Uh...
[upbeat music]
narrator: For over 30 years, Jon Taffer has traveled
the country saving hundreds of bars from failure and ruin.
The past two years are unlike anything
I've seen in our industry, but we're bouncing back.
People are going out again and restaurants need to get ready.
narrator: Now, Jon is faced with a new set of problems.
There are supply chain issues.
Why are we out of this shit?
Staffing shortages.
Every week, we get a new staff.
We have to crash course 'em.
And consistent health concerns.
G's can't fail.
It just can't.
narrator: So now, Jon is back out on the road
and heading to Peachtree Corners, Georgia
to rescue Confetti's Bar and Grill.
This is a new era for our country,
so we need to raise the bar and rise to these challenges.
narrator: In 2018, Scott Cohen fulfilled a lifelong dream
of owning a bar and bought Confetti's Bar and Grill.
I was diagnosed early on with, uh,
severe autoimmune disorder, and it was debilitating
to the point of being bedridden for about a decade.
Physically, I'm at about 80%, I still struggle with it.
It's not anything that'll ever go away completely.
Sanitized and rinsed, right?
This bar was my opportunity to not just catch up in life,
but to try to get ahead.
narrator: Unemployed and lacking savings,
Scott enlisted the help of his father
to purchase the bar.
My father at the time thought I was crazy.
He knows that bars and restaurants
have a high failure rate and he tried to convince me
to do something else but I was stubborn and adamant
that this was what I wanted.
Eventually, he relented and he helped me with it.
He battled prostate cancer for eight years.
My father's life insurance expired
six months before he passed.
So, he had taken a small portion of it out early
to help me buy this place.
My father passed a couple years ago,
and I just--I want my dad to be proud of what I've done.
That's really important to me.
narrator: Motivated to make his late father proud,
Scott jumped into the business with passion.
I think we're good to go.
narrator: And things started off strong for Confetti's.
[upbeat music]
both: Cheers.
Cheers.
Confetti's is the best and worst dive bar in Peachtree Corners.
Our theme here is pretty much do whatever you want.
all: Body shots! Body shots!
We have poker, we have pool, we have karaoke.
If there's anything you're looking for in a bar,
you can pretty much find it here.
We can do shots.
- You wanna do shots? - Let's do shots.
Let's do shots.
narrator: But inexperienced Scott was more focused
on the social aspects of owning a bar
than learning how to run it.
Our number one problem at this bar is Scott.
Because Scott doesn't run shit in here.
Good Hass.
The char grill is acting weird.
Yeah. What else is new? At least, it turns on.
Scott is a very much absentee owner.
- Yes. - I'm working.
He is not all that involved.
Scott, as an owner, he's a little hands off.
The inmates run the asylum, I think.
He lets his girls run over him.
narrator: And the quality of service and product
at Confetti's has suffered as a result.
This beer cooler does not work at all.
The bar is burnt. It's been carved into.
That's our table.
I have zero business experience.
I've never been in the service industry, never bartended,
never served, never been in the kitchen before this.
And this falls on you.
I don't know how to run a bar.
narrator: And now, Scott is slipping
further and further into debt.
We're losing at least four grand every month.
Total current debt is about $75,000.
narrator: And everything is on the line.
That weighs on me every day.
This bar has six months before I have to shut down.
narrator: Before Confetti's is forced to close,
Scott has agreed to pull back the doors, bust open the books,
and make a call for help to Bar Rescue.
And the success of this bar is everything to me.
It proves that I can succeed in life
the way my father always told me I could.
It allows me to support my family that I have left.
Jon Taffer, please help us with this bar.
We will drown without you.
- Good to see you, buddy. - Good to see you.
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.
So, here we are in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Confetti's. - Yeah.
When you see the name "Confetti",
don't you think party bar?
Yeah, I see vibrancy, and fun, and a good time, and confetti.
Uh, a celebration almost.
So, the brand says one thing.
Right.
What does the bar say to you?
Oh, that's the opposite of confetti.
It's brown.
The name doesn't match the bar.
That's the first thing that we see.
Wait. Don't go home and go to bed either.
Who am I supposed to drink with if you leave?
Like, I have to be here.
Oh, boy.
So, this bar was bought by Scott.
There, Scott sitting right there with a beer in his hand.
Scott's father had cancer.
Uh-hmm.
He cashed in his insurance policy while he was alive.
[sighs]
So with his cashed in insurance money from his father
while his father was still alive,
he bought this bar.
His father then dies a few months later.
Scott now owns the bar.
He's losing about $4,000 a month.
He has enough money to make it another couple of months.
Already, Scott's drinking.
Over there at the bar, that's Bianca.
She's the manager.
And she's sitting.
And drinking.
At the door is Monster.
- Monster? - Ex-wrestler.
