SF Bartender 415

Coach K was lost but now he is found. And here to tell you that if you are planning on hiring a bartending service for a party in SF (or even thinking about it) look no further than Charlie and his team! If you’ve read my reviews, you know I’m a bit of a harsh critic. Although, when my expectations are met (and exceeded) I’ll scream about it from the rooftops. This is me screaming. My wife and I were hosting our annual Christmas party and this year 50 people came. We hadn’t hired a bartender in the past but always wanted to. After reaching out to Charlie, he promptly returned my email. We had an over-​the-​phone consultation regarding the scope of the party, and then he actually came to my house to get a feel for the layout /​best equipment for the job. This ended up being very helpful. Charlie recommended bringing a helper — Cheryl — and we sure are glad he did. She was excellent. She helped greet people at the door, took coats, passed hors d’oeuvres around the party, continuously cleaned up, and generally supported Charlie. Charlie was busy making excellent craft cocktails — three of which were from his «signature list». He gave me a detailed list of alcohol, fruit, bitters, etc. to buy and was right on the money with his estimates. Charlie and Cheryl arrived at 6pm and left at 1am. The bill was worth every penny, and I can’t even imagine having this party again without their services. It was an excellent experience!

Charlie and co. took the show at my private residence event this past Saturday. Guests are still raving about his meticulous approach to his drinks, professionalism and incredible natural talent. Having Charlie and his team of sophisticated yet warm waitresses/​servers truly added a wonderful dimension to the event. The entire experience, from pre-​planning, the event itself, to post event wrap… phenomenal client centricity and utmost perfection. I am looking forward to working with Charlie again very soon! A toast to SF Bartender 415!

Absolutely the best. If there were a ten star option I’d click it!
My neighbor and I hired Charlie for an outdoor Fiesta themed party. He was so quick to respond to my emails, stopped by the house to scope out the layout, and even wrote us out a detailed shopping list. (Like when I mean detailed, he told us to buy 15 limes!) It was perfect. We stayed right in our budget and only had 2 or 3 unopened bottles of alcohol at the end of the night. He was spot on with the amount of liquor/​beer/​wine to get for our head count.
Charlie is super friendly throughout the planning process and was super mellow the night of the party. Mellow in a good way. He wasn’t trying to do any fancy bartender tricks or anything!
He left his bar area spotless and gave me a run down at the end of the night on what was left over.
Hire him. He’s so smooth and has a ton of experience managing events.

Charlie was our bartender for a birthday bash. He was awesome from start to finish. He sent us detailed shopping lists, called and came by before the party to scout out the location and left no detail unattended. On the night he arrived early for setup and made a bar that looked extremely professional. He even dressed the part of a professional barman. The drinks were fantastic and everyone at the party agreed that Charlie was a key component to the success of the night. He left the bar area and kitchen spotless when he went home. He also brought an assistant, Cheryl, who was fantastic. She replenished the food, cleaned up and was incredibly helpful without being intrusive. I would use Charlie and Cheryl again in a heartbeat.

Charlie and co were impeccable in every way for our house party. He knew just what to order, his set-​up was perfect, he was easy to work with, and the drinks were spectacular. The guests were impressed by the quality and attention to detail in the drinks, he really made the party. Clean-​up was also a full job and everything was appropriately either taken out or left in the proper place. I look forward to working with him again.

Very happy to have found Charlie! Him and his helper Cheryl did a wonderful job and went above and beyond their duties to make my husband’s murder mystery party a success.

I had the crazy notion that I would hire a friend’s 20-​something son, without any experience, to be my bartender for a party with over 100 guests. Thankfully, the kid turned me down & I found Charlie on CL. Charlie made it very easy from start to finish, came over a week before the party to strategize about layout and arrangement for maximum beverage delivery, VERY helpful. On the day of the party, he and his assistant showed up on time, started setting up, and that’s the last thought I gave to them… they did it all from there on out. They handled everything with grace and humor. Charlie’s shopping list for EVERYTHING was very helpful too, check, check, check and I was done.

