I know we don’t all need a father figure like my title suggests, but if you are in the market for one—surprise! I think Jon would be a great choice.

I have a friend who says we all need to have a “Jon Taffer Button” on our lapels. When we push it, Jon appears and handles—or better yet, helps us handle—whatever situation he shows up in the middle of. She especially likes this because she is a woman who would easily choose the bear over a strange man in the woods (IYKYK), and Jon’s concern for safety and his ability to handle conflict fiercely and constructively is a skill set she admires. I do not share the same concerns as she does, and when she mentions the button idea I pretend that’s the reason I laugh it off. In actuality, I’m embarrassed because I, too, want a Jon Taffer Button, only I want mine subdermally implanted.

When I read articles about Jon, they often start by mentioning his authoritative, no-nonsense, tough-love presence on Bar Rescue. They talk about him storming into failing bars, setting things straight with his bluntness and impeccably high standards, and transforming chaos into order. But behind the scenes, there’s another side to Jon that his fans are likely aware of and secretly wish was in their lives: Jon is a devoted father.

Jon’s daughter, Samantha, now an adult, is clearly the apple of his eye. Despite his hectic travel schedule, Jon always prioritized her and his role as a father. One heartwarming story he shared on his podcast episode with Sway Calloway perfectly encapsulates his dedication. While working in Asia, Jon would wake up in the early morning hours every day to call Samantha, the time difference corresponding with her getting home from school. This wasn’t just a quick check-in. Samantha would fax Jon her homework, and he would carefully lay out the faxes on his desk, using his shoes as paperweights to keep the papers from curling. Then they would talk.

My dad was a pretty good dad but his way of staying close was to pick a fight with me so we could argue, or he would send me out blackberry picking so he could make his wine, which somehow didn’t feel very loving to me. I can’t imagine him sitting in a hotel room, shoes strewn across his desk, meticulously going over homework faxes with me like Jon did with Samantha. Taking care of me like that was my mother’s job, and when Dad wasn’t available, he wasn’t available, period. 

While I find Jon’s ritual impressive, I imagine he sees it as just another thing dads do because this ritual wasn’t about homework; it was about staying connected, being present, and showing his daughter that she was his priority, no matter where he was. It was about being her father and loving her.

As I’ve mentioned in several of my blog posts, Jon believes in integrity. Saying “I love you” isn’t enough. Those words need to be backed up with actions. This philosophy can be seen in different aspects of his life, from his professional endeavors to his personal relationships. For Jon, love is a verb. It’s about showing up, being present, and doing the work necessary to maintain a strong and healthy relationship.

This belief system is not only evident in how he operates on the show, but also in how he raised Samantha. Despite the demands of his career, Jon made sure his daughter felt his presence and support. As Jon often points out in Bar Rescue episodes, saying “I love you” isn’t the same thing as living “I love you.” That is a whole different level of love—one where Jon significantly raises the bar (pun intended).

The reward of raising the bar on love is that Jon and Samantha both acknowledge their relationship is incredibly strong. Jon has even challenged other fathers, saying they’d be hard-pressed to find a closer father-daughter relationship than his with Samantha. She concurs, and their mutual admiration is evident. She has followed in his footsteps, becoming a bartender, appearing on Bar Rescue as a recon specialist, and working in the spirits industry. On social media, Jon and Samantha often tease each other about who is better, showcasing a playful and loving dynamic. Her X profile cheerfully invites us to “Check out my pops on #BarRescue Sunday nights.”

Jon’s dedication to family and high level of expectations about how to be a good husband and father extends beyond his own. On Bar Rescue, he often praises bar owners who have managed their divorces amicably, putting their children’s well-being first. Jon himself went through a divorce with his first wife but ensured that Samantha’s welfare remained their priority. He is proud of how they navigated the difficult situation and emerged able to maintain a healthy family environment for her.

In what I can only imagine as a little bit of déjà vu for Jon, he is particularly supportive of Bruno Smoje and Shari Smoje from “S4E7: A Dash of Bitters” because Bruno’s festering resentment about his divorce is killing his family and his business. Jon uses his own experience to help Bruno heal the wounds between him and Shari for the sake of their daughter Claudia. Jon’s own experience adds weight to his advice and encouragement and helps me see how fatherhood can be about a lot more than providing financially for your children. It might require you to change huge aspects of yourself for the well-being of your children.

On Bar Rescue, Jon continually schools us on the tenets of authoritative parenting, which at its core is about being highly responsive to one’s children while also having high expectations of them. This means that one understands their children and helps guide and support them to solve problems effectively, build character, and leave the nest connected and capable human beings—basically what Jon does week after week with owners and staff on Bar Rescue and could probably do for 99.9% of us, if we were only able to conjure him up with a button or something. Just saying.

