You wanna take that one?
No. You go ahead.
A burning dumpster fire.
[dramatic music playing]
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 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 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 The Colony, Texas
to rescue Ace's Sports Hangar.
This is a new era for our country
so we need to raise the bar
and rise to these challenges.
NARRATOR: In August 2020,
married couple and seasoned bar owners,
Will and Candace Kuhn
purchased Ace's Sports Hangar in The Colony, Texas.
We have four bars right now.
We've had as many as seven.
Typically, Candace designs the bar,
and then when she's done building it,
she tosses me the keys and I run it.
Will and I talked about me having my own bar,
and I came up with Ace's.
My son's name is Ace.
So I kind of just started rolling
with all the thoughts of that.
She was just really gung-ho
on wanting to open her own bar,
and so I was fully supportive of it.
We used our savings to purchase this bar.
We actually wanted this location before the pandemic,
and it came open and available.
We were sure this location would be one of our busiest
and so we jumped at the opportunity.
NARRATOR: Although, Will had the extensive
bar management experience,
it was his wife, Candace,
who yearn to take the reins on a bar of her own.
I wanted to slow down
and spend more time on the beach and surf,
and she wanted to go right into growing her brand.
My dream was to open more than one
and to kind of expand.
Doors are opening. Let's do it.
Are we thirsty?
NARRATOR: However, operating multiple bars during a pandemic
stretched Candace and Will thin.
Everything is upside down with the pandemic.
The stuff that used to be right is wrong
and wrong is right and... -Right.
Every day is a challenge.
NARRATOR: Will focused on running the three other bars
and Candace took on running Ace's herself.
Ew. What is that?
NARRATOR: Having little experience
in running day-to-day operation,
Candace began to struggle
and the bar began to fall apart.
The cleanliness issues.
Oh, my God.
That's definitely a problem.
There's no recipes, no training structure for the kitchens.
We need more structure.
Look alive. Out of Tito's.
We are at out of Tito's.
We have no Ultra Draught.
-Do you have Makers? -Nope.
We're out of Buffalo Trace as well.
We're out of Sweet Tooth.
This guy's ordered five things
and we're out of every one of them.
We're not set up for success.
NARRATOR: Now, after only a year in business,
Ace's constant losses
have drained Will and Candace's savings.
Every month it's the same stuff.
On the food order, we have to get back down to like 30%, 35%.
Ace's financially is in the red.
It's losing 15,000 a month.
We're pulling resources from other bars.
Losing this location could domino the other location.
-It's a shit show, Candace. -I know. I already know.
I can only do what I can do.
I have done cutting budgets.
I have cut cost.
I have cut hours.
So I've done everything that I can do
and it never is successful.
I can't make it work.
NARRATOR: And keeping Ace's open
is taking a heavy toll on the couple's marriage.
I really don't think that the issues here
are her fault,
and that makes it even harder for me
because I can't comfort her
when she comes to me and asks for advice.
Closing down pisses me off
because that's everything I worked for.
This bar is literally like my baby
and I don't wanna give up on my dream.
NARRATOR: Before Ace's Sports Hangar closes for good,
Candace and Will have agreed to pull back the doors,
bust open the books,
and make a call for help to Bar Rescue.
If we have to close the bar,
I feel like all of my dreams will be done.
For this rescue, I'm in Colony Texas,
just north of Dallas
and right next to Lewisville Lake.
I'm in a bar called Ace's Sports Hangar.
This is a really big bar,
so I've asked my team to bring my command center back
so I can watch everything happening inside.
[tense music playing]
And I've asked one of my best culinary experts
to join me for this recon.
Good to see you, buddy.
Good to be back.
NARRATOR: For the kitchen,
Jon brings in Chef Anthony Lamas.
From growing up on a farm
to cooking at kitchens across the country,
Chef Lamas brings an uncommon voice to any bars menu.
You know, before we even look at this,
how's your restaurant doing?
People are just out and about.
-They're spending money. -So...
-We're up 15%, 20%. -Bingo.
Every restaurant I talked to
tells me they're up 15%, 20%, 25% revenue.
Compared to this time last year
during the height of the pandemic,
this is a boom period for hospitality.
So I believe if we retool these businesses
to seize this opportunity now,
we could change their mind.
What the hell is a sports hangar?
How many people have driven by this building
and not knowing what the hell it is?
Absolutely.
So the bar is owned by Will and Candace.
They're married.
Are you all planning on playing all those games?
There's Candace.
How are we doing on chicken times?
There's Will, the co-owner, Candace's husband.
-Dang. -We got 20-minute ticket time
on a mushroom burger.
Shit.
Will has owned a number of bars in his life.
Candace wanted her own bar.
So Will agreed.
So they opened this bar in 2020, a year ago.
They've lost $290,000.
I don't know. That's not as bad as the beer order
not showing up today.
