SNOHOMISH — Angela Simonet has seen a lot of craziness during her long career tending bar in Snohomish County.
She soon hopes to see the craziest thing yet: To be on the cover of Bartender magazine, featured as national “Bar Boss of the Year.”
Simonet has already made the final 25, and last week survived the cut to the final 15.
The winner of the voting-based competition, running to Feb. 8, will receive $10,000 in addition to the feature story.
“I thought it was a hoax,” Simonet said, when she first received an email she was nominated. “Then I looked into it and I said, ‘Oh my God this is legitimate.’”
Contest sponsor Dos Hombres is a mescal drinks company founded by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, stars of the hit 2008-2013 TV series "Breaking Bad." This is its inaugural Bar Boss of the Year competition.
Simonet has no idea who nominated her, but there is a deep pool of suspects.
She worked at Jimmy Z's and Tony V's in Everett, The Old Inn and The Repp of Snohomish, and the Granite Falls Eagles club before moving to the Snohomish Eagles about a year ago.
“It would be hard to find someone who doesn’t adore her,” said Darla White, bar manager of the Snohomish club. “Being able to make a career out of bartending takes a certain type of person. She’s exceptional at what she does.”
Simonet began mixing cocktails for her sister while working toward her Associate’s Degree with plans to become a nurse.
At the time, in the 1990s, bartending did not require formal training or a license.
The demands of an autistic son curtailed her nursing career, so Simonet began bartending nights while her husband Trask held a day job.
She has encountered people hiding in bathrooms at closing time and “a couple of stalkers.”
Once at Tony V’s, a huge bar brawl broke out in the 1990s involving members of the Aryan Nations.
On another evening at Jimmy Z's in the late ‘90s, a transient man wandered in and a friendly customer bought him a beer. The man pulled out a butter knife and began stabbing the patron, she said.
“That’s when I quit Jimmy Z's,” Simonet laughed.
When she moved to the Granite Falls Eagles Club customers followed her and became club members.
“You definitely develop deep relationships,” Simonet said.
She says she has a “kind of black and white memory” that enables her to recall the drink each customer previously ordered, even if it was only once.
“I treat every person the same,” Simonet said. “I think I make them feel noticed and taken care of.”
To vote for Simonet, go to https://barboss.org/2023/angela-simonet . Voters are allowed one free vote per day and can buy more votes to benefit the anti-bullying Kind Campaign.
If she wins the contest, she plans to take her son, Sawyer, to Lego Land and Mario Land, his lifelong dreams.
First, though, she plans to take her daughter Stella with her to Florida for the cover photo shoot.
“She’s a huge ‘Breaking Bad’ fan,” Simonet explained.
Angela Simonet poses for a photo.
