Like ten pounds of shite in a five-pound bag.
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 his shit?
Staffing shortages.
Every week, we get a new staff.
We have to crash course them.
And consistent health concerns.
This can't fail.
It just can't.
narrator: So now, Jon is back out on the road
and heading to Brandon, Florida
to rescue The Forge.
This is a new era for our country.
So we need to raise the bar
and rise to these challenges.
narrator: In 2019, Patrick and Mariely Crowne
opened The Forge in Brandon, Florida.
The day I walked in here,
I just got butterflies in my stomach
and I said, "This is it."
We've always wanted to own a bar.
Patrick was a bartender in New York City.
I waited tables before.
And I came in here, I'm, like,
I don't have to do anything.
I don't have to decorate. I just need to run it.
And we made so much money that first year.
narrator: The bar was an instant success,
bringing in more than a million dollars in sales
in their first year.
Kickass.
It was just go, go, go, go.
And then COVID.
narrator: But on the anniversary of their opening,
the world shut down, and their profits vanished.
I was putting money back in there
to do whatever I could to keep it alive.
And in 2020, I lost $600,000.
narrator: As the bills piled up,
Patrick's mental state suffered.
You know, that really devastates you.
It was just draining me mentally and physically
just seeing empty barstools.
And when we opened back up,
I had to redo everything that I've done for 20 years,
payrolls going up, inflation was going up.
People didn't wanna work.
I wasn't sleeping.
I am mentally exhausted right now.
He battled with depression.
He battled with alcohol.
And I think that's when everything just went south.
narrator: So did his marriage.
She filed for divorce back in October.
Yes, that's my wife, the mother of my children.
But right now, we're strictly business.
As far as marriage, I'm done.
Sometimes I feel like he doesn't respect me.
Don't walk away from me. Do not walk away from me.
We have our good days and bad days.
I, I feel like this is my bar.
This--I've been here since day one.
This bar matters to me. It's like my baby.
It's like my third baby.
narrator: And the cracks in their relationship
have spread to the bar.
When you have Patrick and Mariely here together,
it definitely causes massive tension.
I make [bleep] bar work in here.
- You can say that. - And you hold me down.
- I don't give a [bleep]. - You can say that.
You're the one who holds me down.
People are watching, which is embarrassing.
I have lost customers because of her.
- May God strike me down. - Okay.
I never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.
- No, make--okay. - No.
- No, I didn't. No, I didn't. - I think--all right.
Do you want me to show the screenshots,
the ones that my brother sent me?
narrator: At each other's throat,
the bar is now at risk of going under,
causing even more damage to their fractured lives.
I don't know how I've got this far.
I just keep pushing forward and praying for a miracle.
If this bar closes, I lose my house.
I don't have income
to support my family, my daughters.
If nothing changes in this bar within the next month,
it's done.
narrator: So Patrick and Mariely have made the decision
to pull back the doors, bust open the books,
and make a call for help to Bar Rescue.
I'm on borrowed time right now.
I'm glad you're both here,
and especially the two of you,
because this is not gonna be an easy week.
narrator: For the bar, Jon brings in Mia Mastroianni,
a legendary bartender at Soho House, Los Angeles.
Mia has served Hollywood elite
while also creating cocktail menus and programs
for bars across the country.
For the kitchen,
Jon brings in Chef Anthony Lamas,
from growing up on a farm
to cooking in kitchens across the country,
Chef Lamas brings an uncommon voice
to any bars' menu.
There's our bar, The Forge.
Sounds like a foundry or something.
- It doesn't--it doesn't... - Uh-hmm.
...sound like a bar or restaurant, right?
- Yeah. - But then underneath The Forge,
in real small letters it says "Irish Pub."
Probably not the best name
- for an Irish Pub. - Uh-hmm.
- Look at this place, guys. - Oh, that's big.
It just doesn't make any sense.
I see nothing that makes it look like an Irish bar.
Where's the flag?
Well, this place has a terrible vibe to it,
- doesn't it? - It does.
- That's like rusted metal. - Uh-hmm.
Look at this wall.
Look at the money that was spent.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
It does not look Irish.
The reason why I say this is gonna be
a difficult rescue is because
there's Patrick.
Point of sale my ass. More like piece of shit.
Getting too old for this stuff.
Patrick is the owner.
There's Mariely.
How's my Poutine?
Is it ready?
Mariely and Patrick were married.
Were?
- Were. - Emphasis on "were."
So they're in the process of a divorce as we speak.
- Oh, no. - Oh.
They don't talk to each other.
They don't get along, from what I understand.
Um, I understand you can sort of
cut the tension with a knife.