-How are you guys doing? -Good.
Good. Have you all been helped yet?
There is Kelsey. She's the manager.
An old fashioned [indistinct] that have bitters on it.
Simple.
There's Emily, bartender.
-Are we thirsty? -Yes.
Jason, he's another bartender.
And there's Tyler, your cook.
Tyler, you good?
We've got one order of chicken fingers left.
What do you think about the exposed armpits?
Would you allow that in your kitchen?
Absolutely not.
And it's a health violation.
Hey, did we not place an order for chicken tenders?
-So there's Candace. -Monday, we didn't had any--
-Oh. -That's the problem.
Complete rookie stuff.
We can see the disorganization already.
So what, we can get it out now and thaw it?
It's not gonna fire like that.
[laughs]
Wow.
So, for recon,
I wanted to get somebody
who really knew sports bars in Dallas,
so I got Nick Solak,
second baseman for the Rangers.
Nick does promos, charity events.
He goes to sports bars all the time.
And he's here with his fiancee, Roxanne.
Okay. There they go.
There's Nick. There's Roxanne.
NARRATOR: Jon spies enter Ace's Sports Hangar,
a 2,800-square-foot space
with 100 beer taps behind the bar,
a single pool table,
and a rundown kitchen in the back.
-Hi, honey. How are you? -How are you?
What you drinking, mama?
Could I have a drink menu, please?
-I don't have one. -Oh, no drink menu? Okay.
But you're one-on-one. I can do your martinis.
-It's really simple like that. -Um...
hey, can you make a ranch water?
-Yeah. -I'll have that.
Salt on them or no?
-Yes. -Yes?
What kind of Bourbon drinks do you have?
Ooh, it's just, you know what,
I don't have any sample of bitters,
any of that to old fashion tonight.
Really, we're not good and hot in here, to be honest.
You got like--you got a sweet tea or lemonade?
Um, I do have lemonade?
-You wanna do that? -Yeah.
-Can I do a bourbon lemonade? -Just the house?
-Yeah. -Okay.
It's kind of a weird vibe all the way around.
Didn't really have that sports bar feel.
No drink menu.
That's interesting.
I could not see Rangers fans or Cowboys fans
watching a game here
unless they drastically change the environment.
[coughs]
Maybe better drinks would also change the environment.
Strong.
[chuckles] He's puckering up.
I need to stir it up a little bit more.
-That's not great. -What?
The first three minutes are not going well, are they?
You guys doing all right?
I think we're ready to order some food.
What can I get for you?
I'm gonna try the cowboy burger.
-Okay. -How about for you, sweetie?
I'll have the catfish platter with hush puppies.
Catfish platter with hush puppies.
That sounds good.
-Thank you. -Awesome. You're welcome.
Okay. Let's, let's keep an eye on cook here, Chef, okay?
Yeah. No gloves.
All right. What do you need help with, Tyler?
Okay. There's Candace.
She put gloves on. Good for her.
-Those-- -Holy molly.
Those wings are supposed to go now.
One, two, three, four, five, six tickets,
and they got three up there.
So they got nine, ten tickets going right now.
Let's go. You got wings dropped?
Those are coming out right now.
-What about-- -All of this shit
all came out at the same time.
I know it did it
but we are already at 15-minute ticket time
and we haven't started cooking it, so--
Yeah, they have no system in place.
Where is the other wings?
That's the last bag of wings right there too.
They didn't come on the order.
This isn't even enough for the tickets
that you have up here.
I know this because
I didn't get to see any of these tickets.
All right. Let's just count it out.
So unorganized.
That's the one where--
we said we were out of chicken tenders and he ordered it.
So I said we did-- I told Candace we didn't need it
because he--he end up getting this chicken tenders.
-Okay. So we don't need this? -No.
Wow.
If we don't have chicken tenders,
-do we have chicken breasts? -We don't need this.
Why are we making food we don't [bleep] need?
Will and Candace,
they have different ways of doing business,
but I think that Will could communicate
a little bit better to help Candace.
Oh, my God.
Why are we making wings that we don't need
when wings are so deprived?
I don't know where he got those.
This is remarkable.
It's complete chaos.
-We haven't started it. -They're not getting trashed.
Okay.
-Well, they haven't been touched. -All right, Will.
-You can't reuse wings. -Okay.
I can't take this much more.
Nick still doesn't have his food.
He's not gonna have his food for a half hour.
It's giving me a headache.
-Who is? -The kitchen.
Now, what is Will doing?
Why doesn't he jump back there,
I mean, you know, as the owner?
How about that burger for the [indistinct]
He's doing it right now.
The rest of the food has been out 20 minutes.
You gotta try harder. This is--
I'm not cooking it.
-My burger-- -This is embarrassing.
I mean, they've been open for what, a year?
