I’m Jon Taffer the Host and Executive Producer of Bar Rescue on the new Paramount Network, an entrepreneur, business consultant and New York Times Best Selling Author of my new book Don’t Bullsh*t Yourself! AMA!

Hi Jon you probably get suggested this all the time, but has there ever been talks with FX of you "rescuing" Paddy's Pub on Always Sunny? The world needs this crossover to happen

I hear fans suggest it all the time and I'd love to do it. Did you see Shameless?

Hi Jon, can you please partner with an alarm company? I need you to yell at me to get out of bed in the morning.

we are about to post some phone tones.......they may work.

Jon, I love your show. I’ve always wondered how you get so many people to a bar for the stress test. My thought is they don’t have to pay, the show picks up the tab. Am I close?

everyone pays just like normal. We go to neighboring businesses to invite them. I also post it on twitter and FB before stress tests.....watch my pages!

Good morning Jon, big fan, love the show! Recently bought your book too! (shoutout Pardon My Take).

Anyway, I've always wondered, at the beginning of episodes when we get an inside look of just how dysfunctional the bar is - there are obviously cameras in there, yet when you storm in to lay down the law the owner(s) seem caught off guard maybe 9 out of 10 times.

So I was curious how this dynamic works, do they know for a fact you’re going to show up? Are they given a time frame? Or are they just told, we're going to put some cameras in and we may or may not decide to rescue your bar. Thanks for the hours of entertainment and inspiration!

good morning! Thanks for getting my book. Yes, doing pardon my take is a blast. Dan i2 a good buddy. When I get to a bar the cameras are there for a day or two already. Typically they think Im coming tomorrow, was supposed to come the day before or i come a few hours early. We need to catch them.

Do you ever blink?

with my eyes yes. Personally, never.

Hey Jon big fan! Is your bud Big Cat as fat in person as he claims to be?

he has a fat head. is body is not too bad, but its his fat head that annoys everyone around him gets him

Huge fan Jon. Your most recent PMT interview was great.

1: if you had to go to one non-US city for a few days and visit bars, where would it be?

2: can you please do an episode of Hot Ones? 🔥

Auckland NZ or Munich Germany

"I don't embrace excuses , I embrace solutions" had taken me far with my job. Very meaningful as well. Would you ever have thought , something you have said would help people like myself , change the way the act and be a better person ?

I'm incredibly honored by it. it is very flattering to me sand makes me try harder. thx!

My wife and I went to a bar you rescued in New Orleans. The one with the chair in the front window. Can’t remember the name of it.

Why does the signature drink suck so bad?

Is it because after you left, they stopped making it correctly?

Spirits. The drink should have been light and refreshing because of the coconut water....someone screwed up.

Jon you asking the people at O Face what an O Face was the funniest moment in Bar Rescue history. What is your funniest moment from the show?

thats one of them for sure. Also, when I told frank at the tiki bar to stop thinking about boobs and maybe he could run his bar.

My favorite was "I have a question. Yum yum doesn't know how to make any of the drinks!"

one of my favs

Hey Jon,

Love the show! Girlfriend and I watch it often! Have you ever thought about going deeper into the “rescue” with the bar? Stuff like defining their social networking strategy and how they portray themselves through their creative, advertising, etc?

I've tried it but there is always better things to show...

Hey Jon, have you ever rescued a bar and conceded later that your vision might not have suited the character of that bar's locale or clientele?

I'm wondering if you've ever heard about a bar undoing your work, and after a few months/years operating successfully under their old aesthetic you thought, "you know what, they had some bad habits, but they've proved to me that their original concept can work."

70+ percent are successful. the other 30% typically change things back or just do not operate well.

Looks like about 42% are closed - http://www.barrescueupdates.com/p/all-bar-rescue-updates.html

Honestly, that's unsurprising in an industry where most places close within a year.

Add in owners who don't have the right habits or skills, and 42% seems like a great success rate.

I'm proud of it.

Bar Rescue did a bar in my hometown and about a year after the episode aired we went to try it out.

The bar was absolutely disgusting, too many tables crammed into the space you couldn’t move. The service was terrible and the food was worse. We complained about the bad food and we got an excuse not an apology. Never going back.