Relax, please.
- I am relaxed. - [indistinct]
No. It's just like the other way around,
you know, it's like there's no way...
- I, I, I... - You, you don't even...
- I'm--I am--I am not relaxed. - You have--you have--no, no.
No. You have no respect for me.
- I respect you. - It's, it's ridiculous.
He's in debt about $300,000.
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, I'm not done.
They have enough money to make it about another month.
And she won't leave. He owns the bar.
But she's claiming her turf
and retaining her position there.
We're not only dealing with the dynamics of a bar here.
We're dealing with a husband and wife dynamic.
And I'm guessing at the moment,
- they probably hate each other - Yeah.
They're right in the middle of this divorce.
- Yeah. - And if we can stabilize
the economics of this bar,
no matter what happens,
we're gonna make a situation
where they can keep their lives going on some normal course.
Uh-hmm.
There's Erik.
I'm doing plastic cups because we're out of glasses.
He's one of our bartenders
- I like the plastic glasses - Oh, plastic.
Plastic. Classy.
There's Joey.
He's another bartender.
Watch yourself, sexy.
Then there's Kim, who's the kitchen manager.
So for recon tonight,
I got two Irish musicians
who play in all the Irish bars in this area.
So, I can't wait to see what happens.
So there's Cage and Ken.
You got a, a menu of drinks or...
- We do not. - No? Okay.
Oh, no drink menu.
You just have to guess, I guess, when you order, huh?
Uh, you have any coffee, mate?
- That table. That table. - Yes, we do. Yes, we do.
- Irish coffee. - Irish coffee?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Is he really gonna serve that Irish coffee
- in a coffee mug? - Mug?
[laughter]
That's a choice.
It's coffee and whiskey,
- no [indistinct] on top. - Yeah.
Wow.
Can I try something different?
can we get a whiskey sour instead?
- Absolutely. - What's the, uh,
what's the twist in a Reuben with a Twist?
- Yeah. - The sauce.
I'm gonna do that.
- Right on. - Yeah. Thank you.
- How are you, guys? - Oh, we're good.
- Thanks for asking. - Yeah.
Have you guys been here before?
- No. - No, we're actually--
we were just talking to Joey.
- We're [indistinct] musicians. - Yeah.
- Oh, okay. - And we play in Irish Pubs.
That's not busy, but she's still engaging with guests.
Are you one of the owners?
Um, he's the owner, my husband,
- and I consider myself - Oh.
- an owner as well because I... - Yeah.
...do a lot.
She says you're the owner, that she's the bride.
She's the owner. You know that.
- Right? - Sure.
[laughter]
There's tension, you can just feel it.
They look miserable.
Unbelievably miserable.
- Do you wanna order some food? - Well, we ordered some food.
But I want someone to order, uh, the pie--the Forge pie.
- The Forge's pie? - I wanna try that.
I'm gonna share it with them, too.
All right. I'll put that in for you guys.
Right now, clearly, she's more engaged
in the running of this place than he is.
- Uh-hmm. - Absolutely.
Like he's just walking around aimlessly, it seems.
All right, Chef, we'll see what we got for you.
Yeah, I can potentially be, uh, hush puppies.
So here we go.
- That looks like fish. - Yeah, it looks like fish.
So fish went right into the same batter
that the hush puppies went into.
Right.
And let's see which fryer she uses.
So hush puppies and, and fish are going into the same fryer.
The hush puppies are gonna pick up that fish flavor.
- Hey, I'm dying. - Are you okay?
No. It's okay.
You know, I see her going in the kitchen,
going out front,
she's communicating with the cook.
She's trying, isn't she?
Jesus.
She's beating the hell out of that fryer.
That's because she didn't mix it,
to make sure they were apart,
- she just dropped it in... - Look at this.
...and then walked away.
So they're all bunched together?
Yeah, they're all stuck together.
Now she's trying to break it apart.
So it's gonna break the crust off.
And this is an Irish bar,
it's one of their most popular dishes.
- That fish... - Yeah.
- ...we can serve it like this. - Yeah.
Come on, get the food out to these guys already, will you?
- Okay, looks like... - 41.
...she's building a shepherd's pie or something.
I don't think that I have it.
Focus on one dish.
Get the dish out.
Cage and Ken ordered 17 minutes ago.
And this whole time, Patrick hasn't come back once
- to check on the food. - No.
All right, there it goes.
So Mariely,
she's going back there and helping cook,
and she's serving, and engaging with the customers.
- Enjoy. - Yup.
You know, I--I'm puzzled by Patrick.
I don't quite understand what he does there,
if anything, so I'm gonna go in and ask him.