Oh, wow. Well it makes sense.
Wow. They're all drinking.
So, they're all drinking right now.
There's Hassan. He's the cook.
Uh-hmm.
Yeah, baby.
Ooh, I wore half of that one.
And there, the bartender is Helen.
Who's Monster's wife.
Gotcha.
[sighs] So close.
So, for recon tonight, you know,
- I love my radio people. - You do.
I got JJ and Dallas from 101-FIVE Country.
They know this town.
There's Dallas and JJ.
narrator: Jon's spies enter Confetti's Bar and Grill.
A 4,000 square foot space with a long L-shaped bar,
a small stage, and an underutilized dance floor.
Hi, guys. Hey. What can I get you?
I am gonna have a margarita.
- Margarita? - Yes.
- Do you need salt and lime? - Little salt, lot of lime.
I got you, babe. And for you?
An old fashioned would be great. Thank you.
- Oh, okay. I got you. - Appreciate it.
All righty. So there they are.
Here we go.
All right, Bianca, I'm asking you
the million dollar question.
Old fashioned.
We don't do it.
- We don't do it? - No.
- We don't have the stuff? - No.
Okay.
All right. We do not have the stuff for an old fashioned.
So, is there something else I can make you, hon?
Something in that realm.
- Like, um, a whiskey sour. - Yeah.
- Whiskey sour would be great. - Whiskey sour, I got you, babe.
Okay. But she's making it in the metal mixing cup.
So, she can't do it right now.
There's nothing she can do to correct this.
Triple sec.
- Over poured that, right? - Yeah.
There--is that lime juice?
Like, that's that fake lime juice.
Oh, that's disgusting.
Two metal cups.
What is that? Is that a bug coming up in that glass?
- See that? - Yeah.
There's a spec of black. Oh, there's a lot of specs.
What's in that drink?
Is it moving?
Jesus.
- Here we go, darlings. - Thank you.
What is that?
I don't know.
Okay. I wanna know what this is on my drink.
Oh, my God. You have an ecosystem.
What is in that glass?
Hey, there's something floating around in this glass.
And I don't know what it is.
Oh, here let me remake it for you, babe.
- I'm sorry about that. - Thank you.
And let me remake this one.
Yeah, I see it in there.
I don't know what the heck that is.
I don't know what that is.
I'm not sure Scott has any motivation
- to do much of anything. - Yeah.
How many restaurants you have now?
I have five restaurants right now.
- Five restaurants? - Yeah.
- Good for you, buddy. - Yeah.
He can't run this one restaurant being there
while you're running five sitting here?
Yeah.
That one looks a little better.
- Okay. - I'm sorry.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
All right. Let's see.
And?
It's just full of sour mix.
Like, I don't even taste tequila in it.
- Can we order some food? - What can I get for you?
The 10 mile buffalo wings, please.
- Mile? Okay. - And then we're gonna do
the confetti burger.
All right, let me get those in.
What do you think of the kitchen, chef?
I mean, this kitchen honestly, from afar,
it just--it looks abysmal.
It's dirty. It's dusty. It's cluttered.
And I mean, it's-- there's grease everywhere.
- It's horrible. - This place
- has no apparent standards. - Nothing.
All righty.
So, now we got the raw chicken all over that glove.
Oh, yeah. That's nice and disgusting right there.
Just from raw, right in the fryer?
Oh, is he gonna grab that handle with that glove?
I wanna see it-- oh, there he goes.
B, can we get drunk tonight?
I don't have a [bleep] choice.
What else do we do?
You know what, let's go inside and do our own recon together.
All right. All right.
Cheers.
Oh, are we drinking now?
Don't you take that over there. You come here.
No, you, you come here and you take the shot with me.
[suspenseful music]
Cheers.
both: Cheers. - Cheers on all of the...
- Scott? Come with me. - Yeah.
[suspenseful music]
I should've got a double.
[suspenseful music]
You come over and you get some chicken, right?
- Yeah. - And with your left hand,
you pull that chicken out of the bag, right?
And you put it into the frying basket
which is up high, correct?
Yes.
You put the chicken in the basket.
Raw chicken juice all over your glove, right?
Uh-huh.
And with that same hand you picked up the basket,
and put it in the oil.
- So now-- - No. No. That I didn't do.
I'll show it to you! I got it on video.
Now, there's raw chicken juice all over this, Scott.
What happens when your customers eat raw chicken?
They get sick. They'll get salmonella.
- Hospital sick, right? - Yeah.
This guy is gonna [bleep] kill somebody.
Jason, what do we have here?
How about this? How does this look?
Nice, huh?
How about these?
Touch that.
It's dirty.
- You wanna eat off that? - No.
What about this one?
You wanna eat this? Look at this.
No.
What do you say, Scott? You've been very quiet.
