GARY HOLDER

A guy walks into a bar and says, "Bartender, give everyone in the house a drink, pour one for yourself and hand me the bill." Drinks are served all around, but when the bartender asks the guy to settle up, he admits: "I'm broke." So the bartender slaps the guy around and throws him into the street.

Next day, the same guy comes back to the bar and says, "Bartender, give everyone in the house a drink, pour one for yourself and hand me the bill." The bartender figures no one would be stupid enough to pull the same stunt twice, so he serves the drinks. But again when it's time to pay up the guy says, "I'm broke." So the bartender roughs him up good and kicks him into the street.

Amazingly, the guy comes back again the next day and says "Bartender, give everyone in the house a drink and hand me the bill." Sarcastically, the bartender asks "Don't I get one this time?"

"No way," says the guy. "You're a mean drunk."

That's a great bartender joke. But a great bartender would have remembered the guy's name, his wife's name, his kids' names, where he works, what he likes to drink and other personal facts that might have charmed the guy into making a trip to the ATM before he came into the bar.

Carrabba's owner George Lochen says that's the sort of bartender he has in Gary Holder, who has been running the bar since shortly after the restaurant opened three years ago.

"Gary has incredible guest relations," says Lochen. "He's got a great memory. He gets to know his clientele."

Runners-up: Jane Lowe (Naples Italian Restaurant) and Vic Barkley (Bailey's Sports Grille)