Food and Drink Struggling KC area bar "RGs Lounge" gets "Bar Rescue" visit - Page 2

Deberg_1990 · 12-12-2013, 08:30 PM

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/12/12...s-tvs-bar.html

A bar near the Truman Sports Complex has gotten a reality TV makeover, thanks to Spike TV’s “Bar Rescue” show.

The series stars “renowned bar and nightlife expert” Jon Taffer, who with his crew swoops into a struggling bar, fixes its problems and gives it a new name and concept. In the case of RG’s Lounge, at 9100 E. 35th St. in Independence, the place gets renovated and is reportedly given the new moniker “BarCode.”

That, we suppose, is the good news. The bad news is that in a preview of the episode (airing at 9 p.m. Sunday on Spike), RG’s beyond-grimy kitchen does not exactly invite business. It looks like the last place you want preparing your food.

We’ll just assume that Taffer and “Bar Rescue” did a deep cleaning.

The preview clip is also noteworthy for the number of bleeps, as Taffer and a cook scream and curse at each other over the condition of the kitchen. The dispute devolves into a shoving match.

Spike TV sums up the episode, “Twin vs. Twin,” this way: “Jon is met by lights, sirens and handcuffs before he even enters the door of this Kansas City bar. Sibling rivalry between two identical twins with identically huge egos” — that’d be Randy and Rick Houser — “present Taffer with one of his toughest rescues yet.”

Sunday’s episode is the second of three filmed in our area. An episode titled “Brawlin’ Babes,” shot at the former Long Shots in Grain Valley, premiered last Sunday. Catch a rerun of that one at 8 Sunday night, part of a “Bar Rescue” marathon on Spike. Long Shots has been renamed Badlands.

When we checked in with RG’s, we learned that a “Bar Rescue” watch party starts at 7 p.m. Sunday. The public is invited.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/12/12...#storylink=cpy

**007** · 12-21-2013, 04:44 PM

supposedly these guys are coming to a local topeka sports bar too

NewChief · 12-21-2013, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Having extensive knowledge of two of these "rescues".. I can say without any doubt that they are 95% made up bullshit.

The Brixton makeover was complete bullshit.

**Easy 6** · 12-21-2013, 05:05 PM

Not sure i've seen the Brixton episode, was that the hipster bar in Austin owned by the husband and wife team, and the husband was driving everyone off with the snarky attitude?

The place kinda looked like a normal house, not a bar?

NewChief · 12-21-2013, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott free

Not sure i've seen the Brixton episode, was that the hipster bar in Austin owned by the husband and wife team, and the husband was driving everyone off with the snarky attitude?

The place kinda looked like a normal house, not a bar?

Yes. And he "set them up" with a food truck and renamed the bar "Rocket 66" or something stupid like that. They basically did it to get a free remodel and changed the name back to the Brixton almost immediately.

KCUnited · 12-21-2013, 05:09 PM

I could cry on queue right now for a $200,000 home makeover. I could even act like a dick and make up a story about my marriage being on the fritz. Of course, my financials are all the way nice so I probably wouldn't make it past a screening.

**Easy 6** · 12-21-2013, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewChief

Yes. And he "set them up" with a food truck and renamed the bar "Rocket 66" or something stupid like that. They basically did it to get a free remodel and changed the name back to the Brixton almost immediately.

Yeah, the name kinda rang a bell, i bet atleast a few of these places really just want the killer remodel and then go back to what they were... but i'm pretty sure they have to be atleast 200k in debt for him to take them on.

I don't even really care if they dramatize small parts of it, the things he does for these places are awesome, he really helps them understand their market... the median income in the area, how many similar competitors they have for their old business model, how many people drive down their street each day without noticing them because of poor signage or ugly building, why you need to cater to women etc.

To me, the genuine emotion most owners and employees show by the end of it all really sell this show to me, i don't usually feel i'm being duped.

BWillie · 12-21-2013, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott free

Watching it right now... HOLY SHEEIT... what a bunch of dirty ****nuts.

