I know it is a bit late, but I finally saw the most recent episode of "Bar Rescue" last night.

This time around, Taffer and crew headed to a bar in Florida called Rockin Rhonda's. This was another episode that involved not only rescuing a bar, but also a person, Rhonda. At first Rockin Rhonda's was raking in the dough and Rhonda left her job as a stock broker to take over the bar full time. She was having so much fun at first, she even started to sing and do open mic and karaoke nights. She always had the singing and playing guitar bug, and since she had her own bar, she thought it was the perfect opportunity. Now, she was not terrible, in fact, she was a competent guitar player, but she was no star either.

Then, Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on her bar. It destroyed a lot of the place she built up. After the hurricane, things really started to fall apart. The bar was in such disarray, when Taffer got there, I swear to god the place was on a slant. When she showed him the "kitchen", the shelves looked like they were ready to topple. The bar was a real disaster. The wells and the ice machine and everything in the bar was either leaking or literally sinking into the ground. It was so bad that the employees and Rhonda had to wear insoles because they all had back problems from bending over all the time due to the poor state of the bar. The floor was also falling apart. Pieces were just falling off and being replaced with tape or floor mats. The "kitchen" had been reduced to a fridge and a microwave because it was in such a bad place. Rhonda started to drink when she realized that she only had 45 dollars in her account. She was a shell of her former self. She couldn't really handle what happened, so she turned to alcohol.

When Taffer got there, he went in alone. He didn't have any experts at first because he wanted to see if the place was even worth the effort. As soon as he walked in, Rhonda spotted him and was immediately brought to tears. She then laid out everything I just told you. She was crying the whole time. She was at the end of her rope. Taffer said he was going to do everything he could to fix this bar, but he ordered Rhonda to close up shop immediately because, after seeing all the destruction, Taffer deemed the bar unsafe. Everyone was ushered out and Taffer's construction crew got right to work. They showed the workers working on the bar, and it was a total mess. The floors were too easy to rip up. There were leaks everywhere. They had to get new lighting, plumbing, floors, basically, Rhonda's bar was going to be completely revamped. One of the construction guys said that, "this is the worst condition we have ever seen a bar in before". That is wild considering some of the bars that "Bar Rescue" has visited.

While the workers worked on the bar, Taffer trained the crew at a different bar. Truth be told, the employees weren't half bad. They needed proper training, which they would get from Taffer's mixology expert, but they were fine, just rusty. The kitchen expert had a different problem. The cook had been cooking for 25 years, but he never cooked in a proper restaurant kitchen. He was also very quiet and not authoritative, like an executive chef should be. During stress test the bar did a decent job, but the kitchen was a nightmare. The chef couldn't get simple flatbread pizzas out on time, or he burned them. It was rough. They had a full day of proper training, and in typical Taffer fashion, he had a heart to heart with Rhonda the day before reopening the bar. It was typical schmaltzy crap.

The next day they all gathered for the relaunch. The bar was renamed Rhonda's. That was it. He just knocked off the Rockin part. The inside looked a million times better, obviously. Same with the outside. The construction crew did a phenomenal job I l must say. This may have been the best rescue I have seen due to how bad the bar was before they got there. During relaunch they did much, much better. The bartenders, with proper training, were busting out drinks. The chef was being more vocal and looked to even be having some fun in the back. He was also getting the flatbread pizzas out much quicker. The relaunch was going so well, Rhonda grabbed her guitar and sang a song for Taffer and his crew before they left. Taffer, of course, left with that weird, almost creepy grin on his face. At the 6 week checkup things were running well for Rhonda and her fixed bar.

These episodes, the "heartwarming" ones are odd, but I still enjoy watching them, and this episode was no exception. They are doing a back to the bar this week, so come back in a few weeks for my recap of the newest "Bar Rescue", whenever they air it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He caught the guitar bug years ago. I wonder what is the favorite of all the guitars he owns?

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