Much like yesterday, I'm back today to catch everyone up on another show, "Bar Rescue". Lucky for you and me, the past 2 episodes have been fairly, and kind of shockingly, similar, so I am going to lump the two of them into one blog for you today.

Two weeks ago, Taffer and crew went to a bar called "Sam Jordan's", and this past Sunday, they went to a bar called "Tradewinds". Right off the bat I will let you know that Taffer did not change the name of either bar because they are both landmark places with landmark names. Both bars have been around for 50 plus years, so changing the name would have caused a big problem in the communities, and we know that Taffer does not want to upset any community. So, the names never change, and I think this is a good thing because Taffer always picks something dumb, for the most part, anyway.

Another similarity, both bars were family owned. "Sam Jordan's" was now owned and operated by a brother and a sister, after their father, a former pro boxer, had passed away. "Tradewinds" was run by a step dad, his friend and the step dad's son. "Sam Jordan's" owners had a very splintered relationship since the bar started to go down the drain. The sister ran the day to day and front of house, and the brother ran the kitchen. The sister was doing a fairly good job of running the front of house. The bar was okay, not blowing anyone away, but not hemorrhaging money. The kitchen though, it was a disaster. The brother had kind of thrown in the towel, and was microwaving old BBQ and dousing it in sweet, disgusting sauce. "Tradewinds" was a shit show everywhere. The step dad and his friend had no business running a bar. They were both former car salesman, so the restaurant business seemed a bit much. They couldn't make drinks and their food systems were crap. They gave the step son a 20% stake in the bar because he has restaurant experience, was a manager at most of those jobs, and was young and energetic. Well, after getting his stake, the step son kind of gave up. He would show up late, if he came in at all. He would drink behind the bar. He would leave his bar and go to another bar to drink, thus giving his own competition money. He was a mess.

As you probably can tell by now, "Sam Jordan's" had people that wanted to change and get better, and "Tradewinds" had a spoiled, rotten little brat that got too much too young and was flaming out. As far as "Sam Jordan's" goes, we came to find out later that the brother running the kitchen did not have to pay any rent and all the money the kitchen made, it went straight to him. This pissed his sister, and Taffer off, but it was an agreement they made. Taffer had the people, during stress test, compare the food and drink at "Sam Jordan's". Needless to say, the drinks and bar crushed the kitchen. The brother was taken aback by all this, but I think it opened his eyes, and he seemed like he wanted to care again. He and his sister had a heart to heart, and it looked real, not staged like a lot of these interactions on "Bar Rescue" so often do.

During the first stress test at "Tradewinds", the young owner actually walked out. He was over matched by the amount of customers in his bar. And, try as they might, the two other owners were way in over their heads. The young son's mom was the chef, but she didn't really cook anything. In fact, when people asked for a menu, they said they did not have one, and they offered the people a cup of popcorn. After the horrific showing of the first stress test, all the owners had a big meeting, and it seemed like the young guy wanted to do better. He actually listened during training and helped the other employees. See, both stress tests and families having heart to hearts, really worked out. It was very much the same thing in each episode.

After the brother and sister from "Sam Jordan's" had their talk, and the brother realized that he needed to start giving a shit again, they actually did a pretty good job with their main stress test. They were getting drinks out of the bar fast. The food was coming quick, and it was better tasting. It was pretty nice to see. As far as "Tradewinds" real stress test, it was not so great, but all the people actually put in work. They had terrible systems and the layout was garbage, but, people were putting in effort.

So, after both stress tests, Taffer and crew did their thing, and gussied up both bars. The inside of each bar looked nice. Taffer does have a good eye for making the inside of a bar look nice. As I stated early, the names were not changed, but he made the signage and the layout outside more appealing. Again, Taffer can make a place eye popping. He makes it look like a place you, at the very least, want to check out. At "Sam Jordan's" re opening, everything went very smoothly. The bar did great, the food tasted much, much better and the brother and sister were getting along. I was very happy to see this bar have a decent turnaround. I wanted this bar to become successful, and during the 6 week check up, by all accounts, "Sam Jordan's" was starting to make money again, and the brother and sister weren't fighting anymore. "Tradewinds" re opening went just as well. The staff was on fire, the mom became a calzone making machine, the two main owners were much more invested and doing a better job and the young owner cut his hair, and seemed to care again. He was yelling out drink orders, conversing with the whole bar, making 5 or 6 drinks at a time and always had a smile on his face. During their six week check up, all was well. They were making money, getting along and everyone was coming in, as scheduled.

It was nice to have two similar episodes that I could put into one blog for the readers. I'll be back next week for the next review, and I will be back every week as long as the show keeps pumping out new episodes. Stay tuned

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor recommended Ty get his beard trimmed up, but no one tells Ty what to do with his beard. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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