- The issues that we have with staff right now
is that their job is to sell food
and to sell drinks to our customers,
not so much to partake in that process with them.
I got two left.
Who didn't get one?
- Cheers. (ON) MARK: Cheers.
- Cheers.
- We got a lot more shots.
[laughter]
NARRATOR: For over 30 years,
John Taffer has traveled the country, saving hundreds
of bars from failure and ruin.
JON: I started rescuing bars
decades ago because they're part of the backbone of America.
- Let's go!
We're doing it!
But as the industry continues to explode,
the amount of failing bars is increasing at an alarming rate.
(SHOUTING) When do I have you say, that's not going to work?
But I can't be everywhere at once,
so I've handpicked some of the nation's
top hospitality experts--
- this looks like a convenience store.
- --to help me lead the charge.
- This is your staff that you
did not set up for success!
NARRATOR: Now, Jon is sending nightlife authority
Dustin Drai to Glendale Arizona to rescue
La Perla Sports Cantina.
- We are determined to raise the bar
and rise to the occasion.
[mellow beat]
NARRATOR: In 2019, entrepreneur Mark Tafoya
bought the historic Mexican restaurant La Perla
and moved it to a new location.
- My background is software engineering.
But I lived in Glendale for 30 years,
and I would drive down Glendale Avenue,
and I always thought it would be very cool to own something
iconic like La Perla.
La Perla has been around for about 70 years.
La Perla was connected with the community-- weddings,
birthday parties, funerals.
They even had divorce parties.
That was the heart and soul of downtown Glendale.
The original La Perla closed in about 2016.
When they closed, I decided to purchase the name
and move it to this location.
NARRATOR: However, Mark's lack of experience and tendency
to party with customers resulted in an untrained staff
left to their own devices.
- It seems like Mark thinks that everybody
is here to be a friend.
And then that friend brings another friend.
And before you know it, he has 10 people at a table,
and he's buying shots for all of them.
His lack of experience in the whole bar industry, shows.
- And it's not just, oh, two for you or two for you.
It's like--
- --the entire table.
- I kind of feel like he just comes here for fun,
and it's not really a business to him.
- This has been broken for two weeks.
We have ice back here keeping all the food cold.
- We run out of drinks at the bar.
We don't have anything on tap.
- All right, what are we out of, guys?
- It's frustrating because we can't do our jobs.
- It's a hot mess.
- I'm here more to socialize.
I think people like coming in, knowing
that they can talk to the owner and hang out with the owner.
And I do try to make everybody feel at home when they come in.
- Mark is the biggest problem with La Perla.
NARRATOR: Now, La Perla is losing up to $20,000
a month, with Mark sinking into almost $750,000 worth of debt.
- We have to figure out how
to make some changes so that we can
continue this for the long run.
La Perla needs this rescue so that it can survive.
I'm putting in about $10,000 to $15,000 a month
to keep this business going.
If we don't get some help in pretty quick,
days are numbered.
Not having La Perla in downtown Glendale would be tragic.
NARRATOR: With just three months left before closing,
Mark has decided to pull back the doors, bust open the books,
and make a call for help to Bar Rescue.
- I think that Mark definitely needs
a real big kick in the ass.
[hip hop beat]
- For this rescue, I've asked
Dustin Drai to lead the charge.
Dustin is the Vice President of Entertainment
for the world-famous Drai's Nightclub in Las Vegas.
His family is royalty in the field of hospitality,
so he has literally grown up in this industry.
- What's going on, gentlemen?
Chris, Nick, I appreciate you being here.
Jon called me, and we're here to save this bar.
- Happy to be here.
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
cocktail menus for major entertainment
award shows and events.
For the kitchen, Jon brings in Chris Oh.
As a Michelin-starred chef, cooking competition winner,
and cookbook author, Chef Oh strives
to bring previously unrelated cuisines
together to create dynamic flavors, dishes, and menus.
- We're in Glendale, Arizona
at a bar called La Perla.
It was established in 1947.
The owner is Mark.
He's actually a pretty successful
businessman outside of this.
But he's about $750,000 in debt.
- Whew.
NICK: Yeah.
And he's put about a million dollars of his own money
into this spot.
So buys the name of the bar in 2019,
he moved it from the original location to where it is now.
So this is La Perla Sports Bar and Cantina.
If you look at the inside of the bar, you have this huge mural.
I mean, that's really the only sports-type of thing
that I can see in this entire bar.
NICK: All I see is a poncho
draped over the hostess stand, and that's our cantina.
- This has been around for, like, decades.
Like, you would think there would be some kind of--
- --historic feeling or identity to it.
There's supposed to be kind of like this nightclub element
to this bar after this.
So on social media, they're promoting
this as kind of like a club.
There's no look or feel to it at all.
- I don't know which one it is, Kylie.
Which one is it?
- So that's Patti.
Patti is the manager.
She's been at the bar for five years
and was actually just promoted three weeks ago.
- Do you want to make one margarita flavored?
So-- well, Kylie--
Kylie?
- Then you have Kylie.
Kylie is the other bartender.
- I have no idea.
We'll see when it all freezes.
- Then that's Shauna.
So Shauna is a bartender/server.
She's been at the bar for a year.
That's Chayito.
Chayito is the kitchen manager.
- What's a date on that guac.
ALL: 10-1?
- No way.
That guac is 10 days old.
10 days old!
- Chef, what's the shelf life on guacamole?
