From Pegu Club to Tayer + Elementary: 6 female bar founders who didn't wait for the industry to open up, they built the bars that rewired it.
Case 1
For decades, the bar world has largely been a male-led industry. From ownership to leadership positions behind the bar, women have often been underrepresented despite playing a major role in shaping cocktail culture. Yet instead of waiting for the industry to change, a new generation of female bar founders decided to change it themselves.
The women featured below built award-winning bars, earned some of the industry's highest honors, and created opportunities for future female bartenders and women in bartending around the world. Their impact goes far beyond the venues they opened. Speed Rack, a competition dedicated to supporting women behind the bar, has raised nearly $2 million for breast cancer research while helping hundreds of bartenders grow their careers.
Even more impressive, three of the six bars in this list have already closed, but the influence their founders had on the industry is still going strong. Their stories offer a powerful look at how female entrepreneurs in hospitality continue to challenge the bar industry gender gap and leave a lasting mark on the business.
Case Study #1: Audrey Saunders — The Architect of the Cocktail Renaissance (Pegu Club)
Imagine ordering the same cocktail twice and getting two completely different drinks.
That was not unusual in many bars during the early 2000s. Recipes were often inconsistent, training was limited, and bartending lacked the structure found in other professional crafts. Audrey Saunders saw that problem and decided to change it.
What followed helped reshape modern cocktail culture and influenced countless bars that came after.
Snapshot
Founder | Audrey Saunders |
Bar | Pegu Club (est. 2005, New York City; permanent closure announced April 30, 2020) |
Model | Reservation-friendly, technique-led cocktail bar above ground-floor retail, SoHo |
Influence | Trained or seeded talent that went on to run programs at Death & Co, NoMad, Attaboy, and dozens of others |
Signature Cocktails | Old Cuban, Gin-Gin Mule, Tantris Sidecar (now global modern classics) |
Philosophy | The bar is the kitchen. Build the team, the curriculum, and the discipline that a kitchen has. |
Today, most people expect a cocktail bar to follow recipes, train its staff, and deliver a consistent experience. Twenty years ago, that was far less common.
Many bars operated without the structure people associate with professional kitchens. Common challenges included:
Recipes that varied from one bartender to another.
Little formal training for new staff.
No clear career path for bartenders.
Few documented methods or industry standards.
A focus on selling drinks rather than mastering a craft.
Before becoming the influential Audrey Saunders bartender known around the world, Saunders co-founded a corporate cleaning business and later trained under cocktail legend Dale DeGroff at the Rainbow Room.
What she noticed was simple: the talent was there, but the system was not.
Saunders approached bartending the way great chefs approached cooking.
When Pegu Club opened in 2005, precision became part of everything. Recipes were carefully measured. Ice was chosen based on the drink being served. House syrups were made regularly. Team training never stopped.
At the time, this approach felt unusual. Today, it feels normal because so many bars eventually adopted it.
Key elements of the Pegu Club approach included:
Detailed recipes measured with precision.
Multiple ice formats designed for specific drinks.
Fresh house-made ingredients.
Ongoing staff education and training.
Systems that could be repeated and taught.
The influence spread quickly. Industry publications highlighted the bar's methods, helping future cocktail bar founders and female bar founders learn from its approach.
Over time, what started as Pegu Club's way of working became a playbook that many bars would eventually follow.
The drinks themselves became part of cocktail history. The Old Cuban, Gin-Gin Mule, and Tantris Sidecar are now served around the world, often by people who do not even realize where they originated.
Perhaps the greatest achievement was the people. Former team members went on to open or lead celebrated bars such as Death & Co, NoMad, and Attaboy. Pegu Club became an unofficial school for future industry leaders, including many influential voices in women in bartending.
Results: 15 Years as the American Cocktail Curriculum
Pegu Club became much more than a successful bar.
Operated from 2005 to 2020.
Helped establish training and preparation standards that spread across the industry.
Created cocktails that became global classics.
Produced alumni who helped shape the modern cocktail movement.
Influenced countless bars far beyond New York City.
Even after closing, its methods continue to appear in bars around the world.
Lessons & Playbook
Audrey Saunders' story offers several lessons that apply far beyond hospitality.
Write down your process. What feels obvious today can become your greatest asset tomorrow.
Invest in people. A well-trained team can extend your influence far beyond one location.
Build systems, not shortcuts. Strong systems make quality easier to maintain.
A business can create a legacy through the people it develops, not just the products it sells.
The Bitter Pill
Pegu Club helped teach the modern cocktail industry how to operate. Ironically, the challenge that closed it had nothing to do with cocktails.
As its lease approached expiration, the bar faced the possibility of higher rent, a costly plumbing problem, and the challenges brought by COVID-19. Together, those pressures became too much to overcome, and Pegu Club closed in 2020.
The lesson is simple: influence does not pay the rent. The bar that helped train a generation of bartenders faced the same financial realities that have forced many other Manhattan venues to close.
PrometAI Connection
Audrey Saunders built the Pegu Club on systems. Recipes were documented, training was structured, and standards were clearly defined.
Hospitality finances deserve the same level of attention. PrometAI helps founders plan for costs, test lease scenarios, and understand how business decisions affect long-term profitability. Because sometimes the biggest threat to a business is not what happens behind the bar, but what happens on the balance sheet.