- Okay. - Patrick,
- what the hell do you do here? - Uh-hmm.
[tense music]
What the [bleep]
Jon walked in the door,
and I don't--I don't know how to feel.
I'm cold. I'm shaky.
[sighs] I'm numb.
Jon Taffer. How are you?
- Nice to meet you. - Good.
- Who is that? Mariely? - This is Mariely.
Nice to meet you. Can we...
- Sure. - The two, stand over here.
So I wanna try to understand your situation.
You bought this one?
Next Tuesday, it'll be three years that we opened the bar.
- Three years you opened it. - Uh-hmm.
So you went through COVID hell.
- Yeah. - That didn't help matters any,
so you're losing how much of money, Patrick?
I don't wanna look at the books anymore.
So if you don't know,
how do you--how do you correct it?
Are you scared? You're so scared you won't look?
Yes.
Do you see a different man than he was
- three years ago? - Oh, absolutely.
A different person altogether, completely different.
This is not the Patrick that I married.
His mental health is gone.
Binge drinking, drink and drink, and drink, and he just, like,
sleeps during the day and then stays awake during the night.
That's a sign of depression, isn't it?
Depression. That's, That's what he's doing.
Would you like to continue to hold that against me
and hold me down on the ground and put me down
and you had to tell everybody all about it?
- Because you... - How? No one does.
...because whenever I-- whenever I shine,
I ain't [bleep] shining.
So are you shining tonight?
Well, I'm getting there.
- So you're not there yet? - Not there yet.
- It's a long day. - When are you gonna get there?
You got two kids counting on you.
When are you gonna get there?
Do you love your children?
Isn't that a great reason to accelerate
your freaking pace and make it happen now?
Because I'm watching this bar, you're running to make sure
the orders went into the kitchen,
you're then helping them make the food in the kitchen,
you're then running the food out of the kitchen,
and you're not doing a [bleep] thing.
You're running to make sure
the orders went into the kitchen,
you're then helping them make the food in the kitchen,
you're then running the food out of the kitchen,
and you're not doing a [bleep] thing.
And this is exactly the way he stands behind the bar.
Yup. Exactly.
Patrick, this is your chance.
I'm standing here.
I got a checkbook in my pocket.
I can remodel this place.
I can train them,
but not for you like this.
I ain't doing it!
He's gotten away with a lot, has he?
He, he does get away with everything.
And I'm the one to blame always.
- It's my fault. - No, it's not--no.
Yes, it is. You just--
- you just said it. - That's what I saw tonight.
- Yeah, you said it. - I saw her contributing.
And you're not.
I'm a father.
I don't get how two children can be home
and you not try.
I don't understand that, Patrick.
Help me understand that!
You have no idea what she put me through.
What is it that I put you through?
Everything after COVID, everything is my fault.
I've worked my ass off.
- I understand that, Patrick. - I've worked 90 hours a week.
But you have to continue. You have to continue.
And just because you [indistinct] the process
doesn't mean that now you get to not do it.
And I--and I broke down.
That's okay to break down.
- Of course it's okay. - But you're wanting
to hold me down.
Come on.
So I need to make a determination
if you have the strength to do this.
I can do it.
A lot of enthusiasm in there, huh?
You got to fight.
Don't [bleep] stand and...
That's the problem, you're just standing.
That's the problem!
I don't want you to just stand.
I want you to be excited that you have an opportunity now
or I'll go to another bar,
where somebody does try,
where their kids matter enough that he says,
"I'm gonna do it today."
That's who I wanna do it for.
Someone who's worthy of respect,
somebody who has integrity.
Come on, stand up!
Be a [bleep] man!
Look at the [bleep] disaster you created!
And now you're letting your family down.
All right.
Let's [bleep] do it.
I know what I've been going through
and I'm not giving up on this thing.
That's why I'm doing this.
You can't lose this, Patrick, do you hear me?
What do you do if you lose this?
If ever you needed to fight, this is the time,
because I got your back.
If you go forward,
with every ounce of my body,
I got your back.
Will you step forward?
Just tell me what to do.
Okay.
You're a good guy.
- Wasn't he a great guy? - He was.
Okay. Let's get it back.
And I want you to beef him up these next few days.
- Okay. - He needs your support
in this business.
So there's no knocking him down.
There's backing him up.
You must support him now, okay?
Okay. Absolutely.
And you're gonna step up like you did years ago,
and show us your fight, okay?
Okay. I'll see you tomorrow.
both: Thank you.
I needed to hear that.
I feel like it's, it's my fault.
And there's not many times
you get a [bleep] second chance in life
and this is my second chance.
And I'll show him.
