Anybody here watch Bar Rescue?

29,641 Views | 61 Replies | Last: 9 yr ago by chico
Bigsteve713
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AG
The show is pretty entertaining. I'm sure a lot of it is scripted but over I enjoy it. The host, John Taffer, is ****ing hilarious on the show, he just tears into people and doesn't give a **** what people think.

Anyways, if you haven't you should check it out
defroach
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The only thing I know about the show is they did a bar here in austin...only for the bar to say how ****ty their changes were and changed their bar name back and took down a lot of the stuff they put up because no one liked it.

But yeah...know nothing more
Tom Hagen
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AG
The Austin show was on last night. The owner of the bar was a coked out d-bag.
Nagler
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I watch, very enjoyable. Funny how riled up people get when Taffer gets that ass.
E
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AG
It's amazing to see what they do with the bars and how the people that actually go through with what he says see profits go up 15-30% and the people who change everything back stay in the crapper.

Just listen to him dammit!
ChipFTAC01
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AG
I would imagine most of these bars end up failing in the not too distant future after he leaves them.

I read a stat recently that of all of the restaurants that Gordon Ramsay had helped on Kitchen Impossible, only 2 of them were still open 2 or 3 years later.

At the end of the day, its likely that most of the underlying problems that had led to them being on the brink in the first place, still remain. Bad location, bad businessmen owners, bad concept, whatever.
Tim McCarver
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I haven't seen it yet, but they just did one of a bar in Austin that featured a girl I know. She's pretty hot but really stupid... which isn't really a surprise since she is an "event coordinator" for a bar.
Bulldog73
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Yeah, Gordon would stay about a week, which really isn't enough time to truly implement systems and correct issues. Food Network has the one with Robert Irvine, and he spends a total of 25 hours or so in the restaurant. No way you're going to correct the major issues these places have in just a couple days.
defroach
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http://austin.eater.com/archives/2012/12/06/spike-tv-gets-chilly-austin-welcome-for-bar-rescue.php

quote:
Don't worry, "reality" television didn't ruin east side dive bar The Brixton or downtown punk joint Headhunters, both of which filmed episodes of Spike TV's Bar Rescue over the last week or so. You may be not at all surprised to learn that Austinites failed to fall all over themselves in awe and thanks for the network that brought the world 1000 Ways To Die and Tattoo Something Something MMA Dudes Bros Super Fight Titties. Reports CultureMap:

Production staff on hand Sunday night said Austin was something of an antagonistic city compared to other rescue spots currently in production, with locals treating them with hostility for trying to put a Hollywood imprint on the nightlife scene that draws visitors from all over the world.
The Brixton has already ditched the new name assigned by Bar Rescue ("Rocket Room 6") but Headhunters is totally keeping the sweet sound system Spike installed despite being lukewarm on the new moniker: Metal And Lace.
Tim McCarver
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lmao, Rocket Room 6? That's gay as ****.
Bigsteve713
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I watched the Headhunters episode, and that place was ****ed before they got there

but I have to say the most entertaining part of the show is the host laying in to people calling them **** ups, and jackasses and saying theyre ****ty bartenders, managers, servers, etc..
Tim McCarver
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I just saw the Headhunters one. Wasn't the one that had the girl I know on it. That bar looked horrible.

I cant find the Brixton one. Is it on demand or online?
62strat
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quote:
I would imagine most of these bars end up failing in the not too distant future after he leaves them..
you gussed wrong. Check episode guide on wiki. 4 out of 20 so far have been sold or closed down. 1 of those reverted back to its old name. Take that out, that's only a 15% failure rate.

Poster above, the second Austin episode hasn't aired yet. It will next week. Again, check the episode guide.

I've watched the show since the 2nd or 3rd episode in first season. Denver is in two weeks. They filmed back in December. He installed a tap wall for ise by the customer. You get a key, put money on it and can pour your own craft beer. Genius.
62strat
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quote:


Production staff on hand Sunday night said Austin was something of an antagonistic city compared to other rescue spots currently in production, with locals treating them with hostility for trying to put a Hollywood imprint on the nightlife scene that draws visitors from all over the world.
if these bars are in an area that draws visitors from all over the world, then why did they contact bar rescue to come rescue their failing, POS bar?

