All right. Jon is leaving.
I repeat.
Jon is leaving the bar.
Copy that.
Uh, let's go ahead and strike everything.
Guys, looks like we're walking out on this one.
[dramatic music]
narrator: For over 30 years,
Jon Taffer has traveled the country,
saving hundreds of bars from failure and ruin.
The past few years had been harder on our country
than I've ever seen before.
But now, in a post-pandemic world,
restaurants and bars are seeing a massive surge
in business...
Yeah.
narrator: ...and a customer base
that has a much higher expectation
for quality food and drinks.
Not a huge fan of this.
narrator: So I'm on a mission to save bars
that had been struggling
to keep up with the new landscape of our industry.
[cheering]
narrator: So, now, Jon is back out on the road
and heading to Meridian, Idaho
to rescue The Hideaway Bar & Grill.
This is a new era for our country,
so we need to raise the bar
and rise to these challenges.
narrator: In 2012,
construction company entrepreneur,
Dwayne Fulbright,
bought his first bar, Harry's Meridian Grill.
I decided to build a bar
because when everything went down in 2008,
I got bored and thought it would be fun.
narrator: After a successful few years,
Dwayne moved the bar to its current location
and renamed it The Hideaway Bar & Grill.
Well, my background is in homebuilding and construction.
And I'm hands-on. I like to be involved.
So I decided to design and build my own building.
I spent, on the total project,
about $1.7 million to build it.
When I first got this building going,
The Hideaway Bar & Grill made about $25,000 per month.
narrator: But despite the initial success,
Dwayne's bar struggled to hire and retain
the sizable number of employees needed to run it.
When I tell people I work at The Hideaway Bar & Grill,
they're like, "Oh, no. Why? Like why are you there?"
Well, we've had staffing issues and not having enough employees.
It's rough.
We used to have 45 employees
and now we have 13.
Dwayne isn't super into the hiring process.
They just hire on the spot and people just get thrown in.
And I think we're having problems with turnover
because there's not much training.
We've had people that show up for like an hour
and then they're like, "And we're done."
We do not.
We Google it.
[chuckles]
narrator: With staffing and turnover threatening operations,
Dwayne turned to his girlfriend, Vanesa,
to manage The Hideaway.
Well, before working at The Hideaway,
I had no training.
My previous background,
it's auto financing
aside from lending.
Camri, did you lock your till?
What?
-Did you lock your till? -Yes.
narrator: But with no hospitality experience
of her own,
Vanesa did little to help the bar find success.
We're not making money and we're losing money.
narrator: And as the business continued to decline,
the staff began noticing bad habits with Dwayne
forming at the bar.
Dwayne typically will be eating at the bar with a beer
and we all have been kind of trained
that once it gets down to a certain point,
you refill the beer.
narrator: And Dwayne's drinking
not only affects the staff but the customers too.
Dwayne will sit at the bar and have a few beers
and everyone will watch.
All the customers and regulars know who he is
and know what he's doing.
Dwayne doesn't have a very good
representation right now.
I get along really well with most of my customers.
Like, you know, sometimes I sit and have beers with them.
Dwayne's drinking does create a problem here at the bar.
Customers see him as just the town drunk.
And I'm worried because I'm having major heart surgery
and I'm gonna go through three to six months
painful recovery
and I'm leaving Dwayne like this.
narrator: So with Vanesa's future at The Hideaway in doubt
and Dwayne's bad habits
becoming more apparent by the day,
the couple now find themselves losing $6,000 a month
and are six months away from closing.
I see him all stressed out all the time.
narrator: So Dwayne and Vanessa
had made the decision to pull back the doors,
bust open the books,
and make a call for help to "Bar Rescue."
Whatever we're trying, it's not working.
We don't have a plan B.
Clearly, we have all the eggs in one basket.
If The Hideaway doesn't survive,
we'll lose everything that we have.
Spending time in Boise,
one thing that has really stood out
is the community and their support of local businesses.
-Hi there. -Hello, sir. How are you?
-Good. Nice to meet you. -Very. It's a pleasure.