I'll give him everything.
I didn't expect it to be like that.
Well, I'd said the same thing to him, Patrick,
I was like, "Look, man, you-- at the end of the day,
this is your responsibility.
If you're gonna claim sole ownership of this place,"
definitely needs to help.
He's gotta get his shit together.
Um, I know that Patrick is--the main focus
is on his pending relationship with Mariely,
which is understandable, that is very important.
- Good morning, sir. - Good morning.
But he's got to remember this is a priority.
What are his thoughts about making this place
[indistinct] to change?
[sighs] Me.
Last night, I saw Mariely
sort of take control of that business,
where Patrick just sort of stood in the corner,
completely disengaged,
but almost angry at every moment.
Almost angry that Mariely is helping,
is succeeding, whereas he's not.
Get everybody together, let's talk.
- Sure. - Everybody, come on over, guys.
I wanna talk to him and find out
what inside of him
is freezing him up, because he's given up.
You know, I've done a lot of Irish bars over my years.
In the culture of a great Irish bar,
it's is a place where it has a sense of community,
a sense of belonging.
When an Irish bar works well, it's very special.
But I look around this room,
I don't see anything Irish.
You didn't quite get this where you wanted it to be, did you?
- No. - No.
So tell me the story when you bought this bar
was how long ago, Patrick?
Three years ago.
And was this a goal of yours
to own an Irish bar for a long time?
[sighs]
The day I walked in here,
when we walked through that door,
this just took me back to my childhood,
where I started off working in my uncle's forge.
I just had that workshop sense of feel.
But then COVID hits, blah, blah, blah.
Joe, was it busy two years ago?
Yes.
You know, it's interesting that you say that,
because the industry is now up 20%...
- Yeah. - ...above pre-pandemic levels.
Yeah.
People were here,
COVID took them away,
and they didn't care enough to come back.
Come back.
And that is within the four walls of this business.
- Hi, what's your name? - Kim.
Kim. And what do you do here?
I am the cook.
- You're the cook. - Yes, sir.
What did you do before this?
Uh, I was an assistant cook.
So you really never cooked...
- Not the whole kitchen. - ...in the kitchen like...
Yeah. So you have no experience?
- Yeah. I mean... - You have no experience.
But you've got a lot of heart.
We got a lot of work
to turn you into a real cook, don't we?
- Okay. Okay. - Yes.
Who's your boss?
- Mariely. - Okay.
- Who's your boss? - Patrick.
Who's your boss?
- Patrick. - Patrick.
Obviously, there needs to be one leader in this building.
And that leader needs to be Patrick
and you need to support him in that.
If there's anything I've noticed in the short time
I've spent with the two of you, you don't agree on much, do you?
[muffled laughter]
Well, it's...
Were you business partners when you opened this place?
Yeah, I would think so.
I did a lot of the back office stuff, the admin.
I did the social media.
She does--she takes care of the nitty-gritty,
the stuff that I can't do.
So you need each other, don't you?
It's okay. You can say it.
How much does the friction between the two of them
- affect the business? - One hundred percent.
One hundred percent?
- That's a big number. - A hundred percent.
Has it chased customers away?
- Absolutely. - Wow.
Has he checked out?
He's checked out right now
compared to where I've known him to be.
- Was he highly capable? - Absolutely.
- So he was a winner. - One of the best.
- He was a winner. - Oh, yeah.
- You were a winner, buddy. - We wouldn't be here
if it wasn't--if we didn't-- if we didn't think so.
And nobody--we all know what he's capable of.
How do you feel when they say that?
Come on, how do you feel when they say that?
[dramatic music]
Patrick, it's okay, buddy.
Why is it so emotional for you to hear that,
that people love you and believe in you?
Come on back.
Oh, great.
Why is it so emotional for you to hear
that people love you and believe in you?
I'm gonna go talk to him for a minute.
Can you talk to me for a minute?
Oh, man, I apologize.
Don't apologize. Don't apologize.
I respect you for your feelings.
There's a reason why I'm here today with you.
Yup.
Patrick, let me help you.
Of course.
Let me help you get there,
- okay? - Yeah.
Yeah. I've never seen him get that emotional before.
To see him break down, you know, it's--
I don't consider myself that emotional guy.
But that was kind of tough.
But it was good. It absolutely needed to happen
because it shows that, you know, he actually does care.
He's in debt about $250,000.
He's running out of money.
He's put everything into this.
Are you okay, buddy?
Do you trust me right now?
Okay. We're gonna do stress test tonight.
I want a hundred percent of you.
- Sure. - Okay. Let's go to work.
- All right. Let's do it. - All right.