- Making that fresh every day
and whatever we're not using it's done.
[laughter]
- All right, guys.
For recon tonight, I got Dana Cortez and Anthony Almanzar.
They're both local radio hosts on the Dana Cortez Show.
They're part of the Latino community
which is big in this area.
John called them and said, hey, I really
need you to go in there, take a look at this bar,
and help my guys out.
- I'll pray for them.
[laughter]
- Ooh, I want to try one of those frozen drinks.
That looks good, right? (ON) KYLIE: Hi, guys.
What can I get for you? (ON) DANA: Hi.
Can I try one of those frozen margaritas?
- They're not frozen yet.
DANA: Oh.
- I can do a house margarita.
- I'll do a--
do you have something spicy?
Spicy margarita?
- Spicy margarita-- I don't really--
- I'll take a house margarita.
Surprise me. (ON) NICK: So she went 0 for 2?
- 0 for 2.
- Why can't you make a spicy margarita?
I imagine there's a jalapeno in this restaurant.
I mean, it's a cantina.
- Nick, what do you think of this drink
right now that Kylie's making?
- You can tell she only filled
the plastic cup up three quarters with ice,
and left booze in there.
So that means the proportions are entirely off.
- I like it.
I just wish the frozen had been ready.
- Was it the second quarter?
No, it was 24-10 in the second quarter.
DUSTIN: Is Mark even aware of these problems in his bar?
- If you're going to have the machine on the bar--
NICK: That's the first thing you do.
DUSTIN: --get that thing going.
- Kylie, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
- Mark's calculating how
much money he's losing tonight.
- He went to go say hi to his buddy.
- To the Cowboys.
Salud, guys.
[cheering]
- Come on.
- For a bar like this, losing $100 a night,
that's $700 a week.
That's thousands and thousands and thousands
of dollars over time.
And that's how you get $750,000 in debt.
I bet you he's comping drinks all the time.
- OK, what do you guys want?
- "What do you want." (ON) CHRIS: "What do you want."
- "What do you want." (ON) NICK: Wow.
- We want more shots on him.
- Being the most liked
person is not being the owner.
Right now, they're just going to now always just wait.
They're not going to order any more drinks.
They're going to wait till he comes back around.
They're going to be like, oh, Mark, my buddy.
How about you get another round? Oh, sure.
I know how to make sure that people are having a great time
and want to come back, and it does not
require giving away free drinks and drinking
with the customers.
- This place is literally better off with him
staying home.
- Oh, I'm gonna do the bone-in wings.
What do you recommend, chimi or chicken tenders?
- Chimi. (ON) DANA: Don't lie.
- Chimi.
- OK.
All right.
[dramatic music]
- What is she doing with that meat?
What is that?
Oh, no.
CHRIS: Dude, her glove has got the meat--
- The raw meat.
- --juices, and she's using that spatula.
Oh, wait, look, same glove.
DUSTIN: Oh, no.
CHRIS: Oh, no, no, Chayito.
- Same glove is contaminating everything now.
DUSTIN: She puts-- (ON) CHRIS: Oh, no!
- --her glove on the rice.
CHRIS: Yo!
DUSTIN: So now you have contaminated rice,
and put that in their mouth, and have the raw meat from before.
- I'm so sad.
- And if Jon were here right now,
he would say that would kill somebody.
- Literally.
So you have raw meat that's all over the food,
10-day-old guacamole.
Chayito is just dropping the ball.
- Chayito
DUSTIN: But you know who's really dropping the ball
is Patti and Mark as a manager.
Where are they?
Do they even know what's going on in the kitchen?
[dramatic music] (ON) CUSTOMER: Salud, guys.
- Salud. Salud.
- Do not take another one.
Guys, I don't know what to do with this guy.
I can't take this anymore. I got to go talk to this guy.
- We got a lot more shots.
- We got-- ha! We--
- Mark?
Let's go to my-- could I talk to you for a second?
- Yeah. Lovely.
- What about those shots, Mark?
- More? (ON) CUSTOMER: Before you--
Yeah.
- [scoffs] Yeah, sure, we're gonna
talk about that in a second. (ON) MARK: Sorry?
- How you doing, man? My name is Dustin Drai.
- Mark Tafoya.
- So Jon sent me here.
Let me ask you a question.
How many drinks have you had tonight?
MARK: Three.
DUSTIN: Are you thinking a night like tonight, you can
afford to have three drinks?
- This is a normal night.
- A normal night?
- That's the way it's gotta be.
- What do you charge per shot?
Let's start with that.
- Kylie, what do you charge per shot?
- What-- no, no, no, I didn't ask her.
I asked you. It's your bar.
- I know. I know.
But I ask her, though.
DUSTIN: Why do you ask her?
MARK: Because she knows the price.
DUSTIN: No, no.
- Depends on what it is.
- You should know as the owner it is.
How much do they cost? (ON) MARK: $6.
- All right. (ON) MARK: About $6.
- And you gave out about 20 shots tonight,
would you say? OK, so 20 shots.
How much does that come to in average night?
- 20 times 6, $120.
- OK.
So $120 on a night like tonight you're giving away for free.
MARK: I just want people to have a good time.
- Come with me. Come with me.
I gotta show you something.
Because what you don't seem to understand
is the difference between having a good time and being an owner.
Let's go in the kitchen.
Because this blew my mind, actually.
Blew my mind.
There was guacamole that was 10 days old.