From what I heard since we’ve been there, they have changed the name back to the original, the manager left in charge after the show quit shortly after and the owners instantly brought back all the bad habits.

obviously they were smart and good operators

Why are the new bar signs always designed really, really poorly?

signs are our biggest challenge because of city codes. We only have 2 days to submit art, sign design within code inspection. sometimes we have to hand a temp sign for the opening. other times, they are limited by the landlord. Signs are one of the toughest elements

What is the biggest bar you had the privilege with working on? Whether on or off the show?

properly Pulsations which was about 57,000 sg ft.

Good morning Jon,

Will you consider giving the pirate bar a 3rd chance?

Sorry, no

Hey Jon! Thanks for doing the AMA!

I’m always amazed how much money goes into renovations of the bars on the show. I was curious whether you saw any percentage of the revenue from the bars after your work. Do you become a business partner who profits from the bars at all? Or is the budget of the show so large that you offer all the service for free and receive nothing in return?

Nope. Everything is gifted to the bar. I own nothing and there is no lingering business at all.

Hi Jon! The craft beer industry has had a ton of growth over the past 20-ish years and some are suggesting its market is getting too saturated and might decline soon. What type of alcohol do you think is likely to experience heavy growth in the near future?

Right now there is considerable millennial shifts from beer to wine and spirits

Do you love absolutely destroying people?

hell no. I LOVE the hug in the end.

Jon, would you collaborate with Gordon Ramsay?

Sure. I love Gordon....I'd also love to work with Robert Irvine.

What should we expect with the future of "Marijuana bars" ? Will we ever get a place where we can watch games, get good food, beer, and smoke at your table?

it will come. Vegas is close.

Why does/did Bar Rescue seem to nearly always help the most undeserving ungrateful bars?

we try to find interesting stories.

Hey Jon, this is a question I ask on every AMA. Do you wash your apples?

depends if I've used them lately.....

Hey Jon!

If you could never rescue another bar/restaurant/night club, but still had an itch to rescue something, what type of business would you rescue?

A resort. Thats what I ran when I was in operations.

When are you planning to remake the bar at Barstool HQ?

When I finish production of season 6 of Bar Rescue.....probably over the summer.

Whats the best piece of advice you would give someone wanting to open their first bar?

Have extra money. Many great bars would have made it but they ran out of money

How much of your anger is for the camera? Sometimes the situation is not that bad (compared to others), but you still "dial it up" full tilt. Huge fan by the way. All the best.

I don't play to the camera. My anger comes from having no time....I'm only there 2.5 days and there is a clock ticking in my head al the time. It IS pressure.

This. I stopped watching Bar Rescue because it just seemed so staged, especially the anger and confrontations

it isn't not one word is scripted. We find crazy stories, but its all real. That I promise.

And don't you think being nice and explaining things to people might sometimes work better?

not when they have been failing for years, have a few thousand in the bank, this is their last chance, have a house on the line and are counting on me to perform a miracle for them in 3 days!!! taking time to be nice and explain things will cause failure.

Hey Jon, great interview on PMT your hot take on people that need instant gratification on Instagram was spot on!

My only question for you is has there ever been a bar you went to in an attempt to "rescue" and in hindsight implemented something that just didn't work at all?

sure. When I design a bar in ten minutes that I'ver never seen before and people I don't yet know there can be some disconnects.......but not often.

Hey John, longtime fan. When watching Bar Rescue, it seems almost every bar you rescue seems to be in a suburban setting, and one that seems at least partially focused on also providing a dining experience. Is there a reason you rarely feature bars in denser areas of cities downtowns, and ones that tend to focus more on the nightlife aspects? I would love to see a rescue of a bar in the East Village for example, or in Chicago’s Wrigleyville, or other comparable areas.

shooting in downtown areas can be a logistical nightmare. We have 5 big trucks, an MCR, tech trailers and a crew of 57. we need office space, space for our carpenters, etc...

Jon, did you foresee the incredibly high level of interest in craft beer coming? Seems like there is a microbrewery on every corner right up there with Starbucks. And has this been good for all businesses/industries or has it hurt some?

we did because we knew the moneys were being invested. About 50% of craft bar are less than perfect......many will disappear the next few years.

