Bars need to be conceived and built for the local audience, not the personal tastes of the owner. Huge mistakes are made with regard to market research and concepts. Research and capital are paramount!
Failure is an extremely personal thing, and so is success. The problem with people is they don't own their failure, and if you don't own your failures, you're never going to own your successes.
I went to college for political science and got a bartending job.
When you're on-stage, you're expected to perform in the bar business. You shake hands. You smile. You're all positive energy: you add to your environment. When you walk in the door to the back of the house, that's like a stage door. You're off-stage now.
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.
The fact of the matter is that the most important responsibility a bar owner has is public safety and the safety of the people in it.
My company was based in Palm Beach, Florida, but when 'Bar Rescue' took off, I knew I had to move west. It was a choice between L.A. and Vegas. I have a lot of friends in Vegas, and it became my choice. I'm so glad because I love it here. There's a real sense of community. It's a big town that feels like a small town. Everybody knows everybody.
I'm the type of employer who will hire based on personality, based on potential. If you put the resume before the personality, you're going to fail.
The wrong personality with the greatest resume in a business will not grow that business.
The right personality with a weak resume can be filled in. That's the employee who will become great.
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.
The simple things can be really powerful.
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.
