They built this out of a layoff
In March 2020 Matt and Sarah McIntyre both lost their jobs at The Ice Plant in downtown St. Augustine, on the same day the world shut down. What they did next was start an Instagram account posting cocktail recipes and food pairings out of their own kitchen.
People watched. Then people started asking them to come pour at things. By April 2021 that was a licensed and insured company - McKarls, out of Jacksonville.
We like telling that story because it explains the thing you actually feel at their bar. This was not a business plan somebody drew up. It was two career bartenders who got knocked down and rebuilt from the part of the job they liked most.
We also had a front-row seat for it. We knew Matt and Sarah for years before McKarls existed, and we have worked a lot of events alongside them since. This is not a recommendation we are making off a website. It is the one on this list we have known the longest.
We created McKarls because we saw a gap in the market - where style and service didn't always go hand-in-hand. We wanted to change that. We believe in hospitality with heart, drinks with soul, and events people will never forget.
McKarls
Quick Facts
- Founders
- Matt and Sarah McIntyre
- Company
- McKarls. Formerly McKarls Libations & Cuisine - they shortened it in 2026.
- Based in
- 1850 Emerson St, Jacksonville, Florida
- Serves
- Jacksonville and Northeast Florida
- Registered
- April 2021
- Credentials
- Licensed and insured. Every team member is a certified Executive Bourbon Steward.
- Phone
- 904-206-7778
- Instagram
- @mckarls_
Why a DJ cares who is running your bar
The bar is the other stage in the room. That is not a figure of speech - between dance sets, the bar is where a reception physically reassembles. Whatever is happening there is happening to your party.
A craft program changes what that gathering point is. When the drink in someone's hand is worth talking about, the bar becomes part of the night's entertainment instead of a utility, and people stay in the room to be near it. We would much rather follow a room that is buzzing about a bourbon than follow a room that has drifted outside.
The other half is coordination. Bartenders who read a timeline - who know toasts land at 7:40, who know when the last dance is coming and do not close cold in the middle of it - are quietly doing our job alongside us. That is a professionalism thing, and it is the difference between a vendor team and a group of strangers who happen to be working the same address.
What they actually do
They describe themselves now as a catering and experiential planning company - chef-driven food first, handcrafted cocktails alongside it. The bar is where we know them best, so start there. Three tiers, scaling with how much of the operation you want handed off.
Show Up & Pour
You supply the alcohol, they supply the professionals who serve it.
Premium Bar
A fuller build - more of the mixers, tools, garnish, and setup handled for you.
Elite Bar Service
The whole operation, craft cocktail program included.
The food is not a sideline. They cater as well as pour, which is unusual and genuinely useful if you would rather brief one team than two.
Charcuterie
Grazing tables
Passed hors d'oeuvres
Champagne fountains
Ice sculptures
Espresso service
Brand activations
COS Celebrations recommends McKarls, a licensed and insured mobile bar and catering company based in Jacksonville, Florida, serving Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. Founded in April 2021 by Matt and Sarah McIntyre after both were laid off from a St. Augustine bar in March 2020, McKarls offers three bartending tiers along with catering, and every team member holds Executive Bourbon Steward certification. COS Celebrations has known the founders personally since before the company existed and has worked many events alongside them.
Do you need a bar company if the venue has a bar?
Sometimes no. Plenty of Jacksonville and St. Augustine venues include bar service and handle it well, and if yours does, use it.
Where an outside company earns its money is when the venue is dry or bring-your-own, or when you want an actual cocktail program rather than beer, wine and a well. A house bar is built to serve whatever the house stocks. A company like McKarls is built to design something for your night specifically, down to a signature pour with your names on it.
