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Businesses specializing in bringing people together faced a monumental challenge in March, when a global pandemic hit. Handshakes and close conversation gave way to closed signs and social distancing stickers. The Bartender’s Handshake, a small but elegant bar with a smooth ambience that serves a variety of unique, high-quality mixed drinks, opened in October of 2019, a mere five months before the pandemic began. When the pandemic hit, business ground to a halt.

The bar’s managers reached out for support to its loyal customers by launching a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of raising $5,000 to support the staff. In May, they surpassed their goal.

 “The Bartender’s Handshake is about community,” said owner Dave Murrin-von Ebers. “It’s about spending time together, sharing a drink, and being there for one another.”           

Eventually, Bartender’s Handshake reopened with outdoor-only reservations and limited seating. This was a change of pace but a necessary evolution to begin to restore the vibrant community that finds its home on 3615 Ingersoll Ave.  

 Viewfinder recently checked in with Murrin-von Ebers to learn more about the GoFundMe page, the history of the Bartender’s Handshake and its plans for the future. Find his answers in the captions below.  

The GoFundMe was just to raise funds from the community to help the bartenders. 100% of it went to the staff.”

-Dave Murrin von-Ebers

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Dave Murrin von-Ebers took Viewfinder inside the Bartender’s Handshake

Des Moines businesses and COVID: Bartender’s Handshake

The Bartender’s Handshake, a small but elegant bar with a smooth ambience that serves a variety of unique, high-quality mixed drinks, opened in October of 2019, a mere five months before the pandemic began. When the pandemic hit, business ground to a halt. Video produced by Katie Bickel, Emma Mattes and Taylor Thomas.