Bar Cleaning: Daily Tasks to Keep it Looking Great

If you’ve ever enjoyed a night out as a bar patron, you’d agree that (for the most part) bars can look great. Through a combination of posh lighting, comfy booths, bar games, fashionable fixtures and decorations, and good music, bars look and feel great. A tasty drink or two doesn’t hurt, either. Right now, you’re probably thinking about that bar that fits the description, aren’t you?

The truth is that it takes a lot of time, effort, and resources to clean a bar. Making it look great is the goal, obviously. It’s not the sole reason people return to a bar, but without a clean, great-looking bar, it would be nearly impossible to keep people coming back. If you own or manage a bar, this should be very important to you. We got you – here are some daily cleaning tasks to keep your bar looking great:

How to Layout Daily Tasks

One aspect of this discussion is already decided – these are daily tasks. Not weekly, monthly, or otherwise, and while you should also have checklists for less frequent cleaning schedules, today’s topic is specific to daily tasks. Before you begin any cleaning, categorize your bar as much as possible in the context of cleaning. Is it before opening, during hours of operation, or after closing? Is the space you need to clean open to the public or not? Is it in the bar area or in a gaming area? Are you indoors or outside? The point: create a separate cleaning checklist for each unique area in your bar.

The Actual Bar(s)

By this, we’re referring to the behind-the-bar area, the bar’s countertop, and just beyond, where patrons can sit around the bar. Outside of hours of operation, this area should be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected from top to bottom, and be as organized as possible. During business hours, your cleaning tasks should be an as-need basis and should support service.

Booths, Tables & Service Areas

Booths, tables and other service areas should be approached similarly as far as cleaning is concerned, where the full cycle (cleaning, sanitization, disinfecting) should be performed before or after business hours. These areas, though, require more frequent attention during business hours. After a patron or group finishes and leaves, your tasks should include clearing the areas of dishware and debris, wiping the area down, and disinfecting all surfaces of all fixtures.

It’s just as important to apply the same cleaning principles to the back-of-house areas that bar patrons don’t have access to and can’t see. Ignoring those cleaning duties can make cleaning your visible bar space more difficult. Of course, every bar is different, so your daily cleaning tasks won’t be the same as your competitor’s next door. That being the case, it might be useful to compare and contrast, and take what’s relevant from various online bar cleaning checklists, like this and this!