On Friday night, the only thing Pete Dayrell had for dinner was a small container of plain white rice. There wasn't any salt, butter or other garnishes - just enough of the grainy stuff to get him through.

Dayrell has little time to eat between his prior commitments and setting up for a long night behind the bar at X-Cel Lounge and Dance Bar, 224 S. Washington Square in Lansing. Small dinners such as these are not rare for him, but one by one his coworkers ask, "Is that all you're going to eat?"

Even though Dayrell works six days a week and sometimes doesn't get home until 4:30 a.m., the 2004 MSU graduate still likes his job. Dayrell is one of many area bartenders who dispenses drinks and advice, pulls in big tips and keeps patrons happy.

"It's kind of an alternative lifestyle where you work a lot of nights," he said. "It's tough, but the money's really good."

For Jon Popowich and Matt Dunbar, two bartenders at KC's Lounge, a bar in the Kellogg Center, the crowd is mostly relaxed. "We don't really get a lot of college kids in here," said Dunbar, a hospitality business senior.

"All of the guests are very open about their lives," Dunbar said. "A lot of times they're more interested about us."

"We've had the bar filled and the line out the door sometimes," Dunbar said about KC's. Usually on nights of big sports games is when it gets crowded, he said.

At X-Cel, Dayrell recognizes most of the faces that come in to grind on the dance floor.

"You're going to know what they drink, how much they drink - you can make their drink before they sit down," he said.

Sometimes, patrons can be too friendly. Jill Alexander, a waitress and bartender at Crunchy's, 254 W. Grand River Ave., always has to be careful to keep customers from getting too drunk.

"We try not to let them get to that point," the hospitality business junior said.

Debbie Porter, a Lansing Community College student who bartends at X-Cel and Spiral Video Dance Bar, 1247 Center St. in Lansing, has her own method of preventing too much influence - tricking them into drinking water.

"It's hard to cut people off," she said. "I'll say, 'This is our new clear beer that we serve for free.'"

On theme nights, Porter sometimes has to adapt her outfit to whatever the theme is. Once, there was a "Madonna" night at Spiral, and she wore an uncomfortable corset.

"It's annoying, honestly," she said.

The money can be good, but there are some negative points.

For Porter, being in a smoky club only adds to her smoking habit.

"You can try to quit smoking, but when you're a bartender, you never can," she said. "I'm fine as long as I'm not around it."

Because of the late hours, Dayrell said he rarely goes out to parties - or other bars - but he's always being asked to make drinks for his friends.

Dunbar, too, has been asked to play bartender for his friends. "That's not fun because I don't get paid," he said.

All bartenders have their tricks of the trade when it comes to pulling in tips at work.

For Dayrell, the more skin he shows, the more tips he gets. On Friday, he was wearing a black tank top. Sometimes he goes shirtless.

"Obviously, you're going to do your flirting in all the things you do with bartending," he said. "That gets you money, too."

Along with his regular salary, Dayrell picks up about $120-150 in tips during each shift. "That's how I paid my way through college," he said.

Sometimes customers don't appreciate the work bartenders do, especially on busy nights. Many bartenders, Porter said, live by the unwritten "T.I.P." rule - To Insure Promptness. If you want your drink faster, then pay a little more up front, she said.

"If there's five guys at a bar, and the guy at the end gives you $3 for a bottle of Corona, you're going to go to him and give him what he wants," Porter said.

In Popowich's case, tips don't have to come in the form of money.

"You can make some pretty good connections here," the kinesiology junior said. Several patrons have given him business cards and asked for a call if he's ever in the market for a job.

Many bartenders say they would continue the trade if the money was good and they found the right place.

"It's definitely great if you start out on a job and do it part time to add to your income," Alexander said.

But behind the bar, there's a lot of experience - and patience.

"You surprise yourself after you've done it for so long," Porter said. "It's harder than we make it look."