Now, it's time for you to say something.
We're gonna--we're gonna roll our sleeves up.
We're gonna get this spotless
and we're gonna make sure it works.
And I'm gonna get this spotless.
[stammering] I got--
- "We?" - Yeah,
- I'm gonna do it with him. - Why don't you tell him
what the [bleep] to do and be a boss?
Isn't that why you're in this jam?
- Probably, yeah. - 'Cause you're too soft?
- I think so. - Okay.
Well, you just saw him
potentially get your customer sick.
You see that he's one of the reasons
why you're losing money here, correct?
- Yes. - Are you angry?
I am.
Well, then tell him you're [bleep] angry!
Hass, you got to [bleep] clean this shit up, man.
I will let you go. I promise you.
No. This is your life, Scott.
- Yeah. - Fight for it!
- Are you angry? - I am angry!
Then act that way.
Look him in the eyes!
I'm angry, Hass. I'm [bleep] angry.
- I don't want this. - I got you.
And if he doesn't make it better, what happens?
Then I will fire you.
All right.
So, what are you doing tonight?
- Cleaning. - You bet your ass you are.
Show me some pride tomorrow.
Clean this [bleep] place.
Scott, let's go. We're not done yet.
Okay. Comp everybody's drink.
Done.
Give them back their money.
Close this place down.
You know what you're doing tonight?
You're cleaning this frickin' bar.
- Okay. - Spotless.
No problem.
When I come back here tomorrow morning,
if this bar isn't clean, I leave.
Done.
If that kitchen isn't clean, I leave.
And if I leave what happens to you?
We fail.
You fail and you lose what? Everything!
Everything that matters.
Okay. So his life is on the line.
Understood.
Come on!
God.
Just, uh, everything that's open right now.
- Put it on the spill. - Just hundred percent covered?
- Yeah. No. Put it-- - Put it all on the spill?
Re-ring it on the spill.
- Okay. - That way we get accounted for.
- I got you. - It's a lot more intense
than I thought it would be.
I'm not doing my job.
Everyone in here is not doing their job,
which means I'm not doing my job.
Because my job is to make sure they're doing their job.
So, at the end of the day, this all falls on me.
- Good, baby? - Yeah.
So, I'm gonna be here all night to make sure that it's right.
Scrub everything, [bleep] get it cleaned.
We got this, Scott. We're gonna improve it.
- I know. - It's gonna get better.
I feel all right. I ain't mad at all.
He made some good points.
I like to clean.
So, I ain't worried about that.
It's gonna probably be a couple hours.
[suspenseful music]
- This is crazy. - A little bit.
[bleep] me.
[acoustic music]
- [yawns] - Yeah.
I feel that same way too.
[laughter]
Definitely feeling a little tired today.
We were here for several hours,
scrubbing, cleaning everything
we could possibly clean behind that bar.
I hope it's enough.
I really do.
I need you to understand that this is--this is it
like we're doing better, period, end of story.
I got you.
I'm definitely beaten down from last night,
like, it was very intense.
Hey, Mom.
- How's it going? - We're here.
Some of the stuff I saw,
some of the way we're preparing food,
some of the cleaning that hadn't been done.
Our customers deserve better than that.
- Hello. - How are you, sir?
Hello.
If there's anything that infuriates me,
it's a bar owner not managing a kitchen
and serving spoiled food.
So today, I gotta figure out who knows what.
So I can start training people here.
What's your name?
- Melissa. - And what do you do?
I bartend and manage daytime.
- Daytime? - Uh-hmm.
- Hi. - Hi, I'm Mindy.
I'm Scott's mom.
I can see the resemblance. Nice to meet you.
- [laughs] Nice to meet you. - Okay.
What I'm gonna do right now you're gonna sweat like bullets
while I do this.
But I wanna talk to Mindy for a little bit.
Just you and I, can we do that?
- Sure. Sure. - Great. Come on over.
Clearly, Scott isn't engaged.
So I wanna talk to Mindy, Scott's mom first,
to sort of get the background.
We gotta train the team.
But my toughest mission
is gonna be getting Scott to step up.
I think I know the story of how Scott got into this.
Yes.
But I wanna make sure so I wanted to hear it
from you and confirm it.
So you lost your husband recently?
Um, February 2019.
And before he passed,
he sold his life insurance policy?
We took what we could out of it
and to help Scott because, you know,
Scott was sick 10 years in the bed.
Yeah.
How did he choose to get in the bar?
Scott stayed here for three months,
trying to understand the business.
He read everything he could.
And he came to us and said, "I wanna do this,"
- and-- - And you bought it.
Yeah.
And my husband Marvin after he saw Scott here
and he was able to come here.
He was really proud.
He would be very proud,
but he would want him to go all the way.
And that's what I'm hoping for.
