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.
The people 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 them.
And consistent health concerns.
We just can't fail. We just can't.
narrator: So now, John is back out on the road
and heading to Atlanta, Georgia
to rescue The Sandtown Pub.
This is the new era for our country,
so we need to raise the bar and rise to these challenges.
narrator: In 2017, after working 40 years
in the fast food industry,
Fredericka Jones decided to fulfill a lifelong dream
of opening her own bar in her hometown
of Atlanta, Georgia.
My dad was the inspiration for me
to get into this because
he had a liquor house that he had for like years
and we all had to work there
and we loved it. I did. I loved it.
narrator: Believing that her decades of work
in the fast food industry
would propel her to success,
Fredericka used her life savings
to open the bar.
I had to invest my own money.
I didn't have a rich relative.
I couldn't get a business loan.
Me personally I think
when I went to apply for a loan,
I've had some legal issues
in the past and nobody said,
"Oh, let me talk to her and find out
what really happened to her."
And I just stood there and they said no
- from the beginning. narrator: However,
from the start, Sandtown Pub
continuously struggled to succeed.
The bar business is nothing
like the fast food industry.
You have that extra component
when you're dealing with alcohol.
Set your station up how you need because that's one
of the problems too, the bartender say
everybody keeps coming behind the bar,
keeps coming behind the bar.
Because I have no business credit
or anything like that,
I had to take $65,000 out of my 401[k].
narrator: But it wasn't just the lack of money
or broken equipment that was holding the bar back.
Thank you. That's what I'm talking about, Amber.
We're going to say it sounds a little disorganized
because it doesn't exactly have a structure.
I'm like, "Dang, where the party at?"
You know, I've trying to have a good time at the bar.
Literally, it should be a sign that says,
"Ms. Jones is not here."
She's here in the morning time,
but she, kind of, it's a little bit more hand on.
Slide through in the evenings.
[upbeat music]
narrator: With an untrained and undisciplined staff,
Fredericka turned to her daughter Amber
to help manage the bar.
Her role is she's the owner,
I fall right under her so I guess
not technically owner
but anything she knows, I know.
narrator: But Amber's approach to management
greatly different from her mom's.
I stay out of Amber way,
Ms. Jones' daughter way, I stay out her way,
'cause I got a short fuse temper
because I don't want me and her to,
you know what I'm saying, bump heads or anything.
[grunts] What the [bleep]? We just got in here!
Darryl and Derrick are definitely the problem children.
They get away with more stuff and that's why I be saying,
you know, my mom, she babies them in a way.
She has these two, she considers her kids
but, you know, at the end of the day,
these are not her real kids, these are the employees.
You mean to tell me, if they go
jump off the bridge, you're gonna jump off one too?
narrator: And now, the mother-daughter relationship
has become strained.
If she could just tone it down just a little bit,
you know, be a little friendlier,
a little bit nicer to people, I think we will be
able to go a lot further.
It's either yes or no.
I need you to work on it.
- Yes, I will on it. - Okay. Thank you.
I've literally been working with my mother since birth,
it's always boss first, mother second.
narrator: As a result, tensions at the bar
have further caused business to decline.
It kills me when you look up and look at me.
Don't watch me, watch the people walking in the door,
like what are you watching me for?
narrator: And now Fredericka is in debt
over $200,000.
If we don't turn this thing around
within the next 60 to 90 days, we're gonna have some problems.
narrator: So before Fredericka loses her retirement,
her daughter, and dream,
she has decided to pull back the doors,
bust open the books, and make a call for help.
To Bar Rescue.
If Sandtown Pub does not succeed, I lose a lot.
I will feel like I would disappoint so many people
because I always try to tell people,
you know, I'm a great example, you can make it.
So if the bar has to close, I will be devastated.
- Welcome to Atlanta, buddy. - Thank you.
narrator: For the kitchen, Jon brings in Jason Santos.
One of Boston's most creative and charismatic chefs.
Chef Santos is a published cook book author,
as well as owner and operator
of five successful restaurants
in the Greater New England area.
So, this is the Sandtown Pub.
Sandtown is the name
of the shopping center that this bar was in.
- Don't we got turkey burger? - I'm about to see right now.
And this bar was bought by Fredericka.
It might not-- just not be made up
but we should have some.
Her daughter,
Amber also works there. There's Amber.
I just wanted to meet you, so bad.
That's Tyanna behind the bar.
Above the ground. Above the ground.
They're losing money about $6,000 a month or so.
- Yikes. - They only have enough money
to make it another two months,
they're behind on their rent by two months.
So I mean they're about to go down.
- [inaudible] at? - Huh?
We have two cooks and they're brothers.
There's Derrick and there's Darryl.
They both have two kids
and Fredericka really loves them.
Look at the side of the table,
there's grease in every crevice kitchen.
