Bar Rescue - General Discussion

[hatchetgirl]

I'm watching season 7 and the episode with Brandon was heartbreaking. I didn't like watching him break so badly. It was way too much and you could tell John realized he'd overstepped. During stress test, he was not helping like normal, but rather joke yell. I didn't like any of it one bit.

[Plw]

Seriously, they always show these totally skunked owners... they SUDDENLY BECOME SOBER, the next day, as a drinker... if so skunked ALL the time you would be in such withdrawal you couldn't even stand let alone SUDDENLY  appear to be sober has to be scripted

[Madding crowd]

I’ve been telling my husband that for years; if these people are serious drinkers they aren’t giving it up in a day. I also think people who haven’t cleaned in years aren’t going to keep up with keeping the bar spotless and I don’t think these bars that are barely staying open are going to keep up with exotic ingredients for drinks like orange shrub juice .

[chenoa333]

25 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I’ve been telling my husband that for years; if these people are serious drinkers they aren’t giving it up in a day. I also think people who haven’t cleaned in years aren’t going to keep up with keeping the bar spotless and I don’t think these bars that are barely staying open are going to keep up with exotic ingredients for drinks like orange shrub juice .

A lot if it is producer driven drama and b.s.

I think many of these owners are just doing the show to get the free bar renovation and then sell the bar asap at a profit.

I know of one bar that was featured on BR nearby me and I knew from the start that is why the bar owner called BR. It was a disgusting, filthy shithole. Taffer renovated the place and it was sold within months. 

 

[Emkat]

I'm so confused by this AJ's on the river place. They don't have liquor but they have fermented wine masquerading as liquor? 

[The Crazed Spruce]

24 minutes ago, Emkat said:

I'm so confused by this AJ's on the river place. They don't have liquor but they have fermented wine masquerading as liquor? 

Fermented wine has a lower proof, so it technically doesn't qualify as liquor, and they can get away with selling it without a liquor license. Even Taffer said as much.

[Madding crowd]

I was confused about the fermented wine too because they later made drinks with actual liquor and had liquor bottles on the shelf at the end. I have been to bars that only served wine and beer but those places weren’t trying to serve Bloody Mary’s or margaritas. 

[altopower]

I have somehow become addicted to watching Bar Rescue, although I can tell you the plot of every episode in advance. The bars are filthy and unsanitary with flies or roaches in the bottles, inches of glop in the fryers, food kept at unsanitary temps, and owners drunk as skunks and behind in paying staff. Taffer yells a lot and makes everyone miserable. Mixologists, always the best in America, teach the bartenders drinks that no one can make well or fast. Chefs, always the best in America, show the cooks some neat twist on things they've been making badly. The stress test is always a failure. Then the bar is renovated, relationships restored, tasty drinks and food are served, in a place with sometimes/often questionable names/themes (can we say Bacon Bar?). But still I watch. It's so weird.

[AZChristian]

5 minutes ago, altopower said:

I have somehow become addicted to watching Bar Rescue, although I can tell you the plot of every episode in advance. The bars are filthy and unsanitary with flies or roaches in the bottles, inches of glop in the fryers, food kept at unsanitary temps, and owners drunk as skunks and behind in paying staff. Taffer yells a lot and makes everyone miserable. Mixologists, always the best in America, teach the bartenders drinks that no one can make well or fast. Chefs, always the best in America, show the cooks some neat twist on things they've been making badly. The stress test is always a failure. Then the bar is renovated, relationships restored, tasty drinks and food are served, in a place with sometimes/often questionable names/themes (can we say Bacon Bar?). But still I watch. It's so weird.

If there's nothing else on, I'll have it on for background noise.  Makes me not want to eat out.

[Taeolas]

Yeah the new season has been airing for a while now. My PVR picks up eps every Sunday and I usually watch it while getting ready for work Monday morning. 

Sadly the format of eps has changed, to focus more on John the Therapist, and less on John the Renovator. The "Rebuild the bar" section barely gets a couple minutes of montage now, and that's probably one of the parts I liked best. 

 

This season did have maybe the 3rd? bar that John officially walked out on; they basically didn't even get past the first night IIRC; the owner was a drunk and the rest of the staff wouldn't back John in telling the Owner he was an alcoholic and ruining things; so John took his toys and walked out. 

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

Hadn't watched this show in forever, but last night's episode about the Hogwash Saloon in Fountain Hills, AZ took place within walking distance of our home (you can literally see the place from our balcony), so we tuned in.

