Just pat down the back again really quick.
Holy shizballs. Seriously?
It's little things, girl. [laughs]
That looks better.
- Is that better? - Yeah.
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.
- Hey! - Yeah!
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.
- Yay. - [cheering]
NARRATOR: Now, Jon is back out on the road
and heading to Horseshoe Bend, Idaho,
to rescue the Corner Cafe Bar & Grill.
This is a new era for our country,
so we need to raise the bar
and rise to these challenges.
[soft upbeat music]
NARRATOR: In July 2021,
financial investor David Johan
purchased the Corner Cafe Bar & Grill
in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho.
So I grew up watching Westerns with my dad.
At the same time, my parents at that time
owned a restaurant in France.
For me, it's bringing the restaurant aspect
of what I grew up with
and the nostalgia of, like, locking doors
and spending time with my parents,
and it was just love at first sight.
NARRATOR: David initially saw the bar
as a solid addition to his portfolio.
Currently, I am involved in real estate,
finance, and other consulting.
And buying this place, it was more of a real estate
play and an investment.
I bought this bar about a year ago
and it was a good value for what I was paying for.
I grew up on the farm in France.
That community was much smaller
than even Horseshoe Bend, so I feel like
small towns have something to offer.
NARRATOR: Intending to be a hands-off owner,
David hired LD
to run the day-to-day operations of the bar.
My name is Ladonna Bower, AKA LD.
David was very clear about purchasing this place
with the intent of my running it.
It's not the best scenario,
but it's the only thing that we've got at this point.
As soon as I bought the place, I hired LD
because she knows this town better than anyone.
And she has a great knowledge of the community.
Make it snappy, honey. Hurry.
When I first took it over,
business was good
and we had a tremendous response from the locals.
NARRATOR: However, the Corner Cafe
wasn't a fool-proof investment that David expected it to be.
I don't think any of us knew exactly
what we were getting into.
I had to, you know,
come in and learn every facet.
So I would say right now, um,
I'm more of an employee than a manager at this point,
just because I'm cooking,
and I'm serving, and I'm bartending.
When, uh, she first started managing this place,
it was a little rough because she has never
done anything like this before.
There's things I don't know. I'm learning as I go.
NARRATOR: And locals started to take notice.
There was a guy that-- he was from here.
- Uh-hmm. - And so he's, "Yeah,
I heard it went coming downhill." So I mean...
They all ask me for a drink, I can't tell them, like,
I don't know how to make this, so I just come straight up,
if you don't like it, I'll give it to you for free,
and there's a lot of those instances
where I'm giving free drinks away
because they don't like them.
NARRATOR: Now, the Corner Cafe
is on the brink of closing,
and David feels like he should cut his losses.
I bought the Corner Cafe Bar & Grill for $450,000.
I'm losing about $5,000 a month.
I probably put about $75,000 into it
in order to keep it afloat.
I am a single mother, I do have six kiddos.
All of my children live with me under my roof.
I am the fulltime breadwinner in our household.
You know, this bar's been part of the community.
And a small community like Horseshoe Bend
means a place to congregate.
And so it is important for me to keep it alive.
But I have six months left in me if it keeps going this way.
NARRATOR: So before David's investment
in this local establishment goes bust,
he's made the decision to pull back the doors,
bust open the books, and make a call for help...
to "Bar Rescue".
Without this building,
a lot of the families here
will have nowhere to go.
- How are you, buddy? - I'm doing great, Jon.
- Good to see you. NARRATOR: For the kitchen,
Jon brings in Chef Anthony Lamas.
From growing up on a farm
to cooking in kitchens across the country,
Chef Lamas brings an uncommon voice to any bar's menu.
I got a tough one for you this week.
So we're in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho.
Rural.
We're about 35 miles out of Boise.
And this is called the Corner Cafe and Bar.
This is an agricultural area, a lot of farmers.
- Uh-hmm. - It's a strong
- working community. - Uh-hmm.
Median income here is about $30,000, $35,000 a year,
which is half of the median income in America,
so there's not a lot of money here.
- Wow. - It's really the only game
in town as a restaurant here.
They don't have many people.
They gotta get it right.
- Absolutely. - So the struggle
for this place is, if I look online,
their ratings were about a four.
There were days like Saturday and Sunday
where you have to wait to get in.
Wow.
So some people come in here,
- but not enough. - Uh-hmm.
So I think our challenge, Chef,
is to create, uh, an entity
that people will come to two to three times a week.
And that's how they really make their money.
You're right.
So there's David, he's the owner.
- The usual? - Burger.
- Bleu cheeseburger? - Cheese, yeah.
Are you a trainee or are you--
I feel like I've been all day long [indistinct]
Here's what's interesting.
