Nick Ware

BEVERAGE DIRECTOR

Nick Ware is an award-winning bartender and bar manager from Montgomery, Alabama. He has worked in the restaurant industry since 2006 and full-time behind the bar since 2014, from dive bar taverns to upscale American fare restaurants and cocktail bars. Most recently he has managed and created the bar program for Lower Lounge in downtown Montgomery. Here, he has trained and educated his staff on spirits and the art of crafting cocktails. Each one of his staff members, regardless of their experience, have created their own signature cocktails that have gone on the menu at Lower Lounge.

Nick has been featured in the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper in an article on alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails for the Thanksgiving holiday. He has also been featured on WSFA news for his most recent award of Bartender of the Year in Alabama for 2021 in the Bartender of the Year competition hosted by ARHA and sponsored by Old Forester. In this competition, his Manhattan variation, “A Streetcar Named Equality,” took first place in both the regional and state levels. In 2013, he studied abroad in Vichy, France and had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe. There, his love and passion for food and beverage grew even more, especially in the world of wine. He toured vineyards in Bordeaux, France and immersed himself in a vast array of European cuisine from England to Italy. His time there enlightened him on culture, history, and the French language.

In his spare time, Nick enjoys playing music and watching live concerts, going to the gym, traveling, eating at new restaurants, and playing disc golf.