Me and Sarah have been married, in September, it'll be 15 years.
No, September will be 16 years.
Is it 16?
That's what I was saying.
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.
[cheering]
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 had 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 Loveland, Colorado,
to rescue Blue Sports Grill.
This is a new era for our country.
So we need to raise the bar
and rise to these challenges.
narrator: In 2018, Duane Farnum
used his retirement savings from over 20 years
in the corporate restaurant world
to open Blue Sports Grill.
I worked in restaurants and bars
for about 45 years,
starting when I was 16.
Me and Sarah's dream
was to own a condo
in Dominican Republic and retire there.
Then all of a sudden surprise.
A grandchild is gonna be born.
So we bought the Blue Sports Grill.
Wanted to set up a family business
for my son and his family.
My goal is for my son
to run this place.
narrator: But a lack of identity
led to a lack of foot traffic,
keeping Blue Sports Grill from being the destination
-he had envisioned. -It doesn't have a feel.
It's not a sports bar.
It's not a restaurant.
It's a confused little place.
narrator: Duane's inability to evolve or take advice
caused the bar's business to plummet even further.
Expressing opinions to my father can be a little bit difficult.
If something is broken,
Duane will not fix it.
And we just have to make do without.
I literally duct taped the [bleep] poster
to that broken window at the front.
This has been broken for a long time.
Running my own bar, I get to make all my own decisions.
Good or bad.
narrator: Duane's refusal to listen
wasn't just limited
to his staff and his son.
It also included his wife
and most important investor, Sarah.
We disagree on a few things.
She don't think I do enough.
I have said it time and time again.
When I say something, he doesn't listen to me.
narrator: And the failure of the bar
has taken a devastating toll
on Duane and Sarah's marriage.
I've paid myself a little bit this week to that.
-About how much? -Um, $250.
That means, I have
to pick up extra more shifts
because that won't be enough.
I want to help him.
But then I can't because I have my own job.
I'm the one that pays our bills.
I'm the breadwinner.
And he's not making an effort.
I do need an immediate change
to save our marriage.
narrator: Now, Blue Sports Grill
is losing over $4,000 a month
with Duane and Sarah sinking
into $300,000 of debt.
Uh, if we don't keep it alive,
there goes our retirement money that we spent.
narrator: With just a few months before closing,
and his marriage on the brink.
Duane has decided to pull back the doors,
bust open the books,
and make a call for help,
to "Bar Rescue."
If we lose this place,
we will lose everything.
[indistinct chatter]
Courtland, thank you for being here.
Oh, thanks for having me.
I'm just outside of Denver, Colorado
in Loveland at a bar called the Blue Sports Grill.
For this rescue, I have Denver Bronco wide receiver,
Courtland Sutton in my command center with me.
Thanks for having me. This is exciting.
Courtland really knows sports.
He also knows sports bars.
And I can think of nobody better than a local athlete
to help me evaluate this bar.
You know better than anyone the pride
-in this city for sports. -Yes, sir.
So I got to ask, does that look like a sports bar to you?
It didn't really give you that vibe of,
this where I wanna take the guys to watch the big game.
Yeah. No energy at all outside.
-Right. -You could almost drive by
and not even know it's a sports bar.
And a sports bar has got to have an identity
outside in the street. Which means you've got
to be good at what you do.
Good food and stuff.
If you need something, my name is Duane.
-I'm the owner. Okay? -All right. Thank you.
-You're welcome. -This bar is owned by Duane.
Duane used to work for a chain restaurant company.
A big one. He's supposed to know his stuff.
Duane is in debt about 300 grand,
could you imagine going to sleep at night in debt 300,000?
Wouldn't be able to sleep well at all.
So imagine the pressure
that he's under.
One.
Did you grab those wings yet or no?
That's Jered.
His son is the cook in the kitchen.
Duane's dream is to make enough money
so he can buy a condo and move to the Dominican Republic.
And he has a beautiful wife that he wants to do that with
and he wants to leave the bar to Jered.
I don't know what the [bleep] going on with this computer.
It's a piece of shit.
That's Evonne.
She's one of the bartenders.
That's Danielle, she's another bartender.
-Perfect. -And there's Bubbs,
who's the cook.
-A Bronco fan? -We're fans of Colorado.
-Yup. -Can I get you another beer?
So I asked you to bring some buddies with me.
I did. I did. I did.
Hello. How are you doing?
-Hi, how you doing? -Welcome.
Justin Simmons right there,
safety for the Denver Broncos.