Dave grew up in France and his family was
- in a restaurant business. - Okay.
So he's always had a love of the business.
So he wound up here in this town, of all places,
and he likes this place.
It's a corner place, it's got a nice reputation,
and he says he'll buy it but only on one condition,
that LD run it.
Is that all we have? Then we can't do that,
we need to save that for tomorrow.
So, Dave is not here very often
and LD is responsible for the business.
But yet he's losing $5,000 a month,
and I wonder if LD even realizes
that this place is gonna shut down in six months
if she doesn't turn this around.
Vodka soda then lime.
I'm gonna get that water for you.
- Thank you. - There's Tanner,
the bartender.
So Tanner is one of LD's twin sons
and the other one will be here tomorrow.
There is Rose, bartender.
All right. So both drinks not bad?
- Yeah. - Perfect.
And there's Angel,
Angel is your cook.
So when I look at this place and I say,
"What's wrong with it?" Well, look around.
Cleanliness is not at the top of their list here.
I can see some filth back there. Look at that.
You can see there's just a whole bunch of junk
thrown on shelves.
- Now-- - A used mask.
Yeah, a used mask next to dinner plates.
- Right. - So why isn't LD,
if she's the greatest manager that Dave wanted
to run this place, why isn't LD looking at this?
Oh, my gosh. What is that container on the grill?
- Oh. What the hell is that? - Do you see that?
Oh, my gosh.
I mean, that is filth and bacteria
all the way around that.
That's where they're holding the butter.
Look at the, the little press there.
Oh, look at the-- the bacon press.
And they used that on that chicken breast,
that's probably what made it so dark
is the filth on the bacon press.
Imagine the roaches come at night or whatever--
- Oh, yeah. - --you eat off of that,
and then you put it on food?
You know what, Anthony, here's what I think.
I think you and I should go in
and do recon the two of us.
Let's go in and let's go order the menu,
let's order a bunch of drinks.
I wanna see you go in the kitchen
and see what they're doing.
Let's see why they are feeling
because LD obviously doesn't see it.
So let's make them see it tonight.
- Absolutely. - Let's do it.
NARRATOR: Jon [indistinct] into the Corner Cafe,
a barn-like building off of Interstate 55
that houses a small L-shaped bar
with a cafe area and a small kitchen in the back.
[dramatic music]
This isn't good.
When he walks in, it's like okay, let's go for it.
- How's it going, guys? - Good. How are you?
Not too bad.
- A couple menus for you. - Okay.
Can I get you started with something to drink?
Sure. You got any cocktails?
Like signature cocktails or anything?
- Uh, we do not. - You don't? Okay.
- Do you have mojito? - I don't--we don't have any
on our menu, but our bartender knows a couple.
- Okay. - And then I'll do margarita.
- On it. - All right.
Let's see what we got here, Chef.
So we got a...
The menu is all over the place.
They have pasta, they have burgers,
- they have sandwiches. - Wow.
A few napkins for you, guys.
And those drinks should be right out.
All right. I have a question for you. What's your name?
- I'm Tanner. - Tanner.
So what, uh, what's your favorite thing on the menu?
Uh, my favorite thing on the menu is gonna be, uh,
the big dipper or the bleu cheese bacon burger.
- Okay. We'll get one of those. - And, uh--
We're gonna order a bunch of stuff, okay?
- Okay. - We'll try the, uh,
chicken fried steak,
8 oz. hamburger steak.
- Hamburger steak. - We'll try the rib eye.
Let's do, uh, some chili.
- A couple of chili. - A couple of chili as well.
- Thank you. - Hey, you're welcome.
Hi. I've got a mojido or--
- Hi. - --I'm sorry, mojito.
- Hello. - Mojito's over here.
- Thank you. Great. - Okay. Perfect.
And margarita right here.
- Hi. - Hello.
- What's your name? - Rose.
- Rose. You work at the bar? - Yes, I do.
And how long have you worked there?
I have worked here about nine months.
Okay. So pretty long.
So what are the most popular things you sell?
- Honestly, beer and shots. - Beer and shots?
That's gonna be our most popular.
What kind of shots? Whiskey shots?
- Whiskey shots. - Whiskey shots.
- Great. Thank you. - No problem.
Anything else I can grab?
- No. I think we're good. - Awesome. Okay.
- Thank you. - Okay. No problem.
Okay. So there's no salt on this.
It's served in a, uh, a masonary jar,
which, you know, I don't have--
necessarily have an issue with.
I'm looking in that, I see no mint.
And there's no muddled lime. That's--
Yeah. Does it have any mint flavor at all?
Do they sneak mint in another way?
- Oh, it's that good, huh? - Yeah.
But it's, it's just too much alcohol.
It's not balanced at all.