People out there are eating it. They're dipping it.
You care if they get sick? (ON) MARK: Of course.
DUSTIN: OK.
If you care they get sick, why are you serving it?
- Well, I didn't know it was 10 days old.
- Why didn't you know?
- Because I didn't check.
- OK, so why didn't you check?
- Because I trusted my staff to check.
- So why aren't you getting mad at her?
- No, because she's my family.
She's been with me for a long time.
- But if you're putting people in position
to make you successful, and she's
getting somebody sick outside, now your business
is shut down completely.
Whose fault is that? (ON) MARK: It's mine.
- OK. You need to be an owner.
You need to take ownership of this bar.
MARK: I hear you.
We put the focus on food.
- But at the same time, you still have food, yes?
MARK: No, I agree. You're right.
- So if you have food,
you need to put it out proper. (OFF) MARK: Right.
- No, come in, please.
- OK. (ON) DUSTIN: I'm Dustin Drai.
- Nice to meet you, Dustin.
DUSTIN: Very nice to meet you.
DUSTING: What do you do here?
- I'm now the manager, but I'm
also his event coordinator.
- She brings all the bands and DJs.
She's the one that coordinates all that for us, right?
So--
- So you have bands and DJs in this bar?
- Yeah, come on. (OFF) DUSTIN: Come out here--
- I'll show you.
DUSTIN: --and show me where
exactly we have bands and DJs. (ON) KYLIE: OK.
Come on. (ON) DUSTIN: Come on, Mark.
- So--
- I'm not leaving you behind.
PATTI: So where these guys sit at--
- I need another shot.
- He just asked for another shot.
- You want another shot?
You've had three already. (ON) MARK: Because I--
- Are you the owner or are you
a part-- are you here having a party?
- I just want them to have a good time.
DUSTIN: You've had three already.
MARK: Yeah.
- Why are you getting another shot?
- Because I-- I--
- Are you the owner or are you
a part-- are you here having a party?
- I just want them to have a good time.
- [sputters] God, this guy does not get it.
Dude.
Mark.
- Listen, I own the biggest nightclub in Las Vegas.
I do $100 million a year, and I have
thousands of people coming through my club
every single night.
My job is to make sure people have a good time.
I'm not out there getting drunk with them every night.
I'm working the room. Go up.
You smile. You talk.
You check in with the customer.
That's not you drinking and that's not
you giving away free drinks.
Giving away free drinks is the reason this bar is going down.
- That's what she tells me.
- Why don't you listen to her?
- He thinks everybody's
here for a friendship.
So once they walk out the door, they may not come back in
or they may say, you know what?
He gives away free drinks.
I'm going to go there next weekend.
- 100%.
You need to listen to Patti when she tells you things.
This place is going to close in a couple of months.
What happens to her, who's worked here for four years?
- That's--
DUSTIN: What happens to her?
- That's my concern.
- Are you guys gonna be able to work with me?
Are we gonna be able to do this?
- That's why we want you guys here--
- Yep.
- --to help us get through this situation.
- OK.
So I got a lot of work to do with this place,
so I'm gonna be back tomorrow, and you
guys better be ready to work.
I want you clear-- no drinks, nothing.
Understand? (ON) MARK: I understand.
- I will see you guys tomorrow.
- OK.
[music playing]
All right. All right.
- You guys want some shots?
[chuckling]
CUSTOMER: No.
- The thing is our customers are loyal, right?
They're loyal to us, like you are.
That's why you give them free shots.
- Um. (ON) MARK: [laughs]
- I think, as a business owner,
you don't like to be challenged.
But when you have someone that comes in that says,
I have this much experience, you have to have
the ability to listen, right?
But it's just, if you walk into my house,
I'm going to get you something to drink,
get you something to eat.
When you walk into La Perla, I want you to feel the same way.
- He's buying everybody shots.
MAN: Hey!
[laughter]
Yeah!
[music playing]
MARK: What did you think about the bar?
- I thought Kylie did a great job.
- And everybody loved the shots.
KYLIE: Thanks. (ON) MARK: They wanted more.
They wanted more. (ON) KYLIE: I know.
I know. (ON) SHAUNA: Imagine that.
- He was my biggest fan.
[laughter]
- How you guys doing? (ON) MARK: How are you doing?
DUSTIN: I'm good.
DUSTIN: Last night, I met an owner
that cared more about having fun than actually
running a business.
Guys, do you want to gather around?
SHAUNA: Sure, sure.
- I'm going to go in there,
and I'm going to talk to them what they
think about Mark as an owner.
And then I'm going to ask Mark, does he actually
care about this business, or does
he care more about having fun?
DUSTIN: How are you guys doing?
- Good. (ON) DUSTIN: Good?
I just want to introduce myself.
My name is Dustin Drai.
I own one of the biggest and most successful
nightclubs in Las Vegas.
My family has been in the business for over 30 years.
You know, Jon called me, and he said, listen, I have
a bar that needs some help.
Can you come down there and help me?
So obviously, I came in last night.
We had some issues.
There are some new faces here that I haven't met yet,
so we're going to go through and introduce ourselves.
Tell me what you do here.
- My name is Martha and I bartend and I serve.
DUSTIN: Cool.
- We can't get rid of her.
[laughter]
- Shut up.
[laughs]
JOEY: Oh, my name's Joey.
I'm a bartender.
- What do you guys think of Mark as an owner?