[upbeat music]
Hello, Team.
- Hi. - Hello.
So you guys are the bartenders here.
And I understand that you have some experience
- behind the bar as well. - Just a wee bit. A little bit.
- A wee bit? Love it. - Just a little bit.
We can work with that.
A lot of times, experienced bartenders
will become complacent and start cutting corners.
I want to see exactly how much they know.
We're gonna start with basic fundamentals
of the tools and take it from there.
First, we are going to start with
fresh lime juice and grenadine
and apple juice and Irish whiskey.
Uh-hmm.
Ice your glassware all the way to the top.
Cap, turn away from your desk and shake.
Pop the top, drain.
Ooh.
Effervescent ginger beer.
And lime, we'll garnish, and a tall straw,
and this is our fancy mule.
- What do you think? - Hmm. Delicious.
I love the drinks.
We, we have been doing this for a long time.
So doing it the proper way was a little bit tough.
However, I think once I get, you know,
a few of them down, I'll be fine.
All right. Thanks, guys. Appreciate your time.
- Let's get to it. - Thank you. Thank you.
Hello.
- Hi, Chef. - How are we doing?
Last night, there was a little bit of chaos kind of going on.
We didn't really have a system in place.
That's what we're gonna focus on.
With Kim, uh, I see a very positive attitude.
And she's trying but she hasn't been taught.
So, fish and chips.
With Kim's fish and chips,
it was just a failure altogether.
I wanna teach her how to properly fry a piece of fish,
how to properly batter, centering her up to succeed.
Let's take three pieces of beautiful fresh cod.
I rub it with a little flour,
into the fresh beer batter with some stout beer,
a little bit of seasonings, some flour.
Okay?
I'm gonna add these in.
And then the first thing I'm gonna do is
give that a quick stir
so we won't stick to the bottom.
We're gonna let that go about four, five minutes.
We have some crispy fries.
I'm gonna season 'em just a little bit, okay?
Chips right there. I have a tartar sauce.
We added a little bit of vinegar in there
and it gives this little tanginess, right?
Look at this fish. Do we see that?
You can hear it, crisp.
It's almost too hot to eat.
- Right. - But that's what we want.
Something as simple as just a little fresh watercress.
Just a little brightness, right?
But look how simple that is.
Under six minutes, we put out your homemade
beer batter, and fish and chips.
Hmm. So good.
The new fish and chips that Anthony showed us,
I mean, it's much lighter and fluffier.
This one will take less time.
But, you know, tonight is the stress test
and I am ready as I'm gonna get, I hope.
Ask me how I'm feeling after.
[laughing]
[upbeat music]
Kim [indistinct] the bar? Can you just handle the bar?
The minute we get through the first bit of the rush,
we're gonna be good.
Hey, guys. So, we're gonna open in a little while.
We're gonna let in about 35 people.
We're gonna let them all in at once
because I want us to get hit,
but we don't need to get hit for two hours.
- Okay. - Okay?
What are you looking for during that crunch hour?
Jon, to be honest, I'm feeling really optimistic
about the bar tonight.
These guys really impressed me during training today.
And I, I would like to see that momentum
moving you forward through stress test tonight.
You've got this.
So, it raises a question for me.
You could make more money working someplace else,
- couldn't you? - Yes.
So, you're here because of him.
I am, exactly.
You're special.
You are. And you're a magnet.
You caused all this to happen. Come on.
You don't have to tear up when I say these things.
You should know it about yourself.
They think you're worth it.
Now, use that as an inspiration to come through for these guys
who are coming through for you. Make sense?
You guys should inspire him.
Yeah, well, he's inspired us. So, it's over here.
- Well, there we go. - Perfect.
- You ready? - Yep.
For the next hour or so,
buddy, I want you to be the best you've ever been, okay?
Show me what you got. And let's do this.
- You got this. You got this. - Yeah.
Group hug.
Peace.
The stress test tonight is gonna be hell,
but we're a good team.
Come on, guys. Come on in.
Looking on, boy. How are you?
- How are we doing, guys? - What have you got?
All righty. What are we guys drinking?
Fancy mule for me, too, buddy.
- Fancy mule. - Okay.
And the [indistinct]
Show time.
Three fish and chips.
I feel, like, my heart is gonna explode.
You got it.
The first 10 minutes of the stress tests
are really the most critical.
If they focus on making drinks two, three at a time
rather than one at a time, that'll come out faster.
It's all how they organize and act in the next 10 minutes
that'll determine the future of the whole night.
Did you just make one? Always double up.
[bleep] Yes, you are correct.
[screams]
- Walk around. - C2, uh...
You got--where's my drinks?
