Bar Automation, Explained by a Master Sommelier

A slow bar isn't just annoying for guests — it's a margin problem hiding in plain sight.

Will Costello, a Master Sommelier and National Sales Director at SmartBar USA, joins Behind the Tab to explain why. Will passed one of hospitality's hardest exams (the Master Sommelier exam has roughly a 3% pass rate) and spent years working service in Michelin-level restaurants before moving into bar automation — and that background shapes how he thinks about where the technology helps and where it doesn't.

He and host Adam Howe get into the real cost of an inconsistent pour, why a 14-minute drink line at a concert is a "tax" guests pay in missed experience, and the surprisingly wide range of venues putting automated cocktail systems behind the bar — from Atomic Golf in Las Vegas, where five SmartBar systems produce up to 3,000 drinks an hour, to a one-stoplight sports bar in Buckner, Missouri.

Get a summary of the interview on the GoTab blog at Bar Automation, Explained by a Master Sommelier.