I play pool pretty often.
It might be a Friday night or a Saturday night,
you know, just playing pool all night long.
[grunts]
I even joined a league
with some guys here and just to,
you know, show them I, I am the same as them.
Oh, come on.
narrator: For over 30 years, Jon Taffer has traveled
the country, saving hundreds of bars from failure and ruin.
The past few years have 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.
And a customer base that has a much higher expectation
for quality food and drinks.
Not a huge fan of this.
So I'm on a mission to save bars
that have been struggling to keep up with
the new landscape of our industry.
narrator: So now, Jon is back out on the road
and heading to Castle Rock, Colorado
to rescue Colorado Cork & Keg.
This is a new era for our country,
so we need to raise the bar
and rise to these challenges.
narrator: In 2021,
Ed and Valerie Komperda purchased
Colorado Cork & Keg in Castle Rock, Colorado.
I've always had a dream of owning a bar.
I've been in the corporate world all my life
and I was tired of being stuck
in an office all day, working on the computer.
I was really nervous when he approached me
with the idea.
I wasn't sure about owning our own business.
I was a little apprehensive
and just a little scared about what that could mean.
Ed and I are not super risk takers
and it all happened pretty fast.
narrator: Determined to make a change,
Ed packed up his life and moved his family to Colorado.
We love Colorado.
We found this is our, like, happy place when we vacation.
We love the mountains, we love the outdoor activities.
And we wanted to give that to our kids as well.
We just wanted to share an adventure with them.
You know, we had some savings that we brought here
and we're looking at businesses.
And then this opportunity came up.
I spent the 60K from my savings account
and put it in to this bar.
narrator: After taking a huge risk
moving across the country,
the couple quickly realized that owning a bar
was not all it's cracked up to be.
I do not have any restaurant or bar experience.
I haven't had formal training.
It's been mostly on the job trainings.
Just a touch of the pear.
Valerie and I have two sons living with us,
and the time with them has been lacking
ever since we've owned the bar.
Since we have to put in a lot of hours here.
Financially, we've used up nearly all of our savings.
We aren't able to provide them with all the things
that they used to be provided with.
You know, Friday nights and Saturday nights,
we're here till 3:00, you know,
they're asleep when we get home.
narrator: Despite them spending
all their time at the bar,
the only thing improving is its pool game.
So the biggest difference in owning a bar is
I get to interact with the people that I,
I enjoy being around.
Because I do have drinks with the customers,
a lot of times they wanna buy me shots.
I think Ed in particular doesn't really know
what he's doing behind the bars.
He is a little bit unorganized with just the bar side.
There's a lot more gratification being out there,
making people happy,
listening to, you know, what they would like to see.
And when you're able to provide that, you know,
and they get happy from that,
it's a really cool thing.
All right. I've got a card from you, thank you, hon.
narrator: With more than $30,000 in debt
and nothing to show for the risk they took,
the bar is doomed to close
less than one year from its opening.
We are struggling financially.
We are losing still $4,000 per month.
I estimate within three months
that we will have to close doors if nothing changes.
You know, it does put a strain on the family
because we're constantly here.
They're my main priority.
So their happiness, like, that's all that matters to me.
narrator: So Ed and Valerie have made the decision
to pull back the doors, bust open the books,
and make a call for help to Bar Rescue.
We're failing.
Something needs to change.
- Good to see you, buddy. - Good to see you, too.
narrator: For the kitchen, Jon brings in Vic Vegas,
an executive chef with over 25 years' experience.
Vic has worked with major food distributors
while also owning and operating his own successful restaurant.
So here we are. We're just outside
of Denver in Castle Rock, Colorado,
and we're here looking at this bar
called Colorado Cork & Keg.
Colorado is one letter, Cork is over here,
Keg is like a half a mile away
with a little "&" mark in the middle.
That's one reason why I saw it,
because I was trying to see it.
Yeah, invisible.
So there's no branding on the outside.
From the outside, the bar is completely insignificant.
Could you, uh, start a tab for me?
There, that's Ed.
Wanna grab a beer, please.
- That's Valerie. - All right, honey.
Do you wanna keep that tab open?
- Yes, please. - Okay.
All right. We'll get you set up.
Ed and Valerie are married.
They bought this bar about a year and a half ago.
They lived in St. Louis.
They left St. Louis to pursue Ed's dream to open a bar.
They've been operating it for a year.
They're losing about $4,000 a month.
They've got enough money to make it three more months.
There's Whitney.
There's Bree. She's the other bartender.
Should we grab another bottle of tin cup?
There's Kira, your cook.
You can see the lists of beers on either side of the bar.