- Look at the flat top. - It just builds up
- and gets worse and worse. - Chef, there's some danger
- in that kitchen for sure. - There is.
Sitting down on his phone.
Clean something.
So for recon,
I wanted to get two people
who understood this community and understand bars.
Well, the WNBA is big in this town.
So I got Aari and Tianna
- who are two WNBA players. - Wow.
narrator: Jon's spies enter Sandtown Pub.
A 3400 square foot space
with a single bar well, a small stage,
and an outdated kitchen in the rear.
Hey, girls, grab a seat anywhere,
somebody will come and take care of you. Okay?
- Thank you. - All right. So there they are.
What can I get for you ladies to drink today?
Can I have a mojito please?
We don't have any mint, baby, no mojitos.
Sheesh, um...
I'll go ahead and try that bourbon mule.
I guess I'll try the bourbon mule.
Okay.
Um, can I do the vodka lemonade?
- Okay. - Or actually
- [inaudible] water? - [inaudible] water?
- Yeah. Let me get that. - Okay. What you got?
- Can we try hot lemon pepper? - Ranch or Bleu Cheese
- [inaudible] French. - Right.
Okay.
Okay. So these guys are cleaning up a little bit.
You see the sign over that sink?
Can I see the sign over that sink, please?
What does that sign say? Veggie Prep Sink.
But what are they prepping?
- It's like a raw chicken. - All over that sink.
All over that stainless steel.
All over him.
Okay. Now what is she doing with this drink?
Look at the cleaning supplies, so she's making a drink
right next to her cleaning supplies.
Oh, that is--uh-uh.
Oh, no.
- I ain't do [inaudible] that. - Bugs in her drink.
This is getting worse by the minute.
I remember asking for some water
and it was something in it,
it was like little particles in it,
which is pretty nasty.
Okay. So that knife is now cooking a raw chicken breast,
we don't know where that knife has been.
Now the chicken's dripping on the other cutting board.
Whoa.
Doesn't clean the cutting board.
My God.
Raw chicken is like poison
and this guy is just spreading poison
all over this kitchen.
I hope she put it in
because I'm hungry, I mean... [laughs]
I ain't never really seen a couple of them before.
I ain't never--I ain't seen a couple of them before.
You seen them before?
I think like they're from the show.
[laughter]
I got to say we can let this food go out, Jason.
I say we go in. I'll go find Fredericka.
You go ahead in the kitchen. Right away.
- Got it. - Let's call them out.
Inspect what's wrong and remind these guys
that they can get people sick with how they're cooking.
And I'll get in there with Fredericka,
and I'll meet you in the kitchen.
Got it.
Now, I'm, you be [inaudible]
[laughter]
Where's Fredericka?
There you are.
Here I am.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you also.
- I hear you're in a jam. - We are.
If we don't turn things around in about 90 days,
- we'll close the doors. - You're done?
So I got to tell you. I just sent my chef back there.
- Uh-hmm. - Because they're gonna kill
somebody back there.
They got raw chicken juice all over that kitchen,
do you know that?
- Hi, guys. - How are you doing?
Hi, hey. I'm Jon's expert.
You know, we were just watching--
I, I, I've never [bleep] seen a kitchen this dirty
in my entire life. Why are you guys smiling?
- Why you not? - Look how dirty this is.
- What's dirty? - What's dirty?
Are you kidding me? What's dirty?
You're sitting on your phone
and you guys can't wipe something down?
- Look at this. - Ain't that
- what you're here for? - Yeah, but you have
to know better, man. This is not about being a chef,
this is like common sense. Like, look at that.
- Do you think that's clean? - I did never say it was.
So you guys are okay with how dirty this kitchen is?
You're okay with a yellow cutting board?
Well, first of all, don't come up in here
trying to yell at me disrespecting me on nothing.
I'm not disrespecting you. This place is dirty, man.
Yeah, you is disrespecting me, bro.
Don't come up in here disrespecting me, bro.
Bro, you could've came up in here and say,
"Hey, look at this, look at this, bro."
Don't come up in here disrespecting me, bro.
- Let me rephrase it. - I don't--yeah, rephrase it.
- Rephrase it. - Okay. So why are you guys--
Aight, that's all you had to say, bro.
What just...
We better get back there and see what's going on.
- Filthy kitchen. - All right. Then,
- isn't that what you here for? - Yes.
Aight then. Come on now,
don't come up here and disrespect, bro.
- Then I'll disrespect. - I don't care who it is.
- Then I'll disrespect. - I don't care.
I don't care about none of that. What's up?
- You're gonna get somebody-- - I don't care
- about none of that, bro. - Listen to me.
- Shut up and listen. - No, you shut
the [bleep] up, bro. Don't tell me to shut up,
- I'm a grown ass man. - Okay.
