Jon Taffer

Background

Jon Taffer, an American entrepreneur, television personality, and “New York Times” bestselling author, is well known for his expert advice and eye for bar and nightclub makeovers in the “Bar Rescue” reality television series. Taffer was born in a Russian-Jewish family on November 7, 1954, in Great Neck, New York. He attended high school at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School and, after graduating, proceeded to further his education at the University of Denver and studied political science and cultural anthropology.

Taffer was first exposed to the hospitality industry when he got a job as a bartender at a bar in West Hollywood in 1973. As his experience in bartending progressed over the years, he moved on to a bar management position at a different nightclub in West Hollywood called The Troubadour in 1978. By 1989, he ventured into entrepreneurship and opened his own bar. In 1994, he created and launched the N.F.L. Sunday Ticket pay programming package and served on the board of N.F.L. Enterprises for a few years. Later in 2010, he was appointed president of the Nightclub and Bar Media Group, a media group responsible for the yearly Nightclub and Bar Convention and Trade Show. During the same period, he became one of the first six to be inducted into the Nightclub Hall of Fame. In 2011, he became the host of the reality T.V. series “Bar Rescue,” where he rose in popularity. The show follows Taffer in renovating failing bars and nightclubs in the U.S. In 2013, he became a published author upon releasing his “Raise the Bar: An Action-Based Method for Maximum Customer Reactions” book, which he co-wrote with Karen Kelly. The following year, he developed his own bar and nightclub management app, BarHQ.

The nightclub expert returned to television in 2019 when he became the host of a spinoff of “Bar Rescue” called “Marriage Rescue,” where he helps 12 couples save their marriage using Gestalt therapy, a method of psychotherapy that focuses on personal responsibility and individual experience in the present moment. Taffer became the author of two more books, “Don’t Bullsh*t Yourself!” in 2018 and “The Power of Conflict” in 2022. He’s been happily married to his wife, Nicole, since 2000 and has a daughter, Samantha, from his previous marriage.