[sighs] Hi, everybody.
-Hi. -Hi.
-Hello.
-What's your name? -Rose.
-Rose? You work at the bar? -Yes, I do.
And although the rescues had been challenging
in one way or another...
That's definitely wrong.
Hey, guys, we're in emergency mode now.
-Tickets are still piling up. -Where's table five drinks?
I'm working on them, sir.
The printer is not working.
Wrong. It's supposed to be half ounce.
We're at 15 minutes.
[balloon popping]
That's it.
We're sorry. We love you. Please come back.
...they've been very rewarding, each in its own unique way.
[cheers and applause]
-Whoa. -Wow.
It's awesome.
Oh.
You happy?
Yeah. I mean, you outdid yourself.
Thank you.
So now I'm in Meridian,
a fast-growing city
just west of Boise.
And for this recon,
I've asked one of the top chefs
in my hometown in Las Vegas
to come help me check this place out.
Nice to have you back, Jen.
Yes. Thanks for having me again.
narrator: For the kitchen,
Jon brings in Chef Jennifer Murphy,
a 15-year veteran of Las Vegas fine dining,
who is overseeing kitchens at the Bellagio, MGM Grand,
and Caesars Palace.
So we're in Idaho.
In Meridian, Idaho.
We're about 20 miles outside of Boise.
Idaho is not a very wealthy state,
but this area has a median household income
of about $91,000.
Fifty percent above the national average.
And the cost of living here is low.
So if you're making 80 grand here,
-you're doing pretty good. -That's right.
So this bar is called The Hideaway,
and it's been here for four years.
Look at the size of this place.
There's the owner, Dwayne.
[laughter]
There you go.
Dwayne was in the construction business.
Always wanted to own a bar.
So he bought a bar,
closed it 'cause he didn't like the lease.
Then built this bar.
Spent over $1,000,000 on it.
Now he's losing $6,500 a month.
And his reputation-- I gotta read you this.
This is a review.
An online review.
Sat at a table next to a very drunk person
while ordering dinner.
My server was awesome,
but when he asked the drunk person a question,
I realized the drunk was his boss.
How the hell does that work?
He was rude to the employee
like he was interrupting his booze time.
Wow. That's crazy.
I've never heard of anything like this.
-No. -Listen to this one.
Worst service ever.
Even the regulars have to wait.
The drunk owner tries to jump in and help,
breaks a glass in the drink well,
and stumbles back to his stool.
This place is a joke.
Sounds like a joke.
Reviews like these are a major red flag,
especially when it comes to an owner's behavior
in his own bar.
So that's Dwayne,
and he's now in debt $1,000,000 too.
Wow. That's incredible.
You still need the margarita or do--
-I'll make it right now. -Okay.
-I'm making all the other ones. -Okay.
There is Vanesa.
Vanesa is Dwayne's girlfriend
of about five years.
They can't afford a manager,
so Vanesa,
who's in a real estate business,
and Dwayne, who's in a construction business,
are running this place.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Completely.
-You guys ready? -Yeah.
-Okay. -There's Camri.
She's a bartender.
Look at how she's the only one working
behind the bar tonight.
And there's Alexis and she's a server.
How's your night?
So there's Filiberto.
He's our cook.
Never seen somebody stir French fries in the fryer like that.
No. [laughs]
Uh, where are our plastic--
uh, you guys took away the Coke cups.
Who's he talking to?
Uh, I'll just use the glass.
Hands on the floor?
Oh, boy.
So for recon tonight,
I have Nikki West from WOW Country Radio here.
You know, radio people,
they do loads of bars all the time.
And she's a bar person and was a bartender.
So she came with a girlfriend of hers, Nicole.
Hello.
Hi.
How's it going?
-How are you? -Good.
What are you two drinking tonight?
Uh, I heard about a Hideaway.
Yeah. That one has lemon vodka in it.
-Perfect. -That one? Okay.
Yeah, let's go with that.
I'll do a Lynchburg Lemonade.
Okay. Got it.
The vibe in the bar was pretty sterile.