And that's why I wanted to talk with you
because I need to understand what his capacities are.
Is he lazy?
Oh, my God. No.
- Okay. So he's eager to work? - Oh.
And eager to learn?
- Absolutely. - Okay. Great.
He's open for this. He's really ready.
Thanks.
Okay.
You wanna all come and talk?
Yes.
Come on over, everybody.
You know, Scott, I've learned a lot about you.
Really, you and your dad planned this out
and bought this bar.
Yeah.
Before he passes away,
he cashes in some of his life insurance.
He's worried about his son Scott,
who when he was younger had some health issues.
Opens this bar, loses money every month.
Imagine how he feels every night going to sleep.
How he feels waking up every morning
with this burden upon him.
In a way he's trying to keep his dad's legacy alive
through this bar.
That's why I got so pissed at you last night.
- You with me? - Yes, sir.
I didn't know Scott's history.
I don't want nobody losing money,
not when I'm working for you.
Last night while he was cooking a brown hamburger,
you were playing a videogame and drinking.
I didn't even know who the hell you were.
I didn't even know if a manager was here.
If you have a drink in this building ever again,
Scott, what happens?
I'll have to fire her.
On the spot.
Understood?
What should you be managing?
- The bar. - The bar.
- What about the kitchen? - I don't manage the kitchen.
You have nothing to do with the kitchen?
No.
- So if you are not here... - Yeah.
...she has no authority to deal with kitchen issues.
He has no involvement in the bar.
Guys, I've been doing this 40 years.
This does not work.
So who's the manager?
Melissa's dayshift, Bianca's nightshift.
Do you know how to manage a kitchen?
No.
So why is she here?
[suspenseful music]
So who's the Manager?
Melissa's dayshift, Bianca's nightshift.
Do you know how to manage a kitchen?
No.
So why is she here?
I have Hassan handling the kitchen.
Bianca handles front of the house.
We work together well.
A restaurant needs a leader.
- Okay. - It needs somebody
who's in charge all the time.
And you need to be that leader, Scott.
Nothing that Jon Taffer said was untrue.
I'm a little overwhelmed.
I think that it only gets better from here.
I think the worst of it is probably over.
And now we can correct ourselves and correct the bar.
I must ask you, Scott, is this a charity or a business?
It's a business.
How many more months can we go at this level?
Three.
He's running out of time.
You with me?
There's only so much money left.
We're gonna give you everything we've got
to protect him and his legacy.
You guys got to step up.
Or they got to step out Scott, correct?
Yeah.
All right. Let's go to work. Let me get my experts in here.
[upbeat music]
How are you?
Hi, Jon.
- What a pleasure. - Yeah, thank you.
These are two dear friends of mine.
Nick Ortega.
Great mixologist.
narrator: For the bar, Jon brings in Nick Ortega.
With over 20 years' experience
in the food and beverage industry,
Nick gets consulted for some
of the largest spirit brands in the country,
and created cocktails for major entertainment
award shows and events.
- You guys ready to do this? - Yeah.
Okay. The next few days are gonna be rough, okay?
- Let's go to work. - Let's do it.
[upbeat music]
What's happenin', everyone?
- How are you? - Hi.
Heading into training today,
I'm looking to see that they actually clean the bar
and see what kind of skill set they have.
So tell me about you, Bianca.
Um, I've been here for five years.
And is that--but you drink while you manage?
Yes, I have.
Every single person here drinks at that bar.
[laughs] Like...
Scott, you know, if she were to cut her finger,
stubbed her toe, that's an insurance liability?
- Right. - Not to mention
some of the health hazards you got happening here.
Okay.
Bianca definitely doesn't always do her job to the T.
And she's definitely rude to people
if she's in a bad mood.
All right. Well,
I don't know what you can do physically.
So we're gonna put you on the spot.
- And let's start with Melissa. - All right.
All right. Let's get you back here.
- What are we makin'? - So multitasking
is gonna be our theme here.
Not to mention not having,
uh, the standard cocktails
- that should be in our arsenal. - Uh-hmm.
Whether it's an old fashioned,
a proper whiskey sour.
Uh, and in this case the vodka Collins.
As you do that, I'm gonna be throwing questions at you.
- All right. - You guys can chime in too.
We don't have a training program.
Melissa how's your dog today?
Well, my dog is great today.
- Thanks for asking. - Why aren't you
making the drink at the same time?
- Oh, sorry. - Yeah.
- I mean... - That's right. There we go.
What kind of dog you got?
Does it get shaken?
Does--are you asking me?
So that is the most thorough training
we have ever had in this bar.
[laughter]
- All right. Uh, no. - No.
[laughter]
- Damn it! - That is not it.
All right, you guys,
I say we get into the new drinks.
We are gonna start with a riff on a mule,
one and a half ounce vodka.
