The Olive Pit / The O.P - Bar Rescue Update - Open or Closed?

In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits The Olive Pit in Orange, California.

The Olive Pit is owned by Tim Eyerly, a former banker.

He purchased the 40-year-old dive bar with his savings in 2001.

Tim loved it too much as he focused on other things.

He coasted on the bar’s established customer base and experience.

Tim flirts with the staff and females of the bar.

The sales declined due to his neglect and the bar is losing $5000 a month.

His daughter Tracy works at the bar and wants to take over.

She thinks that she can run it well and save the bar but he refuses.

Jon recons the bar with Nicole his wife and they see the signage of the bar is hidden.

They read yelp reviews that are very negative about the bar.

Jon’s wife Nicole goes in as the spy to test the service at the bar.

She asks for a menu but there are none.

Julie is the cook but has to waitress too so her orders pile up, increasing ticket times further.

Nicole’s drink is too strong and she waits for close to an hour for her burger.

The food finally arrives and the bun is soggy and she cannot eat it.

She goes back to Jon and tells him the place was dirty and rundown as well as having poor service.

She tells him Tim was drinking at the bar while Tracy was more concerned with watching her father.

Jon goes in to talk to Tim and Tracy and he finds out they can only stay open for 3 more months.

Tracy is worried about the bar and Tim treats it like a social club drinking at his own bar.

Jon reviews surveillance footage from the previous week to see what Tim is not telling him.

He sees Tim flirting with staff.

Jon gathers the staff for a meeting in the morning.

He is direct and asks if Tim has ever touched staff.

Tim refutes it and Jon plays the evidence.

Jon calls him out and the female staff say they are all uncomfortable with it.

Jon also calls out Tracy for not doing anything about it.

Jon brings in Kat Munday for the services training and expert chef Brian Duffy.

They inspect the bar and see glass in the beer fridge as well as mould.

A dirty band-aid is found with the glasses.

In the kitchen it is grimy and dirty with very dirty grease hoods.

There are no labels on anything and meat stored above lemons that have gone bad

Kat has them make drinks for her so she sees how good they are and the drinks are strong.

Brian has the cook demonstrate her workflow.

She has been both taking the orders then cooking the food for four years.

He blames Tim and Tracy, who both claim not to know it was happening.

Brian tells her to only focus on cooking and never leave the kitchen to take orders.

The staff starts cleaning the bar.

Jon meets with his experts and they decide to make the bar more casual and comfortable.

Jon looks at the numbers and has a Bevintel report that shows they gave away $310 of liquor on Saturday.

On Sunday they gave away $737 of liquor.

The staff who worked on those days are pointed out and Tracy defends them, not wanting to fire anyone.

She stands her ground when pushed.

Jon says they should be happy she is going to bat for them.

He thinks that they should be motivated to do better at the bar.

Kat trains them on using a devise to get more accurate pours.

She then trains them on making a modified Long Island Iced Tea.

In the kitchen, Jon has gifted them a new oven for roasting beef and other food for hours.

Brian shows her what to do to use it to make sandwiches then they serve a tasting to the staff.

Tracy will be the manager for the night and Jon is looking at her to step up.

The customers pour into the bar and orders fly in.

Julie starts freaking out and Tim steps in to help in the kitchen.

They soon fall 25 minutes ticket times and Brian has to step in to help.

The bar is busy and bartenders, who have to step in as servers are making critical mistakes.

Brian cannot read their handwriting.

Tracy tried to organise the ticket situation and pacify customers but is flustered reacting to the little fires.

Jon notices a drunk man that has been served a fresh glass.

Tracy is made to cut him off and get him out.

Jon and his team have to step in to see it through.

The bar falls behind on drink orders while Julie catches up with help.

The stress test over Jon gives them feedback telling them to stop stacking orders.

Julie also needs to step up and Tracy also gives feedback to the team.

The bar is renovated over 36 hours while the staff are continuously trained.

The staff are gathered at sunset to see their new bar.

The bar has been renamed to the O.P. with proper branding on the exterior.

Inside has been modernised with warmer lights and classy furnishings.

The bar was steam cleaned, the pool tables were re-felted and the games moved to a better space.

The bar top has been changed and there is a 2touch POS system.

A Bevintel report to shows they gave away only $70 on the day of the stress test.

To celebrate they have a promotion to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Jon has brought in some classic cars to celebrate the anniversary.

Tim has had to think about his decision to hand over to Tracy.

He makes the announcement to the customers outside as she lets the customers in.

On relaunch, the customers are taking advantage of the promo prices.

The staff are trying their best to keep up successfully.

Tracy soon sees customers cancelled orders and she puts out the fire by offering them drinks.

Tim stayed in the bar and is happy to see Tracy doing well with the bar.

What Happened Next at The Olive Pit?

One month later, it is revealed Tracy is still the manager.

Sales at the bar are up 20%.

Tim left for Mexico and has not come back.

The Olive Pit is open.

They have changed the name back to The Olive Pit but still uses the OP signage.

After the episode all of the furniture Jon added was removed.

Reviews are mixed and some say the bar has fallen into disrepair and that the service is poor.

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This post was last updated in February 2024.