See that? So they feature about 20,
- maybe more, all local beers. - A lot of beer.
And Colorado is second in the amount
- of microbreweries that it has. - Uh-hmm.
So it's a serious microbreweries state.
So, there's a lot of beers in every town.
Oh, look at that.
This is a beer bar. Look at that.
See, when that beer comes out with that foam,
you know what this is. Either the pressure isn't right,
the temperature isn't right,
or those beer lines are disgustingly dirty.
Look at that, she can't get-- It's foam and foam and foam.
So she's gonna dump three or four beers
down the drain to get one.
So, they have no chance of making money.
And look at Ed standing there watching the beer
go down the drain.
So, I can see already. Ed has no problem
watching his wife work while he enjoys himself.
Uh-oh. Uh, your place is on fire and you're just,
in a nonchalant way, playing pool.
That tells me something about Ed in the first place.
And look at Valerie. I mean, she's really trying.
Well, you know, this bar is called
the Cork and & the Keg, right?
Look, at the beer focus here.
So we got two local beer experts to do recon for us.
So I got Tristan Chan and Britt Antley.
Hi, guys. How are you?
Hello.
And both of them work for the Porch Collective,
which is a beer marketing company.
So they work with all these microbrews.
They know their beer inside out.
So I wanna see what they think of that beer.
But I got to tell you, Vic, after seeing what we just saw
being poured, I know what they're gonna think of the beer
before it even starts.
So we've got nine options on this side here
and another ten options down there for our draft beers.
Okay. Is it possible to, uh, taste some stuff?
- Yeah. - Can we do, like,
a flight or something or...
Um, I only have the capability
for one.
All those beers and you can't have a sampler?
And they don't sell a flight? That's unbelievable.
Can I do a little sample of the Hell & Bock?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally.
Okay. And what about for you?
So, I'll try the, the regular lager first.
- Okay. Yeah, you got it. - Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah.
Oh.
[tense music]
- Okay. Here's the lager. - Thank you.
And this is the, um, To Hell & Bock.
- Awesome. Thank you. - Yeah.
Sweet.
I don't think Tristan likes that very much.
I'm not a huge fan of this, uh, honestly.
- Okay. Okay. Yeah, no problem. - Kind of dish soapy...
Maybe I'll try the, the Mexican Lager,
and I just do a full pour with that.
- Okay. - Yeah. I think the,
the smell is the first red flag.
- Bad line. - Yeah,
- I was thinking of bad lines. - Yeah.
They think it's bad lines, too.
- Yeah. - I think it's bad lines
and temperature.
See, that one has no head.
This one is all foam.
- Thank you. - Cool. Yeah,
you're very welcome.
- Wow. Look at that. - Yeah.
No bubbles coming up the side of the glass
'cause all the fizz went out.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
Yeah. It's not fresh.
Super under-carbonated, I feel like...
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Terrible. 'Cause all the foam went out of the glass.
Did you get that last order, Kira?
No.
All right. Look at this.
Here we go.
What the hell is that?
What is that?
both: Oh!
- Encrusted mayo neck. - Oh!
And she's filling those with that.
Ugh! What the hell is she doing?
She's washing lettuce in a hand sink?
Oh, no.
That is disgusting.
Wow, Jon.
Look at this.
They have a barbecue outside the restaurant.
So, she's cooking outside the back door.
- Oh, man. - And is that a stack of--
That's a bag of burger patties.
Just sitting out in open air next to a barbecue.
- Is that legal, Vic? - Oh, boy!
No, that's not legal at all.
There's no refrigeration around those?
That's not being stored or held properly?
- No. - Can you cook a hamburger
outside and bring it inside legally?
This right here? No, no, not like this.
This is completely illegal.
Completely illegal, this practice.
So, how far away is that grill from the kitchen?
Let's follow her out there.
Okay. Now, that burger is gonna go
in the backdoor across the bar?
Now we go back into the kitchen?
'Cause she's got to dress it, right?
Oh, my goodness!
So, so, she's going out the kitchen
through the back bar, into the grill.
Now, I'm guessing she's gonna put
the cheese on it or something.
Meanwhile, where's social butterfly Ed?
Where is Ed?
There he is.
You know, I hate to ruin Ed's game, but you know what?
- I'm gonna. - Oh.
I think social Ed needs to go to work, Vic.
Jon's gonna rock this fool.
Is the likeliest that--
Hi. How are you?
- Good. Are you Valerie? - I am.
- Nice to meet you. - It's very nice to meet you.
- Question? - Yes.
Why are you working and your husband
playing pool?
I'm watching beer dumped down the drain.
I'm watching food being cooked improperly.
And your husband's a social butterfly.