So she's gonna lose her business,
you want me to walk out of here?
- You wanna stick it to her? - I don't give a [bleep], bro.
He don't give a [bleep], does he? Does he?
If you gave a [bleep] this wouldn't be happening.
Man, I don't give a [bleep], bro.
Ain't that what the [bleep] you here for?
Is this the way your brother always is?
Is he always an asshole like this?
- Are you an asshole? - Come on, man.
- Really? - Don't disrespect me.
I'm not the one [bleep] up, you are.
Don't disrespect me, bro.
This man's going off.
- Calm down. - Nah, bro.
No, I don't play like that, bro.
- I don't play that. - Then leave.
- [bleep] you, bro. - Leave!
[applauds]
[inaudible] me leaving, I'll leave.
I'll come get my shit. When is my time to get my shit?
- [bleep] you. - Doing all that for what?
That's what I'm saying, y'all don't wanna listen to this man.
Why you don't wanna listen to this man?
This man is here to help.
If that man going sit up here and talk like, let him do that.
Y'all be babies too [bleep] much.
See what I'm saying how she go behind him?
It's--that's what I've been saying,
I [inaudible] should be here, nobody got time for that.
We need [bleep] help.
Ain't nobody got time for that shit.
- Pull back in. - No. He's not gonna come in
and disrespect me, Ms. Jones. I don't care
about none of that [bleep] shit!
I just wanted my wings.
[inaudible chatter]
Ms. Jones, I don't know what happened.
You know Derrick is a hothead.
- Hello, ladies. - Hi. How are you?
Well, we're not gonna let you eat here
because if you eat here, I think you'd get sick.
So honestly if anybody's ordered any food here,
I wouldn't eat tonight.
Yeah, I'm not being difficult but there's cross-contamination,
there's raw chicken all over that kitchen.
And I'm scared somebody's gonna get sick,
so we're asking them not to serve any food tonight.
But if there's a 10% chance you're gonna get sick
by eating it, then we shouldn't eat, you agree?
- Yeah. - So, please don't eat,
enjoy your drinks. I will clean up this kitchen.
- It needs it, doesn't it? - Yes, sir.
I'm sorry you guys don't get to eat.
- Thank you for being here. - Thank you.
Let's get out of here. Thank you.
- Derrick just got to learn. - Yes, ma'am.
I'm very disappointed.
Things are gonna get a little heated
but don't get too heated to where, you know,
I mean it was almost a knock out drag out in here.
I don't even know what to say this time.
[upbeat music]
Hey, y'all.
What a night, like for real.
If last night showed me anything,
it showed me that Fredericka
is not in control with her business at all.
It needed to happen. Honestly,
maybe this is just going towards the right path
of what we got to do.
What I saw was completely improper.
So I wanna go in today. I got to meet
with Fredericka and Amber first.
I wanna talk to just the two of them
and try to understand what's going on.
How can a cook who is so irresponsible
still be working here?
Well, that's what we do,
we argue but then we still family.
- We still, you know. - Love each other.
A long time.
[laughter]
[inaudible chatter]
- Hello. - Good afternoon.
- Hey, how you doing? - Hello.
- Can I speak to you and Amber? - Sure.
For a couple minutes by ourselves?
Sure.
[sighs] You know, Derrick,
he is a wildcard.
We need to be quiet, dude.
What the hell happened last night?
Apparently,
the way the guy came in, Derrick had an issue with that.
The way he was speaking to him and saying stuff to him--
So he had an issue?
Gee, that's unfortunate, isn't it?
- It's very unfortunate. - So the man
is putting raw chicken on the same cutting board
he's slicing a tomato on,
he's not washing his hands.
He's dredging chicken in flour
that has raw chicken juice in it.
God knows for how many days it's not refrigerated.
Completely disrespectful to your future.
But he was annoyed.
How come you haven't been annoyed
- for the past months over him-- - I've been very annoyed.
- Are you his mom or his boss? - I'm his boss.
Doesn't seem that way, does it, Amber?
I am. I'm his boss.
How much more time do you have before this place closes?
About 90 days. Sixty to ninety days.
Okay, 90 days. So if ever you were honest
with your mother, Amber, this is the time.
So let's lay it out there because I see your mother
running a charity more than a business here.
I know this is hard for you but Amber,
I'm here to help you and your mom.
I wanna make a difference.
I don't wanna scream at people.
So, have we had problems with these cooks in the past?
- Yes. - What kind of problems?
Just I feel like trying to give them criticism
like, you know, we can give them constructive criticism,
but they won't take it and use it.
And if you don't change something,
- what's gonna happen? - We're gonna fail.
We're gonna end up closing the business.
Well, something has to change today.
I'm gonna lay it out there.
You need to step up now
and show me and show her
that things are gonna be different.
