Jon Taffer, a bar/nightclub consultant, and his team of experts offer their expertise, helping real bar owners "rescue" their failing establishments by overcoming challenges and possibly sav... Read allJon Taffer, a bar/nightclub consultant, and his team of experts offer their expertise, helping real bar owners "rescue" their failing establishments by overcoming challenges and possibly saving them from closing.Jon Taffer, a bar/nightclub consultant, and his team of experts offer their expertise, helping real bar owners "rescue" their failing establishments by overcoming challenges and possibly saving them from closing.
- Awards
- 3 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSimilar to Gordon Ramsey on Hell's Kitchen, Jon Taffer yells at bar owners and managers when showing them their shortcomings on every episode of this show.
- Quotes
Himself - Host: [repeated line to the owner of the bar, referring to the owner keeping their family members employed as a favor even if the performance of the family members is contributing to the bar losing money] do you want to run a business or a charity?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe: Episode #1.4 (2013)
On the one hand, the typical "Reality" TV formula and attendant drama gets old fast. If you watch Bar Rescue more than once, you learn the formula: a clueless bar owner + Jon Taffer blowing a gasket + a big show down between Taffer and the owner + a disastrous "stress test" + redemption, training, makeover = happy ending.
Personally, I could do without the yelling, screaming, crying, fighting and the needlessly- tight (usually five day) turnaround to "rescue" the bar.
On the other hand, when Mr. Taffer gets in to the analysis of why some bars work and many fail the show becomes very interesting. Learning facts like that a bar that alienates women will likely fail, and that bartenders over-pouring due to a lack of training - or as an effort to boost their tips at the expense of the establishment's inventory- are the kind of insights that make the program watchable.
Taffer's ultimate point is that running a bar is not a good-time job or excuse to party. It is a business and like any small business, if an owner wants to be successful at it he or she has to be ready to effectively deal with the necessary inventory, personnel, budget, compliance and marketing responsibilities.
A challenge Bar Rescue has to contend with is that viewers can easily see for themselves how the rescued bar does after the show's filming.
By the time an episode airs the renovated bar has had a few months to operate under the new recommended fixes. A quick Yelp search usually undermines the rosy ending. In many cases the bar still fails, or reverts to its old habits. The reviews sometimes reveal that the rapid 36-hour renovations done for dramatic effect and production schedules are pretty slap-dash on closer inspection, or that the changes to the bar made by the show were not in compliance with local law.
I actually think Bar Rescue could spruce itself up if it was a more professional, measured presentation that took more time than just five days to really work with transforming a bar. The formulaic theatrics and shouting, coupled with the slapdash renovation and the uncomfortable sense that a lot of the fixes really won't stick detracts from what could be a really interesting program about how to run a successful bar.
- mattpope384
- Jul 5, 2015
Details
- Runtime41 minutes
- Color
Contribute to this page
![Jon Taffer in Bar Rescue (2011)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNGRkODk5YTUtMzg1ZS00OWZjLTliYTYtYzQyZDQwNTMzMzk2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTAwMzM3NDI3._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)