- Yeah. - Is that the way this goes?
- He is... - Hi, Mr. Taffer.
- I was just asking your wife... - How you doing?
...a question. I walked in, I said, "Hi, Valerie.
I got a question for you.
Beer's going down the drain.
Food's being destroyed in the back.
Your business is going down the tubes
and you're not doing anything about it,
but your wife is trying.
If this was my wife, I'd be working next to her.
Not drinking your profits
and being a social fucking butterfly.
Your business is going down the tubes
and you're not doing anything about it.
But your wife is trying.
If this was my wife, I'd be working next to her.
Not drinking your profits
and being a social fucking butterfly.
These are two friends of mine, local beer experts here.
So how are the beers, guys?
- Not good. - Not great.
But you don't know that because you were playing pool.
So if you think that you know the beer sucks,
should you be selling it to them?
Uh, my beer tastes pretty good, so--but, uh, so...
Well then--well then, you know what,
you shouldn't be talking about beer.
Guys, when you pour a beer
and a foam keeps pouring,
and pouring, and pouring,
is there any way that beer is good?
- No. - Ed thinks it is.
We need to get that cooler fixed because the,
- the foams are-- - And how long has the cooler
been broken?
For two days it's been--yeah.
Two days it's been.
How long have you owned this bar?
- Since August. - So you've owned it
for 10 months?
- Yes. - Has he learned anything?
- I think he's learning a lot. - Really?
I think he's learning a lot.
Well, tell me one thing you've learned.
What should your beer cost be? What percentage?
That's with the raise in prices,
- it's kind of difficult... - What should it be?
It would take you five seconds online
to determine what a beverage cost would be.
What should your beverage cost be, Ed?
- I do not know. - You don't know
because you didn't look? Right?
- Yes. Yes. - So say it.
Jon, I don't know, because I didn't look.
So is he letting you down by not looking?
Come on, Valerie. It's time to be straight with me.
- Yes. - I want you to evaluate him
as a business partner.
Is he helping this business?
Is he saving our cost?
Does he know what they should be?
Does he?
We could definitely know more for sure.
He doesn't even know what your beer cost should be.
But he didn't look.
And as long as you keep cleaning
and he keeps playing, he'll never look.
And he's gonna take you off a cliff
because if he didn't want to, over the past eight months,
he would have done something different, wouldn't he?
- Yeah. - But Ed didn't,
and it was his dream.
He led you here and then didn't even try to learn.
And that, to me, is a lousy fucking husband.
Sorry. It is.
So do I even wanna help you?
Or you're so lazy
or not care or so-- I'm sorry,
fucking stupid that I shouldn't even try?
I think I would learn a lot from you
and I will make this work.
Because you never tried to learn on your own.
- So is that gonna change now? - It definitely is.
I'm gonna come through for you because I'm not sure
I wanna come through for him yet, to be honest with you.
To my view right now, he has let you down,
and he's a deadbeat in my view.
- Change my mind, deadbeat. - All right.
Because that's what you are to me now.
- All right. I will. - Okay. I will see you tomorrow.
- Okay. - I will.
I understand if he doesn't wanna help me out,
but I'll learn. And I will--
I'll, I'll roll up my sleeves.
I wanna have the opportunity to prove him wrong.
Because this is our business.
It's our money. It's our life that's on the line.
And I wanna prove that I'm not lazy,
that I'm a good husband, and that
I am eager because I am.
[tense music]
So how did last night go?
Was Jon a dick?
- Um... - Whitney?
He got called out on, um, management,
um, and he was playing pool when Jon walked...
- Drinking a beer playing pool. - Like, like, he usually does.
Well, it sounds like Ed got ripped a new one,
which, I mean, I believe was needed.
He can't just sit back and, and have fun and play pool
when we're all working our ass off to,
you know, make sure his bar is successful.
I mean, we don't even know if that's--
if he's even gonna come back at this point.
He might just think Ed's a lost cause.
- Wouldn't blame him. - I hope not.
- I don't think he is. - Don't say that
because then we don't have a job.
Right? No, I just wanna pay rent.
- That's all. - That's fair.
Let's, uh, make it right.
I mean, I kind of said that to [indistinct]
- Hello. - Hi.
- Hello. - Come on over, guys.
Oh, goodness.
- Nice to meet you, guys. - Nice to meet you.
- I didn't get to see you last night. - No, sir.
I was really tough on Ed last night,
but he absolutely deserved it.
I need to hold him accountable
for the failure in his bar because he owns it.
And if I can get him to own that,
maybe I can make him successful.
- Hi. - Hello as well.
So when I hear about a couple
who chased their dream to open a bar,
leave one city, move to another, pretty scary, right?