Sounds like these austinites need to let some of the air out of their big heads. The show is 80%+ successful. Not to mention his 35 year career of doing this.

If these bars changed back, then they basically are being compared, in my mind, to the characters in the pirate themed bar, who were adamant about changing back to their old name/theme. T&P for their pocket books.
Project
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The Headhunters episode had probably the worst owner I've seen on any the episodes so far.

The NOLA episode at TJ Quills was pretty much entirely staged. The guy they fired for drinking on the job had already quit working there weeks before filming.
Tim McCarver
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quote:
if these bars are in an area that draws visitors from all over the world, then why did they contact bar rescue to come rescue their failing, POS bar?

Sounds like these austinites need to let some of the air out of their big heads. The show is 80%+ successful. Not to mention his 35 year career of doing this.


First off, I don't think they contacted them. It sounds like they decided to come to Austin and bars could basically compete to get on it.

I don't know much about Headhunters but I can tell you before it even airs, that The Brixton is not failing. The Brixton is on the new "East 6th" not to be confused with Dirty 6th. This is a very new area being developed east of 35.

The Brixton is one of the more well known bars in this area. It's a cool bar, with a nice vibe that fits the much more laid back east 6th. All you have to do is read the article to figure out exactly what the bar owner was trying to do:

quote:
“The rumor I heard was that everything they did with all the work they did here was something close to $90,000 in improvements,” said Tim Lupa, who has co-owned The Brixton with his wife Sara for a year and a half. “Plus, I’m essentially getting a one-hour commercial for my bar running on cable right before South By Southwest. How valuable is that?”


And he's exactly right. He got almost $100k in free improvements, and exposure right before the biggest 3 weeks of the year. I haven't seen the other shows, and I'm sure the host is good at what he does, but changing The Brixton, to Rocket Room 6 was a mistake.

http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/BarRescue/

And as far as The Headhunters episode, while that bar looked horrible, their idea of trying to cater to 25-39 year old tech professionals and serve Manhattans and other drinks like that, is ridiculous for the Red River district. Those types of people don't go over there, and nobody is ordering anything other than a beer, or whiskey.

Headhunters owner did seem like an absolute moron, but I'm guessing the deal is basically "Hey we're gonna give you an incredibly valuable improvement package and makeover, but you have to let us berate you and make it seem like your bar sucks no matter what."

[This message has been edited by Tim McCarver (edited 2/26/2013 12:08a).]
Tim McCarver
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Ok I just watched the Bourbon Street episode with the Turtle bar getting changed into Resurrection, and I have to admit, it seems like everything he's done is an absolute home run.
62strat
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AG
quote:
First off, I don't think they contacted them. It sounds like they decided to come to Austin and bars could basically compete to get on it.

I don't know much about Headhunters but I can tell you before it even airs, that The Brixton is not failing. The Brixton is on the new "East 6th" not to be confused with Dirty 6th. This is a very new area being developed east of 35.


Maybe it's best if you don't think.
Bar rescue does not pick random bars; Here's the submission info on Spike's website.
http://www.spike.com/articles/7568ry/bar-rescue-spike-s-bar-rescue-is-casting-for-season-3
So headhunters and Brixton both contacted this show to flip their bar. Bar rescue wouldn't have gone to austin if they had no submissions there. And they don't show up on a whim.. they show up ahead of time to install the hidden cameras that seemingly only the owner should know about.
If they weren't failing, then they did it for the free makeover, which is pretty sh*tty.

But like John always says, and has been shown on his show, just because a bar is packed and/or making a lot of money doesn't mean it's failing. There was a bar on one episode that grossing million dollar range per year, but they had no profit. Bad management, drinking employees, giving away to much free food to pretty girls, etc..

So unless you've peered into Brixton's books, you have no idea if it's not failing financial wise.



quote:

And as far as The Headhunters episode, while that bar looked horrible, their idea of trying to cater to 25-39 year old tech professionals and serve Manhattans and other drinks like that, is ridiculous for the Red River district. Those types of people don't go over there, and nobody is ordering anything other than a beer, or whiskey.

