If you like nightlife, you may wonder how to become a bartender in California. There are over 1 million bartenders and servers in the state. This article will explain what you need to know to become certified with a state-approved California bartender license quickly and safely and get hired.
How To Become A Bartender In California
- be a certain age,
- hold a valid RBS Server ID certification number,
- take the Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) training and exam, and
- have the right skills and knowledge to succeed.
What Is The Legal Age To Serve Alcohol In California
In California, the legal age to serve alcohol (with or without food) is 18 or older. Unless the business only sells cocktails, you must be at least 21. Failing to meet the minimum age requirement is a misdemeanor.
How To Become A Bartender With No Experience
Here are some resources from our friends at Bartending License Help that could be helpful to you:
How To Become A Professional Bartender
We offer additional training, such as our Behind the Bar Excellence, to increase your hiring chances. We also have a bunch of free resources on our blogs. Here are some we think you should read next:
- Bartender Career Infographic
- Bartending 101
- The 8 Bartender Skills That Are Essential to Master
- Our Breaking Down series explains how to make drinks
- 5 Impressive Bartending Tips from Master Bartenders
- Bartending Tools You Should Know and then our Behind the Bar Rail series talks about each tool in depth
- How Much Do Bartenders Make?
- 28 New Bartender Tips
How To Get A Bartending License In California
The alcohol server certification process requires registering for an account and fulfilling the requirements in the RBS Portal. Once registered, you must take the approved training and pass the required exam to download or print your certification.
What Is Responsible Beverage Service Training
Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) Training, or RBS training, “educates persons seeking employment or currently employed as servers of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption. It aims to provide servers with the necessary skills to serve alcoholic beverages responsibly and mitigate alcohol-related harm in California communities” (California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control).
In other words, it prepares you for the complex nature of selling and serving alcohol in bars and restaurants or similar businesses (serving alcohol requires RBS Training). You may think that bartending is just learning drink recipes and earning tips. But it’s actually about protecting the community and making sure alcohol-related incidents and issues decline.
You must use a state-approved training provider (such as Serving Alcohol), select Enroll Now, and take training. The course usually takes about 2 hours or less. After the course is completed, you’ll need to return to your California Alcoholic Beverage Control RBS and be ready for the next step, an exam.
What Is The RBS Exam
How Much Is A Bartending License In California
Serving Alcohol offers Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) training for a discounted price of only $11.99. That’s in addition to the $3 required in California to take the exam. (It wouldn’t hurt to figure in a ride or gas to your interview, interview clothes, and maybe some breath mints).
How Long Is Bartending School California
- identifying minors
- checking your ID for security features and essential information
- saying no and refusing service
- customer service or soft skills
- popular drink recipes
Thanks so much for sticking around to the end of the article! Serving Alcohol is a preferred training solutions provider offering professional alcohol certification for bartenders, servers, and managers in the hospitality industry since 2007. We have over 35 years of experience training, come highly recommended by state liquor controllers and customers, and take pride in helping our customers.