C2--drinks are come-- not coming in.
- I'm not-- - C2?
The boys have another drinks out yet.
Look at the tables behind me.
If we could make money serving glasses of water,
I wouldn't have to be here.
Is this the right color?
It looks pretty spot-on.
No, it does not. I'm gonna try that again.
Okay, we're approaching 15 minutes
- on these tickets right now. - Okay.
- Got it. - Let's at least keep it
below 20 minutes, guys.
At least that.
And Kim, it should be 12 minutes.
Yes, sir.
That's plenty there and that's plenty.
Just drop it. Boom.
Those are ready. Look at that.
Order!
Yeah.
Look what's happened, guys.
The food has come out
and they don't have drinks yet.
So, the kitchen is beating the bar, guys.
That's why you have to do this properly.
You have to do the service tickets while you do the bar.
- Are you with me, Joey? - Yes, sir.
But, guys, let's catch up. Come on!
Three fish and chips.
- Oh, my gosh. - Four fish and chips.
- Oh, my gosh. - One banger and mash.
What's going on?
She's running a little bit behind,
but I just--there she is. Mariely is kind of jumping in.
- She's here to help? - Yeah.
So, you got back here
and Patrick's watching the front, right?
- Yes. - Okay.
We communicated. Yes.
Okay. Look at all these tickets, guys.
- Yeah. Yes. - Do you see the problem?
Our ticket time is at 20 minutes.
We just got about eight or ten tickets
came off the printer right now.
It doesn't look good.
[upbeat music]
- Who wants another drink? - Me!
- [cheering] - See what happens, guys?
You guys are drinking them quicker than they can pour 'em.
Sorry for the delay, ma'am.
We're waiting on the buns for these.
I got the buns coming.
Now we're gonna throw those away
'cause those got all soggy, right?
Wait, what am I doing? I have to put the batter.
- What's up? - Well, it's chaotic right now.
Get out of my way, man.
There's no systems. They have no organization.
- Chicken is down. - But we can--we can run
- this chicken now. - No, no, no, Patrick.
Because this--
They're just all over the place. So they're sinking.
Onion strings are all stuck together again.
Kitchen is running what, 20-minute ticket times
and we're probably 10 minutes away?
- Yes. - So, we're gonna running
30, 45-minute ticket times?
Patrick, can we make money like this?
Nope.
Okay. We now have drinks up, but no one to run them.
Erik, why wouldn't we put these down on the other side with--
So this was supposed to be Mariely's side of the bar.
So, there's no system.
Sometimes you do it on your side,
sometimes you do it on another, does that makes sense?
I will say, yeah, system on the fly.
Definitely a system on the fly.
There is no such thing as a system on the fly.
I just wanna make that clear.
Par for the course.
I mean...
Definitely a system on the fly.
A system isn't on the fly.
A system is predetermined, correct?
There is no such thing as a system on the fly.
I just wanna make that clear.
Par for the course.
I mean...
Mariely, you got all of these drinks
sitting at the end of the bar and nobody knows where they go.
So, you have two sides of the bar with drinks
sitting to get picked up.
I don't understand why we don't have
one service bar on one side.
Half are on this side, half are on that side.
Half of you know what to get,
half of you don't know what to get.
On the other side, the other one knows what to get.
These drinks are all melting. That food is getting cold.
No matter what you do, you're in trouble.
She gets the food, now the drinks are shot.
She goes and gets the drinks, then the food is shot.
Did you order fish and chips?
Uh, no.
We are officially in the weeds.
I don't think we're gonna catch up at this point.
I ordered, uh, bangers and mash.
- Bangers and mash. - Yes, thank you.
Thank you.
How we doing on these tickets?
- The wheels have come off. - Yeah. We're unraveling.
If you notice, there-- no food has reached the bar.
And the people that have food don't have drinks.
I have a Dublin Delight and, uh, fish and chips.
Patrick, Mariely, come over for a second.
From my perspective, I've seen what I need to see.
So, have you seen what you need to see?
- Yep. - You have?
- Yeah. - How do you feel?
Exhausted.
You've got some energy back, don't you?
- Yeah. - Yes.
Okay. And you guys worked effectively together tonight.
- I think so. - You communicated
- with each other tonight. - Yeah, yeah.
- So we're on a path, aren't we? - Yes, we are.
Tell your customers we didn't make it,
but apologize and let's close this down.
Guys, we're gonna close down now.
Um, clearly, we can't make it tonight.
If you can come back in two days,
you'll get to see what we did here.
And I promise you, you won't wait for your food then.
- Awesome! - Yes!
- Thank you, guys. - That's all right.
