Quotes from Jon Taffer

When my company does a good job, we make people happy. They laugh, they smile, they have a good time - that's what we do for a living. Any business doing that is making a noble effort.

Eating something with someone is the second most sensual and intimate thing you can do in life. The experience can't just be about consumption.

Human interaction is something that I believe, as humans, we crave for. And that is where bars and social environments come into play.

In my extensive experience, I can honestly say that Sculpture Hospitality's inventory solutions are world class and, by far, the most comprehensive in the industry.

The whole point of a bar is, I look in your eyes, you look in my eyes, we've never met each other before, we talk, we get to know each other, have a drink together, and the great end of that story is we get married someday.

On 'Bar Rescue,' failure is not an option. I have to try to turn the business around.

The infusion of technology and social marketing to bar spaces is a big opportunity.

When I was running the Troubadour, there was this transition from the classic singer/songwriter Jackson Browne types to bands like Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, and Fear. Those are just some that come to mind. Oh, and Adam Ant! The Fear fans wanted to 'crush' the Ants. These guys hated each other.

In the worst of our recession, bars were making money. Every bar can make money. If they're failing, it's not because of the president or Congress or Ukraine. It's because of them. And if you own failure, then you'll own success.

Make no mistake: confrontation is unavoidable in business.

When I went to college, I really became interested in cultural anthropology. Our behavior isn't that different from other primate species'.

I opened my first bar that I owned in 1989. The first one I ever owned was in downtown St. Louis.

Keeping a bar clean is basic in this business. Having a staff that speaks adequate English is basic.

Rarely does a congressman stand up and defend a liquor company. Rarely does a congressman stand up and defend a bar.

Don't eat the bar nuts.

If your main reason for opening a bar is to have somewhere for you and your friends to hang out, then build a bar in your basement, and stay out of the industry.

Putting somebody else in crisis mode and causing them to make quicker decisions, urgent decisions, rather than prolonged, more logical decisions can be very advantageous. So, to be successful in business, you have to understand the power of confrontation and how to use it correctly.

What I love about Vegas is that we have the mountains and the Strip. There is always something to do.

I can't believe the sense of community here, the amount of pride the people who run this city have in Las Vegas. They are wonderful.

There has been a black hole in the bar business in Las Vegas, particularly on the Strip in tourist areas.

I believe that a cook in a kitchen isn't producing an entree: he's producing a reaction. The product is the reaction; the entree is just the vehicle.

One of my first bartending gigs was on Santa Monica Boulevard at Doug Weston's Troubadour, a very famous live music venue.

I think everybody thinks they can have the next $100 million venue. I think there is a bit of arrogance in that.

You have to connect with your market and your employees. First, understand that what your market says is fact and what you say is opinion. Then, take the time to create a good connection with your employees. Without those two key connections, your business will be stuck in mediocrity forever.