We would make jokes about if we went into business together.
-In photography, a company... -Yeah.
...or, like, opening up a school?
But never a bar.
[laughter]
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 'em.
And consistent health concerns.
G's can't fail. It just can't.
NARRATOR: So now, Jon is back out on the road
and heading to Arlington, Texas to rescue G Willickers.
This is a new era for our country.
So, we need to raise the bar and rise to these challenges.
NARRATOR: In 2006, Clarence Grider opened G Willikers bar
in Arlington, Texas.
Everybody knows everybody's name,
and it's just where they come to get away.
And Clarence was a great boss.
And he was here all the time talking to the customers,
and he took care of his employees.
NARRATOR: The bar was a hit
and soon became a local favorite.
Let me say [indistinct]
NARRATOR: Until tragedy struck in 2019,
when Clarence passed away.
My dad was a fighter for sure,
and very--a very, very strong man.
But, um, he did lose his battle.
I can still feel my dad here, you know, I can walk in the door
and it still feels like he's, he's here.
NARRATOR: Clarence left the bar to his then widow.
And about three months after they got married
is when he found out he got cancer.
After he realized he might not be okay,
he started showing her the ropes.
They had agreed that if anything was to happen to her
that then everything would go back to us.
And, yeah. I said, "Well, you don't have
to worry about that care.
I don't think you're going anywhere."
And we all laughed about it.
And a year later,
she passed away unexpectedly.
It was a shock.
NARRATOR: Ownership of the bar
then fell to his three daughters.
I'm Carmen and I'm the brains.
I'm Caseye and I'm the eyes.
I'm Carrie and I'm the legs of the team.
NARRATOR: But after running the bar for over a year,
it was clear that the sisters
had failed to learn the business from their father.
Is anyone else coming here today?
NARRATOR: As the problems continued to mount,
the sisters now find themselves
losing over $100,000 a month.
It's definitely, um, a learning experience for them.
It's like we, we get one thing solved
-and something else pops up. -Yeah.
And then, it's just this constant game
of trying to patch things and fix things.
I think as learning owners,
we're trying to wrap our heads around.
You know, exactly what we need to do
to make it successful all the time.
I met my husband here.
-That's right. -2008.
And I don't wanna see it close.
Losing G Willikers
for the community, for the employees,
I think, it would be a big loss.
There have been--there have been people come in here since...
NARRATOR: In hopes of saving their father's legacy,
the sisters agreed to pull back the doors,
bust open the books and make a call for help,
to "Bar Rescue".
G's can't fail. You know, it just can't.
[upbeat music]
There it is, G Willickers.
Now, the first thing that strikes me is
-how dark it is. -Yeah.
The building is gray.
And one block behind this is a huge GM plant there,
there's a huge Amazon distribution center.
There's thousands of employees
but they drive by that intersection,
they don't even see this place, Phil.
No, no, it looks like another warehouse building.
NARRATOR: With the bar, Jon brings in Phil Wills,
a former bartending champion turned modern day mixologist.
Phil now consults on multiple projects
across the globe with the mission to make
bartenders in the bar industry better as a whole.
So, here's the scoop.
This bar was bought by a gentleman named Clarence,
-a Marine vet. -Oh, okay.
He ran it for 15 years, died of cancer.
Now, the three daughters have the bar.
They so adored their father
that they don't want this place to close.
That's why we're here, is to try to save these three sisters.
Help them save their family legacy.
Right.
And those three sisters don't have restaurant experience?
-None. -Okay.
They have no idea what they're doing
and they're losing a lot of money.
So, right now, there's Carrie. She is one of the sisters.
Hey, my sister is really good at this.
NARRATOR: The other sisters have fulltime jobs.
So, they're not even here.
And there's Laura the bartender.
That was a--what was it? Texas Ranger?
-Yes. Yeah. -Is that what it was?
Laura has been there about 20 years.
And she's been there a long time.
She worked at the bar when the dad still ran it.
Okay.
And there are two other bartenders,
but they're not working tonight because this place
just doesn't have the business to support them.
There's almost more employees than our customers.
Wow.
That's a hell of a drink.
Look at the size of that cocktail.
Wow.
Is that like a 20-ounce glass?
Yeah, it looks like it's at least a 20-ounce glass.
Oh, she puts more alcohol in there.
No measurement or anything.
There's got to be three ounces of booze in that baby.
So, tonight for recon, I got the local bigwig,
-the mayor himself. -No way.
So, Mayor Jim Ross is not only an attorney,
owns a law practice,
he owns several bars and restaurants in town.
And he's an ex-Marine.
And Jim is with his friend, Mike,
-who's ex-Army. -Okay.
And together, they're gonna do recon for us.
