In this episode, we chat with Brian McGahey of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group (NRG) about how bars develop and price their cocktails.

Some of the specific topics Brian and I discuss in this interview include:

• What you’re actually paying for when you go out to a nice bar or restaurant
• How a bar prices out their cocktails and creates a balanced and profitable beverage program
• The ways in which a cocktail menu is like a resume for a bar, and how to read that resume to determine the potential quality of the drinks before ordering
• How tipping and certain cultural expectations about how bartenders and servers are paid has led to new legislation that’s threatening the service industry here in DC
• A few notes on the Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris
• And much, much more.

This interview was recorded at a really cool spot called Rustico in Ballston, just across the river from DC, so please enjoy the audio verite that comes from recording on-location.