Pirates Tavern Bar Rescue
In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring, Maryland, which was featured on the second season of Bar Rescue has announced that they will close on April 4th due to the bar losing their lease. Jon Taffer got rid of the pirate theme at the bar and renamed it Corporate Bar & Grill. Bar Rescue is an American reality television series that airs on Paramount Network. It stars Jon Taffer, a long-time food and beverage industry consultant specializing in nightclubs, bars, and pubs, who offers his professional expertise plus renovations and equipment to desperately failing bars.
Piratz Tavern is owned by Tracy Rebelo.
In 2007, she hosted a successful pirate-themed Halloween party.
Tracy wanted to bring this theme into her everyday life so she launched Piratz Tavern.
From the beginning, Piratz only attracted a small customer base of renaissance faire reenactors and pirate performers.
On September 14, 2011, Spike renewed Bar Rescue for a second season for Summer 2012. Season 2 is best known for the season premiere where Jon attempted to rescue the train wreck that was a pirate themed bar called Piratz Tavern. The bar quickly undid all of Taffer's drastic changes shortly after their episode was filmed. Best: Yo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Dumb. 'This isn't a bar, it's a b-argh.' With an opening quote like that, there's little chance this episode was going to end up anywhere but on a top-seven roundup of Bar Rescue favorites. The season two premiere shoots the series right out of the proverbial cannon to Piratz Tavern. Sep 24, 2021 Piratz Tavern Update. Regarded as one of the most legendary episodes of Bar Rescue, the Piratz Tavern was a pirate themed bar that was $900,000 in debt, forcing the owner to move into the basement of her parents’ house. After Jon showed up, renovated the bar, and ditched the creepy pirate theme, the owner decided she didn’t like the updates.
Tracey’s inexperience first surfaced when she hired her husband Juciano to run the kitchen with no cooking background.
Her next fatal flaw was staffing the bar with the customers.
The pirates continued to act like customers while the actual customers made their way out the door.
For five years, Tracey turned a blind eye to bookkeeping and now Piratz is a few months away from being shut down permanently.
Tracy says she is $900,000 in debt.
She lost her house and her credit is shot from trying to keep the bar open.
She says she lost everything and now she needs help.
On the northern border of Washington D.C. lies Silver Spring, Maryland.
It is a middle-class suburb with a thriving central business district.
By day, Silver Spring has a large business population with plenty of disposable income.
By night, those business people go home.
Jon arrives in his SUV with his wife to watch survelience and look at Yelp reviews.
Jon asks Nicole to do the recon tonight.
Piratz Tavern is a 2,800-square-foot linear space with an underused stretch of table seating in the front and a bar area in the back.
Nicole sits down and asks for a menu.
She says that the staff seems to be living in their own little fairytale world.
Nicole ordered a glass of wine off of the menu.
The staff seem very friendly but Nicole says they seem overly friendly as if they are covering up for something.
Nicole leaves the bar.
Jon brings in Bill and Jen to do a second recon.
They were unable to get help from the staff.
It’s obvious they helped out Nicole because they know that she is Jon’s wife.
The drinks are awful and they ordered food but this is also gross.
After an hour of being in this bar, Bill and Jen return to Jon to report their findings.
Bill says the staff made him uncomfortable.
Jon heads into Piratz Tavern.
Tracey admits that she lives in her parents’ basement with her husband and 17-year-old daughter.
Jon says she’s delusional for thinking this concept would work.
Jon says that if Tracey doesn’t admit that she’s failing then things will never get better.
Tracy says she is not ashamed of how things are.
Jon says that if she isn’t ashamed then she should close right now and he can’t help her.
Jon and Juciano begin arguing about the food being poor.
Jon meets with the staff to discuss how they got to where they are now.
The staff doesn’t appreciate how Jon is talking to them.
The next day, Jon brings in expert chef Josh Capon.
The menu is 18 pages long, which isn’t good for their business.
Josh says that they need to start tasting the food before it goes out to the customers.
For the bar, Jon brings in head mixologist for Diageo, Elayne Duke.
Elayne says that their drinks are guaranteed to cause diabetic shock.
Jon pulls the team together to discuss their findings and come up with a game plan.