-Great. -And I was hoping
there were gonna be a few more customers, Phil,
but this is sad.
Yeah. Look at this.
Hi.
How are y'all?
Good. How are you?
Good.
NARRATOR: Jon's spies enter G Willikers.
A 2,000 square foot building
with an L-shaped bar, a single pool table
and a small stage for karaoke.
Do you have a drink menu? I haven't been here in a while.
A drink menu? Are you crazy?
[laughter]
Can you do a Ranch Water?
Can I Google it?
[laughing]
Oops. She has to look up a drink.
Popular drink here in Texas.
It's, like, one of the most popular drinks in Texas.
That would have been the first thing I would have went to.
I, I came in here a long time ago.
-Yeah. -When your dad was here.
Oh, oh, I was gonna say. So, you probably knew my dad.
I did.
And you probably knew some of his friends.
If we can get that sense of community back,
we can reposition this bar for a whole new generation.
Okay.
There's that ranch hands.
[laughter]
It was tart. It was tough.
It was really--it was, like, drinking a shot of tequila.
You know, Phil, when I look at this,
it breaks my frickin' heart.
Look at Carrie sitting here
protecting her father's legacy.
Two sisters at home worrying about this.
Loving your stepmom, loving their father,
the mayor here.
This is heartbreaking.
And the sooner I go in there,
the less heartbreaking it'll be.
I'm gonna go to work, buddy.
All right. Good luck.
[dramatic music]
Hello.
Oh, my gosh!
I hate to interrupt your popcorning.
But, uh, hello.
-Hi. -How are you?
Good. Thank you, sir.
I turn around and Jon Taffer was there.
It scared me to death. [laughing]
I was not expecting that.
-You look happy to see me. -I do.
I'm like gonna hold back the tears.
Aw.
You've been through hell, haven't you?
-Yeah. -So,
-I heard the story of your dad. -Uh-hmm.
So, everybody loved your dad as I understand it.
-And your dad passed... -Uh-hmm.
...three years ago?
-About? -Almost, yeah.
And you had a stepmom who loaned the bar,
and you and your sisters adore.
-She was like a big sister. -Yeah.
So then, she passed suddenly,
and then you and your sisters
-are left with this bar. -Uh-hmm.
So, you're not here for the money, are you?
Oh, no, we don't need money.
Why are you here?
We couldn't just let it go.
People that are important to my dad...
And you wanna keep his legacy going, don't you?
Uh-hmm.
Well, I don't blame you.
So, you have two sisters, what are their names?
Carmen and Caseye.
-And they're both teachers? -Yes.
-So, they have fulltime jobs? -Oh, yes.
So, they can't help you as much as they'd like to.
Yes, they can do a lot from home.
Got you. So, they'll do bookkeeping
-and things like that. -Yes.
So you're sort of tasked with running the bar?
Uh-hmm. Um, yeah.
Yeah. Look at tonight, we have one, two, three, four, five,
six people here and I sent those two in myself.
-Yeah. -So, you have what?
-Four customers here? -Yeah.
-This is important to you? -Yes.
And for that reason, it's important to me.
Let me introduce you to a couple of friends.
Okay.
I know you were talking, Jim, but I'm not sure that
if Carrie knew who she was talking to.
-This Mayor Jim Ross. -Hi, thank you.
Oh, my gosh.
So, when you look at this beautiful old bar...
-Yeah. -...great historical bar,
the room is sort of cool.
There's some nice history here.
-Don't you agree, Jim? -Yeah, it's,
it's got character, especially here in Arlington
with the history that we have here.
-What did you think of that? -Um...
Ranch Water is a sweeter tequila drink.
-Uh-hmm. -Uh...
-Very popular in Texas. -Very popular in Texas.
Uh-hmm. Yes, it is become very popular.
This is a little-- a little tart, you know,
um, it's, it's just a rough drink.
-Yeah. -Um, it sucked.
What did you think of that?
Um, it's just a rough drink.
Yeah.
It sucked.
-We got a lot of work to do. -Yeah.
So, we got--I go to turn you into a bar owner
-in just a few days. -Okay.
So, this is not gonna be an easy week for you.
-Yeah. Uh-hmm. -You know that.
I'm gonna work the hell out of you and your sisters.
-Are you in? -Okay. I'm in.
Okay. So, close this up.
You're not making any money tonight.
Go home and get some rest, you're gonna need it.
-Okay. -I'll see you tomorrow
-with your sisters... -Okay.
...with all the staff and everyone together,
-okay? -Okay.
-Give your sisters a call. -Thank you.
Tell 'em what just happened, okay?
-They wanna hear it. -Okay. I will. Thank you.
Good night.
This is a really tricky rescue.
