Characters Quarters / MoonRunners Saloon - Bar Rescue Update - Open or Closed?

In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Characters Quarters in Garner, North Carolina.

Characters Quarters is owned by Guy Wavra.

He moved to North Carolina in 2010.

Guy opened the themed bar with help from his parents and hired his sister Alex.

It cost them $350,000 and drew crowds initially.

They were taking $80,000 a month.

The decor and theme started bringing in more families with children.

The menu is also not adapted to the wider community and customers started leaving in droves.

Guy takes his anger out on staff and his sister.

They are losing $3000 a month.

Alex has been fired and hired three times but his mother will not allow him to let her go.

Jon recons the bar with expert chef Brian Duffy and expert mixologist Russell Davis.

They are confused by the name and the call-to-action is not clear it is a bar.

Jon introduces the family, who are all working at the bar.

He shows them footage of Guy catching Alex goofing at work and reprimanding her as she cries.

Jon has two locals come in as spies to test the bar service.

They order Tom Collins and a whiskey sour.

Alex serves them, giving the order to the bartender who is working too slowly.

They want to order food but the food is more New York than southern style.

Alex does not know what is available and what sides come with the dishes.

In the kitchen the siblings bicker.

The meal that comes is a mess and is sweeter than it is supposed to be.

Jon has seen enough and goes in to meet the family.

Jon tells them the hard truth.

They are in the south, not in New York and Alex is bullying Alex by not training her and berating her.

Guy says they had friction even before the bar.

The siblings are made to be open up to each other but Guy does not believe her.

Jon says they have to work on their relationship and he leaves.

Jon comes in the next day and meets with the staff.

The staff hate the costumes and they constantly have to explain it to customers.

They complain of running out of ingredients but Guy is defensive.

Jon introduces his experts to the staff.

Jon wants to nix the costumes but they have to train and do the stress test in them.

Brian inspects the kitchen and they see dirty chopping boards.

In the freezer there are exposed meats that are all not safe to cook.

They have fifty five items on the menu but most of their sales come from five items.

Brian trains them on making a proper burger.

They educate the servers on the meals so they know how to interact with customers.

At the bar, Alex is also there and Russell trains them on making three different drinks at the same time.

He has them practice and Brooke did great but Whitney struggled.

They prepare for the stress test and Guy lets customers in.

The bar is slammed and their failings are exposed.

Brooke is doing great, Whitney is too slow and Alex has forgotten the menu and is struggling.

The kitchen is slammed but are trying to keep up.

Alex’s mistakes are causing them to get backed up.

Guy berates Alex and she gets emotional so he has to take out time to give her a pep talk.

He helps her understand her orders so she can serve people better.

The stress test is still a failure.

After the service, they have feedback and Whitney is fired because of how slow she was.

Jon commends Guy for backing up his sister.

The next day, there are new staff are in, Dreya and Karen, a bartender and a server.

Jon tells them the costumes are gone and so is the name.

Russell trains them on making a moonshine cocktail and another with an atomizer.

The drinks will be their signature drinks.

In the kitchen, Brian trains them on southern comfort food including ribs and mac and cheese.

Jon tells them they need a marketing plan that will connect with the racetrack that is close by.

The bar is renovated over thirty six hours and the staff are gathered at sunset to unveil the new bar.

The bar has been renamed and is now called Moon Runners Saloon.

There are new colours and branding and a lookout seating area in front.

It is influenced by Moonshine and prohibition and they now have a race car that will be great PR.

Inside, it has been made more rustic but classy with warm textures.

There are pictures of arrested bootleggers on the walls.

They have a moonshine distillery in a corner.

At the bar there is a new POS system from Future POS systems and a new, simpler menu.

There are also new denim uniforms.

A picture of the family is hung by Guy and his family on a wall.

They take some time to set up and Guy lets customers in for the relaunch.

On relaunch, customers love the changes as it is finally a southern themed bar with southern food.

Alex is doing a lot better and confident with customers.

The bar is doing great and the kitchen is on top of the work.

Guy is not screaming at Alex anymore.

What Happened Next at Characters Quarters / MoonRunners Saloon?

Four weeks later, it is revealed that sales are up 40% better.

They have embraced the race track marketing.

They are optimistic about the future of the bar.

Characters Quarters / MoonRunners Saloon is open.

The reviews are mostly positive

In 2016, they opened a food truck.

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Previous episode - Gipsy

Next episode - Cliques Bar and Grill / 22 Klicks Bar and Grill

This post was last updated in March 2024.