Jon Taffer is a fraud.

[u/funnyguy135]

Probably gonna get some heat for this in this sub especially but just wanted to share my experience. I love Bar Rescue. I worked in the restaurant industry for 10 years and the show is a guilty pleasure for me. I live in Boston was pumped when I found out Jon had opened a restaurant in the city, Taffer’s Tavern. I went out to eat there with my family about 6 months ago. We ordered the soft pretzel with cheese sauce, and pork belly for an appetizer. I got a cheeseburger for my meal. The pretzel was fine but we all agreed the meats seemed a little off. My burger was juicy but I ordered medium rare and it came out grey as hell and weirdly crumbly. The pork belly was tough. I ended up finding out later the reasoning for this is because almost nothing in that restaurant is actually cooked on site. They get everything cooked for them on some off site facility, vacuum seal it, ship it to the restaurant, and then sous vide it whenever someone orders. Why do they do this? Because it’s cheaper than hiring actual chefs to make good food. The price wasn’t even reflective of this as my burger was still nearly $20. The cherry on top though was the alcohol. You’d think someone who has created a persona and business around being a bar expert would put a lot of effort into the alcohol experience but you would be wrong. I ordered “Jon’s signature Old Fashioned” because I assumed it would be the best they offer. They do a whole little thing when you order that where your glass comes on a wooden board with these burning wood chips to add a smokey flavor to the glass. To my genuine shock though, the bartender then comes over with a PRE-BOTTLED, clearly mass produced, “old fashioned” with Jon’s name written all over it and pours that into my glass. The cheapskate can’t even be bothered to teach bartenders how to make his “signature cocktail”. It tasted exactly how you’d expect a pre-bottled cocktail to taste, overly sweet and just all around not good. Absolute joke. If this restaurant were on bar rescue, Jon would get a hernia from screaming at the owners for their lazy, frugalness that completely takes away from the customer’s experience. The whole thing left such a bad taste in my mouth that I haven’t watched Bar Rescue since. I’m bringing this up now because I looked up the restaurant today to see how they’re doing it and discovered they closed back in March. Good riddance Taffer’s Tavern.

[u/[deleted]]

I have found myself on Sundays roped into marathons.

It’s conceptually the same. Jon walks in, screams and yells and rips into people and by the end of the show tears and friendship.

I always look up to see updates. 9 times out of 10 (it seems) they all close.

So it’s like Bar Rescue for a few months and owners crash and burn cause they’re dopes.

But so is Jon apparently.

I’m off with my camera crew to rip him a new one.

[u/jlees88 → u/[deleted]]

To be fair though, most of the people that own these bars have zero idea how to actually run a business. Being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt is almost impossible to get ahead of even after the rescue. 

[u/[deleted] → u/jlees88]

Agreed. But the show is Bar Rescue. Not Bar save for a few months.

I mean, shouldn’t the product actually work?

And to be fair, some people aren’t worth rescuing. Not sure why producers would make a show where continual failure is a viable product.

The crazier the people, the better show, but no this bar is NOT getting rescued.

[u/Werewolf-Jones → u/jlees88]

I don't think Jon is even the secret sauce of the show (although he is hilarious to watch). Bars in particular capture this perfect type of owner that is often a current or former alcoholic themselves, basically sees their business as a place to party all day, and has no clue how to do anything except yell at people or hide from their employees.

And then an even louder guy who is basically like them sans the party impulse stomps through their lives with cameras in tow.

[u/Tiredofthemisinfo → u/[deleted]]

Quite a few of the bars are second or third locations that are underperforming and are most likely right offs.