- He has a lot of ideas,
but execution sometimes is hard to come by.
- I think Mark's a great guy, like Martha said.
I don't think he knows how to run a bar.
- How about the free drinks?
- That's a big one, yeah.
Maybe free drinks should stop.
DUSTIN: It seems to be the common theme.
- Yeah.
DUSTIN: Mark, how does it make you feel?
MARK: The reality is, I'm not giving
away $10,000, $15,000 drinks.
- In the long run, you are, Mark.
- You are.
- No, not in about a month.
DUSTIN: I mean, Mark, clearly, your employees
seem to feel differently than--
- And I do tip them.
DUSTIN: Let me show you some numbers.
Last weekend, we had Partender come in here.
And Partender is a service that comes in and weighs
your bottles and will show how much liquid goes out
and how much revenue actually comes in, OK?
So last weekend, you guys poured $11,500 worth of drinks.
So being a business, that means you
should have collected $11,500 worth of drinks, correct?
- Yes.
- And part of those drinks that went out,
let me guess, were some of Mark's free shots.
Only $8,200 was actually rung in of shots, showing $3,300.
If you add this up, equals $19,500 in a month,
equals $235,000 in a year.
I mean, that should make you upset, no?
- I am.
- You don't seem upset.
You seem to not hold yourself accountable for this business.
What is it differently that you hold yourself
accountable for your other businesses
that you're not bringing here?
- I have good staff in my other businesses.
I have staff that's accountable for everything.
- Are you saying-- (OFF) MARK: I don't--
- --that they're not good staff?
- They don't bring people in.
I bring people in.
- Do you guys not bring people in?
- We do. (ON) SHAUNA: We do.
JOEY: I think so. (ON) KYLIE: Definitely.
- I bring a lot of--
- The crowd-- the crowd that was here last night,
who brought them in?
- That was last night.
That wasn't a packed house.
- Who brought them in last night?
SHAUNA: You did.
- Yeah, but you were also giving away half
the house to have them here. (ON) KYLIE: Yeah.
- Do you care about your employees
when you're giving away 10 drinks?
- I do.
- Can I get a raise instead?
- Heh.
Shauna, does he tip you out when he gets free drinks?
- Once.
DUSTIN: Once.
And how long have you been working here?
SHAUNA: Six months.
- Mark, do you care about your employees
when you're not tipping them out?
- I feel like I tip my employees out very good.
I take care of them--
- Clearly, they disagree.
MARK: Yeah. (OFF) DUSTIN: Kylie?
SHAUNA: You don't tip.
- I don't think he's ever tipped me.
DUSTIN: Are you gonna take responsibility for--
- Ultimately, ultimately,
everything falls on my lap.
If this business fails, they just go get other jobs.
SHAUNA (VOICEOVER): That's bullshit.
- I use this money to take care of my daughter.
SHAUNA (VOICEOVER): If La Perla does close
due to the negligence done by Mark,
it will definitely affect my family.
DUSTIN: How easy is it to get a new job
right now in this economy?
- I would say, I can't pay for my wedding
if this place goes down.
- I support my daughter in college.
MARTHA: I support three adoptive daughters
that I just adopted.
- Three kids at home?
I mean, it seems like all of you guys have families and kids
that rely on this business, that rely
on Mark to be a better owner.
MARK: No, I disagree with that
because I care about my customers
and I care about my employees.
- There's a fine balance.
You know, there's one thing being an owner
and saying, you know what? There's a disgruntled patron.
Let's take care of one drink.
Let's make sure that they have a good time because, you know,
their food was wrong.
There's another thing going out there and saying,
you know what?
I'm going to have a good time because this is my [bleep] bar
and I'm going to have fun and I'm going to make everybody
else have a good time.
They're completely different things,
and I don't think you understand the difference.
Clearly, from what your staff is telling me, from the way you're
reacting, is showing me that you don't
understand the difference.
- I do. (OFF) DUSTIN: OK.
So then I need a commitment from you.
No more drinking, and no more comped drinks.
Because otherwise, I'll take all these [bleep] cameras,
I'll take my checkbook that I come-- to come save this place,
and I'll walk out right now.
[dramatic music]
Because otherwise, I'll take all these [bleep] cameras,
I'll take my checkbook that I come-- to come save this place,
and I'll walk out right now.
- I hear you. (OFF) DUSTIN: OK?
I mean, I want to make very clear that you
understand what I'm saying. (ON) MARK: I hear you.
- And I want all you guys to hold him accountable.
Because if I see one drink, I swear to you, we're out.
Good luck.
I'll see you later.
That's it.
So can we get a commitment from all of you?
- Yes. Sure.
- You have my commitment.
PATTI (VOICEOVER): I think that Mark needs to re-evaluate
what he cares about.
We're all here.
We come to this place every weekend.
I leave my family.
Our staff leave their family to make
sure his business is running. (ON) DUSTIN: OK.
So I have two experts that I'm going to introduce.
Guys, I got Chris Oh and Nick Ortega.
CHRIS: How's it going, team?
- Hi.
- We got a lot of work to do with this bar.
So I hope you guys are ready to start training,
because we got to turn this bar around fast.
So let's get to work.
- Cool.
[music playing]
NICK: Hey, hey. (ON) KYLIE: He's here.
He's here.
- What's happening, mi gente?
- We've identified a lot of problems here--
incompetent bartenders-- so I know, walking into today,
that I have to spell it out.