Elayne says they have to start from scratch in terms of training.
Jon lays out his plan with Tracy.
Jon brings up how they need to be marketing towards their market area, the workers.
Jon tries to tell her that continuing with the pirate theme will not work for them at all.
Tracy gives in and accepts that things will have to change.
They meet with the staff to discuss the news.
Tracy tells them that they have to push more towards a corporate market.
The staff don’t like how things are going to change.
Jon asks one of the staff members if he’s going to be a part of this but he walks out.
The next day, the staff is greeting with Jon having already began taking away the pirate theme.
Jon has brought in a new cook Jason, who has just got out of culinary school.
Elayne meets with the bartenders to show them a few cocktails.
She shows them the Hottie.
Josh shows them some recipes that will be added to the new menu.
Jon brings in a third expert, Jessie Barnes.
She will teach the staff how to serve business clientele.
Jessie thinks they need to get out of pirate mindset but it’s hard for the staff.
Piratz Tavern opens for the soft opening.
The staff is swamped.
Customers begin walking out of the bar because the wait time is so long.
Juciano is oblivious to any of the issues the kitchen is having and cannot run this kitchen.
Jon tells him to get his stuff together and he walks out.
Tracy goes after Juciano.
Chef Capon thinks that Jason is a very talented chef.
The servers are dropping glasses and everyone is overwhelmed.
The bartenders slowly pull it together, gaining confidence.
The customers are loving the new food.
At the end of the night, Tracy returns without Juciano.
Jon meets with the staff to discuss what went wrong.
Juciano walks into the bar.
They make Juciano a runner for relaunch.
Jon begins remodel on the bar.
Meanwhile, the staff begins promoting their new bar to targeted demographic.
Thirty-six hours later, Jon brings the staff to see their new bar.
Piratz Tavern has been renamed and is now called Corporate Bar and Grill.
The staff does not like the new concept.
However, they do like the inside of the bar.
Jon has installed a Smart Bar.
Jon says he is very happy with the bar and has no doubt it’ll be successful if run properly.
Corporate Bar and Grill opens up for relaunch.
On relaunch, the food looks beautiful.
Customers are having fun and are enjoying the new vibe of the bar.
Tracy is struggling with the change and says she is going to sleep on it for a couple of days.
What Happened Next at Piratz Tavern / Corporate Bar and Grill?
The Corporate Bar and Grill remained open for only a few days.
Tracy closed it and officially reopened as Piratz Tavern just weeks after relaunch.
Tracy still lives in her parents basement with Juciano.
Piratz Tavern closed in April 2015.
They blamed the closure on the negative backlash from appearing on Bar Rescue that led to vandalism and prank calls at the bar.
They also blamed constant repeats of the episode and their lease was not renewed.
Tracy claims that she was promised a re-rescue in Back to the Bar but it was an interview instead.
She opened a new bar called Bar Refuge in 2016 and the bar was sold to new owners in 2018.
Click for more Bar Rescues
Previous episode - Angry Ham's Garage / Octane Bar and Grill
Next episode - Bamboo Beach Tiki Bar / Bamboo Beach Club
This post was last updated in September 2021.
| Bar Rescue | |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Spike |
| Original release | July 29 – September 30, 2012 |
| Season chronology | |
Next → Season 3 | |
| List of episodes | |
The second season of the American reality show Bar Rescue premiered on July 29 to September 30, 2012 on Spike, consisting of a total of 10 episodes. The series stars renown nightlife consultant Jon Taffer who offers his professional expertise plus renovations and equipment to desperately failing bars in order to save them from closing.
