Ocean Ale House's Cristal Romero On How To Succeed In The Service Industry

From behind Ocean Ale House’s bar, Cristal Romero mixes cocktail classics, pours unique craft beer and serves fare with the establishment’s signature fries with a smile.

Romero, who’s helped manage the bar for the last 16 months, has had a passion for the service industry since starting her career at the retailer Target and then working on and off through her teenage years. She made the switch to food service when she was 18.

“My favorite thing is working the bar when we have a really good band on,” Romero said. “I can be in my zone. I’m singing along, busting the drinks out. When you get into that trance state, time flies by.”

While the Oakland resident has worked at a number of Bay Area bars, she said one thing has remained true for all: creating community is vital to the bottom line.

“I've seen real, authentic and deep friendships come about either people sitting alongside each other at the bar or even across the bar,” Romero said. “There are patrons we would consider more friends than patrons at this point, like ride or die. It really does feel like a community establishment, and so you've got to come out and create that even if it's not here.”

The Ingleside Light caught up with Romero to see what it’s like to work at the neighborhood’s bar and grill.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you start working at Ocean Ale House?

Miles's longtime partner Della Duncan reached out to my best friend Julia Lang to say, “Hey, do you know if anyone's looking for part-time work?” Julia knew that I was and so I was like “OK. Let me check it out.” l looked into Ocean Ale House and realized that they were one of the clients for the San Jose Brewery, Fox Tale Fermentation, who are like my other best friends and I’ve helped them out as well in their business. Between those two different points of connection, I felt like that was the vetting that Miles needed to bring me on.

What does a typical shift look like for you?

A typical day comes in quietly. You get everything prepped with the hope that you're going to be able to run the service as smoothly as possible. If we're not prepared back here, it can affect the customer experience, so we just want to make sure we're the most ready as we can be and I like that quietness. That is kind of like a warm-up into what hopefully is a very busy shift, where it makes time go by, and when we have enough patrons, we have a whole team back here. It's really fun, like the synchronicity and teamwork that has to happen in order for that to work, goofing with the kitchen, laughing amongst ourselves.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to join the food service/bar industry?

Be willing to do the grunt work. I think that you prove your worth not by necessarily going to a bartending school and getting a certificate. If you show up on time, you show up consistently and you do the work that's asked of you with a good attitude, that is going to take you so much farther. Let the work speak for itself. I think that the really nice thing about this industry is that if you get in at the right place where people reward that ethic and that talent, you can really make something fulfilling and worthwhile out of it. It’s going to be fucking hard but if you have the drive and the inclination, you don't need to have a college degree which I still have a college degree and that's how much I like coming to work here.

Come with a good sense of humor. Teasing is a love language in the service industry and in a kitchen environment. It's a term of endearment. If you're not able to be sarcastic, I don't know if the restaurant industry is a place for earnest and sincere folks.