Kareem Jackson, he also plays safety
for the Broncos. And then Bradley Chubb,
our outside linebacker.
Think about this for a moment.
For a sports bar owner,
to have three Denver Broncos sitting in his bar,
-it's a big frickin' deal. -It's a huge deal.
Hopefully he's a big enough fan
that he knows who they are
because anybody who owns or works in a sports bar
-should be a sports fan. -Especially in your home city,
-for sure. -Of course.
He doesn't even notice them.
Let's see how good they take care of him.
Can I do the, um, the sidecar?
-The what? -You got the sidecar?
Sidecar? Oh, like a drink?
-Yeah. -Yeah. Okay.
Can I do a margarita?
Margarita? Okay.
Can I do Long Island?
-A Long Island? -Yeah, that would be great.
We'll go ahead and put some food here too, yeah.
We'll also do food as well.
-Okay, go ahead. -Uh, I'll do lasagna.
-Okay. -Is it pretty good?
Yeah, it's pretty good.
I'mma take your word for it.
Okay. [laughs]
How often do you see lasagna in a sports bar?
-Never. -Doesn't fit, right?
I mean, a sports bar should have
great sports-related foods.
Your finger foods, your hamburgers,
your hotdogs, your wings.
How much lasagna could he possibly sell?
I'm gonna do the pork tenderloin.
-That sounds really good. -Okay.
Can I just do the, uh, fish and chips, please?
-Thank you. -Okay. You're welcome.
Dude, have you ever made a sidecar?
-A what? -A sidecar?
A sidecar is just--like,
what did they order exactly?
-Just a sidecar. -Of what?
I don't know.
They don't even know what the drinks are
on their own menu.
A sidecar is a classic brandy.
Okay. That's a Long Island right there.
And a margarita.
A margarita is still the most popular drink in America.
Where's all the [bleep] lemons?
All right. See, notice they're both working in one station,
there aren't two places for them to work.
Dude, I'm, like, all over the place
because everything's a [bleep] mess.
Right here.
Did you take my glass?
And that's a big space, too.
It is a huge bar,
but there's no workstations anywhere for them.
What about, like, the lack of, like, memorabilia, you know?
Yeah, well, two jerseys in the sports bar, is not--
you know what I'm saying?
Two jerseys in a sports bar.
I think that's a big thing that draws
a lot of people to a sports bar.
So they keep going back to
is feeling like you're immersed in
into what you're watching,
into the atmosphere.
Sports is connective.
There's nothing here.
I want the energy of being at the game when I'm there.
-Exactly. -I mean, there were three
of the best players in the NFL.
Sitting right at his bar,
and Duane doesn't even realize it.
And you said you wanted a sidecar of what?
That's the drink, right? Uh, the sidecar drink.
There's not, like, a sidecar drink.
Let me just do,
um, an old fashioned.
-And old fashioned? -Yeah.
How's that margarita?
Doesn't look very good.
It is what it is, man.
I can tell you right now
he's not the most pleased.
Pork sandwich, lasagna, and fish and chips.
I'll grab the lasagna.
Uh, I wanna see this lasagna in the kitchen.
Thank you.
Does this come out of a freezer?
Okay. So it's a frozen piece of lasagna.
It's going in a microwave pan with a little sauce.
-And what is that? -Water.
So it stays moist.
-Lasagna, six minutes... -Six minutes.
...in a microwave. You ever have pasta out of a microwave?
It's gonna be a little tough to chew on for sure.
Okay. Second drink coming up.
He looks nervous.
I think this is a drink that he's gotten before.
So they couldn't make the sidecar.
So that's an old fashioned.
Old fashioned shouldn't be red.
-Uh-hmm. -So it's too syrupy.
It should be the color of the whiskey.
-Exactly. -Is it worth it?
-No? -Nah, it's not.
-It's not worth it? Whatsoever? -Yeah, not.
It just tastes like a fireball.
Nobody is drinking anything.
-Excuse me, Evonne? -Yes.
I don't particularly care for this.
Can I get the, the Cuba libre?
-The what? -A Cuba libre.
Cuba libre.
What is that made with?
Like, what kind of alcohol?
[tense music]
Already, they would never come back here, would they?
The environment has turned them off.
The drinks have turned them off.
I'm intrigued to see how this goes
with them getting their food out.
This is better looking lasagna
than I would expect in a sports bar.
I agree, but a sports bar is never gonna be
-famous for lasagna. -No. No.
-Tenderloin and fries. -Ooh.