Jon’s support of other people’s families and children is truly illustrious. One of the things I admire about him is that he is not afraid to call out the moral compass of other men, and that is impressive. I mean, that he gets into owners’ “family business” and still calls them out without getting beat down is mind blowing to me. It’s not a one-off thing, either. Jon gets in some very sticky situations, especially when he actively advocates for the children and young adults involved in the bars he rescues. For example, in “S5E23: Daddy Dearest,” Jon has zero tolerance for physically abusive owner and father, Rich Marinacci. He puts him in his place during recon, and Rich is infuriated about it.

The next day in the staff meeting, Jon speaks to Rich as a world-renown expert and as a father, and none of it is good. However, in one short sentence, Jon lights the pathway to Rich’s redemption, telling him, “Just because I’m not thrilled with you doesn’t mean I’m not rooting for you.” Jon has done what most of the grown men I know couldn’t fathom doing and that’s simultaneously holding anger and disappointment with love and high standards while also doing what is necessary to help the other person correct their behavior and succeed. In this manner Jon serves as a surrogate father for both Rich and his boys and models mature relational problem-solving skills for the rest of us.

Jon also intervenes in less dramatic but still caustic situations. In “S4E4: El Moronte!!” Jon helps owner Ivan Arroyo repair his very contentious relationship with his sons who are struggling due to Ivan’s neglect and flaunting of his young girlfriend at the bar. Jon makes Ivan talk with his children, give weight to their points of view, and honor their dreams. His intervention helps restore their familial bond, but not without a struggle, a struggle he willingly embraces for the betterment of Ivan’s family and his sons’ futures.

In “S8E5: Viva la Casona,” Jon fights for college student Febe Briseno, whose savings and credit cards were used by her parents to buy a bar and restaurant and start her off in life deeply in debt. Jon’s efforts to secure her future highlight his protective nature toward young adults, or anyone vulnerable to being taken advantage of financially. Truthfully, almost all the episodes have some sort of parent-child drama in them, so Jon regularly helps fathers get on and stay on a better path for their children, even if it’s not his primary objective.

The love between a father and his child is also something Jon draws on a lot to help inspire owners to improve. Sometimes the situation is so dire, Jon can be cruel in the way he presents the truth of the matter to the owners. Ralph Skrzypczak is a half million dollars in debt to his father in “S8E12: Wreck It Ralph.” Jon starts off easy with, “He gave you this money because you’re his son. He wants you to make yourself into something from this money, not be a fuck up.” Then he lays it to him bare, “Before your father rests his head for the last breath of his life, wouldn’t you like him to see you be a freaking success?” No matter if it’s the father or the child causing issues, Jon wants the relationship to be strong and honorable in both directions and works his magic ardently toward that end.

Jon also has a more pleasant approach that he uses to motivate owners with children: He names the bars after their kids. One instance occurs in “S7E7: Taken for Granted,” when Jon names the bar after owner DJ Miller’s daughter, Leia, to help inspire DJ and make him as attached to his bar’s success as he is to his daughter’s. This episode is a great one to watch as an example of Jon as an authoritative father figure. He reams DJ, scolding him at every turn, but he also collaborates with DJ in agreeing to move forward. The movement isn’t linear, but it does happen. Jon takes DJ from the shit way he’s been acting and puts him on a much better path, training DJ and enabling him to be successful on his own when Jon departs. DJ even compares Jon to a father figure after surviving his come-to-Jesus recon visit, saying, “It’s like being eight and having your dad come home and whoop your ass after you’ve been messing up at school.”

When people fuck up, they turn to Jon because they know in their hearts he will be tough but fair, and he will show them what it’s like to have a trustworthy authority who will give them his whole heart and soul when they are in trouble and need him, but not without high expectations that they will succeed with his help.

As a fan, it’s easy to imagine what Jon would be like as a father because I see the essence of it, episode after episode. Jon’s blend of professional rigor and personal devotion makes him a figure many of us look up to. He reminds us of the importance of integrity and genuine connection. He shows us that being a great father or mentor isn’t about grand gestures but about consistent and meaningful actions that show unconditional love, provide support, are consistent, reliable, encouraging, protective, and respect us as autonomous human beings.

As Jon says about being a father and raising a child on his podcast episode with Sway, “That’s an amazing moment when you look at your little girl like that, Sway, and you say to yourself, ‘You know what I did? I did okay as a father. Look at her! She’s terrific!’ That’s probably the most defining thing of our entire lives, don’t you think?”

Yes, Jon. That’s actually what we all think, and that’s why we all need a father figure like you—in real life, on TV, and as a supernatural being that will come to our rescue when we push our coveted Jon Taffer Buttons.