It felt pretty stark
and kind of rough, a little masculine.
When we walked in, that was the first thing that I felt.
The weird, bright orange and then like,
"Did you finish this?
Were you planning on painting soon?"
I'm a do-it-yourselfer and the whole time I'm like,
"Okay, so I need to paint this.
I need to do this." It needed love, yeah.
-Do we have menus? -I'm not sure--
All right.
Oh, yeah, and could we get a food menu too?
Yeah.
[laughter]
Food menu.
Now, why wouldn't she have brought them the menu naturally,
right, try to sell the food?
Right. There should be a sequence of service.
It doesn't seem like that exists.
Yeah.
-Thank you. -There you go.
This menu is overwhelming.
-It's like-- -And the menu is very dirty.
Yeah.
Well, let's see how this is.
Yeah.
Okay.
Mmm.
Oh, that's really sour.
Yeah.
Oh, she didn't like that.
[groans]
When you get a minute, can we grab some food from you?
Yeah. Give me one second. I'll be right with you.
Just one girl here?
Yeah, I guess so.
So he had his hands on the floor
and now he's holding the glasses like that.
[groans]
Look at his hands on the top of the glass.
His palm was pressing against it.
Whee!
Oh, there's one for himself too.
Oh, there we go.
[chuckles]
Oh, I have-- something's in my drink.
Oh, my God.
Something's in her drink?
No way.
Ew.
There's more.
Okay. I'm done.
-No. -No, I'm done.
-[chuckles] -No.
What are we thinking, ladies?
Uh, we wanna share The Hideaway mac and cheese please.
-All right. -Anything else?
Uh, I wanna try the Cuban also.
Good choice.
I'll do the Philly dog.
Okay.
And, um, she's got floaties in her--
I got a few floaties here.
I don't know if it's pepper or--
Let me remake it for you.
-Thank you. -It's okay.
Smile.
And what's Dwayne doing?
At the corner of the bar, talking to those customers,
not paying attention or anything.
Beautiful. Get it sold.
Get it done.
-There you go. -Thank you.
Oh.
Uh, actually, this is a bigger floaty.
That one's even bigger than it was before.
It's okay. I think I'm okay.
We got another one with black stuff floating in it.
What is that?
Their ice machine could have mold in it.
How safe is the food
when you see particles like that in the drinks?
You can see some filth.
Look there.
Those have not been cleaned in quite some time.
Look, that is turkey, ham, bacon.
That's a Cuban sandwich.
-It looks dry. -It does.
'Cause the pork's already cooked.
And you have to be very careful when you apply heat to it again
because you can easily dry it out.
It's getting drier by the second too
just sitting there.
Did you see how he's put the pasta
into the pan with no sauce?
-In a dry pan? -Yeah.
That's a high flame too.
So that pasta on the bottom is gonna burn
-and that's gonna get dry. -It's gonna be all crispy
and it's gonna change the texture of the pasta.
-It's not gonna be pleasant. -Yup.
Was that one, okay?
Uh, there's actually like a bigger floaty in that one.
Awesome.
Perfect.
Maybe it's from the ice
or like the plastic cup. She's like [indistinct]
Now she's checking.
At this point, I wouldn't have a whole lot
-of confidence in having... -No.
...any cocktails here.
Third times.
Perfect.
-Thanks. -Oh, yeah.
-Much better. -Thank you.
Oh, that's...
Does it taste better the third time around?
-Uh, it's--no. -Oh.
It's not pretty much better.
I use the ice out of there.
I guess I didn't triple check the ice.
I'm not positive.
I've never really got that complaint
since I've been here.
But, but you treat me like that, like it's--it's--
like if you guys wanna send in customers like that
and give us reputation, that's fine.
Um, I'm gonna be done with the show after this though,
just so you guys know,
'cause if you guys are gonna represent us like that,
then I'm not a part of it.
Uh, like...
Unbelievable.
Camri said on camera that she's gonna be done with the show.
That there's no point of her coming back.
Are you walking out?
Okay. Well, come here for a sec.
No.
No way.