Start over again, right, Ed?
- Yes. - Yeah.
Put their life savings into this bar,
then are losing $4,000 a month, is that about right?
That's about right, yes.
And then how much time do we have
- till you're out of money? - Uh, about three months.
Three more months left.
Their lives are on the line.
- Right, Val? - Yes.
Does this scare you when you go to sleep at night?
I'm guessing you got to worry.
It's always on--yeah,
it's always on the back of my mind.
And you brought her up here.
And that's why, when I walked in last night
and saw you working behind the bar
and him having a beer,
I said, hold on, that wasn't fair to you.
Whitney, how long have you been here?
- Um, a little over four years. - Long time.
So you've been here from before Ed and Valerie got the bar?
- Yes. - Wow.
Whitney, what's wrong with this place?
I think that there's inconsistencies
in training.
Um, if one person's in the kitchen making food
and then another person goes in and makes the same thing,
it's not gonna come out the same.
Kira, how long have you been here?
Uh, eight months.
Did anybody give you recipes
or did you come here
and start doing it yourself?
No. No recipes.
It's pretty much all already made,
just put it in the fryer, or on the grill.
Are you happy with the way the plates look
that come out of your kitchen? Do you look--like the new one?
Uh, no, I was not happy. So what did you about it?
Um...
You knew it sucked and you let it continue to suck.
Don't you know if I come in here and sit at the bar
and have a margarita, Bree makes it for me,
Whitney, it should be the same, right?
- Yes. Yes, I appreciate it. - And if I get a burger,
- it should be the same. - Hundred percent.
Right? Which means people have to be trained
to do those things. You're looking at me saying,
"Yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent, a hundred percent."
But you didn't do it now.
I don't believe in him.
I believe that I'm gonna teach him
and when I leave, he's gonna do the same stuff
because he could have done it better and he didn't.
That isn't a mistake.
That's a choice.
And your husband does not make good choices for your future.
How long has the foam been coming out
of the beer cooler like that?
- Um... - Weeks?
- Months. - Months.
So you lied to me last night.
Two days. You lied to me, right?
Actually, I didn't know.
[tense music]
I think you're full of shit.
You lie to cover up your own tracks.
That's Ed.
You have no accountability, no ownership, whatever.
I am here every day, every day for hours.
You know what? If I go to the baseball game
and I swing the bat all day long and I never hit the ball,
that doesn't mean anything.
You owe them more.
[glass shatters] - You owe them more. - I do.
When you own a business like this,
you have a responsibility as a human being
to give them dignity, give them respect.
To be acknowledged that it is embarrassing
and it needs to be fixed and it should have been fixed
makes me feel better that, you know,
I don't feel like it's my fault and it's my guilt.
You're shaking your head. You with me, Val?
- I am. Yeah. - Is what I'm saying reasonable?
Yeah. And he'll fix it. I know he will.
- I have all the faith in him. - You do?
- Yeah. - Boy, you love him.
And I must say, sometimes love is blind to Ed.
Prove me wrong and prove her right.
We've got a lot of work to do, guys.
Okay. Let me bring my experts in.
It's a little tricky for me to be able
to put pressure on Ed.
Ed will listen, um,
but it's a little too easy for him
to think he still knows best.
And so he can maybe, like, push off the suggestion.
I'm hopeful that this process is gonna help him
be able to, like, take a step back.
Vic Vegas. Emily.
narrator: For the bar, Jon brings in Emily Yett,
an expert mixologist who has won numerous
cocktail competitions and was voted best bartender
in Las Vegas in 2018.
And let's go to work. Okay? Thank you.
- Thank you, Jon. - [indistinct chatters]
- Thanks a lot. - Yup.
[upbeat music]
Okay, guys, to start, we're going to do a little bit
of a knowledge check.
Are you guys ready?
Ready, Steady, Yetty, let's go.
I wanna see if these guys actually know anything
about beer. I think it's something that'll give me
a good baseline of really where they're at.
Question number one, what president held
a liquor license and ran several taverns?
They have to understand that there's a mark
that has been set in the brewery world.
George Bush, Hoover, Nixon, no idea.
They've gotta meet it if they wanna have
a concept that really screams beer.
Good ol' honest Abe.
- Okay. - Oh.
It was good ol' honest Abe.
- Okay. - Question number two.
What year was the beer can invented?
[suspenseful music]
Ready? And in three, two, one, show me.
1880s, 19--
Ooh. Close.
1935.
narrator: Beer cans date back nearly a century
and have changed in size, shape,
and materials over the years.
From early cone top varieties
to a variety of metals used,
breweries have been experimenting
with different canning techniques for decades.