They turned into the punk steam place right? They should have simply been shut down in my opinion.. all the roaches? I thought for sure with the way the owner was being cocky to john that he was gonna say screw it and call the health dept. they would have been shut down in a second. Roaches IN the liquor bottles?

[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 2/26/2013 10:39a).]
RMG8503
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Recently started watching the show--so entertaining!
Tim McCarver
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quote:
Maybe it's best if you don't think.
Bar rescue does not pick random bars; Here's the submission info on Spike's website.
http://www.spike.com/articles/7568ry/bar-rescue-spike-s-bar-rescue-is-casting-for-season-3
So headhunters and Brixton both contacted this show to flip their bar. Bar rescue wouldn't have gone to austin if they had no submissions there. And they don't show up on a whim.. they show up ahead of time to install the hidden cameras that seemingly only the owner should know about.


Dude, are you Jon Taffer or something?

Do you really think two different bars in Austin just happened to see this show, on a network nobody watches and sent in applications? You think the show didn't want to go to Austin, one of the coolest towns in America with a HUGE bar industry?

quote:
One of “Bar Rescue’s” producers happened to stumble across the nightclub while in town for South by Southwest, owner Steve Ricci said, and offered a helping hand. After mulling it over for a few days, he said yes


Now, I guess he could be lying, but being from Austin and regularly attending SXSW, I can almost guarantee you this is exactly what happened. They went to Austin for the festival and scouted out locations.

quote:
If they weren't failing, then they did it for the free makeover, which is pretty sh*tty.


lmao, it's a reality show on Spike TV, not a charity... And if you wouldn't take the exposure then you are stupid.


And if you think Reality tv is real, then maybe you should be the one who doesn't think.
Baba Ganoush
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AG
I freakin love this show! Not sure why, maybe it appeals to my past life as a bartender, but I find it highly entertaining.

And yeah, the owner of Headhunters was about the worst/least cooperative of all the ones I've seen.

If you like it you should check out an episode from one of the past seasons where he flips an Pirate Bar in the middle of a business district. It's awesome. I think it's called Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Dumb.
E
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AG
Actually the bars do contact the show for help. Two bars in Austin contacting the show for help is not surprising. They generally select unique bars to redo and Austin has many unique bars.
62strat
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quote:
Do you really think two different bars in Austin just happened to see this show, on a network nobody watches and sent in applications? You think the show didn't want to go to Austin, one of the coolest towns in America with a HUGE bar industry?


It's on its third season.. By the second season, he had to get new undercover people (he used to use his wife), because people were recognizing her and blowing her cover.. so yeh, I think thousands of struggling (or not) bar owners have watched this show and sent in a submission. If you own a bar it's pretty likely you'd be interested in watching a show like this and know/spread the word about it.

Every season has 3-4 cities with 2-3 bars in each city. Check the episode guide on wiki. It's a free consulting service, not hard to imagine why J.T. would want to knock out a couple bars in one trip.

quote:
Now, I guess he could be lying, but being from Austin and regularly attending SXSW, I can almost guarantee you this is exactly what happened. They went to Austin for the festival and scouted out locations.
SXSW is in march, they filmed this a couple months ago. So you think they came by in 3-'12 and said hey we'll flip your bar.. Ok good we'll back in 8 months. nice detective work.

Believe what you want to believe what that guy said, but at the end of every show, and on the website, it says, 'if you own a failing bar or restaurant, then go here to submit blah blah.' Only one episode I remember the owner didn't know, it was the manager or someone who did the submission.

I didn't say it is a charity. J.T. is obviously gaining from this; his business is likely growing and he's probably getting profits from the show.. there are tons of shows like this; not all of them do it for free, many of the people pay for it. Like comparing holmes on holmes, who fixes reno nightmares for free, while income property, who renos rental basements, does not pay for it, the owner of the home does.




Tim McCarver
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quote:
SXSW is in march, they filmed this a couple months ago. So you think they came by in 3-'12 and said hey we'll flip your bar.. Ok good we'll back in 8 months. nice detective work.


No, whoever heard of a television show working year round and planning for their next season months in advance. That's ridiculous.