And it's like it's their first fricking day.
This is hilarious.
I would say slow down the food orders but I don't--
I mean, they're not even busy.
And there he is grabbing the--the raw ingredients
with his bare hands.
Look at the--oh.
Oh, my God.
And he just wipes it on his-- look at that.
He grabbed the plate.
-Oh, my God. -That's it.
Let's go inside. I wanna stop them.
-Yeah. -That food's not going out.
There's nothing prepped.
There's no wings.
The chicken's not thawed out.
Like it's just not ideal.
We need a better system, for sure.
You guys are killing me.
Stop!
You picked up that bacon with your bare hands,
then put your hands all over this plate.
You're gonna [bleep] kill somebody.
You put gloves on your hand.
Don't touch raw chicken
then touch every handle in this kitchen.
What the hell are you guys doing?
Should you be touching raw bacon
and then a plate and then food?
Should you be?
No.
Are you gonna get somebody sick if you do that?
-Possibly. -Possibly?
Come here.
Have you ever cooked before in your life?
Yeah.
Is it legal to wear that shirt in the kitchen?
I guess not.
You find that funny?
'Cause you're not coming in like that tomorrow
while I'm here
and you're not doing anything you did tonight while I'm here.
This is Anthony Lamas,
one of the finest chefs in America.
-You wanna learn? -Yeah.
Well, then give me a reason to teach you.
That ain't it.
How long have you owned this place?
A year.
Will, get over here.
What do you think about what I'm saying back here?
I agree.
You agree?
How much money have you lost, Will?
$290,000.
I've learned a lot for the front of the house,
not the back of the house. You are correct.
You hadn't gotten the back of the house yet?
It's a year.
Candace, there's no fricking excuses.
You could have done better. Do you agree?
-Absolutely. -In a year,
-could you have mastered this? -Absolutely.
I--I could have tried harder, yes.
Yes, you could have and you didn't.
You blew it.
Am I saying things you would have liked to have said?
Some of them.
'Cause it's time to be honest, Will.
Let me leave you with this thought.
Out there your husband and wife.
In here, your partners, not husband and wife.
Okay. Yes, sir.
So you better talk and come in here tomorrow
and get ready to work, and I will work with you.
-Goodnight. -Okay.
Don't serve any food.
Please make sure those people don't eat.
Yes, sir.
Cut it down.
We'll go shut it down.
Some of what Jon said was correct.
The back of the house was a dumpster fire.
Shame on you, man.
Was it hard seeing her get screamed out?
Yeah. I don't like it when she cries.
And I've kind of tried to protect her from it
but this is such a mess
that it requires some guidance
from somebody other than her husband.
[bleep] you.
A lot of the stuff that Jon said is true.
Obviously, I don't know the back of the kitchen.
But it's not like I didn't know it was coming.
I just didn't know it was coming at me.
As only me.
[sobs]
I wish Will would have been more supportive.
But, at the end of the day,
this is my dream and my thing
so it's my--my problems.
[dramatic music playing]
Last night was really upsetting.
Will and Candace are in debt $290,000.
They're two months away from losing their house.
And Candace was doing nothing about it.
So I wanna go inside now, talk to the staff,
learn some of the other things that are going on in here,
and I gotta get Candace ready to learn
and, most important, ready to step up.
Oh, here he comes.
-Jon. -Hello.
-Good to see you again. -Okay.
Guys, why don't we all get together? We got a lot of talking to do.
After last night, it was extremely stressful.
I was kind of in shock, to be honest.
I think the staff really realized
that we need a lot more help than what they thought we did.
Let's just run across the room.
-What's your name? -I'm Kelsey.
Kelsey, what do you do here?
I am the manager.
You're the manager.
So talk to me like a manager right now.
What's wrong with this place?
Well, it just starts from right when you walk in.
The doors are broken, the AC is broken.
Um, the little hump behind the bar,
we had people constantly tripping over it
all of the time.
We are out of mostly everything.
Uh, we're trying to change the beers out
from the seasonal and stuff
but we don't have backup kegs.
We're out of everything in the kitchen.
It goes to like sometimes they don't even tell us
we're out of dish soap and stuff like that.
So I have to triple check that.
We've been washing dishes without soap.
I mean, it's just-- everything really.
Do we not have the money to buy dish soap?
Yes, we do.
Some weeks, no.
-Well-- -We have--
we have to clear our rent
and our taxes every month to stay current.
And then we try to play catch up
or we pull from other locations.
Do you do the schedule?
No.
So how does she manage then?
You're supposed to be a supervisor
but you have no authority. -Yeah.
So you're a glorified hostess, aren't you?
Yeah.
So she has no management credibility to you?
-No, sir. -Yeah.
-What's your name? -Jason.
Jason, nice to meet you.
-What do you do here? -Bartender.