I can turn bars around
and I can revitalize an owner's passion.
But these sisters are running this bar
because of their father's legacy,
not their passion.
And somehow, I have to find a way
for them to wanna achieve success.
-Hello? -Hey, guess what?
-What? -Someone just showed up here.
-The big boss man? -The boss man.
[both laugh]
-Aw, I'm so happy. -So, um,
so yeah, we got to bring your game tomorrow.
Um, Mr. Taffer will be here.
-Boss man. -He's gonna put us to work.
-Okay. All right. -All right.
-Bye! -Bye!
[upbeat music]
Today, I'm gonna go in and meet Carrie's sisters,
meet the staff.
And I wanna really learn what's going on in this bar.
When you saw him come in, did you
-get really nervous? -Oh, yeah.
These are three good sisters who are in noble mission
to save their father's legacy.
I can't think of no better reason
to do a rescue than that.
Hi. How are you?
I see a slight family resemblance here.
We all look like our dad.
I told Carrie to invite Caseye and I
and today to talk to us about
working together to make us successful.
This place means a lot to all of you, doesn't it?
-You guys agree? -ALL: Yes.
-Absolutely. -Okay.
This wasn't about money, was it?
-No. -This is about your dad,
your dad's legacy,
and keeping that going in this town, correct?
-Absolutely. -Right.
Okay. That's why I'm here. Let's all get together and talk.
-Come on over. -All right.
I expected Jon to come in really hard.
Um, I expected Jon to maybe do a little bit of yelling.
And Jon came in very compassionate,
and caring, and kind.
So, let me get to know everybody real quick.
So, we got to meet last night, Carrie.
Yes.
So, are you the younger sister, middle sister?
I'm--like to claim I'm the youngest
but I'm the middle.
You're the middle sister?
-So, you're the youngest? -Yes.
So, okay. And you're the oldest?
-Yes. -So, what was your dad like?
He was a great man.
He's just somebody to look up to.
He was a, a presence.
-My dad was a proud, proud guy. -Yeah.
-Yeah. He was a Marine, right? -Yes, he was.
-Yes. -So, he served in the Marines.
And then, he bought this bar. How long after that?
-He bought the bar 2007. -Seven, yes, it was, yeah.
So, it was starting to get later in life then.
-Yes. Yes. -So, this was a dream of his?
-That finally he made happen? -ALL: Yes.
The previous owner said that he came in
the day that she opened.
Like, the very first day that this was a bar.
-Wow. Good to hear. -He was in here
-with his brother. Yes. -Literally from day one.
-Yes. Yeah. -Wow. Okay.
-So, your dad got sick. -Yeah. Uh-hmm.
-And then, he passed. -Uh-hmm.
And now, you wind up with your dad's bar.
So, what do you know about the bar business?
I knew nothing at all. Nothing.
-What did you know? Nothing. -Nothing.
And you already told me you knew nothing last night.
Uh, I knew nothing about being on that side of the bar.
Right. Right. So...
We didn't even know how to turn on
the lights in this place.
We were, getting to a complete loss.
So, you're Laura.
In the past year or so, is business going up?
-Is it going down? -It's gone down.
You know, a lot of people came for Clarence,
he had lots of friends.
But I would think Clarence's friends
would love to support his daughters.
-That I agree. And I agree. -Right?
-What's your name? -Michelle.
Hi, Michelle. How long have you been here?
Uh, going on four years.
Four years too? So, you've seen a lot.
So, what do you think's going on at night?
We've lost a lot of business. It's slowed down a lot.
And I know half of it's from the pandemic.
-I mean... -Yeah.
And now, that we're opened back up,
it's picking up a little bit,
but not like it used to be.
You know what happened in the pandemic is,
is people's habits have changed.
-Uh-hmm. -Yeah.
They used to come here three days a week.
Now, they're watching the television show
-one of those days. -Yeah.
From sitting home all year.
So, we got to get their patterns
to change back into coming here.
So true. All right. Yes.
So, we got to make a splash to do that, right?
-Right. -We can't just reopen.
-We got to launch. -Yes.
-That's right. -We got to make a statement.
-Absolutely. -We got to be visible.
We got to be seen, which is one problem,
because you drive by the biggest corner here,
-you don't even see this place. -Yeah.
I hear what you're saying. So, we sort of lost
a little bit of our spunk, if you will.
-Right. -Since Clarence is gone,
-is that fair? -That too, yeah.
Okay. And how long have you been here, Sandy?
-Um, for 14 years. -Wow.
Behind the bar and then, behind the scenes,
helping paperwork, TABC taxes, all that.
So, you know the numbers a little bit?
I do.
How far are we down from pre-pandemic?