Today, nearly every brewery in America
offers their beer in cans,
whether through mass packaging distribution
or through small run mobile canning lines.
The science of cans has constantly evolved
to produce the most efficient and cost-effective vessel
for packaging beer.
Here's the last one.
What's the common style of beer?
Now, for our owner and our partner here,
we should know this.
Oh, my gosh.
Yes! It is the lager!
It is the lager!
Oh, you can't change it, you can't change it!
- [laughter] - Okay.
Guys, tonight's gonna be tough, I'm not gonna lie.
So, focus, engage, communication. Yeah?
- Yeah. - Whoo-hoo! Let's rock!
This is a small kitchen.
Small kitchens, you gotta handle a little different.
They're not necessarily bad, it's how you treat them.
- Hi, Vic. - Well, hello.
Less is more.
That burger last night drove us nuts.
We can wash our lettuce in a safer place,
or we can buy something already cut,
you know, whether it's your distributor
or a place you go pick up the food,
they have ready-cut stuff
for smaller environments like this
so it allows you to operate correctly.
Another thing I saw was the hair.
We gotta be safe here.
You know, keep that hair up
because we don't want hair
to fall in anybody's food.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Jon has given me great direction.
I wanna give you something
equally as delicious as a burger,
but that you can pick up in lightning time.
So we got you a beef dip,
roll, knife, cut.
Garlic aioli.
Now, a little spice, pepper jack.
Got a little steam table over here.
And we made you a nice au jus
and took some ready sliced beef
and dropped it in there for you.
Put this delicious hot meat over this cheese,
little chives on top.
Cut her up.
Just add some nice kettle chips.
Finish it off with a little bit of this delicious au jus.
Food is very important because food makes people drink.
- Yup. - Okay? And guys,
I think this'll make you drink
a few more of those warm beers
you were drinking last night, brother.
It looks beautiful.
Here's your roast beef dip
and some amazing au jus.
The kitchen definitely struggled on my behalf.
When the team is everybody.
And I got some work to do myself.
All right, guys.
There's what's known as the stress test.
It's gonna take you to the edge of the cliff.
But this is our tool, so we know where to begin
on the turnaround of all of this.
- Okay. All right. - Okay?
Thank you two for your time.
- Thank you. - Go get 'em.
[intense music]
I want you guys to use mise en place,
that's a French term for "everything in its place"
to set your stations, okay?
- Um, hey. - Hello, sir.
- Hi. - Oh, yes. Hi.
Let's all get together.
Nerves are running.
I feel pretty confident,
um, I hope that that doesn't come
and bite me in the ass afterwards,
but I feel like we'll do pretty well.
So, Ed, have you given everybody
assignments as to where they're gonna be,
what stations, how they're working?
You, you know what, actually,
it kind of empowered them to kind of talk
and decide what makes sense, and, um...
- Do you know what those are? - Yes.
- So you tell me you got this. - So--yes. Yes.
Okay. Because the past day, I've gotten the feeling
that you're sort of the master of excuses.
Is it fair for me to say to you no excuses tonight?
Yeah. Yeah. I'll, I'll own anything, so.
- Whatever happens, you own? - Yes. I'll own everything.
- Okay. Good, Val? - Yeah. Absolutely.
Do you like that accountability?
- Absolutely. Yes. - Okay. All right.
Let's do this.
I'm told I'm a disengaged owner,
and I will, you know, argue that
to my death because I'm very engaged,
so I need to convince Jon that I'm a team player.
But I am ready for the stress test.
Bring it on.
Hello, everybody. Come on in.
- Hi! - Welcome, welcome.
- Hi. - Welcome in, everyone.
Come on. I feel like it just started.
All right. We're gonna get you guys in a line here
and then we'll take turns getting your orders, okay?
The [indistinct]
[music dies]
So--hold on. What are we doing?
Um...
Your bartenders can't take an order
and do the transaction?
So in other words, you take care of your customers,
- they all have to line up. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Yes. Yes. - So that guy has to wait
to order from you and then--
so they're standing there like two idiots
that can't do anything?
And this is the way you run this place?
Have you ever seen a bar in the world that did this?
No, they're counter service.
Folks, have you ever seen a bar operate like this before?
- Anybody? - all: No.
I thought you'd say that.
I've seen a lot of things in my days,
but I have never seen somebody
run a bar like a hamburger restaurant.
It's lunacy.
I don't understand how these people
even made it eight months.
So more meat than, like,
- pretty much--okay. - Yup.
How we doing?
So we're going off of their old system, Jon,
and Kira's running the food out herself.
So the cook is cooking, running it out,
but you have these other tickets.
