Bar Rescue (Paramount Network) -- Discussion Thread
 

Anyone else tuning in to this? I find it a compelling variant on the Kitchen Nightmares blueprint, but mostly sans the bombastic Fox production (although the show does also bankroll a full reno job).
What's more, Gordon Ramsey could learn a few things from this program's host/star. Jon Taffer, a "bar expert", is tough and no-nonsense, but without Ramsey's flagrant rudeness and obscenities. I like Taffer...and the show.

re: "Bar Rescue" - Sundays on Spike
 

i really like the show too, my only complaint is that it feels like they have only been shot in three locations. Bars from California, Chicago, and Philadelphia. But last weeks Boston episode was a change of pace. The Swanky Bubbles bar in Philly was just sad, its probably out of business by now.

re: "Bar Rescue" - Sundays on Spike
 

So it's basically Restaurant Impossible, but with a bar?

re: "Bar Rescue" - Sundays on Spike
 

i happened to run across this, too. was interesting. saw one about an irish pub in chicago. the family owned it and they wanted to fire the son as GM. :lol:

re: "Bar Rescue" - Sundays on Spike
 

To the point the show was making, I've been to the Abbey Pub many, many times for concert... but I never went into the bar/restaurant area.

After watching the makeover, I'll have to get back there and check it out.

re: "Bar Rescue" - Sundays on Spike
 

So has anyone here been to the bars featured on the show? Its been sad to see these owners not take the Advice of Jon from this show. The owner last night changing the name back to Canyon Inn was stupid, and didn't help his business. Season Finale is next week and I saw commercials looking for bars to be on season 2.

re: "Bar Rescue" - Sundays on Spike
 

This hasn't been on for a few weeks, so I was afraid it had been cancelled. Thankfully, it hasn't. Spike has renewed it for a second season, but air dates are unknown.

Bar Rescue
 

http://www.spike.com/shows/bar-rescue

going through Motel Hell withdrawals? check out Bar Rescue on SpikeTV. Caught it last night for the first time. It's kind of the same thing and isn't too bad.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

I was refinishing the bathroom off my master bedroom this weekend and I was able to watch/listen to most of Spikes Bar Rescue marathon while I worked.
All the shows are the same. The kitchens are always filthy, the owner's are always defensive, there will always be an opportunity for the Jon Taffer to raise his voice and get rough to make a point. And the bars are always doing great in the epilogue.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

I don't like Spike bloating the commercial breaks.

After seeing some of the kitchens on the show, I would never eat at these bars after the show for fear that they would revert to prior practices. I would think/hope that if any of the show is true, the bars would be checked often for health violations.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Guess you didn't see the Pirate bar one.

-jason

Re: Bar Rescue
 

They had to try really hard to put a positive spin on J.A Murphy's in Fell's Point Baltimore (they turned it into Murphy's Law) and 2 months after they filmed it was closed.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Swanky Bubbles (Sheer) is also closed down now.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

I'd want to know the spending limit (if any) Taffer has to convert the bar. At least with Restaurant Impossible, Irvine has $10K in which to turn the place around.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

I have caught most of these in the last week or two. I like it pretty well. I like the fact that some of them (Piratez) end up not making it and shutting down, so they aren't all success stories. It is pretty much the same episode every time, but some of the innovations they put in the bar are pretty cool.

I like the machine that mixes drinks for you and the personal taps from the Pirate episode. I am surprised that more bars don't have the drink mixing machine to combat overpouring and be able to hire less experienced bartenders

Re: Bar Rescue
 

It was hard to watch the Piratz episode, simply for the fact that they were there to help and for the owner to change it back to a pirate theme when it was that reason she called Bar Rescue to begin with, just boggled my mind. What he did with that bar was nothing short of amazing and personally i would be at that bar every day for lunch if I was working near there but I would've slugged her husband Juicio.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Plus, you can count on him complain about over-pouring.


I've been to one of the bars featured, but not since the makeover. Still need to get there and check it out.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

They've done two bars that are pretty close to me, the Canyon Inn and the Olive Pit.