So that stuff we saw on camera
back there in the kitchen, that haunts me.
It haunts me.
You wanna go back to take a look?
- Yes. - Okay. Go ahead.
Let me know if you see anything terrible.
All right.
[sighs] This will be the moment of truth.
- Hello. - Hello.
I'm with Jon. Jon sent me back here.
This right here, this is scary.
- Uh-hmm. - This attracts rodents.
- Okay. - They'll come and feed on this.
See all this stuff right here?
That is what's gonna attract pests.
This concerns me. We just ordered a bunch of food,
but what the [bleep] is that?
- Don't you see it? - We have a regular
that comes in and that's where we put all of our leftover stuff
for the night for his chickens.
This place is freaking filthy.
I mean, I understand. You guys are--are--
are trying and everybody's trying.
But this is something that's very, very important
in running a kitchen, is learning how to handle food,
the environment, and keeping things clean
and keeping people safe.
Can you walk in back here?
Yup.
See, the thing is all this stuff on the ground.
That's telling me-- you know, look at all that.
Holy [bleep] there's rat.
There's rat droppings.
Oh, my God, it's completely everywhere.
All through here.
This is gonna get someone sick.
That is what happens when you don't clean.
I'm gonna have to get Jon on this one.
That is disgusting.
So when I walked in here, I saw the cheese really close.
And then I moved it, and there's rat droppings.
- Oh. - There's rat fur and hair.
- I could see it. It looks-- - Right here.
--like there might even be a carcass down there.
Might be a carcass, rat [bleep].
Look at that.
We can't eat any of this food.
No. These are all rat droppings.
I gotta get Dave in here.
Were you guys aware
of the rat droppings in the walk-in?
- No, sir. - No.
No? Can I show you this?
I would stop the food because I'm not gonna eat
- anything that I would in here. - Okay, sir.
- Are you LD? - I am.
So you're responsible for this place, right?
Yes, sir.
Look at this floor.
All of this is rat droppings,
all mixed in there.
I'm concerned that that actually
might be a rat carcass, I don't know.
I'm concerned that that actually
might be a rat carcass, I don't know.
I've never seen anything like this.
This place is completely infested.
- Did you know this was here? - No, sir.
David, so you have invested how much here?
Well, I bought it for $450,000
and invested probably $75,000 on top of that.
So you're in here five and a quarter?
- Right. - And look at that.
That's your investment. How does that make you feel?
- Not good. - If we can't get this place
to be reasonably clean and function better--
- Right. - --then I don't know
how I'll get you your money back.
- Right. - So we got a major issue here.
- Do you agree? - I agree.
Okay. Let's get out of here.
Okay.
[dramatic music]
- So you bought this restaurant. - Right.
- Land as well? - Correct. The whole thing.
And you bought it with the intention
that LD would run it, right?
Yeah. I hired LD right after, I guess.
Okay. So his $450,000 investment
- he entrusted to you, right? - Yes, sir.
Does she know our financial situation?
- She knows, yeah. [indistinct] - So you got six months left?
- Uh-hmm. - And he's in debt $525,000.
Why are we failing so miserably?
I can say that when we came in,
it looked a hell of a lot worse than that,
so I feel like we've come a really long way.
- Uh, but we have a long-- - I don't think
that's been cleaned in years.
The fact that your cooks leave it that way
tells me they don't respect you.
Have they ever been disciplined by you?
Have they ever been corrected by you?
Maybe a little in the beginning,
but I'm very, very soft on them instead of--
But restaurants have managers
who make sure the place stays clean.
You'll walk past that grill tonight,
50 times, and never tell the cook to clean it.
If she is not being hard enough on these employees--
- Right. - --she's saying--excuse me,
"[bleep] his money,
I don't wanna fight with anyone."
And until she changes,
you can kiss your $525,000 goodbye.
- You get that? - Yeah.
I want you to know respectfully that you're wrong
because I absolutely care about him,
his investment, and this place.
- It's a learning curve-- - Come with me.
- Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
You're telling me that walking by this, you didn't see it?
Did you never notice it?
- You noticed it, right? - Of course.
Did you do anything about it?
I'm the only one that cleans it, sir.
But you're a manager!
You have people that's supposed to clean.
You're supposed to be managing!
Look at this, Dave!
She walks by it a hundred freaking times
and you don't do anything, and he's out $525,000.
How do you tell me you care when you walk by that?
You might think you care, but you don't act like you care.
Who's gonna clean this place tonight?
Because if it isn't clean tomorrow, I'm going home?
- Okay. - And I want you to do it
with other people, not yourself.
- Right, Dave? - Sure.
If she can't straighten this out,
- kiss your money goodbye. - Right.
This is not a mistake.
This is a choice.
And you chose to stick it to him and his money.
