Life & Work

When the bar comes on wheels

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A party is not complete without a bar area to serve soft and hard drinks for the guests. PHOTO | FILE

Lulu Keeble, owner of Lime bar and catering can barely keep up with the demand for their services during this season. With her calendar fully blocked out to the end of the month, she is offering mobile bar and catering services to private and corporate clients for the festivities.

Entertaining comes with the need for food and drinks. A party is not complete without a bar area to serve soft and hard drinks for the guests. Making a selection, manning the bar while making sure that the guests glasses never run dry can be overwhelming for the host, luckily, this is where mobile bars come in.

Like their names suggests, these bars offer the same services you would get at a bar except that here, you get to choose where and what is on offer. If you are entertaining during this period and have not yet procured the services of a mobile bar, you better get to it now.

Their services are usually tailored to their clients’ needs and budget. “Our costs are inclusive of the price of the drinks, pay for the staff, ice, glass hire, condiments,” she says.

The cost for Lime Bar is usually for a four-hour event with overtime being charged for each hour after that. The costs which usually begin from Sh25,000 for a 50 person party come inclusive of bar and washing up staff, ice, condiments (usually used for making the cocktails), disposables and jugs for juice and water. An additional rate can be included in the cost for hiring glasses.

For those seeking a high-end feel to the party, glasses, linen napkins, and cutlery can be brought in at an additional cost. The bar equipment comes with the deal.

Mixologists, expert cocktail makers, are hired to certain events for people seeking to have more complex and exotic cocktails. “Our staff can make the usual mojitos, cosmopolitans, dawa but for more complex or a wider variety, we bring in the mixologist,” says Ms Keeble.

Aqueous Bar, a pioneer in the bar-on-wheels sector has been providing the services for different functions. The bar has a furniture arm that can provide the lounge effect for your cocktail events. Due to increased competition from new players and hotel chains, mobile bar owners have diversified what they offer in order to keep in the business.

he services can come in as just the drinks, drinks and canapés, drinks and barbecue, or full bar and catering ( where a three-course meal is provided).