This bottle, this bottle, this bottle.
I saw you work last night, and it's
embarrassing that you don't know how to make a spicy margarita.
Are you telling me there's not a jalapeno
in the back of the house?
Is there a muddler to my right?
- Yeah.
- There's your spicy margarita then, right?
Yeah.
So we're implementing cocktails to set them up for success.
We should have a La Perla signature cocktail.
So this is going to be a very easy,
speed of service cocktail.
You can start with ice.
3/4 of an ounce of watermelon simple syrup,
a 1/4 ounce of dry vermouth, 3/4 of an ounce of vodka,
topped with prosecco.
And we're going to garnish very simply but very elegantly
with a watermelon cube skewered--
MARTHA: A pearl.
[oohing]
- --by a pearl toothpick.
This is La Perla.
All right, you guys, for tonight--
communication, consistency.
We're gonna drill these recipes into your head
so we provide an incredible experience for not
just your homies, but for the new people
coming through the door.
Can we do this?
Can we get successful? (OFF) MARTHA: Absolutely.
- Let's do that. (ON) MARTHA: Oh, yeah.
NICK: All right, you guys.
Let's get rocking, yeah?
CHRIS: How you guys doing?
So let's talk about what happened last night.
You know, there was a lot of mistakes in here,
the glove situation.
The glove has got the meat juices--
- The raw meat.
- And she's using that spatula.
NICK: Ugh.
- Oh, wait, look same glove.
I understand you have a bar, but you got a restaurant too.
- Despite the incident that we had with the food,
Chayito does a great job in the kitchen.
CHRIS: Right, but she needs some direction.
She needs some guidance.
She needs someone to help her, coach her.
I did notice you have a huge menu.
If you want to be more alcohol focused, slim down the menu,
you know?
Keep it simple, stupid, like, you know, less is more.
So we're going to do some really easy, simple dishes.
But most importantly, they're going
to be very, very delicious.
Since this is a Mexican cantina, we're gonna do a little play,
so we're gonna put the hamburger and the quesadilla
all into one.
So we're gonna call this the burgerdilla.
Cool.
So what we did was we took some seasoned ground beef.
We mashed into a flour tortilla.
And then we're gonna put it down face down, meat side first.
[sizzling]
Ha, ha, ha. All right, guys.
Now that the burger's cooked and we have a crispy tortilla,
we're gonna just throw it on the cutting board.
We're gonna slice it into fourths, like so.
Lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions.
We're topping with some of my burger sauce.
And we'll finish it with a nice red tomato.
Burgerdilla.
PATTI: That is cute, and it's attractive.
MARK (VOICEOVER): I was impressed with what
Chef Chris brought to La Perla.
Simple plates, delicious plates.
I'm interested to make sure that we have the consistency
to every plate that goes out and see the response
from our customers. (ON) CHRIS: All right, guys.
Well, tonight's a big night.
We got the stress test.
I'm putting my trust into you guys, so please,
please don't let me down. (ON) MARK: Yes, sir.
- Cool. (ON) CHRIS: You guys ready?
- We're ready. (ON) MARK: We're ready.
[music playing]
- I already put them all in.
- OK, but you-- (ON) DUSTIN: You ready?
- I'm ready, sir.
- You want to let them in?
- Yes, sir. (ON) DUSTIN: Let's do it.
Mark's gonna need to prove to me, to his staff,
and to this entire community that he's no longer Mr.
Good Times, that he's actually inside,
ready to run a business.
MARK: Thank you guys for coming in.
Come and enjoy the new flavor and new taste we have.
- Welcome in, guys.
- Hi, guys.
Welcome in. (ON) MARK: Good to see you guys.
Good to see you guys.
- I'll try the La Perla.
- These are the new drink items we have,
and these are the new food items we have.
- Burgerdilla.
- The burgerdilla is bomb ass.
- OK.
I'm gonna do that.
- Ceviche, two ceviche.
Two burger quesadilla.
NICK: You got a full bar, and you're making one drink.
DUSTIN: Waiting for drinks?
Get your orders? (ON) SHAUNA: Yeah.
- You moving?
- I got their orders already.
- OK. Did you put them in?
- No.
Sense of urgency, that's what we need tonight.
So far slow, slow, slow, slow.
There's orders still getting taken.
They haven't even been rung in yet.
The bar's already falling behind.
We're just not anywhere where we need
to be within the first five minutes of opening the doors.
- Why is the food tickets coming up here?
DUSTIN: And the food tickets is
coming in here and in the back.
PATTI: Two shrimp cocktail,
burgerdilla, La Perla.
You got everything on this ticket?
- No, I'm still missing two burgerditas.
- Patti?
Where Patti?
- No, I didn't do that right.
- Have these been taken out?
- They should have been.
- They should?
NICK: We don't know because they're
not stabbing tickets.
- Well, we don't have the stabber.
- Wouldn't that be something that we're supposed
to set up ahead of time?
- Absolutely.
- [speaking spanish]
CHRIS: You know, I was really confident
at the start of this night, but my confidence
is on the floor, literally.
- You know those are wrong, right?
- They are? (ON) NICK: Yeah.
- What did I do wrong?
- You did equal pours on this.
- Oh.
- This is a 1/4 ounce, and that's a 3/4.
- Sorry, sorry.
- How many drinks have we poured right now?
- I've done 8 or 9 so far, maybe 10.
- Eight or nine drinks?
