Tag: serving alcohol

Opening a Restaurant in Las Vegas? Alcohol Awareness Training is Required

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Opening a restaurant in Las Vegas is exciting and fast-paced. Between the usual checklist items such as build-outs, menus, vendors, and hiring, it’s easy to overlook one critical requirement that can delay your opening or put your license at risk: Mandatory alcohol awareness training and TAM Cards® for your entire staff.

Here’s what every new restaurant owner in Las Vegas should know:

Alcohol awareness training is required by the state of Nevada for all employees who sell or serve alcohol. This includes:

  • Bartenders
  • Servers
  • Managers and supervisors
  • Anyone else involved in alcohol sales and service such as security guards and delivery drivers

Alcohol awareness training ensures your staff knows how to:

  • Check IDs correctly
  • Prevent service to minors and intoxicated guests
  • Handle difficult alcohol-related situations
  • Help protect your business from fines and citations

Without properly trained staff, your restaurant could face safety issues or costly fines. This is the last thing you want to worry about when you’re just opening your doors to welcome new customers.

Timing Is Everything With your Grand Opening

When you’re gearing up for opening day, the last thing you want is:

  • Employees scrambling to find individual alcohol awareness classes
  • Inconsistent training across your team
  • Issues scheduling staff because their training isn’t complete

That’s why it’s smart to handle alcohol awareness training early and all at once.

On-Site Training: One Team, One Class, Zero Hassle

To make things easy for new restaurants, TAM of Nevada can come directly to your location and train your entire staff on-site.

Benefits of on-site training include:

  • Training your whole team together, at the same time.
  • Less downtime and fewer scheduling headaches.
  • Assure that your staff is fully compliant and trained on the Techniques of Alcohol Management – the first choice for business owners across Nevada.

We offer this option for busy restaurant owners who need things done right the first time.

Set Your Restaurant Up for a Strong Start

We all know that Las Vegas is a competitive market, and first impressions matter. Proper TAM Card training doesn’t just check a legal box, it also helps protect your business, your liquor license, and your reputation from day one.

If your restaurant is opening soon, now is the perfect time to schedule training and cross one major requirement off your list.

Reach out today at [email protected] or 702-545-6664 to schedule an onsite class and get your team ready for opening day.

Can I See Your I.D? What You Can and Can’t Accept As Valid Identification

Published on by TAM of Nevada6 Comments

Nevada_DL_AdultI.D. checking is one of the most important jobs of a hospitality professional. Checking I.D. keeps patrons safe, and it keeps things legal. Here at the TAM of Nevada office, we often get questions from students about which documents can be used as valid forms of identification for the purpose of selling alcohol. In a town like Las Vegas, full of tourists from around the world, with varying forms of I.D., do you know what you can accept?

Valid identification must be government-issued, contain the person’s photo, contain their birth date, and not be expired. Depending on the type of I.D. being presented, and which state or country it is issued from, it may also contain other information such as signature, mailing address, or gender. Nevada driver licenses, for example, also contain a signature.

Accepted forms of I.D. include:

  • Driver License or State Identification Card – These are the most commons forms of I.D. that hospitality professionals will be presented with.
  • Military ID – You may also see these, particularly around military bases.
  • Passport or Immigration Card – A passport is another common form of identification, particularly in a tourist town such as Las Vegas. Likewise, a Green Card (permanent resident card) is also acceptable I.D.

Forms of I.D. that are NOT acceptable for making alcohol sales include:

  • Concealed Firearm Permit – While a concealed weapon permit is a form of state-issued identification, it is not an acceptable identification for serving or selling alcohol. According to Nevada law at NRS 202.3653 – 202.369, Concealed Firearm Permits are valid for a period of 5 years and can be renewed for additional 5 year periods. A permit holder must carry the permit together with proper identification whenever they are in actual possession of the concealed firearm(s). For I.D. checking purposes, the permit is only good when you are also carrying another acceptable form of identification, so the point is moot for alcohol sales. A gun permit holder must also have another form of identification on their person. If you are presented with a concealed firearm permit to check I.D., simply ask to see their driver license or other form of identification.
  • Driver’s Authorization Card (DAC) – In Nevada, a Driver’s Authorization Card looks like a lot like driver’s license, but is not valid for serving alcohol, entering facilities where I.D. is required, or boarding an airplane.
  • Student ID, TAM® Card, and other non-government issued Photo I.D. – While a valid TAM® Card includes a photo of the card holder, that’s not enough to confirm identification. The same holds for student I.D.s and similar forms of membership identification.