And I'll give you some time to deal with this.
I'll come in and let's have a whole team
- meeting and figure this out. - Okay.
Okay. Go do what you got to do.
- Derrick. - I'm telling you
this whole conversation was about me.
Yeah.
So listen, I need the business to grow.
I really do.
And you know I love you to death
but I have to let you go, okay?
Um, thank you for everything.
Get me out of here.
Damn.
So, are we one less of a cook or...
- We are. - Really?
Yes, we are.
So, what happened?
What'd she say?
She said what she said.
- How do you feel? - I'm good.
We need help.
But if we can't recognize that we need help,
then we're just gonna be stuck.
And I'm not trying to do that.
I'm not trying to be stuck.
- Can we all talk? all: Yeah.
All right. Come on, everybody. Let's do it.
- Hi. - Hey.
I don't come here to fight with people, guys.
You know, I want you to know, this is over
200 Bar Rescues I've done.
I've rescued thousands of bars
and restaurants around the world.
And when I hear of a woman of pride,
and I walk in and I see that in the wall and I say,
"Okay, that's pride right there."
Pride in community, pride in yourself.
Right? Pride in what we do.
So, I come here last night,
and I'm seeing this woman sinking.
How much money you losing a month?
- I want them to know. - About $25,000.
$25,000 a month.
- How far in debt are you? - Uh, $225,000.
$225,000.
And how much more time do we have based
on the money you have now, Fredericka?
- Uh, about 90 days. - About 90 days.
Uh, I didn't know about her debt.
The debt, I didn't know. You know what I'm saying?
What goes to my mind, I don't know what I'd do.
You know what I'm saying? So, obviously that just make
the pressure even higher. You know what I'm saying?
What's wrong with this place? Why are we losing money?
And if there's anything that has to happen here,
is Fredericka needs to hear the truth, right, guys?
all: Yes. - Because we got to change
what we're doing to turn this around.
So, what do you think's wrong, Amber?
Yeah, I think the food is great when it gets out.
So, definitely the timing,
it needs to be a little bit better.
There's a thing called Sandtown Slow.
Some of the regulars that made that up
where when the kitchen comes out a little too late.
Sandtown Slow.
Kitchen perspective,
what do you think's wrong with the place?
Other than that and the folks.
I don't know. Every time I, I feel like just, you know,
cleaning and all that. But me and my brother
worked so good together.
Now, he gone already.
And that's-- he never act like that.
And I...
So, he never-- don't leave, buddy.
Don't leave, man. Do you wanna go after him?
He's a good guy.
I don't wanna see him walking out of here.
He's very emotional when it comes to his brother,
- so he ain't leaving. - Okay. Well, go talk with him.
And that's my whole thing.
Like, I feel like so what?
Like, I don't care that he was yelling.
- So, he's facing it. - This man is coming into here
to help all of us.
A pro is coming in to help us.
We really got to take some constructive criticism
because if something happens to this lady right now,
she--God forbid, she dropped dead right now.
Come on. I know you're emotional.
Come on. Come on. Come on, let's walk.
Come on. Come on.
I know you're emotional. Calm down.
[Darryl sniffles]
Calm down.
[sobbing] Man, my brother
never act like that on one thing,
they gonna try to make him quit.
Okay. Come on. Come on.
- I'm trying to be respectful. - I know.
I don't even wanna talk to him.
Darryl, I want to you to have a conversation with him, okay?
Can you do that for me?
Darryl, listen to me.
Just calm down.
I'll fix it.
Or you gonna be scared to go in a kitchen
and then never sell the burger in the first place
because you know it's gonna be a problem?
These are big issues.
- What happened? - Darryl wants to have
a conversation with you one on one.
- Okay. - Um, he's very upset
about his brother. They're very close.
They're damn near like twins,
but he wants to have a one on one conversation.
And then, I'll come back and talk to you guys, okay?
- Hopefully with him. - Okay.
Okay. Where are they?
Are they walking away from me?
If they want me to talk to him, I'll talk to him.
I'm not gonna chase him.
They coming back?
- Okay. Okay. - Yeah.
So, we have no kitchen staff.
Well, they apparently walked away but, you know,
uh, I can't have your future based
upon whether they come back or not, right?
So, we have to fix this together.
- We do. - Okay. We're gonna figure out
your kitchen situation.
But in the meantime, you guys ready to go to work?
all: Yes. - All right. I'm gonna bring
my experts in, come on in, everybody.
Absolutely.
- Man, good to see you. - Chantel, nice to see you.
Chantel Anderson is a great mixologist.
narrator: For the bar, Jon brings in Chantel Anderson.
As an owner and lead mixologist
of one of America's lead bar training programs,
Chantel has worked with current and aspiring bartenders,
helping them to create simple yet innovative cocktails.