See you tomorrow.
I'm angry.
He's a hundred percent right,
a hundred percent right.
Moving forward, I have to take the reins
and let them know who the boss is.
Good thing I made a reservation.
[upbeat music]
How do we feel about last night?
- My arms are sore. - [laughs] Yeah.
- My legs are sore. - I'm, like, I literally
- done a couple workout. - By being on the ground.
Did you guys learn anything from that experience last night
and me getting my--my behind chewed?
We need to keep everything clean. [laughs]
So we don't have to do that again.
- Hey, buddy. - Hey, mama.
- How nice of you to join us. - I know.
Last night, I witnessed total neglect from management.
So, today, I need to see
how serious this team is about making a change
and actually running this bar properly.
- Good morning out there. - Morning.
- Hi, everybody. - How you doing?
- Hello. - Come on over, let's all talk.
Oh, okay.
- Hi. - Hi.
- How's it going? - Hi, Jon.
Dave, you bought this place when?
Uh, July of last year, so it's been--
- So just about a year? - Just about a year.
And--and you bought it for $450,000, right?
- That's correct. - [indistinct] real estate.
- Sure. - What was your dream
or your goal when you bought this?
You know, the dream is-- I guess is a little bit
of nostalgia that comes with it.
Uh, I grew up in France and [indistinct]
that I always liked a small town
and the feel of almost of a diner,
saloon type of deal.
And so it just--I saw this place
as an impact for the community.
LD, you're a manager.
And you've been here how long?
- Almost a year. - Almost a year.
And what did you do before you worked here?
- I managed a saloon. - Okay.
- And where was that saloon? - Here in town.
Here in town? You know a lot of people here?
- I do. - And is this the kind of town
that everybody knows each other?
- Absolutely. - Right. I love towns like this.
So if we make an impact here, everybody will come, won't they?
- Yes, they will. - Word will travel quickly.
So you were very incentivized by the community,
but you still put up a lot of money.
- Right. - So do--you expected
a financial return obviously, right?
You must've had some goal.
The goal was to at least maintain
what they had previously and do better.
And did that work out?
Uh, at the beginning, a little bit, but not after, no.
- So it sort of fall apart-- - Right.
- --under our watch? - Right.
- How come? - Uh, there's a lot of factors
that came into play.
Obviously, uh, labor market,
being COVID as well, um,
the whole thing, uh, just-- it's harder.
The restaurant down the street didn't lose it
as much as you guys did, I did my homework.
Right? They went through the same COVID
- that you guys did. - Right, right.
But they're doing pretty well down there, aren't they?
Right.
So I'm not sure that's a valid excuse.
They also market to a different crowd.
- In what way? - Their items
are way more expensive than what we have.
So just because you're cheaper than them
doesn't make you right.
And maybe. And we knew that.
Maybe it feels not good enough?
And my, my--right.
- Correct. - So we gotta analyze this
and figure out where to go from here.
For sure.
- Hi, what's your name? - Rose.
Who taught you your beverage recipes?
Like, you made me a margarita last night.
- It wasn't bad, by the way. - Um--
But who taught you that recipe?
So we don't have any sour mix at the moment,
or not any good sour mix,
so I kind of have to throw something together
to try to make something
without every ingredient, you know? So...
So, there's no standard recipes here?
You're a bar manager. Don't you know that
if I order a margarita from Rose and if--
if Terrik makes it the next day, it's gotta be the same?
- Agreed. - How come you didn't do that?
Ninety-nine percent of the people that come in here
want whiskey and Coke, or jack and Coke.
So I'm like this is the bare minimum,
this is what the community usually comes in for
and let's go with that.
And if you need help sidebar, I'll come help you.
To suggest that you're gonna take--
I'm gonna be you for a minute,
my $500,000 investment,
and do anything at a bare minimum
is offensive to every dollar he invested in his business.
Shame on you. Bare minimum will achieve what?
Bare minimum results.
And that whiskey and Coke,
they can get up the street
or any place else in town.
So, what's unique about us?
- Why do I come here, Dave? - Right.
What's that signature food item that's gonna say,
"Oh, man, I wanna stop and get one of those."
- Right. - What's that signature drink
when I come here, I always get one of those.
What are we doing? Minimal.
And I suggest that you wouldn't have been losing $5,000 a month
if she didn't have a minimalist attitude.
So if you don't elevate this place,
why the hell are you here?
And why are you paying her?
If you were my manager, I would fire you in a heartbeat.
LD, you don't like hearing this,
and I'm beating the hell out of you.
- It's okay. - But, boy, you deserve it
because you screwed this up
and it cost him a lot of money.
Sorry, Dave. But you've put your business
in the hands of somebody
who does not have the capacity to run it.
