In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Stix & Stones Bar and Grill in Sugar Creek, Missouri.
Stix & Stones Bar and Grill is owned by Billy Banks.
He bought the bar in 2008 to combine his love of cars with his love of owning a bar.
He has raced since he was younger and wanted to own a car bar.
Business was initially very good.
The bar was taking $5-7000 a night for the first five years of business.
The bar was packed and Billy felt like a rockstar.
He was able to reinvest back into his hobby of drag racing.
Five years ago he received a cancer diagnosis.
After going into remission he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Billy stepped away from the bar to focus on his family.
He went from working a 100 hour week at the bar to only visiting once a month.
Whilst he was away the profits have fallen 75%.
He has hired six different managers to try and turn the bar around.
So far all of these hires have failed to do this.
The employees are acting wild as they have no supervision.
Billy is now losing $4000 a month and is $400,000 in debt.
As a last resort he has asked long time bartender Jonathan to become the bar manager.
Bartender Razo is a big problem.
She admits to being sick in the bar in front of customers.
The other bar staff say that she has peed herself whilst working a shift.
Jonathan did not want to manage the bar.
He feels bad for Billy and wants to help him out.
He isn't able to do this however as he is constantly overruled by Billy.
Jon arrives at the bar with his tea.
He brings mixologist Charity Johnston and BBQ expert Kevin Bludso.
They notice that the bar has no presence and in fact it looks like a warehouse.
They are baffled by the vast number of pool tables that have been put in.
This has been at the sacrifice of tables for the customers to sit at.
Jon reads a heartfelt letter that Billy wrote to him for him to come and help him.
As he reads the letter Billy is hanging out and drinking shots.
Razo is pouring drinks with a cigarette in her hand.
The filter of the cigarette is touching the rim of the glass.
Jon reveals he is sending in Mitch and Andrew, two Kansas City linesmen for recon of the bar.
The pair arrive and are given no menu.
He asks for something sweet and is recommended to order a Long Beach.
Razo handles glasses by the rim.
Touching and spreading saliva from person to person.
She also touches her own mouth and hair whilst handling drinks.
Charity is baffled by the Long Beach drink.
She has no idea what she put in there to get that colour and it tastes watered down.
They are told to go over to an order window rather than the bartender taking the order.
Kevin isn't impressed with the towel over his shoulder, collecting neck sweat.
The pair are told there is at least a 30 minute wait for food.
Billy talks about giving shots to Razo.
Jonathan says he thinks she has had too many and Billy shrugs it off.
Chef Rob handles raw chicken and without washing his hands handles the bag of nacho chips.
The flat top grill is also filthy and any food will be covered with black char.
Mitch and Andrew notice that Razo's eyes are glazed over.
She is slurring her speech, a sign she is very intoxicated.
They ask to do a shot of tequila and she does two shots with them.
Jon is furious at how drunk she is and that Billy is stood around playing pool.
He storms into the bar to confront Billy.
As Jon speaks with Billy, Razo does a number more shots with patrons.
Billy admits that all he has done is play pool and hasn't even looked over the bar.
Jon takes a cigarette from Razo and asks Billy if it is legal to smoke behind the bar.
It isn't legal and it is also unhygenic to pour beers with a cigarette in hand.
Razo is so intoxicated she looks absolutely terrified and is emotioal.
Jon tells her if she has one more drink he will fire her himself.
Jon goes into the kitchen to show Billy the grill.
He scrapes at it, revealing thick black char on the spatula.
Chef Rob tries to argue that he hasn't put chicken anywhere.
Jon tells him that he has him on video.
The next day, they clean the bar and toss out dirty bar mats.
Jon arrives and he meets the staff.
He reveals that he got a letter from Billy and reads the letter to the staff.
Jon reveals he will be doing extensive training for the staff.
Jonathan reveals that he feels Billy is like a brother.
Jon says he is being let down by Billy.
He reveals that he weighed the bottles before and after the weekend.
Jon wanted to see how much they should have sold versus the cash register takings.
They should have taken nearly $8000 but they only recorded $5100.
They made a loss of nearly $3000, in one weekend.
If this happened every weekend this would ammount to nearly $150k.
Jon reveals to the staff that they are drinking booze that he can't afford to lose.
Razo claims that she rung in all of the shots but Jon has footage to suggest otherwise.
Razo is given a second chance as long as she respects the bar and herself.
Jon introduces Charity and Kevin as his experts.
Charity begins training with the staff and they will be doing a cocktail race.
Kevin will be showing a fast wing dish.
He will be showing Jimmy how to multi task in the kitchen to get food served quickly.
Jon is doing a stress test of 40 customers, giving them a minute and a half to serve each customer.
He asks to speak with Billy and Jonathan.
Jon suggests that Billy allow him to invest in the business and gain equity.
The bar is a disaster, they are nervous and drinks are coming out wrong.
Crystal struggles to get started.
Razo gets confused and in the first two minutes no drinks are served.
New Chef Jimmy in the kitchen impresses and sends out the food at a great pace.
Jonathan tells Crystal to make two peach coolers but doesn't tell her where to take them.
In 10 minutes, only two drinks are made.
The customers aren't served in the correct order.
Jon tells Jonathan that the bar staff are incapable.
They have served only 8 drinks in 20 minutes ad they failed the stress test.
Jon speaks with Billy, who doesn't know what to do.
They speak with Jonathan.
Jon feels it would be better if he wasn't there at all unless he steps up.
Charity reveals that for a signature drink she wants something whiskey based.
This is for the simplicity and because it goes well with BBQ food.
She reveals the Grand Prix drink, that is smoked and served with a slice of candied bacon.
Kevin reveals a menu of quick dishes such as the Billy B, a brisket bun with onion rings.
They are quick and simple as that are already ready when they open for the evening.
This is due to the slow cooking process.
Jon reveals the new name and concept for the bar.
The bar will now be called The Pit Stop Bar and BBQ.
The new decor is revealed with a brighter colour scheme.
There are tyres on the wall and new bar games.
They have a second well and a new computer station.
There are three new POS systems with a number of apps, new uniforms and a smoke machine.
On relaunch night, the patrons arrive and like the new decor.
The new Grand Prix drink is a big hit.
Jimmy shines in the kitchen, sending out food within 5 minutes.
The bartenders are picking up the pace and the patrons are loving the new driving games.
Razo is doing a great job behind the bar.
Jonathan is stepping up as bar manager.
Billy serves food and is more present, playing a more active role in the bar.
He seems like a different man as he has a smile on his face!
Billy tells Jonathan that they will become partners.
What Happened Next at Stix & Stones Bar and Grill?
Six weeks later, sales are up more than 20%, Razo is drinking less.
They are working towards bringing Jonathan on as a full partner in the business.
They changed the name back to Stix and Stones as soon as Jon had left the bar.
Stix and Stones closed initially in July 2019.
They posted a farewell message on Facebook before reopening two weeks later.
Stix and Stones closed permanently in 2020.
It was listed for sale for $399,000 - $550,000.
This was depending on buying the building or the entire business and inventory.
The reason for sale is listed that the owner wishes to pursue other interests.
Reviews prior to the closure were improved with positive comments on the atmosphere of the bar.
Razo, real name Stephanie Marie Razo-Andrews sadly passed away on September 30th 2019.
The space later became Arrowhead Liquor & Mart.
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Previous episode - Buffalo City Bar & Grille
Next episode - Edge of Town
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