I used to pass by the Olive Pit (Now called the O.P.) all the time, but never went in since I could never figure out just where the hell the entrance was. Just a terrible location. Of course once I saw the show and saw what it looked like inside, I'm kinda glad I never wasted my time or money in there. Now I've been thinking about going there and seeing how they're doing now. My guess is that no matter how nice they make it look, it's never going to do well with the awful location.

The Canyon Inn (Changed to Canyon Saloon, but changed back to Inn after 30 days) is the same way. It's just a bad location. It's in a strip mall on a side street as opposed to having any kind of presence on a major road. At the end of the episode, the owner basically said that they weren't doing as well as he had hoped.

You can fix up a place all you want, but if your location sucks, you're never going to do well.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Watching this show taught me to never eat at a bar, ever. The kitchens are all filthy and half the food looks like it is about to spoil.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Well, it does still come down to what he said early in the episode, Bars are easy to fix, people are hard. The owner was just more interested in being a pirate than she was in running a business that made money.

-jason

Re: Bar Rescue
 

That lady from the Pirate bar irritated me

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Any sympathy I had gained from her over the course of the episode disappeared when the customer complimented the new place and she said "That's really not what I want to hear."

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Still horrible reviews:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/piratz-tavern-silver-spring

Re: Bar Rescue
 

8/28/2012

Lame,
Might be the worst place I have ever been too. Mistakenly walked into this place after a meeting. The staff and service was just awful. I was told the drink to order was "The Grog". This was sugar and random booze. I'm not even sure what flavor to describe it as. It tasted like diabetes. Between the bar tender yelling over my head to staff members and the disgusting drink....... I will not return.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Just FYI, I started a thread about this last year and no one gave a damn.

I'm still watching and enjoying the show, but something tells me Spike told Taffer to ramp up the abusiveness. He was not this loud and obnoxious in the first season.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Your right. I think that one aired at the end of the day, and I missed it.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

that's because I'm way cooler than you.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Yeah, no doubt that's it.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Caught one episode of this (Black Sheep?) and it is just seems too contrived and unbelievable. I get that some editing is necessary to fit the time allocation and try and tell a story. But it was totally ridiculous.



Are the other episodes this bad?

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Same formula, although I don't remember them shipping out half the staff before.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

I've never been one to watch Spike TV never liked their content. The other day I was channel surfing and I see Star Wars A New Hope was playing. Started watching and the commercial break comes and last what seems like 15 mins. Second break and it seemed longer I was like fuck that. Never gonna watch anything on that station.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Yeah, the commercials are really long. Thank god for DVR's.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

My preference is for DVD-Rs.:)

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Anybody watch tonight's episode?

The bar managed to make it 2 1/2 months after the makeover, but couldn't make it to the airing of the show. Here's a story that gives a little more insight on how the show works behind the scenes, and how the bar failed:

'Bar Rescue' leaves bad taste for former owner

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Man, thats a shame. I really liked what they did with that bar.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

What percentage of these places actually make it a full year after the episode airs? Kitchen Nightmares is the same thing. These are dying businesses owned and operated by people who have absolutely no clue. Neither John Taffer nor Gordon Ramsay could hope to save most of these places. Once they leave, the newly remodeled places are still being run by the inept fuckups that were running them into the ground before they showed up.

I've watched a few episodes of Bar Rescue but got bored extremely quickly. Every episode is the same. Place is a dump, employees are stealing, owner is a moron, Taffer comes in and yells, Taffer brings in his "experts" to fix up the dump and train employees, he adds a POS system and some turbo taps, changes the name, gets a bunch of people to come to a grand reopening, everybody is happy and the show ends with a note about how the bar is doing 20% more in sales.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Wikipedia seems to have a good list of which bars have closed.

Bar Rescue Wiki

Out of the 18 episodes that have aired, 4 bars have closed.

As for lasting a year after the show aired, maybe you could look at the first season of the show. 8 of the 10 bars are still around at this point, so an 80% survival rate. That's not too bad considering the awful shape most of these businesses were in before the rescue.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Thanks for the link, King.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

I dig the show though I amazed no one has punched Taffer yet.

Re: Bar Rescue
 

Them being behind on their rent and the landlord tossing them out can't be laid at Taffer's door. Maybe they should call for help before they get that far in debt.