The kitchen camera in the first five minutes? OMG... serving the straight up hammered black chick braying like a mule? OMG.

I LOVE JOHN TAFFER, that guy knows how to run a bar.

Pretty sure this show is somewhat hammed up tonprovide confrontation for the audience. And I.dont know.how u could like this Taffer dude. Hes a grade A dbag. IRL cussing at ppl calling them names does not.produce results

NewChief · 12-21-2013, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott free

Yeah, the name kinda rang a bell, i bet atleast a few of these places really just want the killer remodel and then go back to what they were... but i'm pretty sure they have to be atleast 200k in debt for him to take them on.

I don't even really care if they dramatize small parts of it, the things he does for these places are awesome, he really helps them understand their market... the median income in the area, how many similar competitors they have for their old business model, how many people drive down their street each day without noticing them because of poor signage or ugly building, why you need to cater to women etc.

To me, the genuine emotion most owners and employees show by the end of it all really sell this show to me, i don't usually feel i'm being duped.

I like the show as well, and I think he's totally badass on the analytics and number crunching side of things as well as the general ability to get a well oiled machine up and running. Where I think he often misses (and it's no fault of his because he's coming into markets he doesn't always know and looking at it from an outsider's, non-invested perspective) is the soul/passion part of things (such as renaming the Brixton to Rocket Room 6). Of course, that ability to look at things from a dispassionate business perspective is also what makes him extremely successful at what he does.

I also think that they sometimes make the kitchen much nastier than it actually is, but I also have no doubt that many kitchens look like that.

**mikeyis4dcats.** · 12-21-2013, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guru

supposedly these guys are coming to a local topeka sports bar too

which one? Toad?

**Easy 6** · 12-21-2013, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewChief

Yes. And he "set them up" with a food truck and renamed the bar "Rocket 66" or something stupid like that.

On this one and a few others i definitely agree about not changing the name, and once in a while he wont change the name at all, or maybe just tweak it a bit... some places just have to much historical cache wrapped up in the name.

I guess my final take is that i'd work for this guy eight days a week, because i know he's going to make me money.

**Easy 6** · 12-21-2013, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie

Pretty sure this show is somewhat hammed up tonprovide confrontation for the audience. And I.dont know.how u could like this Taffer dude. Hes a grade A dbag. IRL cussing at ppl calling them names does not.produce results

He only cusses at them to humble and rattle them a bit, make them understand how stupid they're being, it usually works too.

Its the old drill sergeant routine, he tears them down in front of everyone, then they have a one on one sitdown where he softens up and sells them on his idea.

**007** · 12-21-2013, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

which one? Toad?

Yep

splatbass · 12-21-2013, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustinChief

It isn't exactly "scripted" (that I know of) but they manufacture the conflicts and the "bad guys" and quite a bit of what goes on.

I can only comment definitively on the two bars in Austin (The Brixton and Headhunters) but I know all the people involved in both of those and there was almost nothing "real" about either. The only realistic thing was the Headhunters episode showing the owner to be a complete douche.

Hell, in the Brixton episode they talked about Sara and Tim (the owners) wanting to have a baby and then at the end they put up text saying she was pregnant. #1 they have zero plans at the moment to have kids #2 she did NOT get pregnant.

Sorry to be a buzzkill but it's mostly make believe.

I went to a bar in Las Vegas (the Sand Dollar - now Bar 702) with a friend (musician) that lives there to see a blues jam with some great LV musicians just before it was redone on the show. While it was somewhat of a dive (as a musician I've spent a lot of time in dive bars

) it was nothing like they portrayed it in the show. It was just an older bar off the strip, but pretty much like typical bars you find in any city. I had no idea at the time it was going to be on the show (never even heard of the show at the time), and really nothing about the place stood out as unusual.

Obviously it was a lot nicer after the redo, but they basically just took an old slightly run down bar and renovated it. The drama was all for show.

That said, I don't have any problem with the show. I watch it all the time. No one wants to watch actual boring reality.