I've never seen a situation like this
in all my years of "Bar Rescue."
Are they firing her
for something that took place last week?
Can I have my backpack back?
What backpack?
Get out.
I'm not. Go. Bye.
You're eighty-six'd from the bar.
What the hell is going on in this place?
Get out.
I'm not. Go.
But you're gonna say I'm a thief on camera like that?
Do you want to say that, Vanesa?
You know, my second day,
you went through my purse looking for cash.
-I didn't wanna-- -Remember?
Camri, you're the--you're--
Don't pull-- don't go [indistinct]
I have it on camera.
Vanesa, do you want that on camera too?
Hey, bye, bye, bye.
You're eighty-six'd from the bar.
-Okay. Thank you. -You're welcome.
Will you guys stop now?
I'm--I'm done.
Like I don't want a part of this business at all.
Like this was a whole shitshow.
Um, I guess I'm a thief 'cause I gave a free beer a while ago.
Dwayne needs a reality check.
His business is not successful.
He drinks a lot and it makes him look silly.
It's embarrassing.
And it's the last place that people wanna come in.
I just don't wanna ever come here again.
Look at this. We have floaties in drinks.
An owner drinking with customers.
A bartender quit or fired.
I don't even really know what happened
but clearly they do not have a handle on their business.
I got to go in there, talk to Dwayne,
and figure out what the hell is going on here.
Keep an eye on me, okay?
For sure.
[dramatic music]
narrator: Jon enters The Hideaway,
a bar located just west of Boise, Idaho.
The Hideaway is a large industrial-themed space
with high ceiling, various table games
scattered throughout the layout,
and a U-shaped bar in the center.
With the average American bar and kitchen
generating $150 per square foot,
at 6,900 square feet,
The Hideaway would need to bring in
over $1,000,000 a year
or $86,000 a month just to break even.
-Oh, there he is right there. -Uh-hmm.
Hi.
-Hi, there. -Hi.
That must be his people.
What was in that drink? Did you figure that out?
No, we don't know.
This is the third one but I'm not sure.
Would you take a bite for me?
Uh...
Are you scared to take a bite?
I don't know. I'm scared of this.
-Really? -Yeah, this messy, greasy--
the bun is totally dry.
Nope.
-What's wrong? -It's super dry.
And the flavor--like something is wrong with the flavors combo.
We knew that was gonna be a dry sandwich.
Something is very wrong.
You know, it's interesting.
-We watched the cook cook it... -I don't wanna eat it.
...and we knew that this turkey was gonna be really dry
by the way he had it on the grill.
Look at this.
It just taste awful.
Never a good sign when somebody spits out their food.
Okay, guys.
Well, the food? Fail?
both: Food, fail.
-Drinks? -Drinks fail.
-Fail? -Fail.
Environment?
both: Fail.
There's nothing going on here.
-We're good. Yeah. -Let me go to work.
-Thank you, guys. -Thank you.
Oh, gosh. Thank you.
Can I interrupt your drinking for a moment?
Sure.
Oh, jeez.
These are two friends of mine that goes on radio.
-Uh-huh. -Hi there.
So if she had a great experience today,
when you went on the radio tomorrow,
-what would happen? -I would talk all about it.
And would you fail this place?
Uh, yeah. Absolutely.
She ordered a drink.
It had a black thing floating in it.
Then the food comes out.
Your cook does something I've never seen before, Dwayne.
He takes the pasta, puts it in a dry frying pan.
Let's it cook in a dry frying pan.
See how the pasta is burnt?
Got you.
Brown pasta. That's not right, is it?
So now she thinks this is a bug too
because of the bugs in there, right?
Who designed this bar?
-Me. -I can tell.
Have you ever designed a bar before?
No.
It's the worst designed bar I've seen in my life.
Okay.
Let me tell you, the ceilings are too high.
This is the most unintimate environment ever.
You feel like you're in a shopping center
when you're in this place.
I look back there, it's a sea of tables.
I'm staring in the kitchen.
The colors in the walls are about as old as it gets.