So every time you get going, you gotta stop?
Yes. Snowball never [indistinct]
It's absolutely ridiculous.
This is the worst-run bar I've ever seen.
You have no chance.
As good as you are, you have no chance this way.
- Yeah. - But we will fix this.
Okay.
[dramatic music]
Ed, are we selling drinks or hamburgers?
What are we doing here?
I don't get this.
Why can't they do transactions and sell drinks?
I could take a third station, Jon.
So they've never done that before?
So--no, no everybody's done that, so.
Well then why are these people standing in line, Ed?
- Yeah. Let's form three lines. - Three lines?
How about they sit where they like
and they get served like a real bar?
- Would that be nice, folks? - all: Yeah.
Is that what everybody would like?
- all: Yeah. - Well, come on, Ed!
Everybody, let's grab a seat and we'll be out there
to take your order, okay?
[glass shatters]
Why are these people standing in line, Ed?
Yeah. Let's shift it to three stations.
- Let's form three lines. - Three lines?
How about they sit where they like
and they get served like a real bar?
Is that what everybody would like?
- all: Yeah. - Well, come on, Ed!
Everybody, let's grab a seat and we'll be out there
to take your order, okay?
[dramatic music]
Hi. Have you guys got to order yet?
Oh, no. If you wanna order food, you can order that through us.
Yeah. We're gonna take one for all three.
Uh, communication is all over the board.
Nobody knows what they're doing.
They're used to people coming to them,
and so they have no idea.
They don't have table numbers, they don't have a system.
So, I need a Mile-High Spritz and a pickle jar
- when you guys [indistinct] - So Ed, we have no tickets.
- Yes. - No printers, we have--
We've got tickets. I just wanna tell them the drink orders,
so the food order, if it [indistinct]
So how is she gonna remember that?
And how are you gonna remember that?
And how is she gonna know what table it goes to?
It's on the ticket, so--but the--
What ticket? You just verbally ordered it to them.
- I know. I'm just-- - She doesn't have a ticket.
You're right, you're right.
I'm gonna grab the ticket from outback, so.
So now when you give her the ticket,
is she making two of those or one of those?
She's making one of the Mile-High Spritz--
- So you're gonna say to her-- - --one for the [indistinct].
--"This is the ticket for the drinks I just ordered?"
- That's about-- - Uh, this is ridiculous, man.
It's completely chaotic.
[dramatic music]
Okay. We got three chicken peppers comin'.
We did not order a shot.
So how did you get that?
She just delivered it to us
- because-- - It's a gift maybe?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Maybe it's a gift. - I'm a little confused.
- Nothing here, guys, huh? - Nothing here.
- Not even water. - Okay. Did you order food?
Food. And I asked for water.
She told me to get up and get it myself there.
I'm seeing two guests right over here
that look like they're waiting for service.
I would--I would jump on that.
Okay. Ed, it's over.
You made it about a half hour, and that's it.
I must tell you, I want to apologize
to all of you on behalf of Ed.
This is the worst-managed bar I have ever seen in Bar Rescue.
I've never seen a bar that has no table numbers,
no seats, no servers,
no systems behind the bar to do transactions.
No recipes. There is nothing here.
What you're asking of your customers
makes you a complete ass.
- Okay. - You have no guest sensitivity,
no desire to serve,
no desire to come through for people.
You are probably the least sensitive,
worst bar owner I have ever seen.
Now apologize to them for your shortcoming.
Say it!
I am sorry, everybody,
that I let you guys down.
I really hope you guys give us another chance
because we will make this right.
No, I will make this right.
Please come back in two nights, everybody.
We'll show you how it's done.
Certainly he's not gonna.
This have shown me a lot of weaknesses that, you know,
a lot of weakness [indistinct] changes need to be made,
so changes will be made, that's, that's all I could say.
[dramatic music]
Well, well, well.
- Hello everybody. - all: Hi.
- Hi, how you doing? - All right.
Let's just dive right in it, okay?
Let's make a cocktail exclusive to you
that sets you apart from everybody else, okay?
This is called My Boy Blue.
Start with lime juice, one ounce.
One ounce of fresh pineapple juice,
blue curacao, this is one ounce
all across the board, so there's no thinking here.
We're gonna hit it with a spiced rum,
finish it with some high-octane whiskey.
Now shake this bad boy.
Some dashes of some bitters, a little gummy shark, yeah?
A little straw. Here we go.
My Boy Blue!
- Fun, right? - Yeah.
A little Instagrammable.
Yeah. Yeah.
You drink with your eyes.
- Absolutely. - Right?
Dive right in. The water's warm.
Be careful of the shark.