I can't say enough about Jason Santos.
He and I are good friends. We've been doing
this together nine, ten years.
Yeah, a long time.
Okay. Are we ready to do it?
all: We're ready. - All right. Let's go to it.
Thanks, everybody.
Um, you know,
I'm a little-- I'm a little disappointed
in Derrick and Darryl. And I hate that Darryl left.
Um, I'm trying to call him, see if we can get him back in,
you know, but if not, we're gonna move on with plan B.
All right. I'm excited making new drinks.
- Hi, ladies. - Hi.
- Hey. - How are you today?
From what I was told by Jon,
last night was a complete disaster.
A lot of bickering back and forth,
a lot of yelling, a lot of screaming
and a lot of uneasy situations.
So today, I will be introducing
a couple of cocktails to enhance the drinking experience.
Starting off with the Southern Hurricane,
a well-balanced cocktail,
something that your customers would appreciate.
We are going to build this.
In a mixing glass, add an ounce and a half
of passion fruit syrup,
ounce and a half of orange juice,
ounce of lime juice.
One ounce of light rum
and one ounce of dark rum.
I'm going to do a dry shake.
[upbeat music]
Garnish with a orange slice.
And here you have your Southern Hurricane.
Yes.
[slurping]
- Okay. - It's good.
That is good.
All right. So, the stress test tonight,
you guys will be under a lot of pressure
but I will be here. I will be coaching you guys.
Learning the new drinks is great.
They are definitely well-balanced.
They all have a good sweet and sour taste to 'em
but I'm definitely a bit nervous about making
three new cocktails this evening.
[upbeat music]
- How are you? - We're good, Jason.
Let's, uh, if we could just do a formal introduction.
It's been kind of a crazy 24 hours, uh,
just so we can start off on the right foot.
How you doing? My name, Darryl.
- Darryl. - Darryl, and you're--
obviously, I saw you last night.
- [laughs] - Ms. Jones, she called me back.
She asked me if I wanna come back and I told her, yeah.
You know what I'm saying? Me and my brother are different.
I understand we're, you doing this
for Mama Jones and, you know,
I, I love Ms. Jones.
You know what I'm saying? Like, like I said,
Ms. Jones is like family to me.
Because, you know, I'm like family to her.
I'm loyal to her. She always look out for me.
So, I'm gonna push you guys only to be better
than you were yesterday.
And tomorrow we're gonna push you
to be better than you were today.
I think the fact that Darryl came back
speaks volumes of his personality,
his ambition, his work ethic.
I'm happy to see him.
So, tonight's stress test,
we're gonna give you one dish
and I'm going to make sure it's awesome.
So, I have my chicken and I'm gonna fry four pieces
because I want you guys to try both
the white barbecue and the Nashville hot.
50/50 flour and masa.
Drop these in the fryer, add the French fries.
Little bit of kosher salt, some black pepper.
Shredded Asiago cheese, some chopped parsley,
some garlic.
Chicken comes out of the fryer.
Coat both sides with Nashville spice.
And you have a choice of a white barbecue sauce,
mayonnaise, brown sugar, horseradish,
Worcestershire or Nashville hot.
You like it spicy or you don't.
And now, we have two beautiful portions
of fried chicken that was simple to make.
Delicious and something visually stunning
that you guys are not going to find at the store.
- Come on. Yes. - So Jason. Quick question,
do you make your own sauces?
Every single sauce.
- Really? - Every single sauce.
And you do all this in house--
- in house? - Every single sauce.
Or you have a company that does it and produce it?
No. I make every single thing in my restaurant.
The sauces I have for you tonight.
- Interesting. Okay. Cool. - We've--I've made today, so--
So, get in here and take a bite.
And I'm dying to see what you guys think.
That's the bite right there.
I think it's spicy-spicy.
- That thing good. - Did you close your eyes?
[laughs] He's daydreaming about it.
Man, that white barbecue sauce
is something I ain't never even had before, man.
And it's homemade. I ain't never had nothing
homemade barbecue sauce before.
You can go outside and put this on the bumper
of your van and eat it. That's how good it is, okay?
So, I took a bite into that, that thing was so juicy.
- You think we can do that? - So, let's get set up
and I wanna see your best manner.
And we got off to a wrong foot last night,
hopefully we're in the right direction.
You're a good dude. I'm here to help, remember that.
Let's get going, stress test tonight.
- Let's go and head out. - Thank you, Jason.
Hey, guys, come on in.
[upbeat music]
Hey, welcome, welcome, welcome.
- Hi. - Good evening, everybody.
How you guys doing today?
Look, we're working on two new dishes.
- You'll like it, okay? - All right.
All right. Hey guys, welcome, welcome.
Let me have this Southern Hurricane,
- the Breonna Taylor. - Okay.
And that was Nashville hot, right?