What is that, $200?
- Easy.
KYLIE: I've been waiting on a sour for-- the whole time.
- We're at 25 minutes for a sour.
DUSTIN: Mark, the bartenders
have not been able to make 10 drinks correctly.
That's $200 that's supposed to be in your pocket
that's down the drain.
- But I got the kitchen going on, too.
- How's the kitchen going?
- They're behind there, too.
- There's you and Patti, no?
MARK: Yeah.
- So divide and conquer.
Who's taking over the bar?
Who's taking over the kitchen?
You got to make that decision, OK?
- I understood.
DUSTIN: Chef, how many are we looking at?
- 12. (ON) DUSTIN: 12!
And how many still haven't been made?
So we have 15.
The menu is not that hard.
- If you tell me which of these they are--
- It'll say on it if it's mine or not.
- I know.
But I don't know what table they go to.
- Oh, well--
- It's a lot harder being an actual bar
owner than being Mr. Good Times, giving shots to the whole bar.
He actually has to work, and I don't know
if he's capable of doing that.
- Patti, did you-- did you fire all on the orders
in the back table? They never got their drinks.
They never came-- (ON) PATTI: Yeah.
You said you did it.
- I thought you said you did it.
- No, you said you put it in.
- So the bar is backed up completely.
They have no systems in place.
Right now, this is exactly how they're tracking their tickets.
These are where tables are going.
I have no idea. They're just throwing them away.
They're not sure if something got served,
if it didn't get served.
Raise your hand if you don't have a drink.
3, 4, 10, 14, 20 people--
half the bar doesn't have a drink.
Look at this.
Eight tickets on the line.
We have some orders ready to run.
Do you even know where they're going?
- No, I don't.
Where's the ticket?
DUSTIN: But see, these are why we need systems in place.
- Right, right, right.
- These are why we need
to know which table goes where.
Guys, you need a specific runner for the food.
Somebody needs to be in charge of that.
- OK.
- Mark's walking around,
doesn't know what he's doing.
The ticket times are through the roof.
Half the bar doesn't even have drinks.
The bartenders are making one drink at a time.
It's-- I don't even know what's going on here.
It's crazy.
Look at that.
Oh, my god.
Mark!
- Here they are.
- Oh, what is this? (ON) WOMAN: Oh, thank you.
- You're welcome.
These are the La Perla.
- Well, I didn't order a La Perla.
DUSTIN: We have people in the back
that haven't even got served food or drinks all night long.
You have no systems in place whatsoever.
- OK, so--
- And they're telling me this is how it is--
- So--
- --every single night.
- No, so the reality is, is we
have a new menu that just came out.
Our kitchen barely knows about it.
- That's is not an excuse.
- OK.
- Mark, this is your staff--
- How many-- how many--
- --that you did not set up for success.
MARK: But we're gonna fix it.
- Enough. We're shutting it down tonight.
It's done. We're over.
So apologize to everybody for not getting
their food and their drinks.
- Listen, everybody, we got a menu that was given to us
about an hour before setup.
- I don't want an excuse.
- These are my customers, OK?
DUSTIN: How many people are still waiting for drinks?
before setup.
- I don't want an excuse.
- These are my customers, OK?
- I don't want an excuse from you.
I want you to apologize--
- These are my customers.
We got a menu that was given to us about an hour before--
DUSTIN: Guys, it's over. Thank you very much.
We're done.
Night's over.
We're gonna talk about it.
[cheering]
- I'm feeling a little disappointed in the
outcome tonight.
I expected us to do a little bit better.
- So, Mark, I guess they're not
gonna get their food that we placed order, everything's--
- He said shut it down. Let's just shut it down.
- OK. (ON) MARK: All right?
- Got it.
- But we were set up to fail.
And there's no way around that.
We were set up to fail.
The kitchen wasn't ready.
And then when you pack the place out with the customers--
if we would have had more time, we would have knocked it out.
- I've never seen anything that bad.
I swear to God.
- I'm confident we're gonna work through this.
- I got to talk to Jon
and get his opinion on what to do next.
- Hey, Dustin.
I'm dying to hear how stress test went.
- It was a disaster, Jon.
They completely failed.
- Was it skills?
Was it systems?
- Systems-- there was none.
- How was Mark?
Did he step up?
- Jon, he really just seemed lost.
- So we got a big problem, buddy.
We've got to change the way he looks and acts in his business.
- He really looks at this place as kind of, I think,
his funhouse.
So if he really wants to keep these doors open,
he's going to have to wake up.
JON (ON COMPUTER): He's got to figure that out.
Hopefully, you got him there. (OFF) DUSTIN: All right, Jon.
You know, for this concept, we're really
going to have to come up with an idea that's going to help keep
the identity, keep the legacy of this brand
and of the name that's been around for 78 years,
but find a way to get people to want to come back.
- You know, when you look
at the median income of this market, Dustin,
it's about $42,000 a year.
So I think this bar needs to provide
an elevated experience, certainly,
but still provide value.
You do that at Drai's in Las Vegas.
You're an expert at making people feel exclusive,
but yet providing value.
- Jon, I think that's a great plan,
and I think that's definitely what this place needs.
- Thanks, buddy.
I'll talk to you tomorrow.
- Sounds good.
[cars honking]
[music playing]
NICK: How do you think last night went, Patti?
- It was chaos.
It's exhausting.
I'm tired.
- I'll tell you what I didn't see.