My recommendation to you is I'd give it 30 days.
And if she doesn't create a noticeable difference
in the standards and energy
and pace and feeling of this restaurant,
you gotta replace her
or kiss your money goodbye.
One of the two.
You only have enough money
for five more months.
You better bring in somebody else
before you're out of time.
- Right. - You gotta toughen up
and become a great manager.
I'm gonna work with you to do that.
You gotta hold her to some standards, Dave.
For sure.
Let's go to work, guys.
Let me get my experts in here.
When Jon was going hard at my mom,
it was really hard and--and I just wanted to,
you know, give her a hug and save her from it
because I feel her heart
and this is really weighing on her.
Adam. First day here with the team.
What do you think?
What do you wanna accomplish today?
NARRATOR: For the bar, Jon brings in Adam Raines.
Adam has helped open several restaurants and bars,
and was chosen by the Nevada Restaurant Association
as the Drink Specialist of the Year in 2019.
Adam is known for spreading his love of craft cocktails
around the world from neighborhood bars
to fine dining establishments.
These are some basic cocktail knowledge.
I definitely wanna work on that.
Um, and then I'd like to add some fun cocktails
using local flavors,
but also having some fun presentation
just to be a memorable place
for people to have a memorable experience.
- Okay, guys, let's go to work. - Okay.
[upbeat music]
- How's it going, everyone? ALL: Good.
Going into today's training, um, we're starting from square one.
So Jon wants to have drinks
that are visually appealing and memorable
for both locals and people passing through.
What were your guys' impressions of last night?
Um, that we need to have specialty cocktails.
Do you guys like to get some going?
- Absolutely. - Let's do it.
I would love to make a huckleberry mule for you.
We're gonna go 0.75 ounces of the lime juice,
0.25 huckleberry syrup,
huckleberry vodka, two ounces of this.
And next, we're gonna do a little bit of ginger beer
and then ice, garnish this.
What I would do is bless the mint on top of it
so you get all of mint oil all over that.
And then we're gonna give them a little bit of powdered sugar.
We have the huckleberry mule.
Ooh, that's a really light, but flavorful.
I like it a lot.
And David, do you think this could be a signature cocktail?
Yeah, I mean, it looks beautiful.
What we had before really was more generic.
There's no really, like, identity.
I think, like, that will bring the bar up to par.
Tonight we have our stress tests.
Let's bring that A-game.
- Right on. Right on. - Let's do it.
- Thank you, guys. Thank you. - Thanks.
LD, [indistinct] you know, Jon gave you a challenge
and you guys stepped up, so I congratulate you on that.
It looks great back here.
And that's gonna start everything off
on the right foot, really.
Jon and I created this twist
on the classic chicken fried steak,
and this could be a signature dish.
We're gonna do a chicken fried pork.
While that's going,
I took some of these potatoes
and we just kind of mash them
and this creates a little nice texture.
I wanna add some freshness to this
to kind of balance it.
So we have some arugula right here.
I have a little fresh green apple
and some fennel, and some vinaigrette.
But what that's gonna do is just add
some nice acid to this.
And then I'm gonna show you how simple this dish is.
But look at there, we got a nice color, right?
We have our potatoes.
I'm gonna put those right down on the plate.
You got this beautiful milanesa.
I'm gonna lay this right on top.
Look at this. Look how beautiful.
This is gonna be rich gravy.
So I'm gonna do a little bit and it kinda drips over, right?
Then I'm gonna finish it. What did that take me?
Three minutes to put this together?
Look at that chicken fried pork.
Let's try it.
See that?
You're taking a chicken fried steak
and giving it a twist.
Who's doing chicken fried pork around here?
Probably no one.
Straight gasoline, it's a bomb.
- Delicious. - I love that.
- I could eat this every day. - Right?
I love the spin on the--the hearty meals, uh,
that the small town of Horseshoe Bend loves.
- It's phenomenal. - All right.
We have stress test tonight, okay?
So we've got a lot of work to do.
So, let's get ready.
- All right. Great. Thank you. - All right. Thank you.
[dramatic music]
So what is your plan, LD?
Have you assigned stations
and talked through operations tonight with the team?
Yes, but I have a question for you.
Um, because of our staff situation,
there's not a lot of us,
but I'm still gonna have to delegate responsibility
instead of consume responsibility.
You got to pitch in, but you also got to manage.
Things you can help as a manager,
you can help take orders.
You can run food as a manager
because she should be checking the kitchen anyway.
You with me? Check in on the team.
And if the tickets get backed up,
see where you can help them.
What do you think, Dave?
It's gonna be overwhelming.
It's a stress test, right?
- So... - Supposed to be.
- Yeah, supposed to be. - Yeah.
- Okay. You guys ready? - Yes, sir.