Hey John! Do you ever find yourself having a hard time enjoying eating out because you can always identify the problems in a restaurant or are you able to to turn that part of your brain off?

yes when its bad. But I can contain myself.

Jon, will you do some Canadian Bar Rescues?

I'd love to.but only after the Las Vegas Golden Knights win the cup

How far have you gone inside BIg Cats belly button?

no where near it........his office is something to see.....a mountain of clothes.

What would you say is the single most important attribute to have as a successful bar owner/operator?

love business,,,,,,not drinking.

What is the biggest mistake and what is the most common mistake for bar owners?

not managing their money!!

What is your response to critics who say that your show only provides a bandaid solution and leaves bar worse off then they were?

Big mouths who know nothing. what the hell do they know? They were not there and do not speak to the owners. The statistics are what they are. over 70% success.

How much has your budget increased from the first season until now?

about 30%. We have our biggest challenge next week. kit will be our biggest budget too.......in the caribbean

Hi Jon, love bar rescue, my mom is wondering if you would do a bar rescue for any bars in canada?

coming next year we hope.

Hi John - Big fan of the show. I have always wondered why you rarely, if ever, renovate bathrooms on the show (or show it on TV anyway)? My wife and I will often pass on specific bars and restaurants because their bathrooms are nasty/broken/poorly maintained.

We rarely do bathrooms. We just do not have the time. We will paint them...thats about it.

Jon, a big part of your show is not just changing the way the bar does business, but often changing the bar owner's outlook on life. Did you always know you wanted the show to be that way or did that happen organically when you started?

Also, what was your inspiration for the butt funnel?

Good question! It evolved then I got better at it.

Hey Jon! If the sun is hot why is outer space so cold?

oxygen and matter bro......

When you barrel through the door and surprise the owner/manager at these bars, they already know something is up because of all the cameras (hidden and otherwise), yes? So is there any real covert ops that goes on to determine the depth of the problems at a bar? Just word of mouth? Actual secret customers? Just management testimony?

yes. come early. Sometimes we pull lights and say Taffer is not coming he went to another bar. Then I should up,. We do everything we can to keep them surprised.

Did you ever end up learning about tequila?

was urban legend bro. Writer was an idiot.

Hey Jon! I’m from Portland, Oregon. You had tried to fix a bar around here called “Tonic”. After you left, they claimed there were a lot of things behind the scenes that made them look worse than they really were. (Doors/windows open all night to allow bugs inside their bar, one example.) I know there’s a lot of editing in shows to maintain viewers but how much is bs compared to real life? Love the show!

not true. People who say that after THEY embarrass themselves is funny to my. TV cannot make a good guy seem like an ass. TV cant make someone scream or act like a jerk. That comes from them.

The windows are open when we are PAINTING! they blame others because it feels better.

Hi Jon, big fan of the show. What inspired you to re-rescue Second Base Bar & Grill, and what methods do you find most effective when trying to get through to a bar owner who is that stubborn?

PS...enjoy the Golden Knights in the post season. Any plans to attend a playoff game? Cheers.

I'll be in my seat for every playoff game!! Excited. stubborn is why I scream!!

How do you relieve stress?

not my greatest talent. I'm always working on the show or my other businesses so I don't have time to destress.....:)

who's the most famous person in your cell phone?

cant tell.

Hey Jon love your interviews on PMT. What do you do for fun? Do you have any obscure hobbies or are you always working?

Play the drums and guitar. Don't tell anyone but I have a flight simulator cockpit in my home.

How do you find the time to do all the work you have to do? Between running your business and filming, you must be very busy. How do you structure your day?

Love your barstool radio and pmt appearance and bought the book because of that

every day can be a struggle sometimes. I'll fall behind then work at night to catch up.

Hey Jon. As a business owner I am incredibly inspired by your work ethic and energy. I would love to know what was your first job? Who inspired your work ethic? Lastly, any tips for a first time entrepreneur?

I owned a company with I was 8 called Ardvark Enterprises selling to counselors. I owned a few bartending schools. I was never scared and always willing to try. .

Hi Jon,

Who pays for the bars to be redone? Something I've always been curious about.

sponsors and network.

Hi Jon, I loved your book "Raise the Bar" and look forward to reading your new book. My question for you is what advice do you have someone struggling to get a job?

