Any business, no matter what it is, lives or dies by the customer reaction it creates.
— Jon Taffer
I guess I've just always had an entrepreneurial spirit.
The fact of the matter is that the most important responsibility a bar owner has is public safety and the safety of the people in it.
Human interaction is something that I believe, as humans, we crave for. And that is where bars and social environments come into play.
If your main reason for opening a bar is to have somewhere for you and your friends to hang out, then build a bar in your basement, and stay out of the industry.
I believe that a cook in a kitchen isn't producing an entree: he's producing a reaction. The product is the reaction; the entree is just the vehicle.
I opened my first bar that I owned in 1989. The first one I ever owned was in downtown St. Louis.
Don't eat the bar nuts.
When you're on-stage, you're expected to perform in the bar business. You shake hands. You smile. You're all positive energy: you add to your environment. When you walk in the door to the back of the house, that's like a stage door. You're off-stage now.
I think life takes circles sometimes.
If a candidate puts together a small business platform, I'll go out on the road for him. You know, I'll support him.
Bars can't be everything to everyone. They must be everything to someone.
I think everybody thinks they can have the next $100 million venue. I think there is a bit of arrogance in that.
You can tell within a second of entering a bar if it's a place you should spend your time.
Government employees make a good amount of money - income levels are very high in Washington, D.C. compared to other markets, so they are living in a bubble.
Bars are about experience and interaction; so often, the people make the bar.
On 'Bar Rescue,' failure is not an option. I have to try to turn the business around.
When my company does a good job, we make people happy. They laugh, they smile, they have a good time - that's what we do for a living. Any business doing that is making a noble effort.
I was 12 years old and in summer camp. I started a company called Aardvark Industries, which provided basic services to camp counselors.
Nine out of ten people who are failing blame their failure on somebody else. And that is the common denominator of failure.
If I were to pick the life of someone whom I professionally mimic in many ways, it would be Howard Hughes, surprisingly.
Don't build a bar for yourself. Build it for your customers. It's all about them: the walls, the finishes, the textures, the food, the beverages, literally everything has to be for them.
I went to college for political science and got a bartending job.
Great negotiations happen when people are relaxed, so a relaxing environment is important. A high-energy environment tenses people up. It closes them up. You're not as likely to get that concession.
If you have to signal a bartender to get a drink, then they're not looking at you, which is their problem. They're not doing their job. So don't feel rude when you signal a bartender. They're the ones who caused you to signal them. Go for it.
When you're finished, bars are not inherently profitable. You got to work at them to make them profitable.
Most people who get into the business are social animals by nature, but do they have the financial abilities to manage a business? A great bar owner has both.
Each 'Bar Rescue' is shot in real time. So the complete rescue is 5 days from my arrival to my departure. I do not see or meet anyone in advance.
Bar owners tend to be social rather than operators. Most bar owners do not manage their numbers. They do not have spreadsheets or reports to manage their budget, cost, or inventory. I would say 90% of independent bar owners do not even have a budget.
The gift of giving and paying it forward has always been traits I consider to be invaluable.
Eating something with someone is the second most sensual and intimate thing you can do in life. The experience can't just be about consumption.
I've traveled the world, and as an America,n I get insulted when people say American businesses aren't respected overseas. Look at how our food and beverage companies do around the world. We are regarded as the best at this. A lot of what we do here is exportable, and I don't think there's anybody that does it better in the whole world.
When a sizable group of customers speak, I always listen! The 'customers' view' is key to my confidence in decisions.
The simple things can be really powerful.
You give me someone with the right personality, and I'll give you a bar manager in three weeks. You give me someone who has been a lousy bar manager for 30 years, and in three weeks, you'll still have a lousy bar manager.
You have to connect with your market and your employees. First, understand that what your market says is fact and what you say is opinion. Then, take the time to create a good connection with your employees. Without those two key connections, your business will be stuck in mediocrity forever.
Society is causing us to talk less and interact more digitally. So, I'd be remiss if I didn't believe that businesses will have to follow that same path.
People don't go to bars they think are uncool.
The 'hottest bar in town,' to me, means high energy.
I do a lot of corporate consulting work. I've been doing it a long time.
Never eat anything out of a bowl in a bar... If it isn't in a package, don't eat it.
People connect to a good bar very personally.
One of my first bartending gigs was on Santa Monica Boulevard at Doug Weston's Troubadour, a very famous live music venue.
The whole point of a bar is, I look in your eyes, you look in my eyes, we've never met each other before, we talk, we get to know each other, have a drink together, and the great end of that story is we get married someday.
Too many bar owners built a bar for themselves... when they should have built what their market and demographic demands!
Revenue cures everything in the business world.
Cocktails and food are social.
Any time a bar or chef cares more about their own ego than the tastes and comforts of their customers, they should just open a monument to themselves and not a business.
I can change businesses, but I can't change people.
Bars need to be conceived and built for the local audience, not the personal tastes of the owner. Huge mistakes are made with regard to market research and concepts. Research and capital are paramount!