I didn't see a bus tub behind the bar.
I didn't see a spike where your service bar tickets should
be spiked once they're done.
I didn't see a place for you to put service bar tickets.
By the time you guys started communicating, it was too late.
So we're gonna make it as easy as you can possibly imagine.
We're gonna embrace the frozen machines that you guys have,
and we're gonna batch it for you so that all you have to do
is pour, garnish, and serve, starting with a pina colada.
2 ounces cream of coconut, 1 and 1/2 ounce fresh pineapple
juice, 1/2 ounce fresh Twisted Alchemy
lime juice, 1 ounce white rum, one healthy scoop of ice,
and blend.
Classic hurricane glass.
And pour.
But we know your guests like strong drinks,
so let's give it a topper, a nice float of dark rum.
Garnish with an orange slice and some mint.
And this is a pina colada.
- Our ladies would like that.
- Yeah? (ON) MARTHA: Right, real nice.
- We're gonna batch it for you in your frozens.
- Now I'm happy.
Our customers will dig that.
[music playing]
DUSTIN: Last night's stress
test was a complete failure.
And I got to go have a conversation with Mark.
And I got to ask him if he can really take the reins
of this bar and turn it around.
Let's talk about last night.
What do you think you learned from last night, personally?
MARK: I learned that, without proper preparedness,
it's gonna be a shit show.
I think the difference between me
and you is that you're from Las Vegas.
You have business in Las Vegas.
It's a numbers game, right?
For me, it's a people's game.
I know my customers.
I'm just not turning them over.
- I know my customers, too.
So in Vegas, as much as it is a numbers game,
the locals still come back. They're consistent customers.
And I have businesses outside of Vegas,
too, so I understand that personal connection.
But at the same time, don't you think
that their experience would be better if the overall business
was running better?
- 100%.
I've learned something about this business.
You have to be passionate about it.
You have to love the back of the house.
You have to love the front of the house.
You have to be analytical about it.
And you have to know who your customers are.
And I've learned that, up until this point,
I haven't been passionate about it.
I have to put my energy and focus
on this so I can straighten it out for the long run.
- I definitely agree with you.
And I think, last night, I saw a glimmer of you kind
of being passionate about it.
When I was getting upset and I was getting on your staff
and I was getting on you, you were in the kitchen at one
point and you were helping.
That's really what it really means
to be a bar owner is getting in there, rolling up your sleeves,
you know?
It's not just, hey, how are you doing,
getting to know your customers. That's the fun part.
And I enjoy that, too.
But I've been in this business 30 years.
And over that time, it's the consistency
of being able to do both without just giving away the house,
too, because as you see the numbers,
pennies turn into dollars, turn into thousands, and all
of a sudden, you're in the hole, and that's not
fair to you, to your family, that you
keep having to put in money into this business
to keep it afloat.
You know, a big thing last night was
when we were shutting down the bar,
you said, you know, these are my customers.
And I could feel the connection you have with the community,
with the people that come to La Perla.
And that's something that I can't teach.
You know, there are bar owners that I've
met that are there for the business
and not for the community.
And I feel like that's something where
you almost have the opposite.
And the rest of your staff is good people.
- Right. (ON) DUSTIN: They care.
I do think that we've made a lot of success this week.
You know, it's been a bumpy road,
but we're going to continue to move it forward.
There's some systems that I'm going
to put in place that are going to make your life so easy.
- I appreciate that.
I feel like the idea of being more involved
on the business side, not so much the social side,
is a lot more important so that we can make sure we
have continuity of business.
[music playing]
[cheering, applause]
- How's everyone doing?
MARK: Good. (OFF) PATTI: Good.
Excited.
- When Jon called me and he told me,
hey, I need your help with this bar,
this brand has been around for 78 years,
he expressed to me what this place meant to the community.
So when I got here and I met you, Mark,
I was a little worried because I thought maybe
you enjoy hanging out in your bar
more than you enjoy running it.
But over the past couple of days,
I think that you've stepped up, and I think you've not only
showed to me, but you've showed to this community,
I think you've showed to your staff,
that you can be an owner.
How has this week been for you?
- Very insightful, very-- it's
been a learning experience.
- How do you guys think Mark did this week?
- Great. (ON) MARTHA: He stepped it up.
- Yeah, absolutely. (ON) DUSTIN: Ready to your bar?
ALL: Yes. (ON) MARK: Let's do it.
- Can't wait. (OFF) DUSTIN: All right.
On 3.
1, 2, 3.
- Wow.
Oh, gosh.
[cheering, applause]
- 1, 2, 3.
[cheering, applause]
MARTHA: I love it.
SHAUNA: It's beautiful.
- So pretty. (ON) SHAUNA: Looks beautiful.
- As you can see, we kept the name.
La Perla means something to this community.
That's why we left the front of the building as it is,
to preserve the legacy and the tradition of this great bar.
- Hey!
[cheering, applause]
- Yes.
- You guys ready to go and see inside?
- Yes.
- Go and see your new bar.
- Come on.
[music playing]
- Oh, wow.
- Yes!
- Oh, my gosh!
Oh, my god.
MARK: This is nice. This is really nice.
- Look how beautiful.
[gasps]
SHAUNA: A real server station.
I love it. (OFF) MARTHA: Oh, my goodness.
Look how pretty it is back here.
SHAUNA: This is insane.
MARTHA: Patti, I think they put that sign for you.
