Best Male Bartender

First Place: Jack Lauterback

Lady N’awlins Cajun Café
2329 W. Main St.
355-4746
ladynawlins.com

Second Place: Otto Bartsch (Bandito’s Burrito Lounge)
Third Place: Sean Rapoza (Balliceaux)

Morning radio co-host at 103.7 The River, award-winning columnist at Style Weekly and reader-poll favorite three years in a row. How does Jack Lauterback do it all? “I take my naps very seriously,” he says. Last year he swore he’d stop being so awesome to give the other guys a chance. “I really tried to be ruder to customers and make my drinks even more shitty than before,” he says. “I even started bartending less.” So what happened? “I guess the bar patrons who voted for me in the poll are sick masochists like myself,” he guesses, and you’ll find him at Lady for Friday nights and Sunday brunches. His buddy Otto Bartsch has been relegated to second place two years in a row now, so we anticipate some kind of back-alley smack down in the near future, or at least some more smack talk. While Lauterback acknowledges that name recognition probably has a lot to do with his win — and not the scathing look he’ll shoot you for ordering a lemon drop — it won’t stop any gloating. “I don’t take it too seriously, but being able to say that I held Otto down and stopped him from reaching the top for yet another year? Well, that’s a great feeling and I take real pride in that.” Sean Rapoza can take solace that his name floats to the top of both the bartender and (below) mixologist categories.

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