In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits City Bar in Las Vegas, Nevada.
City Bar is owned by Brad Stegman, who left corporate management to open City Bar.
He planned to make the bar like a tavern with entertainment but it didn't take off and to cut costs he has minimal staff.
The bar relies on entertainment and the staff create their own theme evenings from a Jazz night to a fetish night.
Kim, Belinda, Elizabeth and Meghan are bartenders but they don't get along and fight regularly.
Brad is in $140,000 debt and he only has a few months left before he will have to close.
Jon arrives at the bar and calls Brad from outside.
He goes into the bathroom notices who filthy it is.
Brad swears loudly at the staff and orders them to clean the toilet in front of customers.
He asks what is happening at the bar, why he has a bartender cleaning a bathroom.
Jon sees this as a big no-no as customers know that the bar tender was cleaning and soon after serving drinks and it could put them off!
They should try and hide the fact the staff are cleaning toilets during service from customers.
He also asks why there is a mannequin holding a sign and is told that it is to save money on a sign spinner to advertise the bar.
Meanwhile in the bar, Jon can instantly tell Kim and Meghan don’t get along as they are bickering in front of customers.
Jon reveals his recon team, he sent in the president Leo and vice president John of his consulting group.
They are the target audience of the bar but the bar doesn’t have a cocktail menu or the ingredients to make a few staple drinks.
Leo orders a Bloody Mary but it isn't blended and the Manhattan has too much alcohol in it.
Meghan is smoking a cigarette at the bar, whilst handling glasses and serving drinks to patrons, which is a health code violation.
Leo asks for the best cocktail Kim can make, a dirty martini, in which she pokes at the olives with her fingers, causing another health violation.
Kim’s husband brings in several fetish props including a cross that Brad is unaware of, as it is his night off.
Jon shows him a video of the last fetish night.
It has become a regular occurrence to do this when Brad leaves for the night.
Brad is upset and Jon goads him to shut it all down. Brad storms in angry and throws the cross into the car park and lays into his staff, Kim especially.
The next morning, Kim doesn’t come in and Jon talks with the bartenders individually.
Megan was falsely accused of stealing by Kim and Belinda believes Kim purposely winds Megan up.
They believe Brad is stubborn and allows wrong doings to go on, but he cares about the bar, they need the bar to succeed.
Jon brings in mixologist, David Vaughan, to put them through practice of cocktails and they learn a tequila sunset.
Jon sees empty machine slots and Brad explains he had to take a few out to save money.
David comes across Brad’s book of to-do lists with the list of things half done.
Brad and Jon get into a shouting match and Jon realises Brad has two sides: passive and angry.
They get ready for the stress test and the bartenders are nervous.
Kim comes into the bar just before the stress test starts and immediately pushes Meghan’s buttons.
Brad talks to her and says she can't work the bar as she hasn't been trained so she should support the other girls with running drinks and picking up glasses.
Belinda takes Meghan away to give her a pep talk but ends up upsetting her.
The test starts and they are all flustered, customers are waiting for their drinks and drinks are wasted.
Brad messes up orders, Meghan gets overwhelmed and goes to the bathroom and Kim tries to calm her down.
The stress test is a failure and Brad shuts down the bar.
Brad tosses the mannequin in the dumpster symbolising a new beginning for the bar.
The next day, David continues training, teaching them two more cocktails including one called The Brad.
Jon takes Brad and the staff to a Casino to talk to them as the bar is being renovated.
Brad is ready for change and Meghan reconciles with Kim as she found the comfort she got from her during the service.
Meghan found Belinda’s pep talk offensive and asked her to stay out of her personal life and past.
Jon reiterates Belinda should stop mothering her.
On relaunch night Brad has changed completely as he has shaved and is dressed in a suit.
The bar has been renamed to The Bradley.
Inside, it is a lot warmer and designed as a lounge with custom wood tabletops and lighting systems.
They have an Orange Door entertainment system for trivia, music videos etc.
They got two new 2Touch POS systems and eight new betting machines were installed by Players Advantage with taxes for the next 3 months paid.
There’s also a year’s subscription to Taffer Virtual Teacher for the staff.
The customers are let in and Meghan shone, getting over her nerves and completing orders.
A live band takes the stage for entertainment.
Jon reveals to Brad that they have made more sales in 10 mins than they did on the stress test night.
Brad is happy a system is in place that works and the relaunch is a great success.
What Happened Next at City Bar /The Bradley?
Six weeks after Bar Rescue, sales were up 10%.
The cocktails were popular and the bar tenders were working together better.
The Bradley closed in June 2016.
The bar closed before the episode aired as owner Brad sold the bar.
The Sahara Lounge opened in it's place and returned the fetish themed nights and live entertainment.
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This post was last updated in February 2022.
Hello Jon: My husband and I enjoy your show, “Bar Rescue!” When we first viewed your show, I really didn’t care for the show...or you, for that matter. But my husband kept watching and I soon began to see you for the good and very honest, brutally so at times, LOL!! but I began to see this man’s heart. You may raise your voice and advise to terminate an employee when necessary. You are so brutally honest, but I realize it is always for the benefit of the ultimate goal, and that is to rescue the bar owner from inevitable bankruptcy and ultimately having to close the bar! And you always work to encourage and uplift the waitstaff, the cooks, the bartenders and anyone else. So many have such low self-esteem and the insecurity can be seen on their faces. And you push them to succeed! You truly want them to know they can succeed! That they can do it! You have a wonderful heart!! God bless you sir!👍🏼
ReplyDeleteStaffer is a good man and knows his stuff. Before reviewing the updates I bet my friends whether the bars are still open or have been sold. In this case it was pretty obvious that Brad was in over his head and was just looking for a free remodel so that he could sale the bar.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to see you rescue a bar that actually makes it. Tired of watching
ReplyDeleteThere are a few bars that actually make it.
ReplyDeleteI think the ones that made it were not as bad off as they said. The bars that are completely empty from the beginning have never made it.
DeleteIt’s the people. No mater what is done for them, they will fail. Most times I am correctly predicting the failures and successes.
ReplyDelete