I had the pleasure of using Charles and Patricia for a wedding reception and they were both absolutely marvelous. Initially I was a little reluctant about having Patricia as a helper since my chef also had helpers but she was invaluable. Not only did Patricia assist Charles but she greeted guests, took coats, helped the chefs and subbed as a server as needed, in a word she was awesome. I love to throw parties and I have had bartenders before but none as great as Charles. I absolutely fell in love with Charles and the wonderful specialty drinks he created for my party. He suggested the specialty drinks and at 1^st I thought it might limit the options but he was the expert so I went with it and I am glad we did because they were such a smashing success and was all the guest could talk about. I tried all 3 and they were equally good but I fell in love with the strawberry lemon drop, and to my delight Charles made me a to go pitcher. If I didn’t live in Texas I would have another party right away just so I could use there services again, that is how thrilled I was. In addition to the drinks tasting great, the bar area looked fabulous and was so well put together and Charles and Patricia were great with taking it all down and assisting us with our clean up. I am so lucky I chose Charles as my bartender and I promise anyone who uses him will not be disappointed.

Charlie was wonderful. Here’s a million reasons why:
1. He responded to my call within a few hours of contacting him.
2. He took the time to speak with me on the phone about ideas for our party.
3. He had resources in terms of extra assistance to help at the party.
4. He told me where I could purchase items I needed.
5. He brought décor and cool menus for the bar.
6. He dressed up in theme with our Halloween party.
7. So many of our guests were super impressed with how professional he was.
8. He did a site visit for free.
9. He has all his own gear, including extra tables, punch bowls etc.
10. The drinks he suggested were VERY good and themed for our party. A black vodka punch with dry ice anyone? YES PLEASE.
11. He was spot on with his estimates of how much alcohol we would need for the amount of people/​hours the party was lasting.
12. He showed up on time — I know this sounds silly but it’s actually huge.
13. He was nice and truly desired to provide a memorable experience for our guests.
14. I would use him a million times over.
Ok, that’s not a million, but it’s a good start. If you hire him you won’t regret it.

Very good reliable service from Charlie and his assistant Patricia. Ahead of time Charlie helped plan the event using guidelines by phone and email and made a visit to my home to make sure everything would work well for my event. My friends loved Charlie’s cocktails. Both Charlie and Patricia were very professional and hard working and helped make our event a success. I would recommend both Charlie and Patricia.

Charlie once again hit the ball out of the park for our fabulous cocktail party this past Memorial Day weekend!
Charlie suggested some great spring specialty drinks (which turned out to be a huge hit), and, as usual, he arrived right on time with Cheryl for set-​up. They were efficient and diligent so the party was ready to go upon the first guests arriving. I can’t say enough about their ability to work a party together — Charlie attending to every guest’s drink needs and Cheryl making sure the guests were happy with food and general party service. Thank you again for a fabulous event — we had about 40 happy people that raved about Charlie’s drinks and Cheryl’s service — I can’t recommend this dynamic duo enough — for their professionalism, friendliness, smiles, and skills.
You know when your party guests inquire in advance of the party to see if Charlie is bartending again that you have found the right San Francisco bartender!
Jennifer and Harry How

We hired Charlie for the second time. It was a Martini Party fundraiser event in Berkeley with 30 folks. Charlie set-​up smoothly and incorporated a key lime pie martini into his repertoire at our request (yum). He has an easygoing manner with all the guests. Once you agree on the specialty drinks, Charlie sends you all the ingredients to pick up and any equipment to rent. In my case, I have a collection of 100 martini glasses from dollar stores across the bay Area so all I am missing for any party is Charlie!