My friend still plays there weekly.

Take a look at the Wikipedia entry for the old Sand Dollar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Dollar_Blues_Room

The venue has been described as "genuine and authentic in a world of neon and plastic"[citation needed] and is a popular site for both locals and tourists[citation needed] that has hosted blues legends such as BB King, George Thorogood, and Jeff Healey. Celebrities often stop in to hear the live blues jams. Rock legend Ted Nugent recently performed an impromptu guitar duet with blues great Joe Bonamassa in front of a VH1 film crew. Billionaire founder of Electronic Arts Trip Hawkins hosted a bachelor party there. Pop star Taylor Dayne is among its recent guests, where she asked to perform a song for the crowd.

Doesn't really sound that bad.

CoMoChief · 12-21-2013, 06:49 PM

i like that show. i thought they were doing some bar in Grain Valley though.

**Saulbadguy** · 12-21-2013, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guru

Yep

They just opened a few years ago didn't they? I'm assuming they sucked (never been) but didn't think it would be that bad so soon.

12-12-2013, 08:30 PM
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	Struggling KC area bar "RGs Lounge" gets "Bar Rescue" visit http://www.kansascity.com/2013/12/12...s-tvs-bar.html A bar near the Truman Sports Complex has gotten a reality TV makeover, thanks to Spike TV’s “Bar Rescue” show. The series stars “renowned bar and nightlife expert” Jon Taffer, who with his crew swoops into a struggling bar, fixes its problems and gives it a new name and concept. In the case of RG’s Lounge, at 9100 E. 35th St. in Independence, the place gets renovated and is reportedly given the new moniker “BarCode.” That, we suppose, is the good news. The bad news is that in a preview of the episode (airing at 9 p.m. Sunday on Spike), RG’s beyond-grimy kitchen does not exactly invite business. It looks like the last place you want preparing your food. We’ll just assume that Taffer and “Bar Rescue” did a deep cleaning. The preview clip is also noteworthy for the number of bleeps, as Taffer and a cook scream and curse at each other over the condition of the kitchen. The dispute devolves into a shoving match. Spike TV sums up the episode, “Twin vs. Twin,” this way: “Jon is met by lights, sirens and handcuffs before he even enters the door of this Kansas City bar. Sibling rivalry between two identical twins with identically huge egos” — that’d be Randy and Rick Houser — “present Taffer with one of his toughest rescues yet.” Sunday’s episode is the second of three filmed in our area. An episode titled “Brawlin’ Babes,” shot at the former Long Shots in Grain Valley, premiered last Sunday. Catch a rerun of that one at 8 Sunday night, part of a “Bar Rescue” marathon on Spike. Long Shots has been renamed Badlands. When we checked in with RG’s, we learned that a “Bar Rescue” watch party starts at 7 p.m. Sunday. The public is invited. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/12/12...#storylink=cpy
Posts: 66,914

12-21-2013, 04:44 PM	#16
007 Shaken. Not stirred. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: London Casino cash: $14060126 VARSITY	supposedly these guys are coming to a local topeka sports bar too __________________ My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done. Such as, drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.
Posts: 65,554

12-21-2013, 05:05 PM	#18
Easy 6 pie is never free Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: the drivers seat Casino cash: $3757775	Not sure i've seen the Brixton episode, was that the hipster bar in Austin owned by the husband and wife team, and the husband was driving everyone off with the snarky attitude? The place kinda looked like a normal house, not a bar?
Posts: 91,634

12-21-2013, 05:09 PM	#20
KCUnited Cheat Death Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Land of Drincoln Casino cash: $2318244	I could cry on queue right now for a $200,000 home makeover. I could even act like a dick and make up a story about my marriage being on the fritz. Of course, my financials are all the way nice so I probably wouldn't make it past a screening.
Posts: 33,880

12-21-2013, 06:49 PM	#29
CoMoChief Mahomes Dynasty Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Parts Unknown Casino cash: $8052254	i like that show. i thought they were doing some bar in Grain Valley though. __________________
Posts: 39,156