I think that all of us are not quite ready.
Let's go.
I know that Jon wants me to be a manager,
but also we do have a skeleton crew today,
so it's gonna be a rough push,
but my job is on the line, so I'll try my best.
Hi, guys.
Welcome to the Corner Cafe. Let's go.
Whoo.
Here we go. We're opening.
Forty one guests are coming in here.
We have two bartenders, two people in the kitchen.
They should serve this room in about 45 to 50 minutes.
My guess is they're not gonna make it that long,
but it's crunch time now.
Come on in, guys. Make yourself at home.
How's it going, guys? Welcome to the Corner Cafe.
[indistinct] sideways.
Put that love into it.
Shake, shake, shake.
- I'll have [indistinct] - Okay.
- Yeah, I'll take one, too. - You got it.
And just a drink for you today?
Spicy margarita. Okay.
This is interesting.
They have a POS system here,
but yet they write the order down on their order pad.
In the dining room,
they're writing the order down on an order pad.
So this is really then just a cash register.
Essentially, right?
How about there?
- Good. - Perfect.
And then two ounces huckleberry.
- And how much? - It'll be two ounces.
- This way or two-- - That's the only one
that has two ounces.
- This one? - So you could--yeah.
- All the way to the top. - Yeah.
Come on, guys. We're not getting anywhere here.
We have no drinks out to tables at all.
- Adam? - Yes?
So this is bar 101 here.
So if you don't tell him the next step,
he can't make one drink.
Yeah. We're having a tough time.
[indistinct] gonna walk me through this one more time?
Uh, the printer is not working.
So we're gonna roll with it a little bit.
Do we have any more tickets?
This doesn't make sense to me
because I got people at the bar that said they ordered food,
they have people in the dining room
that said they ordered food.
But you have no tickets.
- Yeah, I just have one. - Yeah. We just have the one.
I'm not sure what's going on.
[tense music]
LD, you putting in food orders?
Because they've only gotten one ticket.
So our printer is broken.
So all the orders I get, I have to handwrite,
put them in here, and give to them.
So why can't the bartenders then just write it
and run it into the kitchen for you?
Uh, they can, but I think, um,
as soon as I get these then I'll--I'll address that.
Okay, we've gotta deal with that.
Because nobody's getting their food.
- Yup. - Nobody's their food?
Dave, we have no system.
So our printer is out. Were you aware of that?
- I didn't know. - No.
So as an owner, if you're not informed,
then how do you solve these things for them?
Right.
[indistinct]
what's the next one?
Cherry syrup.
Huh? What? What part cherry syrup?
Uh, it'll-- it'll be half an ounce.
So, it's gonna be quarter ounce times two [indistinct]
so half an ounce of the [indistinct]
So I should probably do another one of that.
Adam?
And then you're gonna want--yeah.
You need to speed this up.
Let's go, guys.
Four mules and two spicy margaritas.
Huckleberry mule is served with ice, right?
Nope.
[dramatic music]
we need to speed this up.
We have to get this. Guys, this isn't gonna happen.
All right, so we need to-- we need to take their order.
Let me tell you what I see.
- Yes. - I see a really good guy.
By the way, your brother is, too.
Thank you.
Who's never been freakin' trained.
- Yeah. - And been thrown back here
and now you're embarrassed, right?
Yeah, a little bit.
Because you don't know what the hell you're doing.
And it's not your fault because you were never trained.
- Yeah. - So it isn't on you.
- It's on your manager. - Yeah. Right.
Who I won't say what else she is,
- but it's on your manager. - Right.
And this is why people need to be trained.
How would you feel if you were back here
and you didn't know what the hell you were doing
and you feel embarrassed, right?
Okay. Do the best you can. We'll get you trained.
Okay. Spicy margarita.
[indistinct]
- We'll get the mules. - Mules.
Oh, okay.
What am I doing?
- Yeah. Okay. Awesome. - What am I doing?
No?
Yes.
Heck, I don't know.
Tickets are still piling up.
So we're not getting out of it.
We're getting in deeper by the minute.
Yeah.
[tense music]
The white flag.
This is only the second or third time
I've ever done this in "Bar Rescue".
I'm sorry, you guys don't have drinks,
but if I don't start training these guys immediately,
we're gonna fail.
LD, those people don't even get food.
Dave, did anything go right tonight?
Not really.
Was anything managed tonight?
- Yeah. No. - Nope.
Hence the white flag, guys.
Let's clean this place up.
We gotta remodel, we gotta train.
Hopefully some of you can come back in two nights
and see how this place runs
after we've done our work because this is shameful.
Shameful.
Goodnight.
Jon does say that it's unmanaged.
I disagree, but I can do better.
It needs to be managed better.
[upbeat music]
- How we doing? - Great.