Yes, please.
Anything for you, love?
She's already taken mine.
She already got you? All right, babe.
I'm gonna put your orders in.
- Counter, okay. - All right. Here we go.
The first order. What's the very first order
- with the time on it? - It's the signature,
fries, and Nashville hot chicken.
It's not--this is yours.
One of the tickets is on the floor.
I need you to kind of like talk to me
because this is kind of confusing me
and it's rather irritating.
How many tickets have you got?
There's five tickets in
but there's got to be a better system.
They're just kind of running around.
Nothing's really getting done.
Sorry.
- A little bit more. - Okay. Who's got drinks?
Not you, not you, not you, not you, not you.
You're sitting right in front of her,
you still don't have a drink yet.
So, who got those drinks that were up here?
- They got dumped. - They got dumped.
Oh, so close yet so far.
Come on. You got to move fast and I need them dropped.
You got to get them dropped.
That the issue. You don't have nothing
dropped back here.
You're moving slow as shit, bro.
Got all these orders taken but nothing's dropped.
Where are the chicken tenders at?
There's just no system.
They're just running over each other.
- Are you happy with that? - Uh, it looks good to me.
It looks good to me too.
The only problem with this,
very raw chicken.
[bleep].
Look, man, it's only a mistake if it hits the guest.
We caught it so it's not a mistake.
- Keep your cool, man. - [inaudible chatter]
Shake, smile. Smile.
- No! - I forgot. Right.
- Oh. - That about sums it up.
It's got raw chicken. We got burgers up
that are five tickets ahead.
There's no cohesiveness.
There's no communication.
There's just no system. There's no leadership.
Sorry, that's way too [inaudible].
Try it again.
- How is that? - This is, like, um,
dry in the middle.
- It's not juicy enough. - No, it looks pretty dry to me.
- A little overcooked, right? - Yeah.
How's that drink?
- Sweet. - Sweet?
Very sweet.
So, you wouldn't have another one?
No.
Too shook. I'm sorry.
They're dumping the drinks out, y'all, okay? Just hold on.
Okay. Fredericka, there's food ready to go out here.
Yeah. Yeah. Just help me with [inaudible]
Let's get this food out.
I asked you talk to me on what should we do next.
Make sure [inaudible] silverware, please.
All right, Fredericka, make sure they have
- napkins and silverware. - I'm asking you to talk to me.
That's what you're not doing.
I didn't even say nothing to you, like I just said
I just need you to talk, you're not saying anything. Talk.
Whatever. You [inaudible] in the kitchen.
Amber, go down there. Amber, go down there.
I didn't even say nothing to you, like I just said
I just need you to talk, you're not saying anything. Talk.
Whatever. You [inaudible] in the kitchen.
Amber, go down there. Amber, go down there.
Lamar, go run the [inaudible]
There's a lot of tension in this kitchen.
It's busy. These guys haven't cooked like this before.
It's some new food. I get it.
But someone's got to take control of this ship.
So, you've been sitting here, what, 25 minutes?
- At least. - At least.
Thing is, I'm a regular here.
You're--and they're still ignoring you?
Still, still doing me like this.
Yeah. So kitchen has crashed completely,
the bar has crashed. We can't get drinks out.
This poor guy has been waiting a half hour
for his drinks, can't get it.
Fact is the stress test is a failure.
- Let's try it again. - That's what I'ma do.
- We failed out here. - We did.
And they know that. These guys still don't have drinks.
- Yes. - So, I'm gonna shut us down,
- so we can go to work. - Okay.
Okay? We have to do better than this,
- do you agree? - I do.
Come back in two days, everybody.
We'll have the kitchen organized and this bar organized.
And we'll have a drink that isn't too sweet, okay?
I think tonight is horrible.
I mean, if we don't get it together,
I mean, what's the use? It's just--it's, it's horrible.
I feel like we've been through a war.
Complete failure. Disappointing.
Question is, can we turn this around in a day?
I believe we can. They need a lot of work though.
Yeah. The kitchen was even worse than the bar.
I mean, it was one of the worst meltdowns I've ever seen.
Yeah. You know what's interesting, though,
is when you look at this community,
it's about 63% married.
We go to a lot of places that are 52% married
and look at all those bedrooms.
This is a residential community,
and only one other bar in this area.
So what do you see us doing back there?
I mean, I think we stick with the chicken theme
and we just fix the product, we fix the process,
put things in place and elevate what they already have.
Yeah. What do you see for the bar program?
Oh, definitely nothing too complicated with the staff,
but some twist on some classic southern cocktails,
something to, you know, mend very well
- with the chicken theme. - Yeah, I'm with you.
So with the nice southern base cocktail program
with some familiar flavors done in great ways,
a great chicken program that protects them
- from raw chicken. - Yup.