About 30%, 40%, 45%.
-Wow. -Yeah.
Scary. When we do our research,
and we find that a bar has lost 30%,
it's very hard to come back from that
because it's lost its energy.
-Uh-hmm. -It's lost its base.
So, we got to fight to bring this back.
So, we got to change something. Okay, guys,
I brought in one of my favorite experts
in the world.
You've seen this face before, haven't you?
-Yes. Yes. -What did you see last night?
Well, it didn't see much really, you know, it was...
There's only five customers here,
that could--two of them I sent.
And, you know, we did see
something interesting last night.
I think it was a whiskey and coke that somebody had.
And it was served to them in a beer glass.
You take that mug, you fill it with ice,
you fill it with coke, it's what?
Twelve, fourteen ounces of coke in that glass?
Yeah. Yeah.
So, if you put in an ounce of whiskey,
that's a weak drink. So, what did you do?
You poured the drink and at the end,
you gave 'em a little topper.
The problem is if you don't give them the topper,
that's a weak drink.
The reason why it's a weak drink
is because it's the wrong glass.
And I'll show you what the impact of that is.
I put Partender in here.
What Partender does is they weigh
every liquor bottle in the building.
We then let you guys run for three days.
We then come back and weigh all the bottles again.
I then compare it to the cash register
and see what was sold versus what was used.
-You guys with me? -Yes.
Okay. Here we go.
Over those several days, we poured
$4,760 worth of product,
but we sold $2,833.
So, I lost $1,922
in liquor cost in those few days,
$29,250 in a month,
and you got to read this number to me.
What is the number annually?
$350,765.
No wonder we're not making money.
-Unreal. -If we can manage our pour,
and I got the master here to teach you that.
$300,000 ahead of ourselves with the same revenue level,
-think about that. -Wow.
-Outrageous, right, guys? -Uh-hmm.
We got to do better.
So, we got a lot of work to do.
-Yes. -We're ready.
-Phil, you're ready? -I'm ready.
All right. Thank you.
-Hey. -ALL: Hey.
-How we doing? -Good. How are you?
Today I have a lot of new faces in front of me.
And I don't know exactly
what type of skill that staff has.
This is what we're gonna do, guys.
I'm going to give each of you guys
a little index card, okay?
So, today, we're gonna introduce
a little bit of a quiz with the staff.
I'm gonna quiz them on their drink knowledge.
So, what we're gonna do is
I'm just going to call out a drink
and I want you guys to write down
the ingredients in that drink.
First drink, super simple drink.
It's a cosmopolitan.
Can we write, "No idea"? No.
Is that an ingredient? Just write your ingredients.
Yes. Yes, that's my ingredient.
Got it? Done?
Hand to me what you've done.
All right, let's see here.
Vodka and cranberry.
I--no, that's not mine.
That's-- there's other stuff though.
If it's just this, it's just a vodka and cranberry.
We're doing cranberry, we're doing a little bit
of lime juice, and a little bit of orange Curacao in there.
Shaky, shaky, shaking, shake it.
-Oh, okay. -Strain into a martini glass.
Love the lemon curl as a garnish.
It's a beautiful garnish for a cosmo.
Yeah.
I need to definitely study my drinks.
I really wanna see how well you perform.
So, this right here
is my little grab bag of cocktails, okay?
Inside this grab bag, we have super simple drinks
that every bartender should know.
I'm looking to see these bartenders accuracy
on creating these drinks
and if they even know what these drinks are.
Manhattan.
Oh, my gosh.
-What is it? -What?
Never heard of it. Paloma.
How you in Texas and not know what a Paloma is?
Come on, Sandy.
Oh, my gosh.
And, uh... [laughs]
How much tequila did you put in there?
Um, an ounce.
Oh [indistinct]
Keeping it simple for you, guys.
-It's what? -Oh, I forgot that part.
I don't know if I should just--
I don't know.
I know what's wrong with the staff.
Way off. Whoa!
Sorry.
Nobody knows anything.
-We got a lot of work to do. -We got a lot of work.
-Yeah. Yes. -Yes, yeah, that's--
clearly, we can see that. Okay.
We wanted to keep things pretty simplistic
making very simple cocktails.
So, our first drink and it's called the Ranch Water.
First thing we're gonna do is gonna take a nice Collins glass.
And we're gonna rim halfway with salt.
Add our ice to the glass.
Two ounces of tequila,
topped off with soda water.
Then we'll throw a couple of limes on there.
And we're gonna add
a couple of dashes of grapefruit bitters.
Give it a nice little stir.
This is the new G Willikers Ranch Water.
Which is light, refreshing, easy, but people know about.
It's pretty darn good if you asked me.
-You like it? -I do like it.