The bar design is so horrible,
you guys just sitting here,
it's like you're staring in the kitchen, isn't it?
-Yeah. -Right?
Does that look like a bar to you?
No.
So this is the worst designed bar I've ever seen in my life.
It's a joke.
Rookie as it gets.
Even the dish machine is right there
so you can watch them every step of the way, right?
Oh, yeah.
So everything you did is completely wrong.
The layout is wrong.
The kitchen, I'm staring into it.
The positioning of that is wrong.
The beer tap.
She's gotta get on a ladder
to take beer out of the top one.
This is wrong.
There is nothing right about this bar.
Nothing!
Then you come in here, the food sucks, the drinks suck.
Then I read reviews.
Here we go.
"Sat a table
next to a very drunk person
while ordering dinner."
"My server was awesome,
but when he asked the drunk person a question,
I realized the drunk was the boss."
How the hell does that work?
"He was rude to the employee
and was interrupting
his booze time."
Next one.
"Worst service ever."
"Even the regulars have to wait."
"The drunk owner tries to jump in and help,
breaks a glass in the drink well,
stumbles back to his stool."
This place is a joke.
Was that your goal when you opened this place?
No, sir.
So what do you wanna be,
successful or a drunk?
Which is it?
Successful.
Every drink you take makes you lose more money,
chase away more customers, alienate more employees.
The epitome of failure.
So what are you gonna do it, Dwayne?
Have another drink?
No.
Here is the deal.
I will help you this week
and I'll straighten out your freaking mess,
but I am gonna carry
an alcohol meter in my pocket
and I am gonna breathalyze you every freaking day I'm here.
If you fail, I take my crew and I leave
and you can have your shithole.
[dramatic music]
Every drink you take makes you lose more money,
chase away more customers, alienate more employees.
The epitome of failure.
So what are you gonna do about it, Dwayne?
Have another drink?
No.
Here the deal.
I will help you this week
and I'll straighten out your freaking mess,
but I am gonna carry
an alcohol meter in my pocket
and I am gonna breathalyze you every freaking day I'm here.
If you fail, I take my crew and I leave
and you can have your shithole.
Okay.
-Is that acceptable to you? -Sure.
You think he can do it?
-Yes. -You do?
-Yes. -Well, we'll see. I don't.
Prove me wrong.
See you tomorrow, Dwayne.
Don't eat that, girl.
Thank you.
Don't worry.
That's bullshit.
Dwayne says he doesn't have a drinking problem,
but his staff and the reviews say otherwise.
So I'm gonna get to the bottom of this and determine myself.
Giving an owner a breathalyzer
is something I've done for years when rescuing bars.
This is a breath analyzer, an alcohol tester.
Okay.
What I like about it is it holds them accountable
for their own actions.
both: Zero.
She scored a zero, so now I'm gonna go to work.
This is my first day of sobriety.
And when their friends and family can see
that they're actually committed to being sober,
that's when the magic happens.
-This is ridiculous. -Yeah.
I'm still hungry.
Like, you know, we didn't even get to eat.
So, yeah, hot mess.
I wouldn't come back to a place that
doesn't have a clean glass to serve a drink in.
And are you kidding? After two?
After two?
No, we--we're done.
-We're not coming back. -We're done.
I mean, oh, my gosh.
There is no one I am referring to this place
as it is right now. I will tell you that.
So, hopefully, Jon can help it and we can get some TLC in there
and then maybe I'll come back and refer people.
How it sits now,
maybe if it was somebody I really didn't like.
-Uh-huh. -Like, "I know where go.
Check this place out."
Other than that, it's not happening.
It's not gonna hit my radio show, I'll tell you that.
[laughs]
Oh, my God.
-[sighs] -[sighs]
[dramatic music]
How did it go, guys?
[laughs]
You really wanna know what you missed out on?
-Sure. Why not? -Yeah?
'Cause I went home and went to sleep.
Well, lucky you.
[chuckles]
I was not here last night.
I did hear snippets of what happened.
We got not one single table.
Oh.
-So I was a food runner. -What did you do?
Like scare off customers or what?