- This is way beyond my expectations.
JOEY: Look at the lighting.
MARK: Super nice.
- Look how sick that looks.
- That looks badass.
- Oh, that's nice.
I like that.
The detail that was put into this place
with the look, the colors, the feel, and everything
has come together now--
I like it. (ON) MARTHA: Wow.
- I can't believe how beautiful that looks.
- A brand new back bar.
MARTHA: Yes.
- You know, this thing-- it feels elegant.
It feels rich.
So as you can see, we've done a lot.
Jon and I, when we were talking about the concept,
we said, you know, we need to continue to keep
this place feeling great.
We need to elevate it a little bit.
You can see the brand-new bar stools,
the new tables, the new chairs.
I mean, people are going to walk in here.
They're going to be like, wait. It feels a little different.
It feels-- (ON) MARTHA: It's bueno.
- --good. Exactly.
- I think that it brings back
that original La Perla feel--
DUSTIN: It does.
- --with the color.
- You know, things that I got you guys--
brand new cookware from barproducts.com.
Not only that, I got you guys a lifetime
subscription to Partender. (ON) MARTHA: Wow.
- Thank you. (ON) MARTHA: Nice.
DUSTIN: The big thing was the systems,
so I got you guys three brand new SkyTab terminals
and two SkyTab glass tablets.
These things are awesome.
You can walk around, get orders, take credit cards.
You don't have to be running back and forth.
I mean, these things are speed. (ON) MARTHA: Yes.
DUSTIN: This is what it is.
This is gonna be where you have customers that
are waiting in the back-- you don't
have to come all the way here.
Take their order, get their payment, comes over here,
and sends you back.
I got you guys a brand new Manitowec ice
machine with LuminIce technology,
UV light that kills bacteria.
I got you guys your own DJ booth.
MARTHA: Woo! (OFF) SHAUNA: What?
MARTHA: Yay! (ON) SHAUNA: Oh, my gosh.
- I got you guys a brand new menu.
And you'll put your own twist on it
and make this something that your customers
are going to absolutely love.
Do you think you can make some money here?
- Absolutely. I love it.
- You guys ready to do this?
MARK: Let's do it. (OFF) MARTHA: Yes!
- Let's open up this bar, guys.
- OK.
- Hey, guys.
[cheering]
Welcome to La Perla.
Come on in.
[music playing]
Grab a seat.
Make yourselves at home.
Thanks for coming back.
- So you wanted a strawberry daiquiri
and a pina colada.
- Make it two.
- Perfect.
- Nice to meet you guys.
Thanks for coming in. (ON) CUSTOMER: Nice to meet you.
MARTHA: Nick, how about this?
NICK: Great pour.
- How's it going?
- Two drinks at a time.
This whole bar has already been served--
- Oh, that's amazing. (ON) NICK: --in five minutes.
DUSTIN: Look at that.
Four drinks.
- All right.
- All righty, how are we doing in here?
- Food's coming out.
DUSTIN: OK, great.
Do we have a runner?
- Chef, this is a B5.
Shrimp ceviche is B5.
- The other night was an absolute mess,
but tonight, right now, they're kicking ass.
The bar is flying with drinks.
The food is looking absolutely insane,
and it's getting done relatively quickly.
- Do I--
- I need a burgerdilla.
- OK, I got it.
DUSTIN (VOICEOVER): We have systems in place
that were nonexistent before.
You have the people that now know what to do.
You have Patti and Mark directing people,
telling them what they need.
We just got to work a little bit on the service
and get some people their food faster,
but I know we're getting there.
MARTHA: We're just missing one drink.
- What are you missing?
MARTHA: I'm missing a Suero.
- Gotcha. (OFF) MARTHA: Yes, thank you.
DUSTIN: Chef, compared to what we saw on the other night
compared to tonight--
I mean, it's day and night, huh? (ON) CHRIS: Yeah, absolutely.
These guys-- it's like a well-oiled machine right now.
- The burgerdilla. I look forward to your feedback.
Let me know what you guys think. (ON) CUSTOMER: All right.
I will. (ON) MARK: OK.
Thank you, guys.
- Mark has a big smile on his face.
He's welcoming customers, and he's also helping with food,
so he's multitasking.
He's being a true manager and owner.
- Bar 12--
it's on the end right here.
- OK.
- I'm about to make four La Perlas.
You need one?
- I'm good.
All my people are drinking.
- You know what I-- what makes me happy?
The smile on your face. (ON) MARK: I appreciate that.
- Not only you crush it--
you exceeded my expectations.
- I'm glad you're happy.
- No, I really am.
- Because you came down pretty hard on me.
If you're good, I'm good. (ON) DUSTIN: Sir.
- Thank you, brother. (ON) DUSTIN: Thank you so much.
- Thank you for coming out.
- Good luck with this place.
- Thank you very Much.
- I'm going to be back to see you.
- OK. I'll see you.
Thank you.
I appreciate Dustin taking the time to come out,
seeing how we operate, giving us ideas
of what we need to do to keep going further for the future.
And I owe him a lot.
I owe him a big thanks.
[music playing]
MAN (VOICEOVER): Promos.
Consideration provided by SkyTap POS, Partender,
barproducts.com, Twisted Alchemy,
Lawson Plumbing, Highball Cocktail Bar,
Signature Graphics, and ESRI.
[music playing]
MAN (VOICEOVER): (SINGING) MTV.