The Bar Business Podcast: Bar & Pub Owner Profits, Marketing & Operations

Opening a great restaurant takes more than great food, hospitality, or a good business plan. Everything matters.
In this episode, I sit down with Adam Weisblatt, co-founder of Last Word Hospitality and author of For the Love of Restaurants, to talk about what really happens between having a restaurant idea and opening the doors.
We get into choosing the right size and space, finding partners, raising money, design and permitting, building a concept you can actually execute, and why the best restaurants bring art, operations, and business together.
Because the goal isn’t just to open the restaurant you dreamed about. It’s to build one you can actually deliver.

Connect with Adam & Last Word Hospitality
Last Word Hospitality — Check out the restaurants, team, and concepts
https://www.lw-h.com/
For the Love of Restaurants — Get Adam Weisblatt’s book
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Restaurants-Insiders-Daydreams-Opening-ebook/dp/B0FXBBCZBR
Books from the Last Word Hospitality family
https://www.lw-h.com/books
📌Start Here
Own, run, or manage a bar? Join Bar Business Nation.
An EXCLUSIVE private Facebook group for bar owners and operators who want better ways to run the business.
Ask questions, hear what other owners are dealing with, and get ideas you can actually use.
🔴Join here:
 → https://www.facebook.com/groups/barbusinessnation

📌Additional resources
🔴Grab the books “How to Make Top-Shelf Profits in the Bar Business!” and “Menus that Sell” here:
→ https://barbusinesscoach.com/book/

Bad attitudes, inconsistent service, and employees ignoring standards may all have the same root cause: unclear expectations. 
In this episode, I break down the 20-minute conversation every bar owner should have with a new hire during their first week. 
We’ll cover what great performance looks like, how decisions get made, what you actually care about, what employees should expect from you, and why understanding their goals can improve buy-in and retention. 
Because setting expectations early can save you from having the same frustrating performance conversations later. 
📌Start Here
Own, run, or manage a bar? Join Bar Business Nation.
An EXCLUSIVE private Facebook group for bar owners and operators who want better ways to run the business.
Ask questions, hear what other owners are dealing with, and get ideas you can actually use.
🔴Join here:
 → https://www.facebook.com/groups/barbusinessnation

📌Additional resources
🔴Grab the books “How to Make Top-Shelf Profits in the Bar Business!” and “Menus that Sell” here:
→ https://barbusinesscoach.com/book/

On this episode of Party of Six, we have a wide-ranging panel conversation on hospitality, focusing on Beckaly Franks tracing her path from Idaho and Portland to Hong Kong, building community, and the pitfalls in international hospitality. 
Sarah Dawn Mars talks about breaking down the finance side of bar ownership, and Menakshi Singh shares a fresh update on opening a new bar in southern India. 

Key topics
In this episode, Beckaly Franks shares how growing up around a family bar in Idaho shaped her view of hospitality as “an extension of home” rather than just a job.

Beckaly walks through her early career path from Portland to high-volume nightlife spots like Thunder Ranch and Dixie Tavern, and how performance, service, and event-making became her foundation.

Beckaly details how winning the 42 Below global competition became a major credibility moment that opened international doors, including her path to Singapore and then Hong Kong.

Beckaly gives a candid breakdown of the Pontiac in Hong Kong, describing it as a shoebox-sized craft cocktail dive bar with 14 seats at the bar, a heavy back bar, a strong visual identity, and a clear culture-first philosophy.

She shares how the Pontiac’s all-female core team and inclusive hiring philosophy were intentional, and how that helped create a space for women, queer guests, and a broad regular community.

Beckaly also opens up about the difficult side of business, including toxic partnership dynamics, a failed Bali expansion, the impact of Hong Kong protests, and the strain of COVID on operations.

Sarah Dawn Mars explains how Overproofff grew out of her own experience learning bar finance the hard way, then moving into hospitality tech and realizing how many operators avoid the numbers until it is too late.

Sarah and Chris compare the gap between accounting data and actual hospitality decision-making, arguing that operators need more than a P and L and that generic financial advice often misses the realities of running a bar.

Menakshi Singh shares that her newest bar opened in the south of India after a long process of relationship-building, traveling together, and evaluating a higher-capex opportunity over nearly three years.
📌Start Here
Own, run, or manage a bar? Join Bar Business Nation.
An EXCLUSIVE private Facebook group for bar owners and operators who want better ways to run the business.
Ask questions, hear what other owners are dealing with, and get ideas you can actually use.
🔴Join here:
 → https://www.facebook.com/groups/barbusinessnation

📌Additional resources
🔴Grab the books “How to Make Top-Shelf Profits in the Bar Business!” and “Menus that Sell” here:
→ https://barbusinesscoach.com/book/

Nelson Brooks started Cabana Boys with around $200 and eventually took the business to Shark Tank, where he landed an investment from Kendra Scott. 
In this episode, I’m joined by Nelson to break down how he built and scaled an event bartending business without the overhead of opening a traditional bar.
We get into hiring for personality, creating a consistent guest experience, building accountability across multiple markets, marketing the experience instead of just the service, and what it takes to stand out in a low-barrier business.
Because building something scalable in hospitality isn’t just about having a good idea. It’s about execution, people, consistency, and creating an experience customers actually want to pay for.
PartyHostBoys.com: Explore and book their party-hosting experiences 
@PartyHostBoys: Follow them on social media 
Cocktail-Crew.com: Book bartenders for weddings, corporate events, and other celebrations 
Cocktail Crew Bartending: Follow their bartending brand on social media 
📌Start Here
Own, run, or manage a bar? Join Bar Business Nation.
An EXCLUSIVE private Facebook group for bar owners and operators who want better ways to run the business.
Ask questions, hear what other owners are dealing with, and get ideas you can actually use.
🔴Join here:
 → https://www.facebook.com/groups/barbusinessnation

📌Additional resources
🔴Grab the books “How to Make Top-Shelf Profits in the Bar Business!” and “Menus that Sell” here:
→ https://barbusinesscoach.com/book/

Good drinks aren’t the only thing that can make or break a happy hour.
A packed bar can still be losing money.
In this episode, I’m breaking down how to tell if your happy hour is actually creating new business or just discounting drinks for people who would have come in anyway.
We’ll talk about cover count, check average, discounted sales, guest behavior, and the numbers you need to look at before deciding whether your happy hour is really working.
Because a busy bar looks good.
But if the profit isn’t there, the promotion may not be doing its job.
📌Start Here
Own, run, or manage a bar? Join Bar Business Nation.
An EXCLUSIVE private Facebook group for bar owners and operators who want better ways to run the business.
Ask questions, hear what other owners are dealing with, and get ideas you can actually use.
🔴Join here:
 → https://www.facebook.com/groups/barbusinessnation

📌Additional resources
🔴Grab the books “How to Make Top-Shelf Profits in the Bar Business!” and “Menus that Sell” here:
→ https://barbusinesscoach.com/book/