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‘Bar Rescue’s Jon Taffer On ‘Butt Funnels’ And Dealing With Drunk Patrons
Jon Taffer is an in-demand bar consultant, who brings drinking establishments up to working, successful order on Spike TV’s Bar Rescue.
Jon Taffer On ‘Bar Rescue’
As the host of Bar Rescue, Taffer sees his fair share of bars beyond repair. Many of those – like one that was rife with cockroaches and run by an unethical owner who neglected to pay his employees – make for great TV as Taffer whips the business into shape. But even Taffer, who has worked with upwards of 600 bars in his career, has run into bars that even he won’t try to fix – like one run by a guy who was physically abusive to his employees. “I pretty much walked out and said I will not remodel your bar,” said Taffer.
When Taffer does take on a bar to rescue, his goal is to make it a great bar. What makes a great bar, according to Taffer?
“Great bars connect with people. A great bar plays the music that you like, you relate to it, you relate to the products,” he told uInterview in an exclusive interview. “Bars have to have two things, and I call them the two R’s: they have to be relevant and they have to be really revealing. Revealing of you and your personality. Bars have to connect, and when they do they’re successful.”
Taffer is also the inventor of the “butt funnel,” which he defines as “a small opening in a dance floor, and people walk through it and it’s only 30 inches wide.”
“As [patrons] walk through it, they rub butts or rub up against each other. And in a nightclub environment, the closer you make people the more they interact, the more fun they have and the better experience they have,” says Taffer, adding, “I’m guessing there’s a few marriages out there that started at a butt funnel.”
If addition to advising about the best layout for bars, Taffer also offers suggestions about how bar owners should treat their patrons. For instance, if a patron were to become too drunk at a bar – or nightclub with a carefully designed “butt funnel” – Taffer believes it’s in the bar’s best interest to treat that patron like a house guest.
“Take care of them, make sure they’re safe, get them home safely, make sure they don’t get sick, treat them just like you would a friend in your home,” advises Taffer. “That’s what a bar professional should do no matter what the case is. Treat them like guests in your home.”
Bar Rescue airs Sundays on Spike TV at 8/9c.
Probably the worst ever was a bar called O’Face which is in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and it’s the first time ever in Bar Rescue I never remodeled the bar. I pretty much walked out and said I will not remodel your bar. The reason why I didn’t is because the owner, believe it or not, was violent with his employees, and as soon as I learned that... I can’t perpetuate violence. So that’s probably the most difficult owners because I actually walked out and never ever remodeled their bar.
There was another one called Headhunters, which was in Austin, Texas. And at Headhunters, the guy never paid his employees, he never cleaned his bar, he had a class five infestation of cockroaches. I went in with my wife to do the recon and bugs were walking across the toes of her feet as she was sitting there. It was the most disgusting bar, and candidly, the most unethical owner I’ve ever dealt with. I hated every minute of being there to tell you the truth, but it did make a heck of an episode.
Great bars connect with people. A great bar plays the music that you like, you relate to it, you relate to the products. Bars have to have two things, and I call them the two R’s: they have to be relevant and they have to be really revealing. Revealing of you and your personality. Bars have to connect, and when they do they’re successful.
The butt funnel is an architectural term, actually, and it’s a small opening in a dance floor, and people walk through it and it’s only 30 inches wide. So, as they walk through it they rub butts or rub up against each other. And in a nightclub environment, the closer you make people the more they interact, the more fun they have and the better experience they have. I’m guessing there’s a few marriages out there that started at a butt funnel.
About 8 or 10 percent of veterinarians are dishonest, about 8 or 10 percent of doctors are dishonest, about 8 or 10 percent of drivers abuse drugs. Unfortunately, 8 to 10 percent of our society ruins it for all of us, and that’s no different than a bar business. About 8 percent of bar operators are irresponsible or negligent. They allow people to be over served, they allow violent situations to happen, and unfortunately they ruin it for everybody. But, the fact of the matter is, a vast majority of bar owners are responsible business people, and we come from a business that is very historic. The second public building ever built in America was a bar – they were called pubs then – the first public building was a church. So bars are the fabric of America and they should be.
Exactly what you would do if somebody got drunk in your home. Take care of them, make sure they’re safe, get them home safely, make sure they don’t get sick, treat them just like you would a friend in your home. That’s what a bar professional should do no matter what the case is. Treat them like guests in your home.
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