- Oh, my goodness, it's so good. - It's so good.
Guys, let's make some magic happen.
Yeah.
Let's just rock this re-launch,
- shall we? - Yeah.
[upbeat music]
It's been a very long week and, um, emotionally,
um, it's been a rollercoaster.
Obviously, we still made some mistakes,
but I hope he saw our desire
to, you know, be successful for Valerie, and my kids,
my family, and my employees.
I want our talk to be meaningful for you.
Because I beat the hell out of you,
but I want you to know it's out of love.
- Thank you. - Yeah.
So I wanna start this conversation
- by doing this. - Oh.
- But you have to do that. - Okay. Yeah. I said no,
if you're tearing up, it just got me, so.
Isn't this what this was about?
You know, you shouldn't have to stress
with this and the financial stress,
and say no to your beautiful children
when you wanna say yes.
- They deserve better. - Yes.
So, where do you wanna be five years from now?
What do you want out of this, Ed?
Uh, I would like to actually get
a great loyal customer-base.
If we could really have a lot of success,
open multiple locations at some point.
And I--I'm not interested in selling this at all.
This is what I want, you know, for, for our lives.
What do you need to do differently
to make this a real business, Ed?
Not--and I mean not just talking,
think about change and doing things different,
we need an [indistinct] and that's been a big failure,
you know, we've known
but I never did anything about it.
You gotta run it like a regular bar, don't you?
- Like other people. - Yeah, absolutely.
I'm gonna put a new POS system in for you guys,
fast, efficient.
- That's awesome. - You're gonna have
a new interior that's gonna be great and fit the market.
You're gonna have new food items,
and new signature cocktails
that are all your own, Valerie.
And you have a whole fresh start.
So I'm putting those systems in.
Now, fight for what we put in,
and don't let it deteriorate.
And remember, think about how angry you'll be
if this bar closes.
Yes.
And how much you would have let them down.
So I gave you what you need, now fight for it.
All right. You've got that.
I'm believing in you.
- Thank you. - That makes me happy.
- I am. - [laughs]
I see his desire.
And I've given him the tools now.
I really think you can do this, buddy.
Jon saying that he actually believe in me was, was huge.
So I gotta go take care of your bar,
get everything remodeled,
and get this as perfect for you as I possibly can.
All right, buddy, how about my hug?
- I appreciate it. - [laughs]
- Come here, man. - [laughs]
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I feel like he does see the true me.
I just need to follow through,
and prove to our customers that hey,
we are caring owners and we're caring staff.
That's my ultimate goal.
[laughs]
It was a good meeting.
- It was. - Yeah.
[upbeat music]
[cheers and applause]
I'm ready.
Hello, how are you?
- Hi. - Hello.
- Hey, everybody.
Hey!
- Val, you're smiling. - Very much.
Other than shivering, how you doing, Ed?
- [laughter] - I'm good.
- Much better right now, so. - Yeah?
What do you think looking back?
Uh, I think it's gonna be well worth it.
I really do.
You know what, they sometimes say
it's good guy in a though place,
- right, Val? - Yes.
A little kick in the butt getting out of that though place
and the good guy takes over again.
Yeah.
When I named this bar,
I want to give you something you wanted to fight for,
just like Valerie.
You would do anything for Valerie, would you?
Yes, I would.
You guys ready to see it?
- Yes. - Here we go.
One, two, three!
[cheers and applause]
- That's awesome! - Thank you.
One, two, three!
[cheers and applause]
Oh, the logo over here.
- Oh, my God! - That looks amazing.
- Oh, wow! Wow! - Okay.
What do you think of that, Val?
It's very exciting. It's very exciting.
I mean, this has been his dream and to be a part of that
- that way, it means a lot. - But you're his dream too,
- aren't you? - Yes.
So now your dreams get together
and you fight for them together.
I saw Valerie's Brewhouse, and I thought it was--
it was a perfect design that could be--to be picked.
She's the rock in our family.
She--she's the glue that holds it together.
Ed, do you wanna see it?
- Yes. Yes. Yes. - You guys ready?
all: Yes! - Go ahead.
All right.
Oh, my. Holy cow!
- Wow! - Oh, my God.
Oh, my God!
- It's so beautiful. - Oh, my gosh.
- Wow. - Wait.
High fives, everybody.
- Yes. - [laughter]
I, I was just amazed, like, the color tone,
everything, like, it, it couldn't be any more perfect.
It's a new lease, you know, new lease on life.
Look how it is white.
Oh, the tables look so good.
- Look at how awesome they look. - And look at these?
[indistinct] that's great.
- I love this. - [indistinct chatter]
This is amazing.