So who's the leader here?
Um, I'll kind of say the inmates run the asylum.
Yeah.
I'm sort of thinking that's what you're gonna say.
So if you need a decision or an answer to something,
you pretty much just do it yourself?
You make it-- you make it yourself.
Make it yourselves?
Every week, we get a new staff.
We can't keep staff
so we get a new group of knuckleheads in here
and we have to crash course them.
And our interview process--
Maybe the fact that you call them knuckleheads
before they even walk through the door is a part of it.
-Maybe. -Right?
That kind of attitude
is certainly not gonna keep employees.
Understand, people don't walk out.
You chase them out.
Candace has had this place for how long?
-A year. -A year?
So in a year, Candace,
you've gone through God knows how many employees.
You've been ineffective creating a manager.
Even I'm not sure if you selected her correctly or not.
I don't know.
I'll figure that out in the next 24 hours.
I don't know if she's good at what she does or not,
but it doesn't matter 'cause you didn't set her up to succeed.
You let a guy come to the kitchen
who's wearing a sleeveless shirt.
You're not managing any rules.
I mean, here's the reality that you guys don't know.
This bar is losing how much a month, Will?
Ten to fifteen thousand.
Ten to fifteen thousand dollars a month.
Could you imagine?
How much longer till you lose your house, Will?
-A couple months. -A couple of months.
They are 60 days from losing their house.
Finding out Will and Candace are close to losing their home,
it's just sad that they'll lose this bar.
Then I lose my employment,
my way to take care of my kids.
Have you been in a bar business before?
Yes, sir.
-How many bars have you owned? -Seven.
Seven. Are any of them still in business?
-Four. -Four?
So what would you do if I wasn't here?
-We would have closed. -We would have closed.
Do you know what you're doing?
I don't know, Jon.
I try to give her space
to where she can grow into the position.
Did you ask him for help?
Did you know she was sinking?
Not like this.
Boy.
I gotta tell you I wouldn't let my wife
sink that low and not know it.
So you gotta take some responsibility for this, Will.
So the fact of the matter is you're Mr. Bar Guy,
you're Mr. Experience.
You put your wife in this environment.
It was a good idea to open this bar in this location
but you seem to have abandoned it
and left her to blame.
Either you're full of shit
or you're one of the stupidest bar owners I've ever met.
It's one of the two.
Either you're full of shit
or you're one of the stupidest bar owners I've ever met.
It's one of the two.
You should have seen the look on her face.
You should have seen the frustration.
You should have said, "Honey, what's going on?
Can I help you?"
It is very difficult
because there are lines between
like a business partner and a, a spouse.
I can get very upset with a failure at work,
and it is hard to turn that off once you do go home.
Okay. We got a lot of work to do.
I'm gonna bring my experts in.
Come on in, guys.
We gotta up our game here.
Derrick and Anthony will help us do that.
NARRATOR: For the bar,
Jon brings in Derrick Turner,
a mixologist from New York City
who's named the top 10 bartender
by Time Out Magazine.
Derrick has worked with both craft spirits brands
and major breweries across the country.
Okay. I wanna talk to the two of you for just a minute,
so why don't you guys go ahead and go to work?
Check out the bar with the bartenders, if you would.
Check out the kitchen. I'll be checking you guys in a minute.
I want just to pull you guys together,
-not pull you apart. -Uh-hmm.
I'm not here to--to be that.
Is there something that you need to talk about together
-to get better? -Oh, no.
We did last night.
When we argue or if I'm frustrated,
I just needed to go cool off by myself.
We used to fight a lot
when we had the other locations before this one.
We have very different management styles.
And when she wanted to open this bar,
she wanted to have her name and her footprint...
So you don't wanna step on her toes...
-Correct. -...'cause this is her baby.
-Right. -Then you gotta give him license to.
-Yes. -You have to tell him that that's okay.
That he can come in here and do this for you.
-You guys need each other now. -Right.
This is not the time for any kind of walls...
-Right. -...or break communication
or any of that. You with me, buddy?
-Yes, sir. -She needs you.
You know, last night, Will and I had some talks
when we got home.
We're on the same page.
But, at the end of the day,
this is my idea and my bar.
And I depend on him a lot and he depends on me as well.
-How you doing? -How you doing?
-Good. -Good?
We have a lot of stuff we have to work on.
Could I have a drink menu, please?
-I don't have one. -Oh, no drink menu? Okay.
You guys don't have a cocktail menu.
That's a big problem, right?
There is absolutely no cocktail menu.
We're starting with a blank slate,
so we need to build up from the ground floor
and get them to a sky-riser.
-I'm going to have Emily-- -Okay.
--and Jason, I'm gonna have you guys
come back individually and make a margarita for me.
I couldn't see what happened last night
but it sounds like it was pretty bad.
[coughs]
It's not great.
