How Jon Taffer grows his franchise company | Entrepreneur

Jon Taffer is not just a TV personality. He is a walking, talking, table power in hospitality.

He has been shouting people in shape for more than ten years Bar RescueBuilding brands and turning dysfunction in operations of millions of dollars.

So when it was time to grow his own concept, Taffer’s Tavern, he did not just take a step. He made a statement. That statement? Collaborate with Gregg Mahewski And Craveworthy brands.

In just a few years, Majewski has grown their huner brands from concept to an industrial powerhouse. The company now has more than 300 restaurants, 19 brands and more than $ 300 million in system-wide turnover and it is still growing.

Taffer took knowledge.

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“I did my homework,” Taffer said on the Restaurant -influencers podcast, sitting with mahewski and host Shawn Walchef or Cali BBQ Media. “I looked at the company, I looked at the culture and I saw the way Gregg leads. He knows the name of every employee. He is the real deal.”

This was not just a handshake and a head. Taffer owned 100% of his brand. No investors. No committee. Just instinct – and his instinct told him that Craveworthy was different. So they worked together with the joint venture.

It helped that Taffer was not the first big name to buy in the Mahewski company. Before Taffer’s Tavern, Craveworthy concluded a deal with Shaquille O’Neal to bring his large chicken restaurants into the fold. Taffer made it better to pay more attention.

“Gregg is quality -oriented, top of the game,” says Taffer. “He took the time to understand my brand. I am not worried about him.”

Mahewski is clear about the mission. “The goal has never changed,” he says. “We want to build the best Fricking restaurant company in the world. And we do that by building the best team in the world.”

He does not chase hype. He builds infrastructure. Taffer’s Tavern and Big Chicken are not trophies. They are strategic plays in a much larger game.

To understand what makes this partnership powerful, you must go back to where their values ​​have been formed.

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The people in the people

Before Craveworthy brands ever existed, Majewski made a promise to Dave Thomas.

Yes, that Dave Thomas – the founder of Wendy’s and one of Majewski’s first mentors. The deal was simple: if Thomas flowed into Mahewski, Majewski would pour back into the industry when it was his turn.

Now that their Hunamenzaamt flourishes, Majewski keeps that promise. He does not tell stories for the spotlight, but to elevate the people who run restaurants. His podcast, Room for secondsIs precisely devoted to that: sharing lessons in leadership and throwing a light on the dishwashers, line chefs and unfortunate employees who chase the American dream.

“It’s not about me,” he says. “They are why we do this.”

Taffer would agree. His most powerful moment in hospitality did not happen on television or during a major problem. It happened in a hotel meetings room with a former dishwasher called Theo.

Theo had just been promoted to prepare cook. Taffer asked him to open a new restaurant. During the team meeting, Theo stood for 80 employees. “I was a dishwasher six months ago,” he said. “Look at me now.”

Taffer cried. “We are in the people in the people,” he says. “When our employees feel so proud, everything else falls into place.”

That faith occurs in everything Taffer does – from the way he builds teams to how he thinks about hospitality himself. Bar Rescue Made him famous for tough love. But under the screams there is a core value that he never wanders from: authenticity.

“You don’t fool the audience,” he says. “You serve them. You make contact with them. You create reactions. That is the company we are in. “

Now go into his tenth season, Bar Rescue is still going strong. Taffer also puts his podcast new life, this time with a sharper focus on the real problems that the industry is confronted with – and the people who try to repair them.

Because for both Taffer and Mahewski, Legacy is not something that you inherit. It’s something you build. And you build it by appearing for the people who matter the most.

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Over Restaurant -influencers

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