One of my new favorite shows on TV is Bar Rescue. It’s a show where bars that are going under bring in Jon Taffer, an expert on turning bars around. I don’t know how you get that title, but if he’s saving bars from going under, I think he’s doing the Lord’s work. Plus he screams at people and degrades them, so that’s entertaining.
Since I’ve watched this show, I’ve learned a few things about what to do/not to do if you own a bar. First, don’t get drunk every single night. Apparently, this interferes with things like “profit”. On the other hand, you do get to get drunk at work. I thought only comedy let you do that. As an offshoot to that, don’t hire your buddies and let them get plowed. When your friends drink $100 worth of booze each six nights a week, then take their shirts off and shout at all the women that walk in the door, it tends to hurt the bottom line.
Other bad ideas in biz include letting horses shit in your bar, never cleaning the kitchen, letting 16 year olds drink in your establishment, cancelling ladies night for heavy metal bands, having bartenders steal from the cash register…wait a minute, everyone should know all that, but from the amount of episodes, it’s pretty difficult to figure out. If I owned a bar, I would probably do all these things, so I wouldn’t last. Who doesn’t want to get drunk and ride a horse through a mosh pit?
Bartending is a blast most of the time. Unless you’re throwing someone out at 1:15 in the afternoon & he raises his hand to you because you’re trying to take his keys away from him. dude got tossed by three guys with a matter of one phone call.
That show is awesome!