 7 seconds to every drink produced which translated into a revenue leakage of $1.1 million dollars annually between uncaptured revenue, wasted labor hours, and decreased guest dwell times.
When you show an operator the calculations, they are usually stunned. The problem is the losses aren’t “real” until you show them. It’s these invisible losses that are some of the greatest opportunities to improve the financial performance of any hospitality business. If you understand what’s broken and how to fix it.
If an operator could fix just one thing in their bar tomorrow, what would deliver the biggest impact?
Improve the employee experience. Happier, healthier staff who are better equipped behind the bar create markedly better guest experiences and investor outcomes. And while you're at it, add acoustic dampening tiles to the ceiling, dim the lights, and turn up the music just a schooch. Make the party. These are about the only "quick fixes" to improve the design and the immersive experience of the bar. But none of those will help you with the operational issues of a busy bar or lounge.
A bar is not just a room, or a counter with a jukebox. It is an expensive, complex floor, wall, equipment, counter, plumbing, electrical, acoustical, and lighting system that produces, sells, and serves products. And on top of that––every bar, every concept, and every business model is different. So rather than trying to get a "one size fits all" answer, the key is to help operators free themselves from the limiting belief that it’s too “expensive” or “difficult” to renovate their bars.
I did my best to share all the insights of exactly how to do that with the fastest ROI in Bar Design Essentials. And this is how we approach every project we design––improve the employee experience with a much faster, more ergonomic engine and a more intelligent design of the entire room and you improve the guest experience which always improves the investor experience.