All right, guys. So, you're ready for tonight?
-We're ready. -Let's go.
Seriously? Look, Laura is like, "I don't think so."
-[laughter] -Yeah. Come on,
you got this girl.
Are you ready for tonight, Laura?
[cheering]
-We got this. -We got this. We got this.
-You got this. -I'm old--I'm old,
I'm not used to work at nights.
-You got this. -[laughter]
[upbeat music playing]
Oh!
-Hey, Jon! -Hello, ladies.
-Welcome! -ALL: Hi!
We got some talking to do,
come on over, everybody.
I'm anxious that we might fail in some areas.
Today's cocktails, how long would they take
to make, Phil, average cocktail?
Average cocktail, very simple,
I would say 30 seconds
to maybe 45 seconds at the most.
Okay. I'm gonna bring in about
22 people tonight.
-Okay. -I'm gonna give you guys
22 minutes to serve 22 people. Fair enough?
-Fair enough. -Tonight, we need to improve
on both accuracy and speed
in order to turn things around
and start making this bar some money.
I'm gonna have two buckets behind the bar.
Every time you serve a drink, that's good.
I'm gonna drop a chip in the bucket because we did good.
Every time you make a drink that gets dumped out
and Phil is gonna dump it if it isn't right.
-Uh-hmm. Okay. -I'm gonna take a chip
out of that bucket and put it
in a negative bucket.
Because I want you guys to see
the consequences of mistakes.
This test is ultimately a reflection of your drink cost
and whether you're over or under.
So, who's running this place tonight?
-We are. [laughs] -What, we?
How do bars run by committee work, Phil?
Jon, you know it doesn't. If you guys don't have a leader,
then your bar is gonna fail.
So, I'm going to ask this question again.
For tonight, who's in charge?
-[indistinct] -Flip a coin?
[laughter]
But it's an important exercise
that somebody should do.
-We vote Caseye. -Yeah.
-Caseye's doing it. -Caseye, that would be fun.
-Yeah. -Oh, that would be so fun.
[laughter]
I'm nervous to be here on the floor,
helping customers,
being actively engaged with them.
I am a little nervous.
All right, guys, go check your stations.
Make sure you have enough of everything.
Do the final setup to the room.
Any cleanup you need to do.
We open in about 10 minutes, okay?
-Okay. -All right.
I'm just a little bit worried.
-Let's do this, girls. -Work together.
-Go G's! -Yeah. All in! Come on!
[cheering]
-Okay, Caseye? -Yes.
Could you go out and invite everybody in?
I'm happy to do that.
-All right! Hey, everyone! -Hi.
All right. Ya'll come on in.
Hi, y'all!
Hey!
-Hi! -Hi!
Here we go, guys. Here we go!
-Hey, guys! -Hi!
Welcome to G Willickers.
Sit anywhere you want, guys.
All right. Start that clock, please.
Time starts now, guys. Let's go!
These bartenders have 22 minutes to get out 22 drinks.
I expect that they do a really good job, but I doubt them.
-Whoa! No, girl. No! -Okay.
Don't over-pour, or we'll be screwed from the beginning!
-Two down? -Two out. Negative!
Good, good, good!
All right. Two goods!
There we go!
So, right now, we're at five good, four bad.
How much tequila did you put in here?
I put enough.
I don't think it's too much but...
I don't think it's enough.
-A little more? -Yeah!
-Okay. -I don't think it's enough.
-I think you short poured that. -Okay.
Jon, that's two bads.
Two more bad. Wow!
She wants--she, she wants this, this one.
I'm feeling a little stressed, a little nervous.
-Is that what you ordered? -Ordered a Texas buck.
Texas buck and I got a Ranch Water.
-Oh! -Thank you, my dear.
-Sorry. -Thank you. Here.
We got 15 minutes left.
Come on, guys, you gotta move faster than this.
Let's move! Let's get move!
A lot of people still don't have drinks here.
Go, go, go, go, go.
We also have the, um--
oh, what is it called?
Um, I think I'm gonna be able to make the drink.
What's in the Ranch Water?
The Ranch Water is tequila,
tonic, um--no.
I'm sorry. Soda, tequila, limes--no lemons.
Oh, I'm sorry! I'm--
he's standing here making me so nervous!
There's a lot of waste.
These bartenders don't know how to pour,
they don't know the recipes, they're disorganized.
We're dumping out drinks like crazy.
I'm guessing we've dumped out probably one drink
for just about every drink we sold.
I've got another bad.
Another bad!
Here we go! Okay.
So, right now, we're at almost 50/50.
-Is it good? -I don't know. It looks good!
-You put lemon in there? -No, I did.
-I put lemon. -Okay. Okay. Yeah. It's good!
