Jon Taffer’s Guide to Saving Las Vegas’ Bars and Restaurants

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COVID-19 hit Las Vegas like a price fighter. Overnight it was transformed from a city of millions into a collection of empty streets. Suddenly there was no blackjack or buffets. No first class shows or impromptu weddings.

As a city known for dreams and imaginations, the pandemic brought a strange kind of unreality to Las Vegas. I’ve lived and worked here for almost 10 years and I love driving down the strip and seeing visitors from all over the world. Vegas is synonymous with hospitality, and its unique sights and experiences attract nearly 42 million tourists each year.

I’m on the board of directors at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which held its annual fundraising gala in March 2020. Doctors usually fly in from Ohio to attend, but on March 4 they were told to stay back and face the coronavirus threat that emerged. It was the last major event in Las Vegas before everything closed a week later. On a personal level, the production of my TV show Bar Rescue was discontinued on March 13th. Likewise, our lives as we knew them had changed forever, without knowing when it could get back to normal.

After Vegas closed completely, I drove down the strip and literally cried. I had never seen anything like it. Our casinos had locks on their doors. Hotels were boarded up, parking lots closed. At one of the busiest intersections in the country, I saw people riding bikes down an empty Las Vegas strip.

Jon Taffer and crew filming Bar rescue in Las Vegas, Nevada

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Jon Taffer and his crew film Bar Rescue in Las Vegas, Nevada

Bryan Steffy

Since Vegas is a city whose economy revolves around tourism, the pandemic has hit the city hard. Almost 70,000 employees work in tourism-related businesses – from bars to restaurants, entertainment venues and retail outlets. During the height of the pandemic, Las Vegas had an unemployment rate of 35 percent – the highest in the country. Almost 18 percent of its restaurants and bars have closed permanently, eliminating thousands of jobs.

A family featured in Bar Rescue moved from Austin, Texas to Las Vegas to open a restaurant but lost their home and lived in a room above their closed house, with two parents and four children sleeping on wooden floors. I’ve also seen the national ramifications, like a family in New York who put their savings in a cafe that never opened and watched it go away. Liquorers are laying off thousands of salespeople and moving to online ordering systems, and the majority of these jobs are unlikely to be human-filled. The loss and despair are terrifying.

The story goes on

I have been asked several times by national news broadcasts to provide forecasts for the past year. Last summer, I said the pandemic would be largely over by March or April 2021. I had great faith in vaccine development and distribution and this has become a powerful catalyst for optimism for me.

Last Memorial Day weekend pretty much proved my predictions: it felt almost normal in Las Vegas. The masses have returned, eager to reward themselves for hiding for the past 14 months. Indeed, given the backlog, this summer could do better business than pre-pandemic Vegas.

But we are still a long way from being “out of the woods”. The bar and restaurant industry is at a critical point.

As I predicted at the time, thirds of the restaurant and bar customers will come back. Back first were the young and fearless who love their lifestyle and want to go back. Second, what I call the “reluctant third parties” who monitored information and images, observed what happened to the first group, and are now happy to follow suit. Finally, there is the “certain third”, the elderly and people with health problems who don’t come until they’re convinced it’s safe. We’re not with them yet. This is a group with a large portion of disposable income. Without them, there is no complete recovery.

Other elements affect recovery. During the pandemic, many companies learned to be more efficient, switch to take-out, streamline operations, and leverage technology solutions. But the hospitality industry remains people-oriented. Returning employees to work is a challenge. Supply issues have driven costs so high, from ketchup to lobster the price has doubled or tripled, and it remains to be seen whether this is just a temporary increase.

So the question remains: what can and should be done to help Las Vegas bars and restaurants?

The government’s answer is a polite but firm evasion. The Federal Small Business Administration PPP loans are over, and the nuttiest thing to do now is raise corporate taxes if businesses are still in trouble. It is beneficial to create opportunities for venues to expand their revenue base, e.g. It is equally important to create incentives for people to leave public welfare and go back to work.

Hotels and casinos have long recognized how on-site restaurants and bars contribute to the guest experience. In the last few decades, guest spending has shifted from 70 percent gaming / 30 percent hospitality to 70 percent hospitality / 30 percent gaming. You should highlight these amenities in co-branded advertising and marketing campaigns and support them in a variety of ways. Every casino has hosts who have the discretion to move comps, including sending traffic to restaurants – a win-win for everyone.

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