Lasagna right behind you.
-Yes, sir. -There you go.
I'm guessing that's yours.
It is. Thank you.
Look at that.
Duane just handed them their food
and he still doesn't recognize them.
Here we go.
What you get bro?
-Pork tenderloin. -[laughs]
-No way. -I'mma just say a prayer
and hope for the best.
I say we go in there together
and see what they think. What do you say?
-I'm with it. -Let's do it.
[tense music]
-Hey, guys. -What's up, brother?
Hey, is that Jon Taffer?
Hey, how's it going?
Duane, do you know who these guys are?
No, I don't. I don't.
Courtland, would you introduce them for me?
Justin Simmons safety,
Denver Broncos.
Kareem Jackson safety, Denver Broncos,
and Bradley Chubb, outside linebacker.
Nice to meet you.
Oh, my God.
Think about the opportunity that comes here
to have four great, unbelievable Broncos stars
that are here. And this is a city of great pride, isn't it?
You should feel connected to the game.
Connected to the team when you're here.
Did you connect with anything?
Uh, it's kind of hard to, you know, there's not really
too much memorabilia around and, like, this doesn't feel
like a homey sports bar type of place, you know?
It's a lot of work to do here. Do you agree?
-I agree. -And I know you're a corporate
-restaurant guy. -Absolutely.
Yeah, we have Sanders,
we ran Sanders all the time for years
-and years with-- -And is this your standard?
-Um, no. -Look at that.
Would you eat that? Would you eat that?
-Would you? -No.
You wouldn't, but you served it to him.
That's my issue.
You know, every failing bar
has a failing owner, Duane.
And this is the epitome of this,
because this is lasagna that you knew
was frozen and cooked wrong.
You knew the portion size of this
and you knew how that sandwich looks.
And that's okay to you,
but it's not okay to the people who matter.
This bar is failing because of you.
You didn't even know
you had professional athletes at your own bar.
This bar is failing
because of you.
Is that an unfair statement?
No. Everything relies on me.
How much money you have in this?
Three hundred and five-- ten thousand now.
Do you think about it when you go to sleep at night?
I don't sleep much at night.
Because you're going down the freaking tubes, right?
-Yeah. -How much time do you have
based on the money you have now?
Maybe three more months.
So, you're gonna make another three months with this?
Not at all.
We've got to change this place, man.
We got to make this place come alive.
Courtland says to me when we're sitting outside, he said,
"Jon, this doesn't even look like a sports bar outside.
It's got no energy. It's got no identity."
So, it starts out there.
But, man, it ended with this.
-We blew it. -Yeah.
So, these guys would walk out of here
if they weren't my friends and they'd never come back.
We got a lot of work to do.
Let's go talk in the back, Duane.
-Thank you. Thank you. -Yeah, I appreciate it.
So when I saw that they were Denver Broncos, I thought,
"Holy shit, I-- that's what I served them?"
You know, I really don't have much to explain to Jon
because if I explain, that just gives excuse,
there's no excuses here.
We didn't perform.
We didn't do the right things.
We didn't have the place set-up the way it should be.
So how do you lose money and let that happen?
You know, COVID just takes you down, and you're just trying
to survive more than you are looking at the big picture.
But isn't this the time to fight harder?
It is. It is.
So do I need to pull out my violin for you?
-No, no, no. -Or do I need to kick any ass?
No, I need to just get up and do it.
What's your dream?
My dream is for my son to run this place
and for his family.
And this is what you're teaching your son?
I mean, you're setting him up to succeed like this?
No, not right now.
So, Duane, this is a nightmare.
Our drinks aren't working, our food isn't working.
The environment isn't working.
You are not working.
Get this place organized and I'll see you tomorrow.
-We'll go to work. -Okay. All right. Thanks, Jon.
I don't want the pork tenderloin/chicken sandwich.
I don't want the lasagna
and I didn't get the Cuba libre.
I don't want the old fashioned either.
I don't want a fireball shot.
I like the old fashioned. I thought it was--
You did? You should've tasted it.
[scoffs]
Woo.
I sent four Denver Broncos into this bar last night
and everything was a failure.
Come on over. Let's have a meeting.
He didn't even know that they were there.
He's not managing his business, and things
that he were trained to do
as a corporate general manager,
he's not even doing in his own bar.
Duane is failing.
And today I got to find out why.
Duane, how much money do you have in this business?
About 300,000,
320,000, somewhere around there.
And how much time do we have till we close?