-Is that one good, Phil? -Well, that's really good.
-Yay! Good job, Michelle! -Another good one!
-Is that right? -No, that's not right!
-Five times is not right. -What?
Five minutes! Let's see,
let's push this last five minutes.
There you are, sir.
Here we go! Here we go!
The room is almost served.
Laura, you have her remake a Ranch Water, please.
Jon? Three more bad!
Very bad!
It's pretty ugly, Phil.
The biggest issue I'm seeing tonight
is just the consistency.
We need a remake on this.
It's the pours.
I'm constantly having to go back to the bartenders
and tell them no over pouring or under pouring.
35 seconds!
-Here are the Texas Bucks. -Hmm. Yum.
Those are, like, pretty.
That's it! We're out of time.
[cheering]
Okay. Everybody is served, correct?
Everybody is served.
Okay. So, we wanted to give
the bartenders
22 minutes to serve everybody,
to see if they could do it in a minute a customer.
-They did. Congratulations! -[cheering]
That's the good news!
Here's the bad news!
How many drinks did we serve that were good?
18, 20, 22, 23, okay?
How many did we dump down the drain?
-Oh-oh. -Oh!
15, 16, 17, 18.
Congratulations, ladies,
you just learned the bar business.
You lost money tonight.
[shatters]
Congratulations, ladies,
you just learn the bar business.
The bar is pretty full, right?
-Right. -Feels pretty good, doesn't it?
Looks like everybody is doing great!
And you lost money tonight.
Yeah.
You lost about 20% more
than the business that you took in.
This is a complete failure, isn't it?
-Yes. -And just because the bar
looks busy doesn't mean it's making money, guys.
Alcohol waste is--uh-uh, I don't like that.
[laughs] I don't like that at all.
Let's get cleaned up, everyone!
-Well, good and bad. -Yeah.
More bad because at the end of the day,
as hard as they tried, they made no money.
-Yeah. -So, what is the point
of anything if we don't make money?
-Exactly. -So, obviously, we gotta do
the cocktail program that dare I say is--
I don't want to say idiot-proof, so I'll say simple.
-Right. -Simple but I think that
we need to think have some sort of element
that when really raises this bar up,
where people are like, "What is that?"
Can we create some signature visual element
that's ours that is still simple for them to execute
-but visually powerful? -Right.
All righty. So, a lot of bars in the area.
-Oh, yeah. -But this is a huge
assembly plant.
This is a huge
home delivery warehouse.
These are huge distribution centers
all around this bar.
So, we had bedrooms, Phil, and we have day,
-and great happy hour potential. -Uh-hmm.
So, we keep the history,
-don't change the room that much. -Yeah.
We keep historic elements that make it new.
-Exactly. -So, it's not changing it,
it's making it better.
-How about a coffee? -Please do.
-We're gonna need it. -All right. Yeah.
Let's go, buddy.
-Hi, ladies! -Hi!
How are you feeling about last night?
Glad it's over.
-Yeah. That too. -You're glad it's over?
All right, guys. So, Jon and I were thinking
that we really wanted to have a cocktail
that represents what G Willikers is.
You know, I saw a bottle of bourbon behind the bar
and then, somebody told me that that's something
that Clarence used to always drinking.
-[indistinct] and water. -Yeah, so we're going to do
something that is similar.
What's most classic is what's called a whiskey highball.
Put our glass down, we're gonna add our ice.
And we're gonna do two ounces of whiskey,
and then, top that off with soda water
and we're gonna put just two dashes
of these aromatic bitters on top.
And this is called the Studenglass gravity smoker.
Now, we have woodchips here on top,
and we're gonna light the woodchips,
turn this over and the water,
the pressure of the water is gonna start
to pull this smoke down through.
And you're gonna see.
Look inside of your bar
when you take this off in front of your guests.
And you just go like this
with a little bit of that flavor going on.
And this is what we are going to call
Clarence's Clearwater Revival
-Oh, my gosh! -Oh, wow!
Last night, I think the sisters learned
something powerful.
It takes a fulltime
experience commitment
for a bar to make money.
Their father had that
when he was alive,
this was his passion
but it's not theirs.
Hi!
ALL: Hi!
So, I need to give them some options
on how to keep his legacy alive
while relieving them from the stress
of running a bar fulltime.
I wanna talk about the future for couple minutes.
You're not gonna retire to run this bar,
that's not gonna be your future. You have other
retirement objectives, don't you?
I think you need to find
a manager who can earn their way to be a partner.
I'm suggesting that in the next month or two,
you hire a manager.
You pay that manager X
and over the course of the first year,
he or she can earn five percent of the business,
leave it going and then, enjoy your lives.
