Behind the Bar with Lorenzo Washington

It’s a Wednesday night at Courtside Bar & Grill, which means that the establishment is hosting its notoriously rowdy “Slice Night” event. In the midst of the pizza- and beer-fueled chaos Lorenzo “Zo” Washington begins his bartending shift at 9 p.m. at the front bar. Zo is a senior broadcast journalism major and has been working at the bar for over a year. When Zo first started working for Courtside he checked IDs at the door, but after his recent birthday he has taken his mixology talents behind the bar.

LW: As far as being a college student, you can’t really have a better job.

SY: How do your lady customers treat you?

LW: It’s gonna fit the stereotype. There’s always going to be those girls that are gonna try to shake a free drink outta me, like ‘Has anybody told you how cute you look, you have such a pretty smile,’ but you have to be able to separate the B.S. from the good tips. I mean if you’re going to tip me ten dollars and just try to boost my ego, so be it. I could care less. But other times I really just ignore it. I mean I guess if I was in their shoes, I’d do the same thing. It’s the difference of two dollars off a drink.

SY: Have you developed relationships with the people you work with?

LW: Oh, absolutely. We’re like a little family. Actually, the whole bar scene is kind of like a little fraternity ‘cause it’s like all the guys at the end of the night from Crystal, Courtside, Pigskin and Broneys will get together at the end of the night and we will all hang out. When we clean up, it’s 3:15, so nobody is awake that should be awake. We’ll all get together and party. It’s nice. Everybody’s friends, we eat dinner together.

SY: Are the hours rough with schoolwork?

LW: It gets to me sometimes; Wednesdays, the days that aren’t the weekends, are the worst because I’ll get off at 3:30 at night and I have class at 8 a.m. Especially this quarter more so than my last ones.

SY: What is your ideal customer?

LW: One that is female and good-looking and one that tips a lot and doesn’t ask me to make a difficult drink. One that prefers Jack and Coke to Sex on the Beach with a hint of grenadine.

SY: And your most annoying customer type?

LW: I have a pretty unique name, Lorenzo. You don’t know a lot of guys named Lorenzo. So one of my friends will come in and say, ‘Zo can I get blah blah blah.’ A guy next to him will hear him say my name and he’s going ‘Zo Zo Zo Zo,’ and I turn around and I’m looking. He’s like ‘Bro’ and I’m like, “I don’t even know you, why are you calling my name?” I’ll let him know that a Bud Light is $2.50 and he will reach into his pocket and grab two quarters and give me 50 cents.

SY: Are there any traits that a bartender must have?

LW: You can’t be a pushover. There’s always gonna be that drunk guy at the end of the night that’s very demanding and, I mean, you gotta be pretty ballsy, you gotta be tough.

Head to Courtside, grab a slice and see Zo in action.