Three months.
And what happens in three months?
I have no income. I can't pay my bills.
Probably have to sell my house.
Our dreams of, uh,
retiring in Dominican Republic
with me and my wife is shattered.
I mean, I knew we were slowly
losing money. I just didn't realize
what dire situation we were in.
So that's definitely a surprise.
-Hi. -Hi.
-You're Sarah? -I am Sarah.
-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you, too.
And how long have you been married to Duane?
We're going towards 17 years.
We've been married for 16 years.
Wow, it's a long time.
What was the dream of this bar for you?
So our dream was to buy a business
when we bought a condo in the Dominican Republic,
and buy a business in the Dominican Republic.
So we thought of Jered.
He had just gotten married, and he was having a child.
So Jered can't have a job because he's having a--
just a young family coming up.
So let's just do that here.
So this bar was big dreams to you?
-Yes. -So, are you in debt
along with Duane? Are you both in this debt?
I can say we are, because he takes money
from our savings account
to finance this business here.
And how has this affected your marriage?
Oh, it has affected marriage big time.
We don't see eye-to-eye
because I'm always working.
And, um, when I'm off work,
he comes back later.
I don't see him in the morning. He's already gone.
Takes five to six days for me to see him,
because I have to pick up extra shift,
so we can have more money.
So the money you're making goes into this bar?
Goes into this bar, goes to our house mortgage,
and all the bills at home.
Are you scared?
Very scared.
I am too old to be working so much,
to be stressing about paying my mortgage.
I'm paying for this business.
About 25% of all divorces
happen because of money, is that the place that you're at now?
We are at that place.
[tense music]
So, this is ultimatum time.
-It has to get better. -I can't--
I can't do it any longer.
We need your help.
I understand.
Jered, you didn't know this?
I did not know this. No.
So, think about this,
she's depending upon your dad
to come through for her. She's disappointed.
You're depending upon your dad to come through for you,
so I don't understand it, Duane.
Your wife is counting on you. Your son is counting on you.
But yet you sort of frozen.
You're not doing things that you know you should do
and could do to make the place better.
And you're shaking your head. How long have you worked here?
Uh, about three yours.
In the time that you've been here, have you seen
the numbers go, go down? Customers disappear?
Oh, definitely.
So is the operation
worse than it was a year ago?
Yes.
There are other people that have bars that look like this,
but they make them fun, don't they?
-Yes, definitely. -They put in fun promotions.
-They bring pride-- -They bring you fun people,
fun music. And you can energize it
because if we were energetic, Jered,
we could have this place packed, couldn't we?
Well, good. Yeah. Trivia has been doing pretty well.
And what about ladies night?
There is no ladies night.
I'm sorry. I never see anybody my age
in this bar.
-There's no ladies night? -No.
So you thought there were promotions in place
that don't even exist?
And how does that make you feel?
Disappointed.
As a corporate restaurant
manager, budgets are given to you.
Procedures are given to you.
Recipes are given to you.
Service standards are given to you.
This is you think, you know, how to run a restaurant
as a corporate type. But I'm gonna tell you
straight out, you don't know shit.
That's the problem, Sarah.
He thinks he knows,
but he doesn't. Does he?
[tense music]
I can accept the things that you don't know
you're not doing, Sarah, right, that I buy?
But the things you do know
that you're not doing, to me is offensive,
because you're sticking it to your wife,
and he's sticking it to you
by not trying, isn't he, Jered?
I guess he would be, yeah.
So what happens when this place
closes in three months for you?
I don't know. I have to figure it out
real quick, because, I mean, my family, based--
rely on my money.
Well, if that happens,
I want you to remember
there are things your father could've done
that would've prevented it from happening.
So, give him that accountability.
"Thanks for the opportunity, Dad.
But make no mistake.
You [bleep] it up."
[tense music]
But make no mistake. You [bleep] it up."
I feel pretty bad.
I mean, I don't want his marriage to fail.
I didn't know it was that bad.
I mean, I don't want him to lose that as well as this.
Give me Sarah and Duane for just a minute, guys?
If you wouldn't mind just stepping out for just a moment.
So just last night, what's going on?
I have shut down because my body
that can't handle it anymore, I think.
-I see the pain in your face. -Yeah.
-You see what's going on here? -Yeah.
If he turns it around,
can your marriage recover from this?
No.
-No? -No. It won't survive at all.
It'll be no more marriage, Duane.
So in essence, what she's saying is she wants her money.
She doesn't wanna be a partner.