I really need to test their skills,
see where their level is at, and then adjust from there.
Consistency is so important because that's your money,
that's your clientele, and that's your drink.
If they're off, you're losing money.
That's very sour. -Okay.
That's even more sour and a little bitter.
So that's something that we have to work on.
Now, this drink is called the Cowboy Ranch Water.
So we're gonna start off with equal parts,
one ounce of lime and grape juice,
three-fourths of an ounce of agave,
-two ounces of what? -Tequila.
There we go. Ice it up.
Pop it.
Spritz. And that is a Cowboy Ranch Water.
Guys, we have a lot of training to do.
We have to get this bar ready for stress test.
Let's do this.
Let's get this, all right?
-Let's do it. -We got this.
Hello, everyone.
Tyler, you look good in sleeves.
I try. [chuckles]
Last night, this kitchen was a disaster.
Handling of food was a big concern.
We have a lot of work to do.
So, important,
you should always have a glove.
Today, I'm gonna introduce chili con queso nachos.
We're gonna take nachos, something that's very classic
in a "sports bar" type of ambience,
but giving it an elevation.
All right.
Corn tortillas, homemade beautiful queso,
homemade chili, a fresh pico de gallo,
a little scallion, and crushed nachos.
Everything made in house.
Whenever you're cooking,
the more you learn, the better shit comes out.
I've kind of lost my spark in the past couple months,
but I think I can get it back
and it's gonna be pretty awesome.
All right. We have a lot of work to do.
We're gonna have to stress test tonight.
John's gonna feel this place.
-ALL: All right. -We're gonna have
to come together, teamwork,
and let's, let's knock it out of the park, all right?
-Yes. -It's gonna be stressful.
-Yes. -But, hey, we're, starting
-to go up. -But better than last night.
Yes.
[upbeat music playing]
-Jason, we good? -Yes, sir.
Ready to rock and roll?
Gonna need to stress this.
I'm a little worried about them memorizing
the cocktails and just communicating.
So we'll see what happens.
Somebody told me a phoenix rises from the ashes.
-There you go. -All right.
I got my pad. I got my pen.
It's gonna be a doozy.
I'm a little nervous tonight 'cause everything
kind of comes in at once and everybody learning
all the new stuff.
We may be really getting our butts kicked.
You know the table numbers, right?
-I made them up. -One--
Eleven, twenty-one, and thirty-one.
I hope Will and I can work as a team tonight
and kind of feed off of each other
and help each other out.
We'll see how it goes.
All right. So I got about 40, 45 people out there.
I'm gonna let them all in at once on purpose, guys.
It's a stress test.
Where do you think your best place is tonight, Candace?
I thought I would work the floor and have Will expo,
and we would talk and kind of switch out running
the food and out being on the floor.
Okay.
So then if that's the case,
then where do you see Kelsey?
Helping with the bar and if I need help
-on the floor as well. -Okay.
Make sure that everybody understands their role
completely and make sure
that we're set up to communicate with each other.
That's the key, okay?
-Got it. -All right.
-Go do you thing. -All right.
-Go team. One, two, three. -ALL: Go team.
[laughter] That did not sound very strong.
Hello.
Everybody come in to Ace's.
[cheers and applause]
[upbeat music playing]
Come in.
-Welcome. Welcome. -Hello.
Hi. Do you know what you want to drink?
Yeah. I want to try the Cowboy Ranch Water.
-Okay. -Do you want the nachos?
-Yes. -Got it?
Okay. Three nachos and three of the Longhorns?
-Yeah. -Perfect.
-Thank you. -How you doing, guys?
-Good. Good. -Do me a favor.
One of you, turn your stopwatch on.
-Okay. -I wanna see how long
it takes you to get drinks, okay?
-Okay. -Cool. Thank you.
A little bit nervous. Not gonna lie.
You actually already messed up. Your specs are off.
-Okay. -Gotta take it from you.
-Okay. -Remember, two ounces,
-four ounces. -Yes.
-All right. -All right.
-Let's get her, T. -Rock and roll.
Three nachos right off the bat.
You know, I gotta dump that. Specs were off.
-Okay. -Can we do that again?
You know, the first 10 minutes are so critical.
Either they get the orders in and drink start to flow
in the next five or six minutes or they don't.
Then the whole thing's gonna break down.
You got people in front of you that doesn't have drinks.
I'm gotta take it from you.
You did an ounce and a half, not two ounces.
-Darn it. -You gotta do it again.
-Okay. -You didn't muddle.
Okay.
That's a popular item right off the bat.
You got two more chili con queso.
So that's three, four, five, six, seven all day.
Son a bitch.
So talking to you. You get the food orders in?
-Yes, sir. -Okay.
When you're done-- check your floor, Candace,
-when you're done. -Yes, sir.
All right. Looks good, Tyler.