Not too bad.
We had a tough one last night, didn't we?
Last night, during stress test,
we had problems with speed,
we had problems with efficiency,
knowledge, ability to make drinks.
And the bar just kind of fell apart.
Now, this bar is well-known for their breakfast around town,
so Jon wanted to have a tie in to have a breakfast cocktail,
something that's easy but impactful.
So we have a new drink.
It's called the Cafe Painkiller.
Start with one ounce orange,
one and a half ounces of pineapple juice,
coconut cream.
Rinse it with the star of the show,
spiced rum, ice the tin,
shake and smile.
Pour it in this cold glass
and dark rum, garnish,
and then here we have the Cafe Painkiller.
So let's try it.
The Cafe Painkiller is definitely unique.
So, I think that people will just be drawn to it,
and I think people will wanna take a picture of it
and then they'll see that it also tastes really good.
So I think it's awesome.
We have a lot of training to do, but I think we can rock this.
- Ready to go. Ready to go. - We got this.
All right. Let's get this.
[tense music]
I am very concerned after stress test.
The fact is I have a rookie owner
and a rookie manager
and a small community
and every guest lost can't be replaced very easily.
So they've got to get this right.
- Hi. Jon, how you doing? - How you doing, Dave?
Accountability is what they need.
I've given you a lot to think about, haven't I?
Oh, yeah.
What are your thoughts after stress test?
Um, it's really easy to be in the moment
and think you're doing everything that you can
and being pushed to the limits like that, um,
really set my thoughts back
on things I could be doing better.
Like?
The way that I interact with my staff
as far as I want to make everything as easy
for them as possible, which makes it harder on myself.
And in doing that puts me way more stress
than I need to be under.
- That's the key point. - Yeah.
So if, if you delegated more
and held them to a higher standard...
- Yeah. - ...then you become
more of a manager and less of a doer, right?
What can they do as an owner
to help you be more successful there?
I don't need micromanaged, you know that.
But to meet maybe once a month, face to face, have dinner,
have lunch, have coffee to just...
- Run through the numbers. - ...get through some things,
I need to be able to say, "Hey, I'm drowning over here."
And that's the role you wanna play.
Because LD's success is your success.
So you've got her back for sure.
What did you learn this week?
For me, I'm not very much involved
on the ground floor,
but I wanna be the accountability
that LD has towards everybody.
I wanna have that towards her
and maybe keep everybody, like, on their toes.
The magic word that each of you said today
was accountability.
Hold yourself accountable,
but hold each other accountable and we'll get there.
If you bring something significant to the table
then that's who you are.
She's a good human being, isn't she?
- She is. - People will love you.
Just be a tougher manager. Don't change yourself.
You feeling confident?
We have this. We can do it.
I believe you can. I'm a little astonished.
LD has a new mindset.
She's really focused on self-accountability
and Dave sees his role to hold LD accountable.
And with cross accountability, things will start to happen.
I'm feeling much better after talking to them
than I did beforehand.
Okay, I got to get back to work, buddy.
- See you soon. - See you.
Get some rest while you can. You're gonna need it.
- Sounds good. - Thank you.
[upbeat music]
[cheers and applause]
Hi, everybody.
This is a great town.
When you run a restaurant or a bar in a town like this,
you got to do it right
or word travels quickly, doesn't it?
- Yeah, right. - Yeah.
We weren't doing as well as we could, right, LD?
- Correct. - LD, what do you think?
You and I started pretty rough.
- Yes, sir. - How are you feeling now?
I'm feeling optimistic. I'm excited.
I can't wait to take the next step.
You're ready to do this, aren't you?
I'm ready.
You guys ready to see it.
- Absolutely. - Yes, sir.
Here we go. One, two, three!
- Wow! - [cheers and applause]
Wow!
[upbeat music]
Okay. That looks so good.
That looks great.
Still the same building, right?
- Still the same. - And it should be.
What do we have?
We have the Corner Cafe that we know,
but what else do we have?
Country bar. Yeah.
A place for the community to be together.
And now at night, when dinner is over,
there's really a reason to come here.
It's a real bar now.
All right.
So you guys wanna see the inside?
ALL: Oh, yeah. Yeah. - Okay, go ahead.
[cheers and applause]
- Wow! - Oh. Oh, wow dude.
Goddamn.
- That is freaking amazing. - Whoa.
Look at this.
What the heck?
- Okay. - That's freaking beautiful.
David's all-- just taking it all in.
You know, our expectations, you know, were high
and, uh, it didn't disappoint.
Are you guys ready for this one?
- Yeah. - You guys ready?
Open that door.
You know, little kids growing up in France, uh,
watching those Western with dad and then, you know,
you just open the door almost, like, you know,
felt like those doors where the flapping doors
you, you know-- you open to the saloon
and you see this and you just--
it's, you know, it's unreal.
