“Bar Month” at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round! The whole month of February, we’re serving up intoxicatingly fun bars and club articles -- including guides, bartender profiles, drink recipes and even a little Brew City bar history. Cheers!
Alina Chase loves to tend bar. The 27-year-old received her degree in English from UW-Milwaukee and worked in retail management for a year, but ultimately returned to the job she loves best. At least for now.
“I picked up bartending really easily and it’s a lot of fun,” says Chase. “I’m sticking with it until I decide what (else) I want to do.”
Chase, who moved to Milwaukee from Waterford almost a decade ago, has tended bar for seven years. Currently, she works at The Social, and prior to that at the now-defunct Sol Fire, John Hawk's Pub and Brio.
OnMilwaukee.com: What’s your favorite drink to make?
Alina Chase: The Social. It’s a martini that’s pretty to look at and tasty to drink. It’s made with Stoli raspberry and a Chambord float.
OMC: Do you ever invent your own drinks?
AC: Oh, yeah, I’m always playing around and making stuff up when I get bored. A lot of drinks have worked out pretty well, but I never name them or anything.
OMC: What’s your poison?
AC: The Knot. I’m a whiskey girl.
OMC: Do you drink behind the bar?
AC: Not really. I’ll occasionally do a shot with a customer.
OMC: What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve seen a bar patron do?
AC: I think it’s most entertaining when someone falls off a chair. As mean as that sounds, it’s old comedy and it’s funny.
OMC: Does that happen a lot?
AC: Yes, it does.
OMC: Do a lot of customers hit on you?
AC: Yeah, but I’m used to it. I’m really good at lightly brushing them off.
OMC: What’s the best or worst pick-up line you’ve received?
AC: I don’t even notice them. I’ve developed selective hearing.
OMC: Do you have to deal with drunk people getting sick?
AC: Yes, but fortunately other people take care of that. Overall, we don’t get a lot of rowdies at The Social. It’s more of a controlled crowd.
OMC: What do you like the most about bartending?
AC: I get to hang out and talk to people and that’s my job.
OMC: What do you like the least?
AC: Cleaning and dishes.
OMC: Have you ever broken up a bar fight?
AC: As ninja as I like to think I am, I don’t handle that stuff.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