How we doing, chef?
He's, he's getting there.
We, we all of a sudden were slammed here.
-We got a lot of tickets. -Okay.
But he's still filling out these tables here, so--
Nice-looking plate. Looks better, doesn't it, Will?
Yes, sir.
Too much lemon in both of them.
-Okay. -No good.
Did you guys have nachos?
There you go. And table 24.
You guys have another nacho? No.
Yours? I got you there. Sorry about that.
So, see, the issue is now, you're, you're moving quick
and more efficient,
but now food's sitting in the window.
So that's telling me something's going on out there.
So they didn't-- they didn't bring it to you
or you haven't ordered yet?
We ordered. They haven't brought it to us.
Who's got 24? They've already got nachos.
We need some food runners here.
What's our take on time, guys?
Right now, he's putting food up--
-We're sitting... -...but they're sitting
in the window longer than what--he's quick enough.
-Okay. So that's our problem. -Okay. On it.
-Follow it up, Candace. -Okay.
Do what you gotta do out there but just make it happen.
-Okay. -All right. How we doing?
She's about to run into some service problems.
-Why? What's going on? -Service, service tickets
are starting come out so she needs to handle the bar
and make sure service is gonna [indistinct] too.
Yup. So let's see how they do this.
-Yup. -Hey, what is that?
-What did you just make? -Two of the Longhorn Teas.
I have to do a third one but he tossed one of mine
-so I gotta remake that one. -Okay.
And then I need a Longhorn and a Cowboy.
-And two Cowboys, right? -Yup.
-Kelsey? -Yes, sir.
First of all, there's no silver on the table
and there's no drinks on the table.
So what are you gonna do?
I am going to grab that as soon as I drop this off.
Okay.
All right, you guys, I'm gonna grab you silverware
and I'm gonna to grab you some waters
while you're waiting on your drinks, okay?
Thank you.
The service bar is behind. They don't have drinks.
Our sequencing is falling apart.
And now they'll never get it back together again.
-I gotta take it from you. -Okay.
You know I gotta toss them, right?
I need a Cowboy Ranch Water right now.
Oh. I'm doing it right now.
Candace, I want you to see what's going on.
Kelsey just rushed through to a table.
-They have no silverware. -Okay.
-They don't have drinks. -Uh-hmm.
So the food's coming out before the drinks.
-Yes. -So be assertive. Get ahead of it as much as you can.
-So that's 21 and 23. Okay. -Okay?
Got it. Twenty-three.
Who's got 23? This one.
I need three Longhorn Teas.
-On it. Right now, ma'am. -Thank you.
Three Longhorn Teas.
Did you get silverware to that table or do I need to?
Yes, ma'am. Got it.
Sorry about the wait on the drinks, you guys.
I'll go check on that.
Hey, I need a Ranch Water.
What--yes, ma'am. Right now.
-Oh, you're finally moving now? -I am.
Oh, this is the fourth spot down at the bottom.
-We run them-- -You got what you ordered?
You got all your drinks and everything?
-Yup. -12:30. Okay.
-Not so bad. Okay. -There you go.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
They did dig out.
The bartenders actually dug out.
The kitchen did pretty well.
The systems didn't work
but the employees did.
Here's a chance here to turn this bar around.
They did better than I thought.
-Thank you, sweetie. -You're welcome.
Everybody, listen up. This is Candace.
She owns this place.
[cheers and applause]
You know, for a Bar Rescue stress test,
they did pretty good, didn't they?
Jason, good job.
Emily, good job.
Tyler, good job in the back.
Good leadership, Kelsey.
Hopefully, this is our breakthrough
and I hope I'll be more supported as a manager.
I genuinely want this place to succeed and I,
I just need guidance.
Come on back Friday night.
We're gonna fix this place up.
And you're gonna see her with the biggest smile
she's ever had.
[cheers and applause]
We ended up doing really well tonight.
We were all communicating.
Even Will and I were communicating.
I think we kicked butt tonight quite frankly,
so I think it's only going to be better tomorrow.
Let's close this out, finish up 'cause we got
to go to work, okay?
Will do. Yes.
Yay.
Okay. We did this.
Look at this for a minute, guys.
So this is the colonies,
which is this area of Dallas.
Ninety-seven thousand per household median income.
So this is an affluent community.
Look at all the houses.
You got lunch business here, don't you?
-Big time. -You got dinner business here,
-don't you? -Absolutely.
Guys, this is a great marketplace.
But every one of these orange dots
is a competitive bar.
We gotta come up with a concept that sets this place apart.
And here's what gets me.
I walk up to the front of the building and
it says Ace's Sports Hangar.
-What's a sports hangar? -It's--[laughs]
I don't know. So we got a branding issue here.
So I wanna position this as a real sports environment,
but I wanna keep it family friendly.