And I'm guessing you don't know much about SXSW.
Jeffersons Ghost
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SLAP FIGHT!!!
Blanco Ag
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Love this show - it's the only one I have my DVR set to record these days.
GoAgs92
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AG
Bar Rescue was at Bryants a local ice house in Katy last night, it was interesting to see how they run the show.

Taffer did some typical yelling and screaming, with such gems as:

"she's drinking them faster than you can makem', that makes her a great customer and you a ****ty bartender."

The re-opening is on Thursday.

The location for the place is terrible so I have no clue how to make it more profitable.

Me and my friend got interviewed and will probably be on the cutting room floor. They will probably have my witty remarks recut by someone good looking.



[This message has been edited by GoAgs92 (edited 1/7/2014 11:26a).]
Know Your Enemy
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I've seen several episodes. I started watching because of the Headhunters episode. My friend's band had played there so I actually knew the bar and had been there before. When I was in NOLA in May we went to Resurrection a few times. Cool place but the dueling piano players they have aren't very good (can't remember if they added that aspect after the show or not). They do have the Bar Rescue episode on continuous loop on multiple TV's in there.
BillOnCapitolHill
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I watch this show because the entrepreneur in me.

I have plans to open a real sports bar in CS, and not make it a dime-a-dozen dive like we already have.
GoAgs92
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AG
so here's a rundown of how the show worked:

was told to get there around 8 and we get in line to sign the release form and get our picture taken (it was freezing out by the way). We are then told they will start letting people into the bar around 8:30 - 9 pm and to go wait in the car.

sure enough around 9 they send a guy out to get us all, we then wait in line right outside the bar until 9:20 while the camera crew asks leading questions to people (how HARD was it to find this place, do you like BOURBON...and you're supposed to answer in complete sentences like YOU came up with the idea), the owner/manager guy comes out and says welcome to Bryant's!, we all hoot and holler like the director says and walk a few steps...the director yells CUT and we do it again after they move the cameras.

We get inside the bar and the area around the bar is 3 deep with people trying to buy drinks. The drink menu only has 3 choices on it (margarita, cosmo, and some sour something or another). We get one of the last tables and sit down, they tell us to have our phone stopwatch run to see how long service takes....well there is no service at the tables because the bar is jammed so it takes forever (I still don't have the drink I ordered).

Each drink had a bunch of ingredients so the bar tenders were destined to fail (obviously); meanwhile the film crew is asking everyone questions again (Have you been here before, what would get you to come back, how can they make it better, what is this bar's theme). Pretty much everyone who wants to be asked questions is taped, me and my friend got filmed but the wife had no interest whatsoever, I probably talked to the guy for about 5 minutes total.

Taffer is yelling at the bartenders about how they suck, 1 in particular and shames her to the service bar and puts the service bartender in her spot...."You can't even make a Margarita and you call yourself a bartender! It's one of the simplest drinks in the world"

He then gets pulled over by the pool tables and tells the owner what a cluster the place is. This place has no kitchen so they are getting food from a food truck parked out back (the burgers actually look good, but the fried food sampler looks awful, there was a third item but I don't remember what it was).

The "manager" comes to the table and apologizes for the lack of service, and the film guys pounce on us, "What was THAT about?", we tell him and then taffer yells at her. They film my friends Cell phone timer to show how slow the non-existent service is.

Eventually the timer hits 55 minutes and we decide to bail.

May check it out on Thursday just to see the change but may not.
Bed Sores
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Its too scripted so I stopped watching it
double aught
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AG
The pirate episode is really interesting. Those people were living in a fantasy world, literally.

And the owner of the Brixton comes across as a complete a**hole in the episode.

[This message has been edited by double aught (edited 1/7/2014 4:14p).]
Quincey P. Morris
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Only know about that show because I saw it mentioned in an article about country singer Wayne Mills being shot to death by the owner of a bar in Nashville that they helped.
GoAgs92
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And John Taffer isn't as tall as I thought, I think he surrounds himself with short people on purpose.

I'm guessing he's 5'11" on the show he looks like he's about 6'6"
chico
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Love the show. I know much is staged, but still fun. Appreciate the eye witness reporting from Katy.
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