Oh, God.
- Look at that. - [laughs] So cool!
Look at that big logo. I love the paint.
- It's gorgeous. - Now this is a bar!
Yes, I cried, because
I've been coming to this bar
even before I worked at it.
And it's never looked so beautiful.
It is absolutely gorgeous in here, and, and, yeah,
I, I--I'm so excited to get to work here.
- Look [indistinct] - [laughter]
What do you think?
- It's amazing. - Oh, my God.
- Oh, my goodness. - Aww. Are you happy?
[laughs] Thank you so much.
Thank you.
So you happy, Ed?
Well, I got a lot to show you, guys.
- So come on over to the bar. - Yeah.
- Okay. - Okay.
Let's start with our problems from stress test.
If the bartenders were doing their own transactions,
- you could've been serving. - Right.
So, I got you three POS systems,
and we got you SkyTabs.
- Right. - So you do the transaction
- right at the table. - Yeah.
State-of-the art SkyTab POS powered by Shift4.
I also got Mile High Beverage Brothers
to put in the draft beer system,
fix the walk-in cooler, clean all the beer lines
so the temperatures are perfect everywhere.
I got BarProducts.com
to give you guys all new glassware,
service ware, mixing equipment.
And I got Ink Monstr
to do the interior vinyl wrap.
Cost is important and I want you to remember this.
- Yup. - And I got you
a lifetime subscription of Partender
which does all these inventory for you.
And we don't wanna get each sick.
This is a PathSpot machine.
This machine scans your hands automatically.
all: Oh. - If they're clean,
you get a green light, you can be safe.
I got Standard Restaurant Supply
to give you a new sandwich prep station in the back,
a steam table, kitchenware, so you're set up.
You've got everything you need, don't you?
Oh, my goodness.
So we got new systems in place,
we're running like a real bar now.
Okay. You guys excited?
- all: Yes. - Okay. There's only thing left.
Let's go to work and let's get them back.
- Let's get ready. - All right.
You got bars to set up, kitchen to set up,
- uniforms, let's go to it. - All right.
- Hello, everybody. - Come on in.
- [cheers and applause] - Welcome! Doors are open!
Welcome to Valerie's Brewhouse!
[upbeat music]
- How you doin'? - Thank you, brother.
- Grab any seat here. - Hi.
- We'll be with you shortly. - Come on in and have a seat,
you guys.
Hi, guys! Yes. Make yourself comfortable.
- Come on in. - Hi, welcome!
Here are our menu.
What are you thinkin'?
I'll get a My Boy Blue.
A My Boy Blue?
- I got beer on tap. - I'll be there.
- How are you, guys? - Hi, how are you?
All right. What can I get you?
Get me the, the chicken popper trio.
I'll try the Mile High BLT.
- Okay. - Three BLT's.
Here we go. Let's do this.
How we doin'? It's starting to come in now.
Jon, she's rolling already.
Tickets are coming in nicely,
she's pre-set correctly,
and, uh, everything's starting to look good.
And you're not running food out there anymore,
so you can actually slip into a little groove here,
and keep momentum going, which is great.
Now, I wanna see if Ed comes and picks this up.
Right.
- Here. All right. - Wanna grab some of these, too?
And that's just the one ticket.
Can you grab that one for me and follow me?
- Yup, yup, got it. - Thank you.
Who was here during stress test? Anybody?
Big difference, huh?
- Yeah. - Oh, yeah.
You got your food and drinks much quicker?
Yeah, I knew these are great employees when I got here.
With the right systems,
it's working really, really well.
It's one of the better openings we've ever had.
Okay. This is the best part.
Look out there.
- Look what just happened. - Yup.
All right. You got to connect with customers tonight.
- Yes. - Smile.
- Yes. - My work is done.
- Yes! Thank you. - Now it's up to you, buddy.
Thank you. Thank you.
- You got this? - I've got this.
I've got this. Yeah.
And you know what? You lit the fire in my eyes.
Excellent. Well, let's keep that fire going, okay?
Thank you.
- Thank you, man. - Good luck.
- Thank you. - Bye-bye.
I mean, this is--it's our bar now.
We have an amazing staff,
what started out as his dream
has turned into ours.
And, um, my kids,
they're so proud of us.
And for them to see us grow like this, um,
it means more than anything.
[upbeat music]
Promotional consideration provided by:
Partender, PathSpot, SkyTab POS, Provision,
Cleaning Pros, Belfort Pluming, Paramount Audio Video Corp,
Colorado Budget Billiards, Mile High Beverage Brothers,
Bar Products, Standard Restaurant Supply,
Ink Monstr, TiCOAT, One Stone, and ESRI.