The South End’s Carly Bland, 37, followed a friend from Pawleys Island, S.C., to Boston 10 years ago, and she’s been a bartender at Back Bay Social ever since — where she smooths over first dates, hates making espresso martinis, and recovers from a long night with Picco pizza.
How did you get into this business?
I was 14. It was probably illegal that they hired me. I loved going to this one ice cream shop, and I wanted to work there. I don’t know why, but at a young age, I was ready to hustle.
I worked there for three years. Dealing with crying children and drunk people trains you right away. I grew up in South Carolina and served throughout college, turned 21, decided I wanted to work more behind the bar, and I’ve been in the industry ever since. My best friend from college grew up in Boston and moved back home, and I came up to visit her and thought: “This is the city for me.”
What is it about Boston that you love? My husband is on vacation in Myrtle Beach right now and keeps sending me photos of golf courses and warm beaches …
That’s all we have down there. Golf courses and golf courses! I loved Boston because it was more — not only fast-paced, but a little more real. In the South, things have to be a little bit more sugar-coated. In Boston, you can just tell it how it is, and no one’s really upset or worked up about it. I liked that. Back Bay Social was the first place I applied to, and I’ve been there ever since.
Tell me about your unusual bartending experiences: weird drink requests, strange conversations that you’ve overheard.
I think people forget that bartenders aren’t that far away from you, and they can hear everything. It’s funny, if people have conversations — I feel like they think they’re whispering, but they’ll have conversations about you. They’re having conversations about probably very intimate things, and we’re always back there, trying not to listen.
I do love Boston, because you get to meet a lot of different people: There are always people traveling here, lots of tourists. And I do feel like, even though it’s the craziest time and probably the most draining, the Marathon season is my favorite. Those interactions are all positive, for the most part. Everybody’s coming together to cheer people on.
Sometimes people can just be the worst. They can just be so rude, and you just have to laugh it off. They forget that you’re human, too. Alcohol sometimes just fuels that fire. They want to yell at you because their drink isn’t right or yell at you because you have to cut them off, because somehow they think that that will make them be allowed to stay.
Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever served?
Oh, [Julian] Edelman, I think. He was a great time. He just drank Bud Light bottles, which I love making. Super easy!
What drinks you hate to make?
Unpopular opinion, but I hate making espresso martinis. They’ve just gotten crazy. Like they’re kind of like Burger King. Now, everybody wants to have it their way.
How many ways are there to make an espresso martini, really?
There are so many more than I ever imagined. People want it light. They want it dark. They want it a little dark. They want it with tequila. Fine.
Have you ever witnessed a bizarre or cringeworthy interpersonal interaction at your bar? Did you intervene?
We definitely have a lot of first dates there, and you can tell how it’s going ... Once, there was a girl who just was not feeling it, and I think [her date] had slipped to the bathroom. She was like, ‘I’m going to close out, but I think I still want to stay and have some drinks. Can you let me know when he leaves?’
I told her to go chill at our downstairs bar; we came to get her when he left. She came back and ended up meeting someone else.
I feel like a bartender is a good therapist. They can moderate or intervene if needed. What are signs that you look for when a person needs rescuing?
It’s not great when it’s completely silent. You try to break that silence a little, because dating sucks. Sometimes, it can be super awkward, and you want to help them with that interaction a little. I create a conversation point for them and try to give them something to talk about, even if it’s something dumb. If they don’t think it’s funny, then they have something to talk about — they can talk about [me].
Where do you go when you’re not working?
The Barking Crab is my favorite. I love everything about the Barking Crab. It’s this beautiful shack on the water where you can drink beers out of plastic cups. Crab legs are my favorite thing. I can just sit there with a bib, a beer, and crab legs, and I’m so happy. It’s like Disney World to me. I love it so much.
What’s your favorite neighborhood hangout?
I’m usually off every Sunday, and I have the same pizza order from Picco. My husband gets a large pizza, and then I get a small pizza with probably every topping they have, plus extra cheese and a Caesar salad with extra dressing and a pint of their ice cream, because it’s amazing. I wait for 11 o’clock for them to open so I can order it through DoorDash, obviously, because I’m not going to walk in. My cardio on Sundays is walking to the door to get the pizza order.
That actually raises a question. Let’s talk about longevity in the bartending world. Are you exhausted? Do you ever feel like you’ll age out of this profession?
Oh, for sure. My body is probably like: ‘What are you doing? Stop it!’ Eventually, I definitely want to move into something different and new.
I just haven’t found that yet. Bartending is great, too, because I’m focused on traveling with my husband. One of the great things about bartending is that you have that flexibility to do that. We did Europe for our honeymoon: Paris, Amsterdam, London, and Florence.
What is your preferred cocktail?
Right now, an Aperol spritz. I just can’t stop drinking them. Overall, it would be a gin martini, super cold, with bleu cheese olives.
What’s your foolproof hangover cure?
Well, besides the Picco pizza? I think Anthony Bourdain said ice cold Coca-Cola or beer, some spicy Szechuan food — and he probably said a joint, too. I think anything that Anthony Bourdain ever said was probably true.
Interview was edited and condensed.
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.