I am confused on what's next.
I think we all have something to learn from Jon.
At the same time, we probably won't be able to fix everything,
but this has been a great opportunity so far.
Jon walked in and went straight to the customers.
-Okay. -Yeah.
So there was two gals who hollered over
at Camri for something that was found in the drink.
-Is that floaties in here? -Got a few floaties here.
I don't know if it's pepper or there are like
black flakes in there?
Like...
Then went over to Dwayne
and kind of went at it with Dwayne.
When I came over,
it was when I heard Jon
going off at Dwayne,
saying something that Dwayne has never done,
like stumble, breaking glass in the bar.
"Worst service ever."
"Even the regulars have to wait."
"The drunk owner tries to jump in and help,
breaks a glass in the drink well,
stumbles back to his stool."
This place is a joke.
Ooh.
When Jon came in, it was hard to keep my mouth shut
'cause I wanna be a mama bear.
Meeting with Jon will be interesting.
Well, I guess he's gonna tell us where we're failing,
why we're failing.
His black SUV pulled up.
Shit.
What would it take for you to kill me?
Tell me how last night went.
Uh, it didn't go so well.
Jon pretty much cut me down.
Some of the stuff that he said is not true.
He kind of tried to blame it on me.
I don't have a drinking problem.
[sighs]
-Hi. -Hi.
You guys are smiling.
-One of us is. -Yeah.
Last night, Dwayne wouldn't admit to anything.
He wouldn't even really say anything.
It's like he didn't care or he's not engaged.
-Hi. -Hello.
-You are? -Vanesa.
Hi, Vanesa. Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too. -I'm Jon.
Today, I wanna see if I can pull him out of his shelf.
If I can get him to say something.
Certainly, admit to his failure, and then we have a start.
-I'm Alexis. -Alexis. Nice to meet you.
-And you are? -I'm Lindsay.
-Hi, Lindsay. Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
It's okay. You can stay.
-Nice to meet you. -Dwayne,
would you guys come with me for a moment?
But it starts with a breathalyzer.
He's got to pass the breathalyzer
so we can move forward.
I'm not here to beat you up, buddy.
I swear I'm here to help you.
-Don't seem like-- -And you're in a jam,
and I'm told you're a good guy.
-Yeah. -Had a construction company,
-made money. Still do? -Still do.
Built this bar yourself, right?
Spent million and a half or so?
-Correct. -Now,
this bar has been open how long?
-Since... -Seven years.
...October 2017.
So--and how much money are you losing a month?
I'm told about $6,500?
-Am I close? -Maybe.
Are you working now on the construction business
-to feed this? -Correct.
So you're losing money every month?
Yeah.
We push through and we do whatever,
whatever it takes to keep the lights open.
So do you worry about that when you go to sleep at night,
when you wake up in the morning? Is it haunting you?
-'Cause I've been there. -Yeah.
I mean, yeah, a little bit.
And you're going in a hospital soon, aren't you?
Yes.
And how long are you gonna be out of the bar?
Six to eight weeks.
For weeks, you're not gonna be here to support him.
-So are you worried... -Yup.
...that his drinking is gonna get worse
without you here and that he's gonna fail?
I worry about him not having me to help him out with the staff.
So if I don't get him up on his feet again,
energized, excited, sober,
I can't dig him out, can I?
-No. -I understand that.
I wanna set this up so that he doesn't have
this pressure anymore. This is my medic.
I've asked him to administer a breathalyzer for you.
So taking a breathalyzer test is humiliating.
If I have to take the breathalyzer,
then he should too.
How do you feel about it?
I know him and I know he could do it
without having somebody babysit him.
You want him to stay drunk?
No--well, I know he will--
I know he won't be drinking.
How come you're ignoring the drinking?
You're not being honest with me.
Come on. Let's be honest with each other.
When he's drunk on a barstool,
can he run this place when he's falling off a barstool?
Can he?
He's never fallen off the barstool.
-That's a lie. -Okay.
Well, I don't know if it's a lie.
You know, I don't like to be--
I don't like to be lied to, and this is a lie.
