WORKING -- DON VILLALOBOS

Story by Torus Tammer; photo by xxxxx

HE IS

Mixing your cocktails with a New Orleans twist

CONCOCTING COCKTAILS

Villalobos, 30, works as a bartender at the New Orleans Cafe in

Huntington Beach. He has been pouring drinks at the popular

restaurant/bar for four months and says that the experience he has gained

tending bars the last four years has made him adept at what he does.

“I have worked at a variety of restaurants and bars,” Villalobos said.

“You learn how things work and how a business runs so after a while, you

can work in a number of places.”

GETTING THROUGH COLLEGE

Before he began working as a bartender, Villalobos was studying hotel

and restaurant management at Orange Coast College. The transition of

working as a bartender was natural as well as necessary.

“Bartending has always paid the bills,” Villalobos said. “I’m always

going home with cash, which is a plus when you’re in school.”

Villalobos still attends Orange Coast, but has changed his field of

study. He is now studying to become a paralegal, which if all goes well,

he says should only take him another year and a half before he gets his

certificate.

MARDI GRAS

Villalobos enjoys working at the New Orleans Cafe where he’s

constantly asked to make a cocktail called the “Hurricane,” made from a

melange of beverages, including white and dark rum and orange and

pineapple juice.

“That’s what they drink in New Orleans at Mardi Gras,” Villalobos

said. “I served a lot of ‘Hurricanes’ during February, which was Mardi

Gras time. It was crazy; people were three deep and there was a band

playing.”

FREEDOM ON THE JOB

Although he says the hours can be long and arduous, especially when it

comes to cleaning-up and restocking the bar, Villalobos said that

overall, he feels a certain freedom in what he does.

“Although weekends are usually very busy, it is generally a very

kickback job,” Villalobos said. “It’s not like a corporation here. It’s

privately owned and because of that, I have the freedom to interact with

the customers.”