Jonathan Stanyard

Coming Up

Years behind the bar at Friend's Italian Restaurant in Bay Area, California (1999–2014) gave Jonathan Stanyard the repetitions that shape a working bartender: timing, consistency, and the ability to hold form through service after service. That long stretch matters less as a résumé line than as training in the fundamentals—how to stay composed, how to keep pace, and how to make hospitality feel controlled rather than improvised. Washington widened that base. As Bar Manager at Brother Barrel and bartender at Feast in Kirkland, he moved into roles that ask for both execution and judgment. The work sharpened the same qualities already in place, turning experience into habits and habits into a style defined by precision and restraint. Today, Jonathan Stanyard works as bartender of Il Bistro while running The Bitter Gringo Company (since 2019). That split between live service and his own venture points to a career that is still being actively made, not simply recalled. The bar keeps him in the room; the company lets him shape the work on his own terms.

Where They Are Now

At Il Bistro, he remains in the daily rhythm of bartending, while The Bitter Gringo Company, launched in 2019, gives him a separate line of work in education and bitters production. Those two lanes sit close to each other: one built on immediate service, the other on slower, more deliberate output. Taken together, they show a bartender working across both execution and definition.

Signature

Jonathan's signature dishes include Apples For Whales and Such Great Heights. The names signal a bar mind that pays attention to identity as part of the work. Before a drink is tasted, the naming already does some of the shaping, setting up a distinct point of view without overexplaining it.

In Their Words “It's an incredible feeling to be named the 2024 US Bartender of the Year, as this has been a mountain I've been climbing since I first embarked on my World Class journey five years ago.” The line frames recognition as accumulation rather than surprise. For Jonathan, the award sits at the end of sustained competition and repetition, the kind of long arc bartenders know is built in increments. “I choose to run it myself to keep things personal and transparent.” That choice speaks to control at the level of method. Running it himself keeps the work direct, with fewer layers between the maker and the standard.

Honors

Jonathan Stanyard has received Cointreau, World's Best Margarita Global Winner (2022). Jonathan's honors include World's Best Margarita Global Winner (2022) and U.S. Bartender of the Year (2024). The two awards mark both international and national recognition, but they rest on the same foundation: years of bar work carried out with consistency, focus, and technical care.