Until you're straight with me, I can't help you.
Have you guys ever heard Dwayne called the town drunk?
Be honest with me. Have you ever heard that expression?
-No. -Not till last night.
-That's a lie. -Okay.
Well, I don't know if it's a lie.
You know, I don't like to be--
I don't like to be lied to, and this is a lie.
Well, if somebody saw you that way,
like the reviews that I read to you,
would it be reasonable for somebody to say,
"That guy's a drunk?"
-That's not true. -You're never drunk here?
No.
Is he being honest with me? Come on.
I've seen him drink a beer here
-but I have not seen him drunk. -But not be drunk here?
No.
I agree with Jon
as for maybe not drinking publicly.
Hey, if you own this place, be respectable
and--and don't drink there,
but I don't agree that he's a drunk.
Just because somebody drinks a beer,
I don't think that that can-- that means his a drunk.
Have you ever seen him drunk here?
-Come on. -I've seen him drinking, yes.
I don't know what level-- like what is his drunk.
I don't know what he's like drunk.
I've worked here since January.
I have seen Dwayne drink at the bar.
He's had a few beers.
Um, he's had like a shot or two with customers.
But to admit to something not knowing the extent
to how it would lead,
I honestly didn't wanna be like, "Okay, this is my fault."
Well, if you guys are scared to say it,
there's no reason for me to be here.
He's not a drunk.
He's got all this money. He's good to go.
I'll leave. And you guys can fail.
Until you're straight with me, I can't help you.
So I'm gonna start walking towards the door
and somebody better say reality
or I keep walking.
[dramatic music]
Does Dwayne have a drinking problem that affects
the operation of this bar, yes or no?
Five,
four,
three.
This failure's gonna be yours.
Two,
one. See you, guys.
[dramatic music]
It's not my place.
Where we come from, you don't turn your back on people
and I just don't think that
it's my place to cause issues between the four of us.
-Are we done here? -I don't know.
Well, Jon came in, said a bunch of stuff
that's not true and tried to call me a drunk.
That's not true.
-Let's go sit down. -Uh-hmm.
I've never heard of that before in my life.
Either--any of that.
Well, this is awkward.
There is like a combination of factors
for us to be in the position that we are.
Not just one person does everything together.
Jon came in and he was trying to
have me say that he's gonna fail when I'm gone.
Sometimes Dwayne's biggest problems
are that he'll drink with customers,
but I have no worries about him getting drunk or anything.
We do need the help but, at the same time,
we don't need somebody to come and insult.
At least [indistinct] for a moment.
[laughs]
[dramatic music]
This is crazy.
I've been rescuing bars for decades
and I can count on one hand
the amount of bars that I haven't rescued.
-Military, you mother[bleep] -I didn't say--
I will [bleep] take you out!
I [bleep] you.
-Whoa. -You understand me?
-Hey, hey, hey, hey. -So here's the deal.
I'm leaving. I am not rescuing your bar.
I've had owners lie to me.
I've had employees lie to me.
This guy is so full of [bleep] it's unbelievable.
As I said...
Let's get out of here, guys.
It's over.
'Cause I don't trust you 'cause you are a slime bucket.
But, in this case, they're both lying to me.
So I've asked my team to gather the materials
we've already obtained to back up my claim
that Dwayne have a drinking problem
that affects the operation of this bar.
Let's listen to them.
Dwayne's drinking does create a problem here at the bar.
Customers see him as just the--the town drunk.
They see Dwayne as the town drunk.
So that's it.
And while they're doing that, I'm gonna think long and hard
if I even wanna rescue this bar.
[dramatic music]
-Just say. -Just the right glasses.
I'll do the test.
-[laughs] -What?
I said I'll do the test.
I'll test for you.
-Do the test? -I said I would do it.
I was like, "I'll do the breathalyzer."
-"You can test it on me." -Yeah.
-Hey, I'll do it too. -Yeah.
-Me too. -That's fine.
Look, we have teamwork.
A team together. We have each other's back.
I should have been there the other night, "I'll take it."
