In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Arnold’s Lounge in Saint Augustine, Florida.
Arnold’s Lounge is owned by Philip Smith.
He is an Army Veteran who bought the local dive bar as he wanted to be his own boss.
Philip bought it using a mortgage for $ 2.5 million.
He banked on the area being high traffic for tourists.
Philip kept the previous General Manager Vickie in her position.
She is stretched thin wearing multiple hats, leaving the untrained staff on their own.
Phillip is also micro-managing the bar.
The clientele is much older and younger patrons do not come to the bar.
With just 3 months left, the bar is in trouble.
Jon surveys the bar with expert mixologist Tassia Lacerda and expert chef Vic Vegas.
He introduces Phillip and tells them how he has lost $ 1 million.
Philip is in almost $4 million of debt in total.
Marc and Mike are bartenders, Chase is the cook and Shye is the server.
The customers look bored.
Jon sends in 2 of his spies, doubling the customers in the bar.
They order from the menu, ordering a whiskey sour and Monaco Mule.
The bartender has the right glassware but the whiskey sour is a whiskey coke.
The spy complains and the bartender remakes it but it is worse.
The kitchen makes the calamari but the cook prepares it strangely.
This prompts Jon to come in and he orders one of each of the house drinks.
He goes behind the bar to criticize the whiskey sour.
Jon calls out the manager on how the bartenders make different drinks.
He says that they have no idea what they are doing.
Jon chews the cook out on how he was mixing calamari in flour over a sieve to catch the flour.
At the bar, Marc is making the drinks too slowly.
He makes mistakes on every drink.
Jon sits with Phillip and Vickie and they do not know the costs and numbers.
They are losing money, they know it and are not doing anything about it.
Jon can quickly point out what all the problems are and he is frustrated.
The next day, Jon is away on another bar emergency.
Expert chef Ashish Alfred steps in to meet all the staff.
He introduces the experts and they give their opinion on how disorganized the bar is.
Ashish talks to the staff and they try to paint a different picture.
Jon has already briefed him so he knows the truth.
They highlight what they think the inconsistencies are.
Ashish is not any easier on them because Jon is away.
Training begins before the stress test.
Tassia trains the staff on making a whiskey Sour.
The drink is a signature of Saint Augustine.
In the kitchen, Vic takes them through making flatbread with an instant oven.
For the stress test, Vickie is managing the bar.
Phillip will be evaluating all the staff to see who does well and wants to keep their job.
Customers are let in for the stress test.
The bartenders make mistakes with drinks being tossed quickly.
In the kitchen, there are no hang rails for the tickets.
They are on a table where they can easily get lost.
Marc is a disaster and that makes the bar behind in drinks service.
Ashish tries a customer's burger.
It is so dry and hard that he has Vickie take it back to the kitchen.
The bar runs out of cups, tickets get lost and the POS is not working.
Marc has a bad attitude and food is being sent back to the kitchen.
The customers are left waiting 32 minutes for a drink.
The stress test is shut down as they are unable to turn it around.
Vickie and Phillip call Marc aside.
They talk to him about his attitude and performance and he is fired.
He does not leave without the final word saying he quit and a few more choice words.
Vickie threatens to call the police.
He stays on the property and the police have to take him away.
The next day, the staff are trained on making a new signature cocktail called a Gator Elixir.
They love the taste and train for the relaunch.
Ashish sits with Phillip and Vickie to find out how they are going to move forward.
They both admit the stress test was a disaster.
They saw so many things they had been oblivious of and they fired Marc.
Ashish supported their decision and is happy they are willing to do the hard things.
Jon gives a highlight and is happy with Ashish’s work.
Jon’s team face the challenge of rain but pull through for the relaunch.
Jon and Ashish are at the unveiling and the sign has been refurbished so it is more visible.
Inside, the drab interior has been updated with pops of colour.
There is a new theme with a Gator statue called Arnold for a picture spot.
At the bar, there are 3 new POS systems, Skytabs and mobile tablets.
Barproducts provided the glassware, and Breville provided the smoke gun for the cocktails.
The bar is set up and Phillip lets guests come in.
On relaunch, orders fly as the bartenders start making drinks.
The kitchen is fired up ready to serve.
Ashish gives Jon an update and the performance so far is much better than the stress test.
The bartenders make drinks to applause.
The kitchen is flooded with tickets and are a little behind.
They are on top of it making 14 burgers at once.
Phillip jumps in the kitchen to help and Jon is impressed.
Jon is happy with both Vickie and Phillip.
What Happened Next at Arnold’s Lounge?
Six weeks later, sales are up slightly across food and beverage.
Customers love the new menu items and speciality cocktails.
Phillip has invested more money into upgrading the establishment.
Arnold’s Lounge is open.
Reviews are very mixed.
The food seems be heavily criticised.
Service appears to be hit and miss as is availability of items.
Click for more Bar Rescues
Previous episode - High 5 Grille / Cinco Cantina
Next episode - Finesse Lounge
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