[upbeat music]
- Hello, how are you? - How you doing, Chef?
So Jon and I, we create a couple of dishes
that you can cook a big batch up.
So, we decided let's do an Irish Stew.
So what I did is I braised some beef.
Took some stout beer, we cooked that
with the braised beef and beef stock.
We took some potatoes and celery and carrots,
onion, a little charred bread.
Just a little bit of parsley.
Very simple Irish beef stew.
Patrick, what do you think?
Growing up on Ireland in a farm,
when my grandmother would make beef stew,
this is exactly how it [bleep] tastes.
- Wow. - That reminds me of home.
That's comfort food.
- That's it. - That's awesome, Patrick.
I'm not crying.
- Hi, friends. - Hi.
So, let's revisit that original
Irish coffee that the guests requested for recon night.
It's hard to execute a hot beverage
when you don't have a coffee station behind your bar.
So, we're going to be doing an iced version.
We're gonna start three quarters
of an ounce simple syrup,
two ounces of cold brew coffee,
one-and-a-half ounces of Irish whisky.
Ice all the way to the top.
And shake.
Two ounces of stout beer, half and half,
some whipped cream.
- A dusting of... - Nutmeg.
Nutmeg.
And this is the morning savage.
[upbeat music]
Last night's stress test proved to me that we got a lot
of physical and operational issues in this bar.
But the biggest problem is the relationship
of Patrick and Mariely.
There he is. How you doing, brother? How are you?
I wanna talk to both of them
and see if I can put their relationship
at a different level.
Because if their relationship is one of mutual support,
they can run this bar better and improve their lives.
That's my goal today.
I think I'm starting to see the old you come back.
- Yeah, it's coming back. - Yeah.
We have a lot in common.
- I'm a dad. I'm a husband. - Okay.
You know, my first marriage after 13 years, I got divorced.
It's the same as me.
I've now been married 22 years, my second time.
And it's the best 22 years of my life.
You blame some of the failure on I'm Mariely, don't you?
I do. We have our flaws, but I have my flaws.
Working together is a very hard thing.
Raising two kids together is a hard thing.
It's been very difficult for you and I can see it.
You know you've lost some of your strength.
- Still there, it's just hiding. - Just did it--right. Well said.
You can blame the past on a lot of things.
Uh-hmm.
But you can only blame the future on you.
- Yeah. - Fair?
- Absolutely. - Okay.
Mariely, could you come in for a minute?
- Hi, Mariely. - Hi, John.
Sit, please. Relax.
What do you think of last night?
You know, I think that they did
the best that they could.
Um, and I'm actually kind of proud of them.
- To good people? - Yeah.
What do you want for him?
I want him to come back and be the Patrick that used to be.
You gotta get your emotions out of this.
He wants the best for you. Don't forget that.
And now I ask you,
because Mariely want the best for you.
Do you?
Of course I do.
What does she need to do
to help you gain some confidence in that?
Tell her.
Let me do what I want to do.
Give me my confidence. I know what I'm [bleep] doing.
- Okay. Thank you. - You can make this work.
If you respect each other, we can go anywhere.
- I got to go to work, guys. - Okay.
- Thank you. - See you guys tomorrow.
I want to allow Patrick
to do whatever he wants to do with that bar.
I really realized let him just run with it.
And I think that he has stepped up.
There is a new Patrick in town.
You know, the confidence is back.
It's hard. And I can see that you're coming back.
Now, I'm gonna set them up for success
but they have no money.
I have to open this bar right,
which means it isn't just gonna open tomorrow.
It's gonna launch tomorrow.
I gotta pack this bar from day one
to give them the money to get out of debt.
♪ There is one thing you can't commit ♪
♪ And that's insult this star ♪
♪ So don't you ever raise your voice ♪
♪ Because they're behind the bar ♪
Hey!
♪ There is one thing you can't commit ♪
♪ And that's insult this star ♪
♪ So don't you ever raise your voice ♪
♪ Because they're behind the bar ♪
Hey!
There's nothing like a great Irish bar, do you agree?
Yeah, yeah!
Great dream.
But you got beat up so much you couldn't get there.
Patrick, I came here because of you.
I came here to change this.
You got two little kids.
You got a family that matters so much to you.
You got great friends in Erik and Joey and Kim
who really believe in you, buddy.
And I do, too.
You didn't accept that so easily.
- Did you at first? - No. No.
And how does it feel now when you think about it?
Confident.
I wanted to take your dream, Patrick,
and make it materialize.
You ready, buddy?
Nope.
Well, you gotta be. Here we go.
Ready? One, two, three!
Oh, my God. That is so awesome.