Uh-hmm.
You know, I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.
I mean, it's never easy
but I think it's always good to have a exit strategy
whenever you have your own business.
-Yes. -And then, it's just,
you know, you want that freedom and--
I don't know, in some weird kind of way
when I think about the end, I think about--
-I know. I know. ---you know, like, dad
and saying goodbye or what that means.
Uh-hmm.
So, I don't--I don't like
-to really think about it. -I know. But I--
I really believe in my heart that, you know,
dad was a businessman and...
if he thought it was taken away from our lives
in any way or if he saw an opportunity for us to,
you know, sell at some point.
I guarantee you, he would back us.
Oh, a hundred percent.
-Yes. Yeah. -Because it is a part
of him and it--and it-- and it--but it always will be.
You know, it always will be.
I definitely wanna have a-- a plan,
you know, like, that, that would be nice
-to have a, a plan, you know. -Right. Right.
So, it's smart. It's smart.
It is.
I thought our talk with Jon
today went really well.
Five years from now,
that manager would own 25%.
-Yes. -You'd still own 75%.
Then you can say, "You know what,
-you wanna buy the rest of it?" -Uh-hmm.
You could buy him out. You could--you could sell him
25% more and keep 50%,
you have all sorts of options then.
-Yes. -I agree with everything
that he said today. I think it's something
that we have to think about in the future.
It doesn't have to be the near future
but we have to consider that at some point in time.
-I'm gonna get going, okay? -Okay. Thanks so much. Bye.
Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow.
Get some rest, you're gonna need it.
[upbeat music playing]
Laura? Jim? Ty?
Come on over, guys, let's talk this through.
The bar is really cool, don't you agree?
-Yeah. -That's all handmade.
-Yup. The original. -Yeah.
So, we don't wanna mess with that,
that's so much of the character of the room.
But we wanna bring it to a new place.
We have the DJ booth right here.
-Yup. -You know, years ago,
we used to do things that we would call piano DJ booths,
in essence it was a DJ booth with the drink rail around it.
And the hat's off to the old piano bars.
-Sure. -So rather than sitting next
to the piano player, Jim, I'm sitting sort of near the DJ,
maybe he will play my song,
but it's sort of a fun area to be in.
So, if you put a few bar tools here, Laura.
-Yeah. -I say we probably lose
one seat here to create flow.
-Uh-hmm. -But one, two, three,
four, five, five or six seats.
Oh, so you gain five-- you lose one and gain five.
And a whole different experience over there as well.
It's a great tradeoff, don't you think?
-Yeah. I agree. -It's gonna be the same bar
that Clarence had, just better.
Yeah. Very emotional moment.
-It should be. -Yeah.
[cheering]
-Hello. -ALL: Hi!
-Hi, everybody! -ALL: Hi!
Hi, Carmen.
-How do you feel? -I feel good.
-Were you nervous last night? -Last night?
Yeah. Yes, a little bit.
How do you feel, Caseye?
I feel excited! [laughs]
-You trust me right now? -I very much trust you!
Because this isn't just a bar, this is a father's legacy.
This is your dad's handy work.
This is his vision, this is his view
of what he wanted a bar to be.
So, I don't get to go in and rip it apart
as easily as other locations, I'm very respectful--
-Yes. ---of your dad.
And the fact that you're here to protect that legacy.
-Thank you. -Carrie, it all started
-with you and I, didn't it? -It did.
Did it seem like we met just four days ago?
-No. It feels longer because I feel like
you've really got us and what we're about
in a really short period of time.
I think I did.
They wanted to run this,
they wanted to serve their employees,
they wanted to serve the community
and they wanted to continue their father's legacy.
This was not about money, this was about a legacy.
So, Carmen, are you ready?
-I'm ready. I'm so ready. -Is this emotional for you?
Yes, it is. Yeah.
-Caseye, is this emotional? -Very.
I bet. I bet it is.
-Carrie, are you okay? -Uh-hmm.
-Right now. -Okay. Are you ready?
-ALL: Yeah. -Here we go!
One, two, three!
[cheering]
[shatters]
Are you ready?
-ALL: Yeah. -Here we go!
One, two, three!
[cheering]
Oh, my God. Like, unbelievable.
It's gorgeous!
I love the sign!
So, anybody who doesn't wanna say G Willickers can say,
"I'll meet you at the GW."
[laughter]
-Oh, my gosh. -I love the new lights.
You can't help but see this from the corner.
-I love it. -Caseye?
Oh!
Good tears?
Would your dad like this?
Yes. My dad would love it.
So, there's only one thing left, are you ready to see it?
-ALL: Yes. -All right. Go ahead!
All right, ladies.
Oh, my gosh!