There are many jobs out there. Dress right, show confidence....and keep trying,.

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized Big Cats, or 1 horse-sized Big Cat?

more than one big cat .............no one can handle that.

What’s the grossest thing you ever found in one of the bars you were rescuing?

a mushroom growing out of a wall the size of my head.....

Hi Jon - In your first Barstool pizza review - you mentioned that the pizza was not rolled (though they did say it was hand tossed) and that's why it had the honeycomb crust. Then in your second review, you said it was clearly hand tossed and that's why it flopped. Can you clarify exactly what causes no flop vs flop?

over tossed and stretched. good question.

What is the point of every bar having a signature drink? Some of them made on the show look so gross.

they can be 3 times the profit. every bar should have at least one.

What’s your opinion on the profitability of bars that are strictly live music venues? It seems they go under frequently in my city and I’m curious to know what can be done to change this.

bands only play 10-20 hours a week......the rest of the time is a problem. They must make lots of money during those hours.

Hi Jon, love the show. I spoke with the owner of a bar you did, which I will leave unknown, and he mentioned a few things from the show were made up. I still love watching and think what you do is great, but what is your take? Is everything from the show 100% accurate, or do you have the Hollywood embellishment of some information?

Funny, I'm sure what he said was "made up" was where he looked bad. Nothing is set up.

Thanks for stopping by Mr. Taffer!

If you could have lunch with a dead celebrity who would it be and why?

Thomas Jefferson or Howard Hughes

Jon, thanks for doing this. How different would the rescues be if there weren't any cameras, and it didn't air on TV? I suppose I'm asking if you adjust your management style BECAUSE it's on TV.

its not the cameras, its the time. Normally a project is 2 months......i do it in 2.5 days. Thats the pressure.

Instead of rescues, have you ever thought of doing an episode covering the plans around starting up a bar operation from the ground up?

we have discussed it.

What bar that you rescued in Vegas are you most proud of, and I should visit?

Bacom Bar is cool.

Rough guess: what percentage of bar staff do you catch stealing from the bar?

under 10 percent.

Jon, big fan. Would you ever consider branching out further to bars that have bigger problems? I live in a shady neighborhood north of Pittsburgh, Friday night lights and not much else. Why not do a city tour of help?

we will discus the idea. thanks

What are your favorite bands and what have been some of your best concert experiences? Do you have any interesting/funny stories to tell?

Seeing the farewell cream concert at Madison Square Garden when I was about 15 was great. So was seeing Hendrix 4 times. Th best stories are too long, but I can tell you that Jeff Beck eats like a cavemen.

Hi Jon! When you renovate do you or are your sponsors cover all of the costs and at the end of the day is your reciprocation a percent of sales? Or do you just do it for the love of the game? (and whatever the show pays you)

all paid by sponsors and network,

Taffer, love your stuff. How do I break my Bar Rescue addiction? Build a failing bar and invite you? Build a failing bar and invite you. nods

Its a healthy addiction.......you're cool.

What was the worst bar rescue you've done?

O face or Smiling Eds in Chicago

Good morning Jon! I have really enjoyed your show, if only for validating my complaints about bars/restaurants I’ve worked.

Do you still play drums?

yes. I have a ROLAND V set

Did you enjoy working with anyone more than Howard Hughes in Scottsdale?

his place moved, then closed I'm told. Too bad. I wish him well.

What's the nastiest thing you have ever seen in a bar that you were called in to fix up?

infestation.....

What is, in your opinion, the best/ your favorite name for a bar you’ve ever seen or been to?

The Clark Bar (on clark st.) Bar None Bar Fly....

What was the biggest disappointment in a bar or owners after the show?

those don't disappoint me. The pirates, Wonderbar and people like that do their thing. I not care much after I leave unless they became friends. The nutty ones never become friends. .

What advice would you give to someone who is afraid they won’t be good enough for a new job? They feel validated at the old job but also used. What if this is the best this person can be and it was all circumstantial?

feeling afraid is an excuse. Blow it up and meet the challenge!!

Hey Jon, what's the smallest problem you've ever seen ruin a business?

one employees phone call

How was being on Pardon My Take?????

always fun being with Dan or Dave.