That's very hard for you to hear, isn't it?
Yeah.
I can imagine.
Well, I'm gonna do everything I can to try
-to come through for you. -Thank you.
So that you can get your money out of this bar
and to try to get him on a path of success.
And, even if your marriage is over,
you still have a relationship with each other.
You can still win her respect,
even if you don't win her love.
And this is a chance for you to do that.
-Is that right, Sarah? -It is right. Yes.
Okay. I'm gonna go to work with the staff. Okay?
Duane got a curveball, certainly.
But he should still keep his eyes on the business.
If he can turn this business around,
maybe he has a chance to save his marriage.
I don't know what to say. Just...
got to make this work for us.
We need the money, no matter what happens.
Hopefully, we turn this around and you change your mind,
and we--
you fall back in love with me.
And that'd be more important than the bar.
But you need it to happen for that to happen.
Right? It's all I can say.
I'll work hard and try and make that happen,
and try and change your mind.
I was not expecting
this to happen today,
what happened right now.
But I'm going to adapt,
and try and fix it.
[slow music]
[upbeat music]
♪ Hey ♪
-Hi, everyone. all: Hi.
Jon told me the staff was...
elementary at best.
-We have a lot to do. narrator: For the bar,
Jon brings in Nick Ortega with over 20 years' experience
in the food and beverage industry.
Nick has consulted for some of the largest spirit brands
in the country, and created cocktails
for major entertainment award shows and events.
Jon shared with me some of his observations
and what I can help you guys with is the inconsistency.
Your pours, not knowing classic cocktails, not having teamwork.
So at the very least, you need to have some synergy, right?
We're gonna get into one of the drinks
that you're gonna be doing for the stress test.
It is gonna be called Orange Crush,
and it's gonna live in a mason jar.
Add your ice first.
Two ounces.
Fresh orange juice.
Quarter ounce vanilla simple syrup.
One and a half ounce vodka.
And shake.
Pour with strainer
on top with lemon lime soda.
Garnish with a half orange wheel.
Of course, a straw.
That is the Orange Crush.
Do we know the reference on Orange Crush?
-Right? -Denver Broncos.
Denver Broncos.
-The defense, right? -Yes.
All right, you guys.
Tonight is the stress test.
Tonight we're looking for the consistency.
Tonight we're looking for the teamwork.
-Good luck tonight. all: Thank you.
Good afternoon.
all: Hello. -How you guys doing?
all: We're doing good.
So Jon told me last night these guys
are using a lot of frozen foods.
They're cooking in a microwave.
So my guess is that the food is not great.
Presentation is not there.
These guys need to be a lot better.
narrator: For the kitchen,
Jon brings in Jason Santos,
one of Boston's most creative and charismatic chefs.
Chef Santos is a published cookbook author,
as well as owner and operator of five successful restaurants
in the Greater New England area.
I have chicken tenders here.
I clipped the little sinew off them, they're in buttermilk,
a little hot sauce, a touch of cayenne,
and I made a dredge, corn flour, flour, lemon,
pepper, oregano, seafood seasoning.
So I'm gonna do three tenders, and I'm just gonna drop
these in the dredge, then drop my chicken tenders,
and we're gonna cook that three to five minutes.
They come up.
We always season
when it's hot right out of the fryer,
and then we're gonna build our charred onion
and blue cheese relish. So all I'm gonna do
is take some of this beautiful onion relish,
a little bit of crumbled blue cheese,
and I'm gonna toss it in.
And so I made a hot honey, and we're gonna drizzle that.
I have some homemade ranch dressing, and I'm gonna take
this, a relish, that literally you could eat this as is.
It looks like it came out of a fancy restaurant.
So try this and tell me what you think.
The food training was amazing.
The food is excellent.
Oh, my God.
These are gonna be quick and easy things for us
to get out to our guests
and keep them coming back.
Let's get set up and just be ready,
because stress test is called stress test for a reason.
Yeah? Okay.
-Beat it. -Okay.
[tense music]
-How we doing? both: Good. Good.
Take them out of there. Let's all talk
before we get into this.
So this is a big hockey town, isn't it?
-Yeah. -What happens in hockey?
There's 20-minute periods,
and then there's 20-minute intermissions, right?
And during those 20 minutes,
if we were full people watching the game,
you guys would get slammed, wouldn't you?
-both: Yeah. -I wanna simulate that tonight.
I'm gonna have 15 people in here.
So how long do we have to serve them?
all: Twenty minutes.