What kind of cocktails do you sense here?
We have to have something that's clean, crisp,
refreshing that you can have a few of.
And, you know, whiskey is huge growth in Texas now.
-Of course. -So we gotta have
a great whiskey cocktail so that we can capture
all those trends. What kind of food program?
You started great with the nacho, Chef.
-Yeah. -You fixed this environment.
Where else do we go?
-I think Tex-Mex. -That goes great with whisky.
-Absolutely. -Goes great with a margarita.
We're starting to come together with a plan
-that makes some sense. -Absolutely.
All right, guys. It's a little late.
-I'll buy the coffee? -Copy that.
All right. Let's go and do this.
All righty.
[upbeat music playing]
Listen, I did not have a lot of faith
in you guys last night but you pulled through.
The stress test last night went really well.
A lot better than I expected.
But it wasn't perfect.
I'm looking forward to these guys just honing in
and making sure that they know
their drinks, they know the technique,
and they're comfortable to get them
where they need to be.
With that being said, Jon and I created
three new cocktails for your cocktail menu
on top of the three that you learned yesterday, all right?
So the first cocktail is gonna be called
Heads On Tails.
We're gonna start off with three-quarters
of an ounce orange liqueur, three-quarters
of an ounce of lemon, two ounces of bourbon.
Ice it up.
Over the shoulder.
Pop it at four.
Navel to navel. Spitz.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Heads On Tails.
What do you think of this cocktail?
It's very complex. It has the different layers
-that you were talking about. -Yeah.
-I think it's very nice. -Hello.
-Hello.
Hello, everyone.
So stress test, you did pretty well
and they love the nachos, all right?
So I'm gonna jump right into it.
So today we're gonna introduce a Latin Tex-Mex dish.
I think the Ace's customers are really gonna love it.
When I think of Texas, I think of that Tex-Mex
kind of influence, right?
-Uh-hmm. -So a classic torta.
So you got this beautiful bread here.
Then we have our barbecue pulled pork.
A nice refreshing coleslaw.
These little onion straws on there.
And then a little cilantro.
Here's a classic of cultures.
-All right. -A full course torta
with coleslaw and crispy onion straws.
That's damn right.
That pulled pork was actually pretty awesome.
Uh-hmm.
The costumers, they're gonna like every bit of it.
-This is very good. -All right.
We're gonna rock it. I feel good about it, okay?
-Yes. Let's do it. -Let's do it.
Let's get to work. We'll start prepping.
-All right. -All right. Let's do it.
[upbeat music playing]
So what's your plan for down here?
My thought was the tables.
There's so many tables going against the wall,
making it just look like it kind of--
like it just disappears.
You know, we got a good plan.
You know, we have to take this huge, tall space.
I gotta make it seem shorter.
So we're doing that from a design perspective.
If we drop a wall, down the center here--
-Uh-hmm. ---low tables dining,
high tables bar,
we've cut it side to side.
I need to make it seem narrower 'cause it's just a wide
big sea of tables.
We're figuring that out. We can accomplish that.
Two incomplete stations here, Jim.
So are we able to get a sink?
We're hoping to source one.
The fact is there's serious supply issues.
We're struggling to get the equipment
and supplies that we need.
We've got a good plan.
Now, I hope we can execute it.
[cheers and applause]
Hi. Hey, everybody.
I gotta tell you, you all did so much
better than I thought you would do.
Our first night, it was pretty heavy.
I got angry.
Got you incredibly upset.
And then you went home that night.
What happened is you came in the next day very different.
Well, we talked about a lot of stuff
and we got on the same page,
so we're ready to go the next day.
So, did we open up communications for you guys?
Yes.
Are you communicating in a different level now, Will?
Yes.
-That was important, wasn't it? -Yes.
Either you're gonna succeed or you're gonna go down
-together, aren't you? -That's right.
I think you're gonna succeed together, aren't you?
-Yes. -Yes.
All right. So you ready?
-Yes. -You guys ready?
-[crowd cheering] -Okay. In the count of three.
One, two, three.
Oh, my God.
Okay. Are you ready to see it?
-Yeah. -One, two, three.
Oh, my God.
[cheers and applause]
-Oh, my God. -This is ballsy.
I know. I love it.
It's awesome.
That is fancy as shit.
-You like? -I love it. Love it. Love it.
We kept that name, Will.
-Is Ace here? -Yes, he is.
-Where is he? -He's over there.
Hey, Ace. This is all for you, Ace.
[chuckles]
So it's a sporting bar and grill.
-Can I eat here? -Absolutely.
-Can I drink here? -Absolutely.
Can watch a game here?
I know all that immediately before I walk in.
So you guys ready to sit?
-Yes. -Okay. Go ahead.
Go.
All right. Here we go. Follow me.
-[chuckles] -Oh, my God.