Everyone in that room is lying to me,
but they have the audacity to call me a liar?
I didn't come up with the word town drunk.
Their employees did.
[dramatic music]
-Hello. -Hello.
I'm guessing this is not easy for you.
I've done 240 episodes of "Bar Rescue."
I've never lied once.
I've walked two times out of 240 episodes.
You guys have called me a liar.
I'd like you to watch this.
Dwayne typically, when he's done prepping,
he'll be seen at the bar with a beer,
and we all have been kind of trained
that once it gets down to a certain point,
you refill the beer.
So he drinks all night long automatically.
He doesn't even ask for the drink.
Now, the coup de grace.
Dwayne's drinking does create a problem here at the bar.
Why is that?
Customers see him
as just the town drunk.
They see Dwayne as the town drunk.
That they never see him actually working.
All he's doing is drinking.
The town drunk.
That's what your employees think of you.
You see, I won't work with the town drunk
'cause my reputation is on this when I leave
and I won't have the town drunk
representing the work that I've done.
You lied to me
when you said you didn't want him to drink
'cause I know you don't
'cause you told my research team otherwise.
You're all liars.
And they're enabling your failure
by pouring you the next drink.
You'll off the next barstool,
and in a few months, your destiny is made out,
'cause you're enabling him, you're enabling him,
and you're enabling him, and it's your failure.
So 240 episodes of "Bar Rescue."
You know what I'm gonna do now?
I'm gonna walk out.
I'm taking my crew with me.
I am not remodeling your bar.
I want nothing to do with you.
Now, when his drink gets down, don't forget to refill it?
Go have a drink, buddy.
I'm done.
Guys, pack up.
We're going home.
Let's go to a bar that is honest with us
and appreciates the work we do.
Our work is too important to do it here.
Let's pack up, guys.
All right. Jon is leaving.
I repeat, Jon is leaving the bar.
Copy that. Stand by for instructions.
I won't work for liars.
They're enabling Dwayne's failure.
I want nothing to do with Dwayne's failure.
I'm out of here.
Jon's saying there's no rescue.
Copy you.
Don't stop rolling on this.
Keep rolling. Keep recording.
[dramatic music]
-No. -No.
It's very quiet in there.
Spin the dials.
Let all the channels know we're done.
All right. Wrap it up.
Pack everything up.
We're-- we're heading out of here.
I definitely don't remember her saying that.
Like maybe I just didn't pay attention
to the choice of words that she made,
but it's definitely a slap in the face.
I'm done with it.
Embarrassed, for somebody to be calling him out liar,
town drunk.
I need to figure out this-- the stuff for the time--
the time that I'm gonna be gone.
I could always
try to push back my surgery.
I do feel responsible for why Jon left.
I honestly don't know how the relationship
will be going forward.
I--I'm the reason why they're not getting the help.
I could have spoken up.
Honestly, I don't know what the future holds
for me or The Hideaway.
Will you guys let me know when you're done with power, please?
-Yeah. -Copy.
It's really unfortunate.
You know, I came here to rescue a bar,
trying to help somebody
who's in a serious financial problem.
I'm told he's a good guy,
but until the people around him
help him improve his life
and until he wants to, I can't help him.
Working out on a rescue is no small matter.
The fact is I have hundreds of people
who help me rescue a bar.
Cameramen, soundmen, audio, construction workers,
plumbers, electricians, and they're all working
to remodel this bar in a matter of mere days.
But the dignity and reputation of this show
and my name on a bar means more than Dwayne's lies.
The good news is there are other bars I can go to
where I will make a difference.
[dramatic music]
This episode is done.
-Thanks, everybody. -Yeah, thank you.
-Thanks, Jon. -Get out of the heat.
narrator: Promotional consideration provided by:
Partender, Pathspot, Skytab POS, Blue Ocean Cleaning
Plumbing Solutions of Idaho, Bar Products,
Audio Video Professionals, Curtis Restaurant Equipment,
Riverside Embroidery, Ellis Amusements
Standard Restaurant Supply, One Stone, and ESRI.