-Can we serve them? -both: Yes.
-We got it. all: Okay.
You know where you're gonna be again?
-Yup. Yeah. -You all set?
Okay, I wanna show you something. Any time
-we have a bad drink, Nick... -Yup.
-that's dumped out. -Yup.
I'm gonna drop a $5 bill in here
representing the loss.
So, at the end of the night,
I want to see as few $5 bills in here.
-Okay? -Yeah.
Whenever you're ready.
-Go ahead Duane, let them in. -We're fine.
-Communication is key. -You know--yes.
-You got to communicate. -So if I need help,
-I'm gonna let you know. -Yeah.
We're going to see what happens this afternoon,
if you impress her, you win.
-Yeah. -He's really trying,
-we'll get him. -Yeah.
-You get what I'm saying? -I know.
-Okay. Go for it. -Going for it.
Okay.
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Blue.
Come on in.
Hi, guys, welcome in.
So, what would you like? What can I get you to drink?
-Start the clock. -One, one Orange Crush
-and one Frazzle. -What would you like?
I'll do an Orange Crush and a burger.
Southwest medium.
Southwest medium-well.
Okay, so I'm all ready. So you're getting the bun ready,
you get the cheese ready, and get the bacon ready.
Put the burgers on the griddle.
Do you think that'll be
the first thing going on?
Is it too sour?
Yes, very bright, very.
First $5.
Yes. Yes.
You just tripled up on your tequila babe.
-No. -One more $5.
Oh, I'm so shaky, guys.
We are six minutes in.
Not one person has gotten a drink.
Guys, we've got to get drinks out faster than this.
We are only open now about six or seven minutes,
but I can see already they don't have
the basic skills nor the systems to succeed.
On your left.
[tense music]
Those are not cooked, I can tell from here.
It was not.
You sell anything yet?
Almost.
Guy's waiting on fries to that one.
-Here. -First drink. There it is.
[cheers and applause]
Okay.
We got 13 minutes
to get the rest out. Let's do it.
And then we had a Southwest medium?
-Uh I have not... -We had medium-well.
Okay. Let's see what you think.
It looks pretty.
Oh, for the joker.
They just taste like water right now.
-Nick? -Yeah.
Can you taste this for me?
Could use a little more acid
and it feels a little watered down.
-Yeah. -Dump another one.
Another fiver in the bucket.
So, this one's supposed to be well.
Uh, we don't have no well.
The next well you got on the fly. Get it up, guys.
-Let's go. -Okay. Got it.
We're falling apart here.
-What's our ticket time? -Jon, right now,
we're at 12 minutes.
In a hockey break, we should be a lot
-quicker than 12 minutes. -Absolutely. It has.
Nick, how are those?
Short poured, and they all gotta go now.
-Three more, huh? -Well, what about these two?
One, two, three. Done.
We got about five minutes left.
They have about 11 drinks out.
We're not even close.
Hey, can I actually use that sugar?
Uh, I guess.
-Three people, one whale. -No.
On your left.
I need the ice scooper, where is it at?
Come on, guys. Get faster. Let's go.
There's like no room over here.
Where do these go, Evonne?
I don't know what's what right now.
All right, right between you guys.
Look at this. It's chaos.
I need two Orange Crushes.
I'll get you more glasses.
[glass breaks]
Look at this. It's chaos.
I need two Orange Crushes.
-I'll get you more glasses. -[glass breaks]
One minute!
We're down to one minute, guys.
Come on. We can do better than this.
Five, four,
three, two,
one. Okay. Hold it.
[cheers and applause]
Let's see where we're at.
So we sold 21 drinks.
We should've sold 30 drinks.
We dumped 10, 11, 12, 13.
Fourteen, fifteen. I ran out of fives at one point.
So we dumped 15 to sell 21?
The food didn't come out of the kitchen.
We only got eight plates of food out of thirty.
Duane, you want to apologize to these people
and invite them back in two days?
Absolutely. I apologize to you all.
I promise you on Friday,
it will be better and you'll be well taken care of.
I promise you all.
[applause]
We failed.
I've learned today that we're not ready
to be the best sports grill in town,
but we can be.
I hope.
[upbeat music]
We are starting off
with the Pigskin Classic.
The first night, the staff didn't really
know much about their classic cocktails,
they couldn't make an old fashioned,
so keeping it well within the sports theme,
today Jon and I are introducing the riff
on an old fashioned, the Pigskin Classic.