A few observations:

Jon noted that FH is an upscale community, and he is correct. It's primarily a bedroom community for people who work at home or in north Scottsdale or west Mesa, each of which is a 20-minute drive away, and also a retirement community. There are at least two very nice restaurant/bars located within walking distance of the Skybox (which the Hogwash was renamed to): one is an upscale sushi restaurant with an outdoor/indoor bar, and the other is a sports grill and bar. The food and drinks at both are excellent, which also explains why the Hogwash was losing money.

FH residents are very finicky. Even the Burger King and Pizza Hut and McDonald's here serve better-prepared food than you'd normally get from any of these establishments. The town sports its namesake fountain (the fourth-tallest in the world) but has very little tourism otherwise. But it's a rich community, so there's money to be earned. All of this combines to create a restaurant clientele that has money to spend but zero loyalty: if your food or drinks suck, there's plenty of other places for people to go.

In addition, the presence of so many working people and retirees means the town closes up early. Very few restaurants or bars are open past 9PM. There is no "club scene" like Scottsdale or Mesa or Phoenix or Tempe has, and the FH residents don't care about that. We're mostly in bed by 10 or so.

Finally, the people working in the bar seemed very..."rough" for FH. I legitimately question how many of them live in the town or if they even really work at this establishment.

[CoyoteBlue]

Yeah, once Jon talked about the demographics, I seriously wondered how well any of this would stick. They had a dive bar feel at best and I don't think he brought them up so high they could compete with what must be in the area.

[Jst2Wld]

On 3/11/2024 at 5:55 PM, CoyoteBlue said:

Yeah, once Jon talked about the demographics, I seriously wondered how well any of this would stick. They had a dive bar feel at best and I don't think he brought them up so high they could compete with what must be in the area.

I believe a lot of these bar owners do the show just to get the free renovations. Then they sell at a profit. 

Whatever the case may be, I still enjoy watching. I love the cocktails John's mixologists create. 

Edited March 16 by Jst2Wld

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

The latest episode (at the Thirsty Ox in Oxnard, CA) was a bust. No Taffer (except in the introduction and one or two voiceovers), and Phil came off as a know-it-all douchebag. You could see Ramon (the co-owner) HATING the new name when Phil unveiled it. And Phil's new cocktails seemed way too sophisticated for an admitted dive bar.

[Shrek]

4 minutes ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

The latest episode (at the Thirsty Ox in Oxnard, CA) was a bust. No Taffer (except in the introduction and one or two voiceovers), and Phil came off as a know-it-all douchebag. You could see Ramon (the co-owner) HATING the new name when Phil unveiled it. And Phil's new cocktails seemed way too sophisticated for an admitted dive bar.

I agree, it wasn't the best episode & Phil had zero charisma either way, he's just meh.

[CoyoteBlue]

What's with all the subs this season? Jon's barely doing the intro.

[Shrek]

7 hours ago, CoyoteBlue said:

What's with all the subs this season? Jon's barely doing the intro.

He was the reason people watch this, not having him on will kill the show as it's just not got the same oomph for want of a better word. I haven't seen the last episode yet but I'm not making it halfway through episodes without his sparkling personality.

[AZChristian]

They're doing a lot of Arizona bars this season.  May have to do some scoping out.

We went to Chilleen's last week ("A Horse Walked Into a Bar").  They are doing well, and have even expanded to an event business.  (Can't imagine a LOT of events in Black Canyon City, but at least now they have SOMEWHERE to go.)

The owners divorced, and the husband (Scott) left town.  Got into a crash while driving drunk in Colorado in 2021, and was found guilty of 8 charges earlier this year.  His girlfriend died in the crash and he - ever the gentleman - tried to tell the police that SHE was driving.  Sentencing is not yet complete.

[Jst2Wld]

I'm not feeling the spark here on these new episodes without Taffer. Another once entertaining series, it's not happening anymore. 

[AZChristian]

Haven't watched last night's episode past the first couple of minutes yet.  But I do want to point out that Apache Junction may just have 9,000 population (half of whom go north for the summer), but it is immediately adjacent to Mesa (where I live).  Mesa is the third largest city in Arizona, with over 500,000 people. 

So it's not like there weren't enough people around to support a good place to gather.

Spoiler

I looked up the bar this morning.  They closed permanently two months ago.  Even Bar Rescue couldn't save them.