Experts[edit]
- Jon Taffer – Host/Star/Bar Consultant
- Nicole Taffer – Host's Wife/Marketing/Recon Spy
- Samantha 'Sam' Taffer – Host's Daughter/Mixologist/Recon Spy
Chefs[edit]
- Brian Duffy
- Keith Jones
Mixologists[edit]
- Elayne Duke
- Terell Treco
- Chris Cardone
- Jenny Costa
- Kat Munday
- Joe Meyer
- Peter O'Connor
- Michael Tipps
- Jason Bran
- Joseph Brooke
Other special experts[edit]
- Nancy Hadley – Concept/Interior Design
- Jessie Barnes – Hospitality
- DJ Green Lantern – DJ
Production[edit]
On September 14, 2011, Spike renewed Bar Rescue for a second season for Summer 2012.[1]
Season 2 is best known for the season premiere where Jon attempted to rescue the train wreck that was a pirate themed bar called Piratz Tavern. The bar quickly undid all of Taffer's drastic changes shortly after their episode was filmed. The unsuccessful pirate-themed bar was rebranded Corporate Bar and Grill by Taffer but the change was short-lived, as the bar was again going with the pirate theme by the time the episode aired. The owner even released a YouTube video of the new 'Corporate' sign created by Taffer's team being burned and shot at in effigy called Piratz Revenge which was heavily disliked by YouTube viewers and currently has only a positive rating of 4%. 'If you had a pirate concept that had failed for five years and had a new concept, would you go back to the concept that failed for five years or try something new?('We like pirates',they said) It defies logic that someone would go back to a (failed) concept just because they don't like the new name', said Taffer of their decision('We still like pirates',they commented).[2] The owners blamed the 'negative publicity' on the show. Piratz was revisited as part of the Back to the Bar episode, where Taffer graded the bar an 'epic fail'; the owner wanted to seek a second rescue. Within a week of the episode's airing, however, Piratz decided to close its doors for good. The owners resurfaced in season four where Jon brought them and their daughter in to do recon for Freaki Tiki. In addition, they confirmed to him in another Back to the Bar episode that they are opening up a new bar in Florida called Bar Refuge.
Rock band Halestorm made an appearance during the grand opening of the now defunct Fairfield bar America Live (formerly known as Win, Place or Show).
Episodes[edit]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Bar name | Location | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | 'Yo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Dumb' | Piratz Tavern | Silver Spring, Maryland | July 29, 2012 | |
Tracy lives out the ultimate Peter Pan dream by running a pirate-themed bar. Jon sends in his wife, Nicole, to do recon, but she is met with a rather mild atmosphere and is served unusually politely. Nicole pulls out of the recon believing that the staff know who she is. Jon sends in his backup recon team dressed as pirates. They enter to find the bar deserted. After some time, they are served frozen half-cooked food and a horrendous 'Grog' beverage. Jon confronts Tracy, who is unashamed of her establishment despite being $900,000 in debt and living in her parents' basement with her husband and 17-year-old daughter. The staff are also problematic, with the chef and husband Juciano having no training and the bar staff unwilling to change from their pirate ways. Juciano swore he could cook. Taffer blasted him off into the next millennium and said 'Your food is something awful Bro!'Recognizing that the bar has a practically non-existent market in Silver Spring, Jon remodels the bar into a corporate-themed bar and grill to capitalize on the nearby business district and lunch traffic. During the seemingly successful re-opening, Tracy and the staff began dressing and acting like pirates,scaring their customers out of the bar;she reverts to the pirate name and theme only a few days after the re-launch of the new bar. As of that bar rescue, Tracy and Juiciano are still acting like pirates.[3] Note: For the recon in this episode, Jon brought in the owners of The Chicken Bone, featured in the seventh episode of Season 1. This is the first bar to change back to its old name and theme. During the Back to the Bar episode, the bar is shown to be failing badly and requests a re-rescue. However, Jon is not sure he is willing to do it due to the disrespect the owners showed him but will consider it for the sake of their daughter. New Name: The Corporate Bar & Grill[Note 1][Note 2] | ||||||
| 12 | 2 | 'Tiki Curse' | The Bamboo Beach Tiki Bar | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | July 29, 2012 | |