Orange ginger shrub.
Now this one half ounce.
Finally add that ice.
We're going to top it off
with some premium ginger beer.
Along with a lovely orange peel garnish
and we have our cocktail.
- Nice. - All right.
- It's beautiful. - It's that simple.
All right, you guys. Let's do this.
Let's get to work.
- Hi, guys. - Hi.
- How we doing?
We have not officially met either of you.
- So what's your name? - Melissa.
- And you young lady? - Bianca.
So on a scale of one to ten, no bullshit,
how would you rate the food here?
I think a five or six.
Got you. So room for improvement?
- Oh, absolutely. - Okay.
I know it's horrible and I know it can be
a lot better and I need it to be better.
Truth of the matter is we can all be better.
So for training today, we need to make some good food.
These guys haven't seen good food
in a very long time.
All right, guys, so we're gonna introduce one perfect,
fresh, vibrant, amazing dish
that we're gonna make everything from scratch.
A great idea for a good bar item
that's very shareable is a Baja fish taco.
So I have two pieces of cod here, you can see,
which isn't very much.
But with the breading, it's gonna puff up
therefore it's gonna look big,
but really we're serving four ounces.
So we take the fish and we just lightly coat it.
We drop it in this batter.
So this batter is unbelievable.
It's almost like a tempura batter.
And so that's gonna cook fast, three minutes.
And so while that's cooking, just gonna warm the tortillas,
so we eat them they don't fall apart.
I'm gonna pull up my fish,
and I'm gonna season it right away.
So we put a little cabbage on a tortilla.
Take our beautiful super crunchy crispy cod.
We're gonna do a little bit of pico de gallo,
some aioli, micro baby cilantro here.
- It's beautiful. - It is beautiful.
And that's the whole point.
The point is we wanna be super proud,
people eat with their eyes.
Oh, tacos are delicious.
I love pico, so the pico did great a thing for us
because I've been trying to get pico introduced to them
for the longest.
- That's good. You like it? - Uh-hmm.
The fish is perfect.
It's definitely something I would go eat.
So I know everyone that normally comes here
will love it too.
- What do you think? - Wow!
That is absolutely the best thing
that's ever come out of this kitchen.
[laughter]
It's really good.
So that's the dish
we're gonna serve tonight.
Let's get set up
and let's do stress test, okay?
- Yes. - Thank you.
[upbeat music]
Multitask, sometimes doing two at a time, three at a time.
So flour, batter, goes in the fryer.
- I think we're getting close. - Right.
I think they're set up pretty well.
Everything's been entered in the system.
My goal today is to get more comfortable
in what I'm doing and gain confidence
in knowing that I can do this.
We definitely need Scott to be back there
and making sure that we are all on point.
All right. Come on out, guys.
Let's all talk before we open up.
Okay. So tonight is stress test,
the whole point of a stress test is to stress us.
People are back and going out again
and tonight is the chance to grab them and their business.
So Scott, have you assigned positions for everyone?
Yeah. Helen and Bianca are behind the bar,
Melissa's managing, Hassan's in the kitchen.
I'm gonna, uh, go between back and front of the house.
I'll expedite food and also assist bar if I need to.
Great. Okay.
- Go out. Let them in. - Ready, guys?
- Let's do this. - We got it, girl.
Let the fun begin.
Ladies and gentlemen, please come inside.
[upbeat music]
- Hey. - What's up, guys?
Oh, dang.
Hi, guys. How are you?
Great. I'm good with a mule.
- A mule? Okay. And for you? - A mule for me too.
A mule for you as well?
- Yeah. - All right.
I'll get the Confetti Burger.
Confetti Burger?
I'll also get the burger.
And can I have exactly the same thing?
- What about you? - [indistinct]
- All right. - Okay. Here we go, ladies.
Now, why don't you put your stopwatch on for me?
I wanna see how long it takes you to get a drink, okay?
- Oh, okay. - Thank you.
- Too much. - It's one ounce?
- It's half ounce. Try again. - Okay.
Okay. So we got two of you guys on one workstation.
- That's right. - So obviously, Bianca,
- this doesn't work, correct? - Yeah.
So you're just gonna keep tripping over each other
- all night long. - Yeah.
What kind of wings? Garlic parm?
Yeah. I wanna order fries too.
A set of fries.
- How we doing? - A few orders in.
- I've greeted people. - Yeah.
Told them to please be patient, just waiting on drinks.
Burger is miles away.
Do you find it slightly difficult to cook on this grill
considering the lack of heat?
- Yeah. - Jon, nothing works.
Where they keep the sheep in and keep the grill warm.
It's like boiling the burger.
So half of this grill doesn't work?
No.
This side doesn't even seem hot.
- It's not. - No.
And I can't use the flattop
because it doesn't keep the temp.