Charlie (although with his assistant, Cheryl) worked at my housewarming which probably had upwards of 120 people in and out throughout the night. They both did a great job of managing the situation. Additionally Charlie was really helpful planning the entire affair. We planned three «speciality» drinks that fit the occasion and he sent me a detailed list of what to exactly to purchase. It was detailed enough that I just copied and pasted the grocery list into an exec task and it just appeared at my place. I trusted Charlie enough that I gave him my keys so he could arrive at my apartment to set up (I was inbound from napa) which allowed me to arrive slightly late to my own housewarming with confidence. Overall great work. I would totally use him again and recommend him to any of my friends.

Charlie just did a cocktail party for our 25^th anniversary. He did a terrific job. He suggested specialty cocktails for us (including a fabulous pomegranate martini), and when we mentioned that a particular restaurant in our neighborhood did a cucumber gimlet that we love, he called the restaurant, got their recipe, and made is flawlessly for our party. He also was able to suggest an excellent mocktail for those of our friends who don’t drink alcohol,.
We hired Cheryl, who works with him as wait staff, as well. They both did a wonderful job of setting up (I was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to configure a bar area in our home, but he very quickly figured out the perfect set-​up) and cleaning up, and Cheryl did such a great job with the food service that I was able to completely stop stressing about it and enjoy our party. A job very well done – I am so happy I found them, and would definitely hire them again.

Charlie is a great find! He orchestrated a flawless Derby Party for us with excellent mint juleps, mojitos and «no-​jitos» for the non-​imbibers. As the representative pregnant lady, I appreciate that Charlie’s drinks taste great, even without the alcohol. Charlie set up and broke down the bar smoothly, and lent a helping hand throughout the party. I recommend him most highly, and will definitely use him again!

Charlie was amazing! At short notice he helped out at our Holiday Mixer — advising me on drinks, how much to order, where to rent glasses and table linens from and even putting me in touch with someone to help out with food.
At the event itself everything ran very smoothly. He turned up early, organized the bar and mixed up our specialty cocktails which were delicious.
Thanks for everything, Charlie. We’ll be in touch soon for the next event!

Charlie ROCKS! From planning to the actual event, he was incredibly thorough, professional, friendly and a damn good bartender! Charlie has worked 2 events at my company and we have been absolutely thrilled with his services. He is a joy to work with and makes the meanest margarita. For a party of 10 to 100s of people, Charlie can do it, either solo or with his partners. We will be hiring Charlie and his crew again… guaranteed!

Charlie was perfect!!! From the very beginning where we were just e-​mailing about what drinks to serve at my mother’s 50^th bday bash, how much booze to get, and suggestions on glassware to the very end of the party. He was very professional, prompt replies to my e-​mails and phone calls, and generous with his time. He showed up more than an hour early to prepare the specialty drinks (fresh squeezed margaritas, mojitos, mango margarita and pomtini’s) and stayed late to help clean up AFTER I had already paid him. The pomtini’s were VERY successful by the way. I overheard a guest say that they were addictive and tasty.
There were approx. 70 people at the party and he did great! He was incredibly approachable and friendly… we will use Charlie’s services again in the near future. I might have to make up a party theme just to have him come bartend for us! Thank you Charlie!

I was happy to have found Charlie, for my bartender he had so many ideas for my party He was so helpful. All my friends liked him
I would and will use him again for my next party

another birthday party in the mission was the idea. i was expecting beers out of the fridge, some finger foods, & boys that aren’t really funny though i’ll laugh at their jokes anyways in attempts to show that i think they’re cute & he should ask me out; girls that come will be in a relationship so they’re clingy & staking out the competition.
however, this party was elevated to swanky status when they had an in-​house bartender who had his own list of cocktails, would get & open your beer, and was pretty cool. his name is Charlie Englert.
Charlie is an interesting guy. i got to talking with him & found out that he grew up in mass. & started party planning there. for reasons that i don’t know because i didn’t ask, he moved out to sf & continued the party planning. he does a variety of sized parties & themes. his drinks were solid & his demeanor is professional yet approachable. many people at the party were hooked on his gimlets. i was back at the bar often for his cosmos.
i’m not sure how much he costs, as i wasn’t paying his tab. though if i do have a party to throw & have extra cash i would definitely hire him.