And I think we got a concept that starts to work.
- Agreed. - And something that Fredericka
- can get excited about. - Definitely.
All right. We got a bar menu to do.
- Let's do it. - We got a food menu to do.
- We do. All right. - Let's go do it.
[upbeat music]
Hello, hello, hello, ladies.
- Hello. - How are you today?
Last night felt like a whole shit show.
Like, I was too overwhelmed.
I was too anxious.
- [laughs] - Definitely froze.
I feel like we should have communicated
a little bit better.
I actually totally agree.
I think a lot of your overwhelming came
from your proper pour counts and being
able to properly build the cocktail.
No worries, we're gonna work on that.
So today, we're gonna round out the menu
with two new cocktails
and the first cocktail will be The Rosa.
When you first see this cocktail,
it's something that will gain
the attention of your customers.
Add two ounces of lemonade, a half an ounce of agave,
a half an ounce blue curacao, 1.5 ounces of vodka.
[upbeat music]
Garnish this with cotton candy.
There you have The Rosa.
What do you think?
Oh, yeah, it's definitely good.
All right, guys. So I'm gonna have you come back
and we're gonna try out the first cocktail.
- Woo-hoo! - I think everyone did
pretty good in bartending today.
One, two, that's it.
We definitely got, you know, some more practice in.
One, two, three, uh-uh, keep going.
Four, five, six, seven, eight. Stop.
I know I definitely seen how Amber V
was practicing, she's heavy with the hand.
Pull. Okay.
I feel pretty confident going in with those.
Uh, so stress test was definitely stressful.
I definitely saw some glimpses of greatness last night,
but we have a lot to work on. I want you guys to be psyched
about what you're doing and have lots of pride in it.
So with that said, first dish we're gonna to do,
it's a great bar appetizer.
And the reason being is it's gonna incite you
to get a drink, you're gonna wanna have a drink,
and we're trying to come up with dishes
that are more economical.
So we're gonna do a buttermilk fried pickle.
So I'm gonna take these pickles,
and I'm just gonna coat them gently,
drop these pickles in.
We got this bloody Mary spice,
season it, give it a little toss.
Buttermilk fried pickle
with homemade horseradish ranch dressing.
Yesterday, like I said, stress test was wild.
But, you know, right now, it was great.
Come on with these sauces, Jason, come on!
It's good, right?
This whole process has been a little challenge,
but I'm ready. I'm ready.
I've grown a lot since learning from Chef Santos.
[dramatic music]
After last night, I'm worried,
but I see potential.
- Hello. - Hi.
- Jon, how are you? - Hi.
I see a real opportunity for Amber to step up
and really help her mother be successful.
I also wanna talk about Amber having more responsibility
to help Fredericka go forward.
What did you think of last night?
Last night was a little bit of everywhere.
- A mess? - Yes, a mess.
How many years have you guys been doing this together?
- Eight. - Would you think
after eight years, it should be a mess like that?
No, not at all.
We should have somebody expediting,
managing the orders, they should be
going out a table at a time.
- And you know that. - I do.
You deserve success.
I have a lot of respect for you.
Thank you.
How charitable you are and how she wants
to take care of everybody and she won't fire anyone.
I want you to understand if you make money in that bar,
you can take care of anyone.
You don't make money in that bar and it closes,
you're not gonna be able to take care of anyone.
So do you need a little more authority
in the bar to back her up a little bit?
Would that be helpful?
Maybe, just a little bit. Just a little bit.
Okay. Think about the things that she can do
to help you, if you say to her, you know what, the bar is yours.
I want the cleanliness, the drinks, the recipes,
the speed, the standards,
you manage the standards in the bar.
You'll take that responsibility, won't you?
- I will. - Then you can focus
on the kitchen for the next few weeks.
I'm setting up everything I can
to make your work better, to make the bar more efficient,
to have all the systems in place.
Okay.
So if you guys split up this way,
I'm giving you the tools to make that bar perfect.
And to get that kitchen just right.
- Okay. - Does that sounds like a plan?
- It does. Yes. - Okay.
After the week, I think that I am so confident
with Amber taking over and making things happen.
Okay. And I'll see you tomorrow with a brand new bar.
Thanks, Jon. I appreciate it.
Thank you.
[upbeat music]
[crowd cheering and applauding]
- Hello. - Hi.
- Hey.
So I wanna start with you, buddy,
'cause you and I started rough.
What do you think of this week?
It had been a rough week. It was good though.
We've been cool, this whole week we've been straight.
- It's all good now, right? - Yes, sir.
That's what this was all about.
Fredericka, what do you think of your team first?
I love them so much. And I'm so glad
that everybody came together
and started working as a team and we just made it happen.
Yeah.
Who was your dad?
- John Jones. - John Jones.
