Jon Arroyo: Service and Bar Specialist

As the Chief Mixologist for the team Jon Arroyo is more than just a great bartender. He lives and breathes everything about imbibing, how to create a successful bar program, proper mixology service, training and creating unique cocktail / bar and beverage menus. His leadership and ability to create exciting, revenue-generating bar programs for concepts like Founding Farmers and Farmers & Fishers restaurants as well as the Alembic Cocktail Catering Company in Washington, DC have earned the restaurants and Jon’s team accolades and recognition across the region, as well as fans of mixology.

Jon began his career in the hospitality industry in 1993 at Carver’s Steakhouse in Scottsdale, Arizona as a host. Since then, he has held every imaginable front of the house position, including server, bartender, bar back, manager and most recently as executive bar chef for the highly successful Farmer concepts in DC.

Along the way, Jon has been fortunate to work alongside some of the industry’s best and brightest, including a long and mutually rewarding relationship with Houston’s brand in Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles, California. At Houston’s, Jon worked his way from bar employee to corporate trainer, acquiring a deep knowledge of effective front of the house management techniques and tools to building sales.

In 2003, Jon relocated across the country from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to serve as opening bar manager at The Smoked Joint: A Barbecue Experience, where he channeled Danny Meyers, whom he cites as a major source of inspiration, in creating a comprehensive bourbon-focused bar with a rock and roll edge. After leaving The Smoked Joint, Jon spent time at Lucky Strike Lanes and joined VSAG full time in 2006.

As a member of VSAG’s talented team, Jon has worked on a multitude of projects, including overseeing the openings of the Cambria Suites (a new hotel brand from Choice Hotels International), including locations in Boise, Idaho; Savannah, Georgia; Green Bay and Appleton, Wisconsin and Akron, Ohio. Through his work, he has fostered effective connections with some of the food and beverage industry’s most important insiders, from his training in New York City at the prestigious “The Bar” seminar, led by Paul Pacault, Steve Olsen, David Wondrich and Dale DeGroff, to his personal relationships with some of the nation’s leading distillers and purveyors of wine and spirits, including David Suro-Pinera of Siembra Azul, Rick Wasmund of Wasmund’s Whisky and Fred Noe, the great-great-great grandson of Jim Beam. Jon currently serves as the Washington, DC Brand Ambassador for Cabana Cachaca and for Siembra Azul tequila, partnering to help grow the reach, exposure and use of each at bars across the region, and is a proud member of the DC Craft Bartenders’ Guild.

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