Brittany Wangsness
BAR MANAGER

A Colorado native, Britt grew up in Golden and has spent most of her life in Colorado. While attending Golden High School, Britt got her first taste of the industry at Golden Pizza. The small, mom and pop environment created an opportunity for her to wear many hats – everyone worked all the stations and Britt fell in love with the intimate, teamwork driven environment. While supporting herself through college, Britt eventually made the jump to a larger scale, corporate environment, joining the California Pizza Kitchen Restaurant team at Cherry Creek Mall. It was there that she learned the foundation of strong, solid, and consistent service standards. Starting as a server in 2005, she quickly moved up the ranks into a bartender roll and assisted with the training of all new hires. She continued to work for California Pizza Kitchen for 7 years, while traveling and going to school.

Taking a year away from CPK, she moved to Steamboat to snowboard for a season. While enjoying one of the best seasons of her life, Britt bartended at La Montana, which was her first step out of a corporate restaurant and into a fine dining environment. During her time in Steamboat, she met an amazing group of people that were, as she coins, “Season Chasers.” At the end of the season, she decided to go on an adventure and moved to Montana to work at Many Glacier Hotel, in the center of Glacier National Park. That year of chasing the seasons opened up Britt’s eyes to the endless opportunities that the service industry offers. Every night was a new opportunity to meet people from all over the world, to have a presence in the special occasions and celebrations of guests, and to learn everyday about different cuisines and cultures.

Upon returning to Colorado, Britt continued to grow in the fast-growing hospitality scene, and accepted a bartending position at Z Cuisine & Acote – a double concept, Parisian wine & absinthe bar and French Bistro, located in the Lohi neighborhood of Denver. It was through this experience of working so closely with professional chefs and local purveyors that she realized that her time spent was more than just a job – it was a passion-driven way of life that she wanted to immerse herself in completely. In 2013, Britt joined the team at Green Russell, a Frank Bonnano concept located in the heart of Larimer Square. Having a solid bartending foundation, this was her opportunity to fully learn and step into the craft cocktail scene. Building on her educational experience at one of the best craft cocktail driven bars in Denver, Britt chose to move on to TAG Restaurant Group, yearning to be back in a Chef driven environment. After a year, Britt stepped into the Bar Manager roll and joined the Colorado Bartender’s Guild.

In August of 2014, Britt was one of the top 10 Colorado finalists for Bombay Sapphire’s Most Imaginative Bartender competition and has continued to push herself, winning the 2015 Last Slinger Standing competition at Arizona Cocktail Week. She is so honored to be a part of this amazing team and can’t wait to provide an experience for both the guest, and her team, that is based in solid education, fun, and excitement.

Contact Brittany anytime: brittany@baursrestaurant.com