That's the only sort of cooking surface you have now?
- Uh, yes. Yes, sir. - And it's not hot enough.
It's gonna take those burgers what?
- Twenty-five minutes to cook? - Forever.
They're giant burgers.
We're already screwed
and we haven't even started.
This is unbelievable.
Is there something I can get you?
- Regular wings. - We gotta be much
faster than this. Let's go.
Who's order did you just take?
Just the two of you?
- What did you order? - Apple sour.
Who else wants an apple sour?
Anybody else? One, two, make me four.
One, two, three, four.
Come on, let's move this along here.
So what--does the second fryer not work?
- No. - You have 40 wings fired
and eight French fries,
so you can't fire the French fries
till wings are cooked?
This what--this is what I...
The general rule of thumb is you wanna have
the food out within 15 minutes.
We're already at 11-minute ticket times.
So you can't fire the French fries
till the wings are cooked.
We're already at 11-minute ticket times,
miles away from being done.
How long have you been waiting?
- It's been like 15 minutes. - Fifteen minutes already?
The food should be coming out you would think.
- Or drinks at least. - At least.
- Yeah. - At least.
We're running way behind.
Yes, we are.
Do you guys have a service bar
or service bar tickets?
We don't have anything that prints out here.
- You just call in? - Yeah.
Does anybody at a table have a drink?
- No. - One table does.
You guys do in the back, don't you?
- Yes. - Are you gonna share those
with everybody else?
Nobody else has a drink back there.
Come on, guys. We're never gonna get there
- one at a time. - Go, go, go, go, go, go!
Come on, Scott.
- It's bad. It's bad. - Yeah.
- So they can't serve this room.
There's only 40 people here. Can you imagine
- if it was full? - Absolutely not.
These poor girls are set for failure.
Drinks are being delivered here, you know, they ordered first.
No, I'm aware.
I have eight mules I need made
and I have one apple sour I need made.
I was waiting for them to call the tix before I told them,
because there's no point in telling them their drink.
The tables are being served at a sequence, then?
- They are. - So, so, so think
- how frustrated they are. - Oh.
What are you guys up to?
18:40.
You sir, I think you owe them an apology.
Guys, I'm sorry for this, we're doing our best,
but it's, it's not good enough.
Thank you, guys. I'm sorry again.
Seventy wings need to be in that one little fryer.
- How we doing? - So Jon, check this out.
So first ticket in, still hasn't got out.
Fourteen minutes already,
burgers miles away from being cooked.
He's got to fire fifty wings, eight French fries--
- So it's 80 now. - --eight order of tacos,
in one fryer because the other fryer does not work.
- Not this one. - So, it's not even--
- So it can't happen? - No, it can't happen.
- This is a joke. - Scott needs to see this.
I only can do what I can do.
- Come on, Scott. - Yes, sir.
I want you to see what's going on back here.
This doesn't get to temperature,
he can't really cook on it.
Half of this doesn't work,
this side, if you put your hand in front of it,
it's not even gonna get to a sizzle.
So these burgers are gonna take a half hour to cook.
Think about this. We have no grill,
we have no flat top.
We don't have the second fryer.
So, Scott, we can't succeed.
We can't possibly succeed.
And I beat the hell out of him last night,
and I should've because the kitchen was dirty.
- Yeah, you right. - But tonight,
none of this is on him.
It's all on you. So this kitchen is closed down.
We're unable to serve food tonight.
Okay. I got it.
Complete disorganization.
None of the equipment is working in the kitchen,
I can't get any food out at all,
I can't get drinks out.
This one's gotta go.
This business has no leadership to lead it.
Complete failure, 100%,
this is gonna be a white flag.
- Scott? - Yes, sir.
Listen up, everybody.
I don't do this often in Bar Rescue,
- but I'm doing it tonight. - Oh, no.
[customers exclaiming]
It's a white towel. It's a white towel.
This is one of the worst failures I've ever had,
as far as the business operation is concerned.
So, finish your drink and get out of here
so I can rip this place apart.
Thank you, everybody.
I apologize.
Guys, I'm really sorry
that it happened this way.
We failed. We failed in the kitchen,
we failed behind the bar.
But I know exactly what I need to be doing
to help the business really succeed.
Scrub everything, [bleep] get it cleaned.
We've been doing this a long time, guys.
Have you ever seen a bar fail to that degree?
They can't succeed. They can't.
We've never done a Bar Rescue
that we weren't able to get any food
- out of the kitchen at all. - If I didn't see it myself,
- I wouldn't even believe it. - So, look at this place.
So here's our market. This is Atlanta,
pretty sophisticated food and beverage town.
So, there's an opportunity here.
Then, this market has a great median income
of about 80,000 a year, right, which is what?
Almost 50% higher than the national average.