-Wow. -Holy cow.
Seems like a totally different bar.
-Oh, my goodness. I love it. -Awesome.
Holy crap.
Oh, the bar is so legit.
-Oh, my. -Yeah, look at that.
I'm in shock.
I mean, this doesn't even look like the same building.
The color palettes, the textures, the wallpaper.
-It's incredible. -Now, look at that.
This is beautiful.
Try not to cry. I don't want my face
messed up, but it's beautiful.
It's absolutely beautiful.
-So fricking awesome. -What do you think?
-I love it. -Love it.
-Is that tears I see? -Yes. It's beautiful.
Grab a seat at the bar. I wanna show you guys everything we did.
So what I wanted to do is I wanted to soften up
some of it.
We dropped a non-shiny bar front.
See that different bar front?
-Uh-hmm. -It makes the bar, pop,
-pop, doesn't it? -Uh-hmm.
In the back, I wanted to define the beer areas
from the liquor areas.
And I wanted to get you Partender.
Inventory might be something that Kelsey can help with.
Then we added a nice three-compartment sink
back here. And then I got Harbortouch
to give you one, two, three terminals.
And I got you two SkyTabs.
I got Orange Door to provide you
with an Orange Door entertainment system.
Crown Audio Video is a local company.
They worked all night long for you guys.
So today sanitation is critical.
A pest spot machine.
You wash your hands.
You hold your hands underneath it.
If there's any bacteria or virus on your hands at all,
it blinks red. You go wash your hands again.
Guys, I've given you everything I can to make you successful.
We got a good-looking bar, we got energized owners,
and we got about a hundred customers standing out there.
-Let's get this place ready. -All right.
Let's do this.
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Ace's. Come on in.
-Hello. -Hi. [chuckles]
It's good to see you again.
-What's up, guys? -Aviation,
Heads On Tails, my recipe.
-A whiskey cocktail? -Yeah, man.
I got a great Longhorn toss that you'll love.
-And what do I top off with that?
-Mint. -And?
Smack it. [chuckles]
Let me get that cranberry and you're good.
-Beautiful. -All righty.
Use two hands. Come on. Hurry up. Hurry up.
-Hurry up. -Oh, I know. I know.
You were rocking the other night.
-I know. -Don't slow it down on me now.
-I'm nervous, Jon. -You're making me nervous.
Me make you nervous? I can't understand that.
-How you doing, Jason? -Doing well.
-Helping service. -Good.
We're busier than ever tonight.
[laughs]
Everybody's excited to get in here.
Everybody's excited to watch this work.
Everybody's excited to look at the brand-new,
remodeled--this place look amazing.
I'm, I'm waiting for these drinks.
I'm gonna start running their drinks as soon as they come in.
-Okay. -We're good.
The orders need to come in? Are we caught up with--
-Yes. They're already caught-- -I can see napkins.
-Napkins are helping you, aren't they? -Yes.
-They absolutely are. -Great.
Seeing Candace step up as the owner is amazing.
I'm very proud of her.
She's got control of the room.
She's helping out where there's--
needs to be helped.
That's the [indistinct] that goes to the lady out there.
They're all working together and she's leading them.
-So what do you think? -It looks so good in here.
-We're very impressed. -Incredibly different, right?
-Are you impressed? -Night and day.
We're very impressed. It's awesome.
How we doing on food?
Tickets are going up within seven minutes.
Seven minute ticket time. Yeah.
-That's what I was hoping for. -Excellent.
Will, is this the quickest service you've ever seen
-in this building? -Yes, sir.
-Pretty cool, huh? -It's amazing.
Hey, everybody. This is Candace and Will.
This is their bar.
[cheers and applause]
My job is done here.
Congratulations, guys.
Please support them.
It's a great town with a great bar, okay?
-ALL: Yeah. -Thank you, Jon.
After all these bar rescues, when I leave,
I know if they're gonna make it or not.
This staff is gonna to make it. They're going to stick together.
And I believe Candace is gonna step up.
They have a new marriage.
They're communicating.
They're supporting each other.
Candace is leading and the staff is ready.
This bar is gonna be a big winner,
and I'm very proud of it.
Thanks to Bar Rescue, we are slowly
-increasing the sales. -Yeah. It's positive.
I mean, there's more people coming in.
There's new faces that's always coming in.
That's all you can kind of ask for.
And the staff, they're doing a good job
of helping keep people coming.
So I think we're headed in a good direction.
I agree. The patrons like the drinks, food.
The happy hours are getting better.
They're getting better at making the drinks.
NARRATOR: Promotional consideration provided
by Harbortouch, PathSpot, Partender,
Orange Door, Crown Audio Video,
Peppersmash, Cody & Sons Plumbing,
Texas Custom Sportswear, S&M Amusements,
Agree Mechanical, One Stone, and Esri.