Quarter ounce cherry simple syrup,
two ounces bourbon,
three dashes of orange bitter,
add ice,
and stir.
We add football ice cubes.
[laughing]
Drain and garnish
with a piece of bacon.
Pigskin Classic.
Nice.
You have a great, great ice-cold cocktail.
You know, I'm very grateful.
It's the most training I've ever received,
and it's awesome.
Last night, I felt a little discouraged,
to be honest with you. But I feel confident,
and, these new drinks, I'm excited.
I mean, who doesn't love bourbon and bacon?
I wanna see the same energy for the rest of the day.
-Sound good? -Yes.
All right. Let's go.
You know, buddy, the couple
that owns this bar is facing a divorce.
-So the-- -I'm sorry to hear that.
Yeah. So the success of this bar
might determine whether they stay together or not.
So I knew to be successful here,
I had to have a museum, that really authentic
environment to assure their success.
And this is not just memorabilia, we're gonna save
a marriage, we're gonna save a business because of this.
Well, memorabilia is memories, memories,
and hopefully we're creating good memories for this couple.
You know, you look at a piece like this--
This is a pretty old redo of this poster.
So the first UFC fight in--
-In Denver, yeah. -And this is it.
So again, this is a piece of history,
and people are gonna walk in and goes,
"I remember that!
I remember that!" And they're gonna connect
-with this environment. -Yeah.
I brought a whole bunch of stuff,
you know, vintage Rocky seats and--
Now when Denver fans walk in and see that,
they're gonna know exactly what it is--
No question there.
So that's what this is, guys. It's connective.
So I can't thank you enough, buddy.
-You're welcome. -This is gonna turn this bar
into an authentic museum,
a real sports bar that'll entertain people
when they eat, when they drink, when they look around the walls,
this makes it all come together, buddy.
-Thank you. -I love it.
I love what you guys are doing, man.
-Thank you. -I can't wait to see it
-on the walls. -Awesome.
Wow.
Hi.
-Hello. -Hi.
-Tough week, huh? -Yeah.
What did you think of last night?
I think we failed.
We're just not set up
to do it right.
Sarah, if I'm being honest,
you know, I didn't see a lot of energy from him last night.
-Did you? -No.
I do have passion in me.
I just gotta find that passion again.
Do you think anything's gonna be different when I leave?
I think he will be different.
I think he'll be energized by, um,
you know, this, the renovations that you're doing for us.
So you have some confidence.
Yes.
Well, that's very good for me to hear
because you know him better than anybody, don't you?
Yes, yes.
-He's a good guy, isn't he? -Yes, yes.
And he's good to people,
and he treats people with respect.
-Yes. -He does.
But you're not treating yourself the respect.
You deserve this.
I just don't realize it.
She's had a rough one, hasn't she?
Why is she still sitting here?
Because she really does care.
Because you're worth it.
So he has a chance, doesn't he?
Yes.
That wasn't the case two days ago.
So how does it feel to hear her say that?
I feel great.
You guys could be in the Dominican Republic
two years from now, couldn't you?
-Yes. -It's entirely possible today.
And it wasn't possible two days ago, was it?
-It was not. -No, it wasn't.
You are worth it.
Everybody loves you, your community loves you.
They want you to succeed.
-Thank you. I need that. -You are welcome.
-I appreciate that so much. -Yes.
That means so much to me.
I do love you. I'll make you proud.
Okay.
So now I wanna see you jump in tomorrow, buddy.
I wanna see you move fast again like you used to.
-I will. -Okay?
Let me go to work, I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Get some rest tonight, you're gonna need it.
-All right. Thank you. -Okay. Bye.
Thank you.
I've been with him so many years,
I know who he is.
Yes, he's--he can make a change.
He just didn't have that motivation,
he didn't have anybody to say,
"Wake up, this is what you're doing."
So with Jon Taffer doing that,
that's when he opened his eyes, like what am I doing?
A few days ago, I was very disappointed.
I had no hope.
I was done.
But today, I feel hopeful.
[upbeat music]
Hi, everybody.
[cheers and applause]
-How we doing? all: Good.
So we didn't have many smiles
-the first night I was here. both: No.
Duane, what do you think of this week?
Oh, it was--it was exciting and brutal,
and that reality really hit hard. Yeah.
I opened up a whole new communication
-with you and Sarah, didn't I? -Absolutely.
Does it feel better, Sarah?
You guys are talking much more about these things, right?
Yes, we are. Yes. We're talking...
-And he's listening? -...more than we did before.
He is listening, yes.