Median age here is about 38.
So this is a little older, a little more experienced,
a little more developed palate, right, Chef?
- Yeah. A little more money. - So, a little more discerning.
So we gotta create good drinks
and good food and let's face it, guys.
We don't have the staff that has the ability to do that.
So we gotta make this as simple as it can--
- Yeah. - --possibly be.
- So what do you think? - I-I think,
literally, back to basics.
A really good core bar food
that's very fast to produce, keep it simple,
keep it organized, and just hope for the best.
Okay. And can we do a bunch of builds on this one?
We can. But everything has to be like an assembly line,
so that they can't mess it up.
But we can still do great flavors.
- We just have to do 'em simply. - That's right.
All right, guys. We got a lot of work to do on this one.
- I'll buy the coffee? - All right. [laughs]
All right. Let's go do this.
[upbeat music]
- What's up happening? - Hey.
- Good morning. - Woo.
Nice to see you.
Nice to see you, guys.
Last night's stress test, it was unwatchable.
They, they were failing miserably.
So today, I am looking to get
some continuity with that team,
make it muscle memory for them.
- You guys ready? - Yes.
Every bar should have a margarita.
And since we're in the state of Georgia,
we're gonna do a peachy margarita.
We're gonna use this highball glass
and we're gonna half-rim it with smoked seasalt.
We're doing one and three quarter ounce of silver tequila,
half ounce of peach schnapps,
half ounce fresh lime juice,
two ounces of agave-based homemade peach puree.
We're gonna add ice in our mixer.
And garnish this beautiful drink with a mint sprig.
Beautiful peachy margarita.
The peach margarita has a lot of variety
and has a lot of flavors,
so it'll probably be a good seller.
I'll start with my tequila drinker.
Is there enough tequila?
- Never. - Never?
- [laughter] - Never.
- But it's--it's very balanced. - You can feel it?
What we're gonna do is just get into the nuts and bolts of this.
We're gonna work on the minutiae
so that it becomes part of your body.
- Absolutely. - All right?
- Yeah. - Let's get successful.
- Starting now. - Let's do it.
Let's go.
[upbeat music]
- Hey, guys. - Hi.
- Oh, this is great guys. - [laughs]
Are we able to add another station?
Yes. We are going to drop one right here.
Perfect. What are we doing on the front?
The front is not gonna be so linear
but it'll be spread out more--
- Great. - --with that color.
- It'll give it a dimension. - Paint the back
- till that goes away, that-- - Oh, that looks great.
Isn't that fun?
We need new light fixtures where these Xs are at.
You mentioned the DJ booth.
Right here would be great if we can do it.
It doesn't need to be very wide.
Okay. Just add a little something so that--
Yeah, you just chop a little bit.
- --it's interactive more? - Simple.
Okay. We're putting curtains,
so you don't see the-- you don't see the blinds.
It'll be like this nice, really, like, yellow velvet.
Confetti's needs more than just a facelift.
It needs a new identity, one that better matches
the community it's in, so the interior design
will be critical for this rescue.
- Thank you. - Okay. Thank you.
[thrilling music]
[cheers and applause]
- Hey, guys. - How you doing Jon?
- Scott, how you feeling? - I feel great.
What do you think about this week and your team?
I love my team. We tried our hardest
and we're willing to make the improvements
and--and make it work.
Okay. Monster, what do you think?
You got a lot of bar experience.
I think they all killed it this week.
They all just worked hard, hard, hard.
I mean, I'm impressed.
This place can work, couldn't it?
- It could. It really could. - And if Scott steps up,
you can take this to a great place,
it's a great location, great town, right?
- Yeah. - So, you ready to see it?
- I'm ready. - Yeah.
- You guys ready to see it? - Yes.
- Go for it. - All right. Here we go.
One, two, three.
[cheers and applause]
- Go for it. - One, two, three.
[cheers and applause]
- Awesome. - Yeah, right there.
- Yes. - New brand.
- Yeah. - New bar.
- I love it. - New man.
- Yes. - New staff?
- Yes. - New energy?
- Yeah. - Yes, sir.
All right, guys. This is an exciting time.
You got a whole new brand, a new look.
- So, are you ready to see it? - Let's do it.
- I bet you are. Go ahead, guys. - Oh, yeah, let's do it.
- Are you ready? - Yes.
- Oh, my God. It's impressive. - Oh, my God.
- It's awesome. - Wow.
It looks gorgeous.
Oh, my God. This is amazing.
- Got a couch. - You got a couch.
- Oh, my God. - Look at our logo.
- Look at these chairs. - They're big enough
- for me to sit. - Oh, my gosh.
Monster, you can fit in the chairs.
- I know. - [laughter]
I walk in and I'm amazed.
Everything in here is redone,
it's--it's a different atmosphere,
like, we can actually bring people in here
and they'll wanna come back.