Frank owns one of several bars still allowed to operate directly on the attractive Florida beach. However, he has allowed his bar to fall into serious disrepair, the food and service are well below standard. Furthermore, he has become very lax with his staff, playing favorites and overlooking poor performance and punctuality, including allowing his bartenders to arrive four hours late or even not turning up at all. Taffer convinces Frank to fire his lazy staff, helps develop a tropical theme to the bar menu, and remodels the bar to repair years worth of neglect. New Name: Bamboo Beach Club & Tiki Bar (modernized version of old name) | ||||||
| 13 | 3 | 'Murphy's Mess' | J.A. Murphy's | Fell's Point, Maryland | August 5, 2012 | |
Jon goes to Baltimore to help two frat brother owners who don't know how to properly run a bar, including one whose arrogant and abrasive attitude has cost them key staff members. Note: This is the second bar to not have either a stress test or a soft opening; the bar was structurally unsound. New Name: Murphy's Law (modernized version of old name)[Note 2] | ||||||
| 14 | 4 | 'Mystique or Murder?' | Mystique Lounge | West Palm Beach, Florida | August 12, 2012 | |
Jon helps two club promoters who took over a once popular bar whose reputation is badly tarnished by not just a murder that took place a few years back, but also poor management, declining conditions, and a promoter who brings the wrong people. New Name: Aura Nightclub[Note 2] | ||||||
| 15 | 5 | 'Bottomless Pit' | The Olive Pit | Orange, California | August 19, 2012 | |
When the owner's drinking and behavior toward women threatens to shut down a long-running dive bar, Jon must get his daughter to step up and take over. New Name: The O.P (modernized version of old name) | ||||||
| 16 | 6 | 'Broke Black Sheep' | The Black Sheep | Cheviot, Ohio | August 26, 2012 | |
Jon has a long list to complete at Cheviot when he helps a bar owner who is too busy with his jobs to keep his Irish-German pub in check and has over $800,000 in loans that his family doesn't know about. New Name: The Public House | ||||||
| 17 | 7 | 'Weber's of Lies' | Weber's Place | Reseda, California | September 9, 2012 | |
Jon's attempts to refurbish a former strip-club-turned-bar in California are complicated by an untrained staff, a head bartender who steals from the till, and a kitchen serving dangerously undercooked food. Note: This episode was dedicated to Yvette Taffer (1924-2012), Jon Taffer's mother. New Name: Weber's Rum Bar & Grill (modernized version of old name)[Note 1][Note 2] | ||||||
| 18 | 8 | 'Owner Ousted' | Win, Place or Show | Fairfield, Ohio | September 16, 2012 | |
A former Navy man who can't run his bar properly and lets his partner/musician run wild has Jon doing a serious tactic in an attempt to save the owner's bar. New Name: America Live[Note 2] | ||||||
| 19 | 9 | 'On the Rocks' | Rocks | Laguna Niguel, California | September 23, 2012 | |
Jon has some major hurdles to get over to rebuild a once popular bar, which fell from grace due to a recent change in laws, but has fierce resistance with regular customers who scare away women. New Name: Power Plant[Note 1][4] | ||||||
| 20 | 10 | 'Bikini Bust' | Extremes | Orange, California | September 30, 2012 | |
The owner's early success with the sports bar goes to his head and causes him to get drunk and disillusioned. The bartenders are required to work in tasteless bikinis, which fail to attract a crowd, and the staff are strongly divided between the senior and new bartenders fighting over tips. The bar also has significant hygiene problems. Taffer addresses the concerns the staff have over the owner's lack of interest, rebrands the bar as 'Second Base' as a reference to its past, and provides baseball-inspired uniforms for the bar girls to replace their bikinis. Note: For the recon in this episode, Jon brought in the owner and general manager of Angel's Sports Bar (re-branded as Racks Billiards & Bourbon), featured in the series premiere. Extremes also appeared in season 4 and was originally going to be the first re-rescue but instead became Jon's second ever walkout when owner Terry refused to reinvest in his bar which caused the failure after the first rescue. New Name: Second Base | ||||||
Notes[edit]
- ^ abcThis bar reverted to its original name following the rescue.
- ^ abcdeThis bar has closed.
References[edit]
- ^'Picks Up 'Bar Rescue' for a Second Round'. SPIKE. 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
- ^Wetherbee, Brandon (July 30, 2012). ''Bar Rescue' Host Jon Taffer On Piratz Tavern Revolt: 'It Defies Logic''. The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- ^Pirates for life
- ^This bar has gone back to The Rocks Laguana Niguel https://www.facebook.com/RocksLagunaNiguel
External links[edit]
Bar Rescue Closed List
- Bar Rescue at IMDb
- Bar Rescue Updates — Unaffiliated site that keeps track of bars being open or closed and has updates for each bar