Meet this Macon bar’s ‘Maestros of a good time’

With more than 30 years of experience behind the bar between them, Josh Howard and Chris Barroso have been a key part of the success in the first year of Miramar Raw Bar and Tapas (4420 Forsyth Road). The pair are best friends and work in sync behind the bar. Here’s more about how they started bartending, what they like about their job and some of their favorite cocktails.

Q: How did you get started in the business?

Josh: I won’t give you the whole poor decisions after high school speech. I got my start in restaurants at around 18 and eventually got thrown behind the bar. I fell in love with it. This is about all I’ve ever done is make cocktails. It’s just something that I love doing. I feel like it’s a part of me.

Chris: I started out at Steak and Shake in the kitchen before heading to Bonefish Grill. I then had the chance to go help start Roasted Cafe downtown on Second Street. I turned 21 that year and got nominated for bartender of the year when we started doing beer and wine. I went on to work at The Hummingbird and Bearfoot Tavern before moving over to The Tic Toc Room, where I met Josh.

Q: What is it like getting to work with one another?

Josh: It’s rare that you get to work with your best friend. We joke that we are like the Stepbrothers of bartending. We will be in here bartending in our tuxedo T-shirts and having a good time. We slinging drinks, everybody is laughing. It doesn’t feel like work. I always tell him he is the best bartender in Macon and he always tells me that I am the best bartender in Macon.

Chris: In order to bartend with another person, you have to have a few things. You have chemistry and be able to fully trust that person. It’s like a close relationship with a girlfriend or a significant other, where you just kind of read each other’s minds. I’ve bartended with hundreds of people in my life and it’s never been as smooth. It awesome to be able to combine spending time with your best friend and one of your favorite jobs.

Q: What is the most satisfying thing about being a bartender?

Josh: You are the maestro of another person’s good time. These people have come out to see you have a good time and they’re spending their spare time and money with you. I just try to set that vibe and everyone is happy and having a good time at your direction. There’s definitely a difference between 18-year-old me and 38-year-old me now and it’s just experience. You learn what you can and can’t get away with as far as cocktail-wise. The key is perfecting that balance with your drinks.

Chris: I get off from my day job on Friday and head to Miramar. Typically Josh has already been behind the bar for a couple of hours at that point. I love the feeling of walking in the door and seeing a full bar. I love the look on everyone’s face when I come through the door. Josh’s face lights up. Our guests’ faces light up. My favorite thing is seeing those new customers become regular faces when I walk in. it’s so rewarding to see that person come in one day and then come back the next day or come back next week, bring in somebody else to bring in more friends because they have such a great experience

Q: If someone has never been to Miramar what do you recommend they try?

Josh: It all depends on the guest. I try to figure out what their tastes are and get a cocktail put together that they will like. We really have something for everyone. These drinks are about as natural as they can get. I try to avoid commercial products as much as possible. I make our own syrups. I muddle fresh fruit. Some of my favorite drinks to make are the Blackberry Sour and the Cedar Smoked Old Fashioned. I created the whole drink menu and I work closely with our chef to make sure the drinks and the food complement one another.

Chris: I am in the business of making regulars, so if you come in for the first time, I would recommend that you pick a couple of our appetizers or some oysters and I will help pair some drinks to go with it. Our goal is to really make it an experience for our customers. But if you do just want to come in and try one of our signature drinks then the Cedar Smoked Old Fashioned is one of my favorites. Josh has spent years perfecting that recipe.

Q: What are some of your long-term goals?

Josh: I would love to own my own spot at some point. But outside of that, I just want to get better and better. I want to continue to refine my craft as much as possible.

Chris: My long-term goal is to open Cafe Barroso. I have always wanted to see my name on a building here in my hometown. I can bring some of my Cuban heritage to Macon. But that is pretty far off in the future. I still have more that I want to do in my career field of sales and potentially getting more into IT.

Q: What makes Miramar such a great spot?

Josh: I really have tried to create that vibe of like the bar where everybody knows your name. Even if it’s your first time in here, when you walk in here and sit down, I want you to feel like you’ve been here for 10 years. When you sit down at this bar, I want you to feel like you’re at home.

Chris: I retired from bartending a few years ago outside of catering. Once COVID-19 hit, the catering business basically went away. But I wasn’t really looking to get back behind the bar at a local restaurant. I got the call to come work at Miramar and I debated for a bit. I really had to think about it. I ultimately decided to come work there because it was easy for me to get behind the concept and what they were building. We have great food, great people and great cocktails. It is just a great all around experience for both employees and the guests that come in.

Q: You are both from Macon, what is it like getting to bartend in your hometown?

Josh: You run into people that you’ve known from your past. It is all good vibes and stuff. What gets me is like friends of my parents, they invite their friends and my parents and they will be like ‘I remember you when you were in third grade.’

Chris: I love working in Macon because I have seen it change so much since I graduated from Mercer back in 2013. I love working in a bar like Miramar where you have to get reservations to come out because you do get the chance to develop those regulars. I think now is also just a great time because the support that people have right now for our restaurants and businesses is at an all time high.

Q: What do you enjoy outside of bartending?

Josh: I love playing golf. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love going on dates with my wife. We go to baseball and football games when we can. I recently got the chance to take my whole family out to the Cherry Blossom Festival. We really try to get into the local things as best we can.

Chris: I work a lot so typically I like to relax on my days off but recently I have been going thrift shopping with my girlfriend on the weekends. We have also been doing brunch recently. We try some new brunch places in Macon or Warner Robins. I bought a house last year, so I have been trying to get some things for that too.

Q: How is working with one another changed or impacted how you bartend?

Josh: When I met Chris, it totally changed the way I bartended. I used to do things a certain way and then working with him for the first time the blinders came off. Even though he is younger than me, he totally changed the way I looked at making drinks. It is part of why we work so well together is because we feed off of each other. It’s rare that you get to work with someone that you know so well. I’m very thankful to have him with me back there. It’s a bartender’s dream come true.

Chris: I grew up in the business quickly by watching other bartenders like Michael Brunner at The Hummingbird. So when I met Josh, I was more of a high volume bartender. So working with him at Tic Toc really opened my eyes to a new atmosphere. I was able to really hone my skills for customer service being around Josh. Josh is able to turn that bar experience into a show and really make it an experience for that customer. I learned a lot of that from him.

CEDAR SMOKED OLD FASHIONED

Josh and Chris’s favorite cocktail is the Cedar Smoked Old Fashioned. Here is the recipe:

• 2 oz simple syrup
• 3 oz of bourbon
• 4 dashes of chocolate bitters
• Muddle orange peel
• Add ice
• Stir

This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.