Eliphino / Shattered Bar - Bar Rescue Update - Open or Closed?

In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Eliphino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eliphino is owned by John McDonald, who describes his bar as a dive bar.

He explains the name comes from the punch line of a joke.

What do you get if you cross an elephant with a rhino? Eliphino.

He feels that this is a great name for a bar.

John opened the bar in 2017 as he had a passion for the bar business.

His friend Casey used to be the manager of the bar but she quit.

The bar has become run down and has many problems.

Their ice system is just a cooler with bagged ice and of their twenty-seven taps, only three are still in use.

John did not have the money to open both the bar and the kitchen so he leased out the kitchen.

He feels he leased it to the wrong person and it is currently closed as their venture didn’t open.

John suffers from stress and the staff feel that he spreads himself too thin.

Casey left as manager because she felt all her ideas received too much pushback from John.

The bar is over $100,000 in debt and is losing money each month.

Jon Taffer notes the bar numbers have gone down since Casey left.

He has Casey do the recon with him as she knows the bar well.

Jon is not impressed with the name of the bar as it doesn’t make sense.

Casey says John always goes quickly to the negative and has control issues.

Jon sends expert mixologist Derek to scout the bar.

The drinks are served in mason jars instead of glasses.

The Long Island Tea comes from a mix bottle and Derek says it tastes like formaldehyde.

The kitchen has never been operational despite being leased out.

Jon hopes to repair John and Casey’s friendship as well as rescue the bar.

Since all the problems are with owner John, Jon brings Casey with him to ask him why.

John admits it has been very, very hard since Casey left.

He says drawing customers is his biggest problem.

John admits to being an a****** to Casey.

Jon asks how often John becomes that way, and John says that it is too often.

Jon feels the bar is taking him down and he needs to ask for help.

John and Casey have no idea how they can help the bar but John agrees to listen to her ideas.

Jon brings in the staff and has John tell them how bad the finances are.

They mention the lack of the kitchen is a problem.

Jon calls the owner out for not fighting hard enough.

He promises he will fight but not passionately enough for his staff and Casey.

Jon points out John can’t afford a vacation, or a retirement plan and he says he will change.

But Jon isn’t sure he means it and tells him if he doesn’t change, he’ll lose everything.

Derrick the mixologist returns to help the staff with drinks.

He demonstrates a new drink they will serve, the El Diablo.

Jon tells the staff consistency is key, and that there will be more than one bartender on at all times.

John promises to be an owner and not just a bartender.

The staff face the stress test and many of the drinks are discarded for being wrongly made.

Angie is the best of the bartenders but the staff dumps almost half the drinks they make.

Jon realizes the staff are undertrained.

One of the staff, Lee Lee, has a bad attitude.

Jon has the owner send her home for the night.

She is very upset and says that Jon doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

She does vow to return to the bar the next day.

Jon closes the bar to get to work fixing the bar’s problems.

John says he has a lot on his plate to fix right now.

Lee Lee does return and Derek goes about training the bartenders.

He explains that you experience a drink with your eyes first, then your nose and then your mouth.

Jon returns to the issue of the kitchen and finding out why there is no food.

John had planned to have rotating food trucks serve the restaurant and not the kitchen.

Jon brings in Yasminda, who currently holds the lease on the kitchen.

Yasminda says the kitchen was not provided in working order.

Jon says they agreed to lease the kitchen ‘as is’ so she agreed to take it as it was.

Both sides accuse the other of lying and they have a heated exchange.

Jon gets the lease to find out what the truth of the matter is.

It reads that the kitchen needed to be delivered in good working condition, which it was not.

Yasminda no longer wants to work with John and they sever their business relationship.

Jon reveals the reworked front, with a new name: Shattered.

Jon explains that John’s dreams have been shattered too many times and that it’s not going to happen again.

Jon points out that a profitable bar could pay Jon’s debts within a year.

Inside, the bar now has chairs.

The back bar has been replaced and they have soda guns now.

John is overjoyed.

There are also nine working beer taps.

Jon even had the kitchen repaired and added a simple pizza box.

On relaunch night, drinks are served faster and with fewer mistakes.

The patrons and Casey are happy with the bar.

Jon expresses a lot of faith in Jon but tells him that he needs to get his food service up and running.

What Happened Next at Eliphino / Shattered Bar?

Six weeks later, John saya that things are much better and sales are up 30%.

Everyone loves the new look and name

John even has possession of his kitchen and they are going to start serving food.

Eliphino / Shattered Bar closed in October 2018.

The episode didn't air until April 2019 despite being filmed in February 2018.

John has made a number of comments about the process on the Shattered FB Page.

He claims he was promised that the show would air 8-10 weeks after being filmed but the bar had shut long before it aired.

John also says that the show didn't address his core problems.

John says that the closure is his fault due to his own poor business plan and executing it badly.

John has since started a cold brew company.

Click for more Bar Rescues

Previous episode - Kiva Lounge and Bar

Next episode - LIV Bar and Restaurant / Halo Nightclub

This post was last updated in March 2022.