- Uh-hmm. - Well, when I named this bar
and came up with this concept,
I didn't only think of you, I thought of your dad too.
Because I want this to mean something to you, Fredericka.
And Amber, wait 'till you see what I built.
Are you ready?
Okay. In the count of three, let's turn around.
[suspenseful music]
One, two, three.
[crowd cheering and applauding]
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
JJ's, what's happening?
Amber, don't cry.
It's JJ's now.
Who's JJ?
- My granddad. - Grandfather.
I wanted when you walked through that door
for it to mean more than it ever has.
Well, take a look. You have an identity now,
a chicken bar.
There's only one thing left is there?
- Let's walk in. - You guys ready
- to go in and see it? - Walk in.
Okay. Go ahead.
[upbeat music]
Wow!
Look at the hall.
Oh, my God!
Oh, my God.
[inaudible]
Wow!
Oh, my God!
Look at the air dryer.
Oh, my God, y'all.
Oh, y'all got down, I love it here.
- Oh, my God! - Y'all got the ice machine.
- [inaudible chatter] - Ice machine!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Oh, my God!
How did I do?
When I walked in, the wall and just,
just the decor, it was just so different
because, you know, it's been that way
for eight years, so now I'm like,
oh, my God, this is a huge change.
It just looks like a totally different restaurant.
I got a lot to show you, guys,
so come over sit at the bar.
I wanna show you everything.
First of all, I got PathSpot
to give your hand scanner.
Then I got you guys Partender.
Partender does inventory behind the bar
in 10 minutes with your finger. It's unbelievable.
I got your Harbortouch POS Systems
and I got Intuitive AV to come in and hang the TVs,
redo the sound system, make sure all the sound is right.
You got your brand new Manitowoc ice machine,
- did you see it back there? - Yes.
Then, my favorite.
I have a dear friend named Jason Hulfish.
And Jason Hulfish is a craft carpenter artist
and he created this for me by hand.
There's nothing like this any place else in the world.
I'm not done yet, guys.
- Darryl. - [laughter]
I'm proud to give you this, man.
[all cheering and applauding]
Oh, come on, Darryl. You gotta [inaudible]
Come on back here. Come on back.
- Hold that in front of you. - You know what I'm saying?
Yeah! Yeah!
Oh, yeah, I love this right here.
- Thank you, man. - Pride. Pride, man.
It's all about pride.
When we have pride, everything changes, does it?
- Yeah, it does. - Okay?
- That's the plan. - That's the plan.
- All right, guys. You ready? - Yes.
All right. Let's go get ready. We got a bar to open.
[dramatic music]
Hey, guys! How are you? Woo!
Thank you guys for waiting.
Thank you for being so patient.
I love you guys.
Come on in, let's experience the new JJ's.
- [crowd cheering] - Just grab a seat.
We got you!
You like, you like, you like.
Hey, guys. Welcome.
Come on [inaudible]
- This is good, right? - This is so fun.
Order up!
You guys are going so fast.
You're just doing sliders, you got your bread.
Oh, you already put those up. That's right [inaudible]
let me get your two pickles.
You guys are doing great.
- You doin' good? - Yes.
- How's she doin'? - Good.
Okay. That's two, three at a time, right?
- Are they grabbing this food? - Yeah, food's going down.
Okay. Two nights ago, it was crazy here, right?
- Yes, sir. - Tonight, look at this.
Food is ready, now we're back up getting it out.
Because we're so far ahead here in the kitchen.
Calm, cool, nobody screaming at each other, right?
This is great, man. This is tight.
Keep going. You're doing well.
All of your guests have drinks. You're doing well.
Keep them coming out.
Get a garnish on that straw, and get it out.
Oh, thank you. That was just really quick.
- Yeah. - Thank you so much.
You're very welcome.
Fredericka, I'm sorry to interrupt.
I want you to know you both mean very much to me.
- Thank you, Jon. - I wanna see you be
really successful, okay?
And I wanna see your mom hand this place over to you one day
and you can carry on a family legacy
with your grandfather's name on the sign.
- You happy? - Yes.
- Are you happy? - I'm very happy.
- All right, my work is done. - Thank you.
- Now it's up to you guys, okay? - Your work is done.
- Thank you, Jon. - Jon definitely saved
my bar family, me and my mother's relationship.
- Thank you. - Make yourselves proud.
- Thank you. - Good night.
- All right. - It means the world
to me to have my staff together with me now.
We're on the same page.
A lot of ups, a lot of downs,
but at the end, we made it here,
we're here.
[upbeat music]
narrator: Promotional consideration provided by
Harbortouch, PathSpot, Partender,
Intuitive AV, PTS Promotions,
Peach Plumbing, Manitowoc, Baker Distributing,
M.A.C.K. Services, One Stone, Taffer's Tavern, and Esri.