And I think it's gonna be a good success.
Two--well, look at this.
Look at this.
- It is just-- - Pretty cool bar, huh?
- Yeah. - Oh my God. This is so sick.
So what we wanted to create is this is inside
and that's outside.
- Yeah. - Right?
So we carry this wood on the other side of the wall
to create the separation,
taking advantage of these windows.
But then we redressed your back bar,
- doesn't that look great? - Yeah, it does.
With the lighting and a corrugated steel behind it.
Again to complete out the barn look.
And when you walk in, it's the first thing
that caught your eye right, LD?
I'm glad you guys like it. Grab a seat.
There's a lot more for me to show you.
Let me show you some of the things we got back here.
This is a PathSpot machine.
So after you wash your hands,
you put your hands under the PathSpot,
if you get a red light, wash them again.
Then I got audio/video professionals of Idaho
to come in here redo the sound system
and video system
so everything looks and sounds great.
At night, we got to crank the music
a little bit in here now, right?
Nice to turn this into a bit of a party bar.
Then I got Partender
to give you guys an inventory program for life.
- This is the best. - Yeah.
Oh, it takes minutes to do bar inventory.
I got BarProducts.com
to give you guys all the bar tools,
mixing cup strainers, everything you could ever need.
I got Standard Restaurant Supply
to give this all new plate ware and kitchenware.
Great.
So let's get the kitchen ready.
Let's get ourselves in uniform. Let's get the bar set up.
We open in about 15 minutes, okay?
- All right. Let's do it. - Thank you. Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
Welcome, guys, to the new Country Bar and Corner Cafe.
- Let's go in. - Come on in.
[upbeat music]
How is it going, guys? Welcome to the Corner Cafe.
A bit old-fashioned.
These are some, um, of our new menu items.
- You guys will love this one. - Nice.
[indistinct] pork burger.
[indistinct] and pork burger.
All right, you got tickets coming in, y'all.
- You added Huckleberry syrup? - Yes, sir.
Quarter ounce, right?
- Pretty good. - Sweet.
Pretty good, Terrik.
Getting all that beautiful mint oil all over that.
Let's go, guys. How are we doing?
I'm doing-- feeling much better today.
Excellent.
Big change from two days ago, huh?
Oh, absolutely.
[upbeat music]
Eli, can you-- when you get a moment,
could I get some silverware in here, please?
- How you doing? - Not too bad.
Are we catching up?
Are almost all the orders in now?
Yeah, I'm almost done down the line.
- Excellent. Okay. - Just putting this in.
We've got two nachos.
Talk to me, Chef. Perfect start. Absolutely.
How beautiful that food looks.
Angel, is that beautiful or what?
Yeah. I'm super proud.
It shows what happens
when you take somebody like Angel,
who is a great employee
in one of the dirtiest kitchen you've ever seen.
- Yes. - Train her,
give her some pride and look at her.
I know.
- Angel, I'm very impressed. - Thank you.
You're really organized. You're really tight tonight.
- Really well done. - Thank you so much.
She's doing a great job.
Knife and fork burger.
- I'm terrible. Happy birthday. - I love this.
Oh, my God! Yay!
We've known these boys for a long time.
The good boys?
They have turned into something amazing.
- Yeah, the good boys. - Thank you.
I would rather rescue an independent bar
in a small town
than a corporate bar in the big town any day.
This bar is set up now
to be a real part of this community, inclusive.
Everybody loves the environment.
They're reacting so well to the food presentations
and the drink presentations.
This isn't just a bar.
This is a centerpiece of Horseshoe Bend,
and that makes it
an integral part of this community.
That's the best part of this rescue.
[upbeat music]
I'm loving this. Do you?
You got a cool bar now, don't you?
- I do. Yeah. We do. - The coolest bar--
- yeah, the coolest bar in town. - Yeah.
So, you know what, guys,
this has been a really good week.
You've learned a lot, haven't you?
I have.
You're gonna do this, aren't you?
- I am. - Yeah.
I completely believe in you. Congratulations, buddy.
This is gonna turn into a great investment for you.
Thank you so much, Jon.
- Three-way hug? - Yeah.
- Three-way hugs. - Let's do that.
- Congratulations. BOTH: Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
Bye-bye.
[upbeat music]
Promotional consideration provided by Skytap POS,
PathSpot, Partender, The Roosevelt,
Blue Ocean Cleaning, Plumbing Solutions of Idaho,
Bar Products, Audio Video Professionals,
Curtis Restaurant Equipment,
Standard Restaurant Supply, Riverside Embroidery,
Ellis Amusements, Perks of Life,
One Stone, and Esri.