Good. Do you think that would have happened if I didn't come?
No. Never.
So you ready?
-Yeah. Ready. -You guys ready?
all: Yeah. -Here we go. One,
two,
three!
-[cheers and applause] -Oh, wow!
Here we go. One,
two, three!
[cheers and applause]
Oh, wow!
-Nice! -Oh, I love it!
[applause]
Good brand, huh?
Great sports logo.
-You ready, Sarah? -Yes, I am.
This is for you.
Thank you.
You've been through hell.
Financially, emotionally.
You almost lost your husband over this.
I did.
When the two of you walk through that door
together now, I want you to hold hands, okay?
both: Okay. -All right. Go ahead.
Go see your bar.
[cheers and applause]
-[gasps] -Woo!
-Oh, my God. -Wow!
Oh, my goodness!
Oh, my God!
Wow. I'm lost for words. It is beautiful.
It's finally representing something,
it's authentic and it's a real sports bar.
Welcome to Champions.
[cheers and applause]
I love it so much.
Feels like a sports bar, doesn't it?
-Yes. -Look at your televisions.
Those quad as you see.
So on a Sunday, I can watch all eight football games right here.
A few days ago, when you walked in here,
you didn't see and breathe sports.
Right now, when you come in, that's the first thing you see,
it just pops out as, "This is a sports grill".
Uh, I couldn't be more pleased.
I wanna start right here.
This is called the Taffer Command Station
built by Krowne Bar Equipment.
The greatest bar station ever built.
Then, I had set you guys up
with the right systems and procedures.
So I got SkyTab from Shift4, one,
two, and a third terminal
over there with two SkyTabs.
So you don't have to go back and forth
to order food, back and forth to order drinks.
And I got Standard Restaurant Supply to give you
a new sandwich prep station in the kitchen,
and a food processor and a bunch of kitchenware.
And, I got PathSpot
to give you a machine here.
Then I got Ink Monstr.
So they worked all-night long
to do that special vinyl wrap for you.
Lastly, I got you a subscription to Partender.
But there's one more thing
I wanted to add, a little special visit
from a friend of mine. Terrell.
[gasps]
[cheers and applause]
Oh, my goodness!
[cheers and applause]
Hello, hello.
So, my buddy, Terrell Davis.
Look at this. You have this authentic sports bar, right?
So you needed something authentic from TD in a bar.
-Yeah. Yes. -You need that, right?
To set the whole thing off,
you gotta get this home in there,
you got some other stuff in this bar.
So congratulations on your re-launch.
This bar is amazing, so excellent job.
-Good job, buddy. -Thank you.
Good job. Congratulations.
When TD is rooting for you, it means something, does it?
The city's gonna come here, guys.
So, just like when he had a big play to make, he made it.
Tonight is our big play.
-Okay? You guys ready? all: Yeah.
All right. Let's go to it.
Hello, everybody!
[cheers and applause]
Welcome to Champions.
Come on in.
Welcome in.
Yay!
Water's gonna get you started off, could be a round?
-Water is pretty great. -Okay.
Whew. Come on, a little more shake.
Give me a little more shake. Let's go.
Bring that thing alive. There it is.
I want everything right now.
I want you to get the buns toasting,
work the burgers the whole way, okay?
all: Cheers.
-Jasmine, how's that station? -Oh, I love it.
-Isn't it cool as hell? -It's crazy, yeah.
I can just stay in one spot. [laughs]
They don't seem as chaotic, do they?
-No, they don't. -They seem calmer.
They seem calm,
they're very organized,
they know what they're doing.
And look at Duane.
He's so engaged. He's helping--
-Yes, he's helping. -He's in the middle of it.
All right. We got these, and the Orange Crush?
-Yup. -He's a new man.
He's a new man.
A whole new man.
Some rescues mean more than others.
Some rescues mean a lot.
Duane almost lost his business
and his wife, he didn't even know it.
In the time that I was here, him and his wife
started communicating, doors opened up.
Now they're working together on a path of success, together.
That makes this rescue very special,
and to me, very gratifying.
[upbeat music]
Look at your bar.
Think of what we've been through in just the past three days.
I said this to Sarah, the most important thing
to me is not this bar.
It's that the two of you were talking together,
that the doors are open together,
you got your old husband back,
and you're on a path of success.
Yes, we are.
Yeah. And you deserve it, buddy.
-Thank you. -My work is done.
Now, it's up to you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
Goodnight.
-I love you. -I love you too.
[upbeat music]