When in doubt or if you have questions about I.D. checking, speak with your supervisor and review company policy for acceptable forms of identification. Your establishment may have an identification guide like the I.D. Checking Guide  for you to use – this will show you what to look for on various forms of I.D. to confirm authenticity. Additionally, your TAM® alcohol awareness class will teach you how to spot valid and bogus identification. For more information, visit our blog post on I.D. checking.

Questions or feedback? Head to the Comments section below and let us know about your I.D. checking experiences!

Safe Beverage Service – Higher ABV Wines Require Special Consideration

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Wine ABVIf you’ve taken your TAM® Card training, you know that all alcoholic beverages are not created equal. A standard serving size means 12 ounces of beer with 5% alcohol, 5 ounces of wine with 12% alcohol, and 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits, which are 40% alcohol by volume. This calculation helps when you are observing your guests for increasing signs of intoxication. You can easily estimate how much alcohol they have consumed and act accordingly to keep things safe.

However, it is becoming increasingly common for wines to have a higher than standard amount of alcohol by volume (ABV). Maybe you’ve noticed it yourself when opening a bottle of wine for patrons, but the standard 12% ABV isn’t always the norm. As reported by Health 24, it’s not uncommon for many wines to now register at 14-15% ABV, which throws off calculation on a standard five ounce serving.

Additionally, as reported by FWx, a new study suggests the ABV listed on a wine label might not be correct. The study indicated that nearly 60% of the 100,000 bottles tested came back containing a higher percentage of alcohol than was listed on the label. The average overstatement was roughly 0.42%, which might not seem like a lot. But, it could still lead hospitality professionals and guests to underestimate the amount that has been consumed, and put them at risk.

With variations like this, it’s easy to see how patrons can easily consume more alcohol than they intended to, and much more quickly reach unintended levels of intoxication.

So what does this mean for you as a service professional?

  • Read the labels and be knowledgeable about alcohol levels in the products you offer. If you have a bottle of wine or a microbrew on the menu with high ABV, consider including the alcohol percentage on your menu. A server can also mention the higher than average alcohol content to any guests ordering that beverage. A simple, “Here’s your beer. Just so you are aware, this particular bottle has a 10% alcohol level, so this is about double the standard alcohol serving,” would be appropriate.
  • When serving and observing guests, don’t just consider a drink’s potency, consider the serving size. If you’re offering bottle service, it is very important to keep an eye on guests and keep a tally of how much they are consuming. And even if you are serving a standard 12% wine to a guest, if they are ordering a tasting sampler with three 3oz glasses, or a larger 7oz pour, then this is still delivering more alcohol than one standard single serving.

To learn more about safe beverage service and any warning signs to watch out for in guests, complete an alcohol awareness course with TAM® of Nevada.

April is Alcohol Awareness Month: Show Your Support for Safe Beverage Service by Obtaining Your TAM Card

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Serve responsiblyApril is Alcohol Awareness Month. This is an opportunity to raise awareness about alcohol abuse and encourage people to make healthy, safe life choices. This month is also a time to highlight the role that servers and sellers have in protecting their communities. Good judgment and knowledge of the Techniques of Alcohol Management (TAM)® are crucial qualities in a service professional. Alcohol Awareness Month is an opportunity for server to showcase their training!

This month we encourage you to visit our website or our office to renew or obtain your TAM® Card. In addition to our regularly scheduled TAM® Classes available in Las Vegas six days a week, the TAM® course is also available online 24/7. Additional special offerings and scheduling events in April include:

  • TAM® Class and exam proctoring for online students will be available in Mesquite at the Virgin River Hotel Casino on Wednesday, April 16th at 8:00am. Proctoring for online students will be available at 11:15am. This event is repeated the third Wednesday of every month.
  • TAM® Spanish Class will be offered in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 17th at 9:00am. Walk-ins are welcome; please arrive by 8:30am to register for the class. This event is repeated the third Thursday of every month.
  •  Exam proctoring for online students will be available in Laughlin at the Laughlin Chamber of Commerce building in the Manpower office on Thursday, April 17th between the hours of 8:30am-12:00pm. This event is repeated every Thursday.
  • The TAM® Office in Las Vegas will be open for regular business hours 8:30am-5:00pm on Friday, April 18th (Good Friday). The office will be closed on Saturday, April 19th for the Easter weekend, and will reopen for regular business hours on Monday, April 21st at 8:30am. The online TAM® course will still be available to access over the holiday weekend.

We look forward to seeing you in April!