Oh, my God. It's beautiful.
- Wow. - Looks good?
It looks beautiful.
Seeing your name in lights is crazy.
Hopefully that sign inspires you every day.
That sign was created by Signs Now with Brandon.
A great local company.
Joey, does not look like an Irish bar?
If you can see it on the street, yeah. That's the--
Is there any doubt what this is?
No question about it. No question about it.
- You guys ready to see it? - Yes. Yeah.
- All right. Go ahead. - Yes, yes.
- Oh, my God. - Oh, wow.
Holy Molly.
Wow.
I got--I got a match [indistinct]
Back out on the bar, this is so sick.
That's beautiful.
Dude, look at the seats.
Hey, that's insane. Feels like Christmas in here.
Like, everywhere I look, like, there's a present
left for me everywhere.
This is [bleep] amazing.
Patrick, what are you looking at?
That's your family crest.
- I've never seen that. - It's from the Irish archives.
That was my identity. This is my [bleep] bar.
The stained glass is absolutely gorgeous.
I got Jason Hulfish, a good friend of mine
from Grand Theming to fly in,
create all the stained glass windows.
He created the barrel display for you.
You have a merchandising screen on the side over there.
I love that.
I also wanted to set you guys up with a nice menu.
- Little details matter. - Thank you.
Manitowoc crystal craft premier ice machine.
Big inch-and-a-half cubes.
Beautiful cubes.
Then SkyTab POS
is Shift4's newest POS system.
- Wow. - And then I got your Partender.
And you track your inventory in 15 minutes a week.
I also got you PathSpot.
You wash your hands,
if you get a green light, you're clear.
And Kim,
hold it in front of you. Let me see.
Yay!
Guys, Mariely did call. She wanted to be here.
She's not feeling well tonight.
But right now guys, it's all about us. Okay?
- Yes, sir. - Let's get to work.
- Absolutely. All right. - Yes.
[guitar music]
How's it going, guys?
We're doing great. We're doing great.
Come on ahead and welcome to The Crowne Bar.
Come on in. Don't be shy.
Hello, hello. How are y'all doing?
Take a look at the menu, guys. Get a look at over.
So, is there a drink list?
Is there a drink list for tonight?
Something makes me think,
you've been to an Irish bar before.
Have you been to this one before?
- Yes, sir. - What do you think of it now?
I like it.
Shake it.
Kim, from night one to tonight,
oh, my gosh. And look at that. Boouah.
She was focusing on our dish from start to finish.
Really exciting to see, I'd hire her in my kitchen.
Five dish.
Do you know what it's called?
- Fish and chips. - Uh, no, sir.
- I apologize. - What's wrong?
Uh, I got one order of fish and chips in G1
but I don't know where the hell it's gone.
Right now, we don't know where food is going.
Nobody put table numbers in on some of the tickets.
How is everything so far?
Are you still waiting for [indistinct]
But look at Patrick.
He's completely engaged.
He's energized.
He's gonna figure it out.
- Here you go, darling. - Thank you.
- How are we doing? - Average ticket time?
- Seven minutes so far. - Excellent. Excellent.
Thank you. That was beautiful, by the way.
Oh, yeah. Nicely done!
Man, like I've done this at least once or twice, right?
Of course to show, Patrick's lucky.
- You're right. - He's got two competent people
who really love him
and are really trying to come through for him.
They've worked really hard.
- And I'm proud of them. - I am, too.
Are we caught up back there?
The kitchen's starting to pick up, pick up, pick up.
- Okay. - So, thank you.
Having Jon yell at me was a--was a wakeup call.
I haven't slept all week.
But what Jon Taffer has done
not only helped my bar
but helped my personal life
and my mental struggle.
He's the real [bleep] deal.
- Here we go, guys. - All right.
You're drinking an Irish coffee.
All right. Come here.
I just want you to look at this.
Just, just take a deep breath and look.
Look at your bar. The identity of your Irish bar.
My work's done, buddy.
You're a magician.
Nah. I did it for you.
- I saw the old Patrick tonight. - Yeah.
So, that's my thank you right there.
- Thank you, buddy. - God bless.
Patrick really solved problems tonight.
He dove in tonight. He figured it out.
He got the food to the right place
but most important, he made himself successful.
[upbeat music]
announcer: Promotional consideration provided by,
Skytab POS, PathSpot, Partender,
Draft Medic, Tektronics,
Lowegear, Manitowoc, Grand Theming, Clovers Revenge,
The American Clean, LLC, Signs Now of Brandon,
One Stone, All Time Favorites Incorporated,
Rotorooter Services, Three Bulls Tavern, and Esri.