-Wow! -Oh, my gosh.
Oh, my gosh.
This is so cool!
Beautiful!
Oh, my gosh.
-This is awesome. -I love this.
Holy crap!
It is so perfect.
-It couldn't be-- -Like, there is--
--any better.
-Oh, my gosh. -What do you think?
-[cheers and applause] -Love it.
Oh, my gosh. This is amazing.
I would have never ever imagined
it being this perfect.
-You got us a-- -Nailed it.
Nailed it. Nailed it.
-Better than nailed it. -Ah, thank you.
Yeah. I couldn't have dreamed of a better--
My dad would love, love this.
He's looking down right now.
Well, you saying that,
they're the magic words that I wanted to hear.
I think it's everything that my dad would love.
I know he would absolutely love this.
Come on over, I wanna talk about a couple of things.
This is what I call a piano bar DJ booth.
That's awesome.
So when there's a DJ back there,
customers will sit here and interact with him.
I got Crown Audio Video to come in
do some stage lighting for us.
I got Orange Door,
a music database in your DJ booth.
Orange Door has over 50,000 songs,
about 50,000 music videos.
Then I got Studenglass,
and I know you guys played with this baby.
-Oh, yeah. Yeah. -To give this
the gravity fed cocktail smoker.
And we got two of those behind the bar for you as well.
And customers are gonna go nuts when they see this.
-Yeah. -We did a whole bunch
of things. I got you two new POS terminals.
These are bar POS terminals, these are Harbortouch.
Also, I got PathSpot for you.
Look, you're school teachers, you know sanitation
is more important than ever before in schools
and restaurants and businesses, you wash your hands,
you put your hands under the PathSpot.
If you get a red light, there's some viral or bacterial
matter in your hand, you gotta go wash again.
-Oh. -If you get a green light,
your hands are clean. Next,
Partender, remember that?
-Yes. -Remember that $300,000 a year?
So, I got you a subscription to Partender,
it takes 15 minutes to do it every week and then,
-tell them how we're doing. -Yes.
Because when your dad did this,
he did this to make people smile, right?
He changed his lifestyle.
Now, his smile goes to you.
But there's something in the back
that's really important that I want you to see.
-Come with me. -Oh!
Oh, my God!
So, moving that sign from down there to up there
was very symbolic to me, to raise his presence in the bar.
How does that make you feel?
-Proud. -Proud.
So, we have an opportunity
to make them even prouder tonight, don't we?
-Yes. -Yeah.
So, let's make this a bar of respect.
Respecting our recipes, respecting each other,
respecting our customers,
and treating people as
parents would have wanted us to.
-Are you guys ready? -Yes! We're ready.
So, you know the mayor is out front?
-Yes. -And he has a little something
special that he wants to do to open you guys right.
So, why don't you go out and join him.
And then, invite everybody in
and it's show time, okay?
Let's go!
ALL: Hello.
Hi.
This is amazing!
-Thank you so much. -Of course.
All right. Are you all ready for this?
We are so ready!
Are you all ready for this?
-ALL: Yeah! -Welcome...
to the brand-new G Willickers!
[cheering]
Come on in.
We are open for business.
Welcome to G Willickers!
Welcome you all!
So at the back door, we have a food truck for you.
That's it. Let's go. Done!
It's done! You gotta smoke it down!
Okay. Let's go, guys, we gotta hustle!
[upbeat music playing]
How we doing? You don't seem be very fast tonight.
So, who's making sure the drinks get out
and get to the table properly?
Um, I don't know [indistinct]
Just make sure somebody is doing it.
Okay.
-You guys like the change? -Yeah.
I love the smell in here.
Smells good, doesn't it?
That smoky, so you gotta try
one of those smoky cocktail, they're great!
-There you go. -We're starting
to catch up now. We're seeing
drinks at tables,
drinks in front of people, smiling faces,
bartenders are calm, they're producing,
we're getting there.
Carrie, Caseye, come here.
Come on over just for a minute.
This is important.
Look at your bar.
I know.
I'm so proud of the three of you!
-Thank you. -This has been one
of my favorite bar rescues ever.
ALL: Oh!
-So, this is an important legacy! -Yes, it is!
You know, you guys have everything you need
to do this and most importantly have each other.
-Yeah. That's right. -Yes!
Okay? So God bless the three of you!
Let's knock 'em dead! I'm out of here.
-Thank you. -I'm done!
[cheers and applause]
[upbeat music playing]
Promotional consideration provided by Harbortouch,
PathSpot, Partender, Orange Door, Crown Audio Video,
Zuri Restaurant Bar, Cody & Sons Plumbing,
Jet Tezman, Studenglass, Agree Mechanical,
One store, and Ersi.