HEY, BARTENDER

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name."

-- From "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (theme from "Cheers"), by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo

The appeal of a bar? Well, sometimes it's just that you want to have a drink -- something cold, and somehow cleansing, running down your throat. More often, though, it's that you're looking for a community, a sense of belonging, of being with people you can talk to. And in that case, what makes a good bar is a good bartender.

To compile a group of the best bartenders in the Las Vegas Valley, Review-Journal staffers put their heads together and came up with those mixologists who not only know how to mix a good drink, but have the personalities and professionalism that keep us coming back for more. Here are our picks.

"IRISH" JOHNNY O'DONNELL, BARTENDER

N9NE Steakhouse

Palms, 4321 W. Flamingo Road

What makes a good bartender: "You've got to know your guests, anticipate their needs. I have a lot of regular customers. By the time they sit down, I have their drink in front of them. We're always having fun behind the bar. If we're not having fun, the guest is not having fun. I like to introduce strangers to other strangers. They're not strangers anymore."

Etc.: "I'm a good friend of Andre Agassi. He could eat wherever he wants in town. When Andre comes to N9NE, he comes and sits with me." Agassi took O'Donnell with him to his last U.S. Open, which O'Donnell calls "a great honor."

JENNIFER DAVIS, GENERAL MANAGER

Putter's Bar & Grill, 5821 E. Charleston Blvd.

What makes a good bartender: "Someone who knows their customers very well. Not necessarily knowing how to make drinks; anybody can do that. It's knowing your customers, being friends with them. I think (customers) feel very comfortable in our atmosphere because we make it like it's their home. We treat them kindly and take care of them."

Etc.: Davis said she has a regular customer who comes in daily and who, "after his first beer, says 'OK, one more and I've got to go.' " Several hours and several beers later, he's repeating the same words, Davis said. She and the staff have joked about getting him a T-shirt emblazoned with the words.

TOM ALLEY, FLAIR BARTENDER

VooDoo Lounge, Rio, 3700 W. Flamingo Road

What makes a good bartender: "Being able to flair with speed and attention to service. If you can flair and wow people but still keep the quality of service up and the speed of service up, that's what impresses people. My whole goal at the bar is to make complete strangers talk to each other and find a friend for the night. They feel like they belong at your bar."

Etc.: "Where I work it's kind of crazy because we're so high up (50 stories) and have the view. We've had people BASE jump (jumping with a parachute from a stationary structure) off the patio. It's craziness up there. Every night there's something different."

GEORGE SPROULE, MANAGER

The Downtown Cocktail Room, 111 Las Vegas Blvd. South

What makes a good bartender: "Being able to adapt to the guest's needs -- being able to kind of bust out what they think they want, and trying to convince them to try new things. Attention to detail. Initiative. And knowledge -- always being able to learn. There's so much out there."

Etc.: "The whole martini thing's been convoluted in the last 10, 20 years; they're not supposed to have chocolate in them." He carries no flavored vodkas, and when asked for one, says: "I have the world's first flavored vodka. It's called gin."

PENN ELLETSON, BARTENDER

Chicago Cactus Club, 4061 N. Rancho Drive

What makes a good bartender: "Like any occupation, everybody has their thing." There are flair bars, high-volume bars, but "in a local bar it's people, making everybody (get to) know each other." A dedicated joker, he tells people he has cross-trained in "Riverdance" and the art of Kama Sutra, using the standard response: "I can do that; my dad was a dentist."

Etc.: Dressed as Anna Nicole Smith for a club Halloween party about five years ago, he got pulled over by the police. "The cop giggled so much, he let me go. I also got a marriage proposal that night."

JOHNNY CSEH, BARTENDER

Chasers Pub, 6870 W. Spring Mountain Road

What makes a good bartender: "It's just being friendly and attentive, anticipating when someone needs another drink. Most of all, just being friendly, making the place comfortable and a pleasurable place to be."

Etc.: "I love what I do. The hardest part of my job is figuring out who's drunk -- and who's just stupid."