While getting my MBA my finance professor made us all promise to never open a bar/restaurant for this exact reason. It's extremely difficult to find reliable help that shows up, does good work, and doesn't steal in one fashion or another.

I had a buddy that briefly was married into a family that owns a bunch of gas stations in East Texas. He worked for them while he was married to her. I asked him how much got stolen by employees. He said they figured whatever employee was paid they stole that much more an hour. He said they would see employees on video stocking cigarettes throw a pack to everyone working the shift. Lol

how do you inventory your liquor?

You count It. There are x number of shots in each bottle. You run a product mix and compare usage. If you have things already mixed up like margarita for the machine you can estimate that. Kegs you can estimate or some wiegh on scale.

I owned a live band bar for a few years. The strippers that I gave free drinks to were what broke me, not so much the liquor cost though. I’ve recovered now, thinking about firing that thing back up again lol.

I doubt Anthony is the owner. The fact that the op was served 5 22oz beers is the bigger issue imo. Surely an owner wouldn't take that risk of over serving. If the op was actually "comped" the amount of beer comped would be accounted for in sales and not effect costs. The amount of the comp would hit the P&L somewhere and owner would be able to track. If the beers on not on the tab, Anthony may be stealing indirectly for bigger tips or could be pocketing the cash. If Anthony is doing this, just think how much owner could be losing. How many other guests is Anthony or other bartenders hooking up?

Lol see my estimate above, if he gave away 3 to one person I figure about 10 a shift, 5 shifts a week, 52 weeks a year.

Yep. Simple case of you rubs my back and I`ll rub yours.

And the list of victims can get real long, let's start with the owner, that's the easy one, then the honest employees who lose their jobs when the place goes out, the vendors who don't get paid when the bankruptcy happens, in corporate chains countless managers, general managers, multi unit supervisors lose their jobs every year because they can't manage to get this nonsense under control, the state and city lose tax revenue. And by the way it is nothing for a bartender to make 30 to 50 an hour and some of the little turds still can't act right.

Add on other bars that are in market. They lose business patrons because of some clown bar giving the hook ups and over serving.

JMO, the owner or manager should be the only one comping drinks/food, and should be for a business reason like bad service. What happens is bartenders comp drinks for the wrong reasons, to get bigger tips, and customer give tips based on # of comp drinks, it’s bad thing to start and gets out of control.

I seen it happen at a bar I worked at, owner was devastated when she found out what was going on and what she lost. I told her I never gave away drinks, and I didn’t.

Good friends with a brewery/bar/restaurant owner here. He knows full well how much liquor and beer is given away every month. Brewer especially keeps tabs on what he makes verses how much in sales.
When things start getting our of hand he has a meeting and the employees behave for a while.
He also knows it is part of the business and he also gives away free beers, that the brewer is the part owner of so....
They are extremely successful , so much so he complains about how busy they are.
No threat of going out of business.

5 free beers is excessive, imo.

Knowing I was a “contributor” to another’s “issues” wouldn’t work. Goes directly against God’s Word. It is a sin.

The rest of post is not an attack or anything on those in the “bar” business. It is a bar. What can you expect?
Can you expect to meet the woman of your dreams? Can you expect truth? We try to put lipstick on a pig, but a bar is what it is. That is an absolute truth. It is legal and accepted in society, many things are, that does not make it “right.”

A bar is like a casino, “in the end, we get it all.”

No offense to anyone. Just sharing a different take. When it is your livelihood on the line I am sure the “perspective” changes for you.