About Jon Taffer
- Creator of Taffer’s Browned Butter Bourbon
- Executive Producer & Host of Paramount Network’s “Bar Rescue”
- Founder of Taffer’s Tavern
- Chairman & CEO of Taffer Dynamics, Best-Selling Author and World-Renowned Business Mogul
- Best-Selling Author
Recognized as America’s beverage, dining & hospitality authority, Jon Taffer has spent nearly four decades shaping how the country eats, drinks, and experiences hospitality. Most people know Taffer as the larger-than-life television personality behind Paramount Network’s hit show “Bar Rescue”, where he takes a no-holds-barred approach to turning struggling businesses into thriving destinations. A New York Times best-selling author, creator, executive producer, and sought-after business strategist, Taffer has advised thousands of properties and Fortune 500 companies. With his signature “No Excuses” philosophy, he has become the most trusted and influential voice in hospitality – helping America drink better, dine better, and fall in love with hospitality again.
“Bar Rescue” is currently in its ninth season on the Paramount Network, and Taffer has led the show to account for nearly 25% of the network’s programming. “Bar Rescue” spotlights Taffer as he saves failing bars from looming closure, leveraging his four decades of industry experience and trademarked “Reaction Management” strategy. In 2024, the show topped the milestone of 250 episodes. The program has established Taffer as a cultural voice in consumer hospitality, cocktails, dining, and entertainment.
His latest creation is Taffer’sBrowned Butter Bourbon, a decadent new-to-world premium flavored American bourbon. Taffer’s Browned Butter Bourbon is a rich, bold bourbon whiskey with notes of vanilla and toffee crafted to elevate cocktails, recipes, and consumer enjoyment. After creating thousands of cocktail recipes throughout his 250+ episodes of “Bar Rescue” and many years of experience consulting and creating food & beverage businesses, Taffer knows a standout spirit when he tastes one. As a concept came to him to fuse an indulgent favorite ingredient with the bold complexity of whiskey, Taffer’s Browned Butter Bourbon was born.
After many years of restaurant industry experience and lessons learned, Taffer created Taffer’s Tavern, an innovative, casual dining restaurant franchise concept that provides a solution for many of the woes that plague the restaurant industry. The Tavern is designed for modern diners who are seeking elevated tavern foods, signature crafted cocktails, and memorable hospitality experiences. The franchise’s first location opened October 2020 in Alpharetta, GA with additional locations in Atlanta, GA and Orlando, FL in 2025. In 2025, Taffer partnered with multi-brand restaurant platform, Craveworthy Brands, to scale Taffer’s Tavern and bring his hospitality vision nationwide.
As an author, Taffer wrote Don’t Bullsh*t Yourself, a no-nonsense guide that helps people understand and overcome the excuses holding them back from success. It became a New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller in its first week of release, joining his first book, Raise the Bar, on the best-sellers list. Taffer’s newest book on sale now, The Power of Conflict, provides readers with a toolkit to speak their mind to get the results they want.
Concurrently, Taffer runs Taffer Dynamics, his business operations firm, which offers dynamic models and bridges industry expertise with consumer experiences for a range of well-known establishments and brands, including the NFL, Anheuser-Busch, Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, Intercontinental, Fridays, Buffalo Wild Wings, Famous Dave’s Barbecue, and Wolfgang Puck Express.
When he’s not dedicating his time to bringing back businesses from the brink, Taffer volunteers his time with the Keep Memory Alive Board of Directors supporting the mission of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. He also regularly offers up his seasoned hospitality skills to the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he helps faculty develop curriculum that is in line with industry expectations and trends.
Married for over 20 years to his wife Nicole, who he fell in love with at first sight at Super Bowl XXX, Taffer spends what little spare time he has traveling with her, spending time with his daughter, grandson, and granddaughter, and occasionally sipping on his favorite cocktail: The Godfather.
Some of Jon’s past awards and accolades include:
- Host & Executive Producer
- Award-Winning Entrepreneur
- Creator of NFL Sunday Ticket
- NY Times Best-Selling Author
- Award-Winning Hospitality Expert
- Taffer Dynamics Consulting
- Thought Leader
- Taffer’s Tavern Founder
When he’s not dedicating his time to bringing back businesses from the brink, Taffer volunteers his time with St. Jude’s Ranch for Children and Ronald McDonald House, and most recently joined the Keep Memory Alive Board of Directors supporting the mission of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. He also regularly offers up his seasoned hospitality skills to the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he helps faculty develop curriculum that is in line with industry expectations and trends. Every year at the holidays, he and his wife, Nicole, host the annual Taffer’s Gift of Giving, with proceeds benefitting the children of St. Jude’s Ranch in Boulder City, Nevada—a 40-acre home for abused and abandoned children located just outside of the Las Vegas Valley.
Since falling in love at first sight at Super Bowl XXX, Jon spends what little spare time he has traveling with his wife, Nicole, spending time with his daughter (who’s currently taking the liquor industry by storm), and occasionally sipping one of his favorite cocktails: The Godfather.