- Well, what do you think? - Yes!
- I love it. - Amazing.
This is amazing.
So look at the stage.
I got you Intuitive AV to do all the lights and video.
Grab a seat at the bar,
I'm gonna tell you all about it, okay?
- Okay. - First of all, workstations.
What do you think about that?
- So nice. - So much better.
Hanging over each other all night.
Yeah. So I got Harbortouch
to give you guys two new POS systems.
I got Orange Door,
a music database, in your DJ booth.
I got PathSpot for you guys,
which is an unbelievable system for hand sanitizing,
and then I got GARS Inc. to do the kitchen repairs.
I also got you a bar track.
The revolutionary sensor coupled with an app
that automates your draft inventory,
monitors each pour, and provides reports
that indicate your exact causes of waste.
And then, of course, I got you guys Partender.
You can inventory this entire bar in 15 minutes.
- Yes. - And then we got you guys.
Who are more energized
and tighter than you've ever been, right?
- Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. - Yes.
- We went through something. - You did.
And didn't you come out better?
- Yes, we did. - Yeah.
Well, I'm really proud of you guys.
I know this has been a really tough week.
So guys, I'm gonna leave you my corporate slogan,
three words. Get 'em back.
- Let's get 'em back. - Yes.
- All right, guys. You ready? - Let's do it.
We got a bar to open.
- Let's go do it. - Let's do it.
- [cheers and applause] - Hey, guys.
Welcome to Tropica.
Come on in.
Hi!
Isn't it amazing?
Hey everybody.
Can I get you guys something to drink?
Peachy-rita.
Peachy-rita?
[upbeat music]
- Oh, it looks good, man. - It's really good.
Looks really good.
I'll let you know if we need to bounce someone.
- [laughs] - What do you suggest?
Uh, let's try the Caliente mac and then...
[indistinct]
We like a little bit of spice.
- Look at that. - [machine buzzing]
- How we doing, Chef? - It's good, it's busy.
But, you know, what? This guy has got his groove back,
food is coming, all the equipment works.
That's the most important thing.
- Yeah. Looks great, too. - Yeah.
- The food looks good. - Yeah.
Look at this food, man. Look at this.
Can you believe this is the same place?
They changed attitude, everything.
Hassan? Good job, buddy.
- Thank you. - Look at that shake.
I wanna get these off together.
- What do you think, Melissa? - I love this system.
- Absolute game-changer. - And Bianca, what do you think?
- You like your station? - I do.
Excellent. What do you think?
It's actually impressive how much growth they're showing.
- I think they'll get there. - I think so, too.
Here I'm gonna help you with this. I got you.
Scott has been the biggest change.
He's gotten in, gotten his hands dirty.
He has taken on more of a leadership role.
I think that this has energized him
and given him pride in this business.
It's amazing what a few days will do.
Scott has confidence, he didn't have that before.
Look at Helen back there,
making three, four drinks at a time.
Bianca's turning them out.
Fact of the matter is,
they could not do this on stress test.
Tonight, they're digging out and they can do this.
I've been very eager to see what you thought.
I'm so thrilled.
I can't tell you how happy I am and proud.
Scott, his leadership, the staff, they are cooking.
- I mean, this is awesome. - He's a new guy,
he's had some fire in his belly there, so yeah.
- Good. But no, I know. - He does.
My staff is working and they're doing a good job
and I wanna thank you.
Oh, my pleasure, buddy.
You're a good guy, you deserve this.
Your mom deserves this.
The memory of your dad deserves this.
He's a really, really good guy.
Yeah, you're gonna do great, buddy.
- Congratulations. - Thank you.
- Congratulations. - Yeah. Thank you so much.
When Jon Taffer first came in, I was on the verge of failing.
- I'm proud of you, baby. - Never in my life
that I think this was possible.
I didn't think that we could go through this.
I didn't think we could pull this off.
But this place has inspired me
to become a different person. I care
and I can require things of people
without being an asshole about it.
I think my dad would be really proud
of what we've done here.
He just always wanted to see me do well,
and he always told me I could.
And this place was my opportunity
to-to prove him right, and I know
that he'd be really thankful to Taffer.
Peachtree Corners better look out
because this place is gonna boom.
My work is done, isn't it?
- Yeah. - Yes, it is.
He's got this now, doesn't he?
- I know he does. - I know he does, too.
- Give me a hug. - Thank you.
- It's my turn to work. - Congratulations.
- Can I get a hug too? - Oh, gosh, yes.
These are my favorite rescues of all.
- Congratulations, buddy. - Yes, sir.
Congratulations. Take care everybody.
All right. Bye.
I didn't rescue a bar this week,
I helped rescue a family and a family legacy.
That's what this is all about.
[upbeat music]