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not even exaggerating when i say that was probably one of the smoothest sponsorship integrations i’ve heard in a while. julien’s old J&J sponsor segues are shaking in their boots rn
Fun fact: not only did the owner revert back to being a pirate bar, they gathered up all of the “Corporate bar & grill” signs and anything that was labeled “Corporate” and took it to a shooting range where the whole staff shot it up, then burned it all. They posted the whole thing on RUclips too, the video is called “Piratz Revenge.”
John turning a pirate bar into a bar meant for corporate business men is like that episode of SpongeBob literally called "Selling out" where the Krusty Krab turns into a run of the mill sports bar and the customers end up hating it for lack of authenticity.
@@Life_Universe_EverythingThe zombie one (The Underworld which became The End…or it might’ve been the other way around) was Vegas; Metal and Lace (formerly Headhunters) was Austin, TX
That's what I think is so funny, there are so many dickriders here who just assume what he said about concept bars not working in Maryland, when there's a ton of them all over the state.
I saw a Simpsons episode several decades ago in which Bart joined the Mafia (don't ask). The local Mafia management congregated in a bar/restaurant called "The Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club."
True story: I lived up the a minute away from this place. One day, I did walk by and saw the stark switch from Piratz Tavern to Corporate Bar and Grill. My thought wasn’t “Italian gangster,” it was “from one Halloween costume to another.” The fact that Jon thought this was a good idea was insane. Corporate Bar was the restaurant equivalent of the meme from 2012 of the business man on his phone smiling enthusiastically and saying “haha BUSINESS!”
@calub_wendex1233 You're aware that pretty much NONE of the bars actually get rescued right? He just gave her MORE debt by forcing a souless renovation instead of helping her by working with what they had.
@@calub_wendex1233you realize that people absolutely were interested in a pirate themed bar, right? taffer didn’t have to completely renovate and redo everything the bar was about, just had to introduce a level of management, control, a decent chef, and people willing to actually WORK in a bar. good business practices are what get people out of debt, not completely changing what they started. also the debt was 900k
I actually hate this. The bar might not have been the best but just upgrade the food and drinks then let it go. Completely changing it, sucked very aspect of a personality out of it and just crushes that woman’s dreams along with the people that work there. It’s so sad. Also the emotional blackmail was awful.
@@kinnelyuwu5771 not really fool. Just one of his millions of millions loyal individuals as well as powerful connections that follow powerful individuals like him & you brought 11 botted likes which thousands of elite cc members are capable of doing that everyday for over a decade kid ;)
Fun fact: most pirates wore eyepatches not because they lost an eye. but because when they went under deck their eye under the patch would already be adjusted to the darkness underneath inside the ship.
Like I will always tell people to shoot for their passions rather than money but she is 900000 dollars in debt, with a 6 year old. She should be more worried about her kids wellbeing than having a fun business.get out of debt than make a fun bar. But what John did was actually the worst, and nothing but an insult to those people
Or he hates people who want his help to get out of the $900,000 dollar debt they've dug and when he tells him and gives them a way to do it they turn him down. But yours is good, too.
This is the episode that made me stop watching Bar Rescue. Tracy was really open in the beginning, unlike so many owners. Like you said, John had something against this idea of a pirate bar and was unnecessarily mean. He didn't just change their bar to something else, he changed it to "Corporate". Literally spitting in their face and the reason why they were in the business to begin with. The whole thing felt wrong.
Lowkey that's how I felt about the golf bar episode. It's clear that the owner had a passion for that! And he was forced to abandon his passion for it some shit ass college coffee bar. Personally, I would have loved that golf bar. I don't have the money to go golfing and that simulator looked really neat!! John could have simply reworked things to work with those themes and to target the audience that the owner was looking for but he didn't. Because John, at the end of the day, is a capitalist scumbag and passion shouldn't get in the way of profits for him. Personally, I would love to go to the pirate theme bar!! Gimme some ale! Play some swashbuckling music! Gimme some cheap ass seafood! That sounds like a hell of a time!!
Especially since Tracy used to be in the corporate business and then decided to pursue a passion that made her happy. She needed help to execute that dream in a financially stable and prosperous way, not someone to spit in her face and drag her back into the corporate hellscape in any form possible.
No he addressed those problems, and fixed it by training the staff, introducing new drink and food menus that make sense, and change the bars image. He didn't screw anything up, the idiots at that bar screwed it up, and now their business is closed. All because they couldn't accept change.
@@LISSAxKIRA94No, because it was a half-assed idea that the owner and the staff weren't ready to commit to. It was more of their own personal clubhouse than a bar and its failure shows it.
"Corporate" is literally the worst possible thing he could've ever done to that bar. Like he's completely showing how little he actually knows the working class people. When normal people leave their jobs, they don't want to go to a bar that reminds them of their job. Does John think people get these shitty soul stealing jobs because we like being in that environment? Imagine being so damn rich that you can't see the problem with that concept.
There's just something weird about John resorting to emotional blackmail to get a small business to completely change into being just another boring corporate bar meant for business lunches. "Do you want to be a pirate or do you want to send your daughter to college?" Edit: The people who are responding to this with "B-b-but, he's right. They need to change," are people who don't understand that forcing a costly renovation and high maintenance costs onto a business that is in massive debt is a bad idea, and who don't understand that naming a bar CORPORATE is probably the stupidest thing you can do to appeal to actual corporate people. Like, bruh, do you really need to have it explained to you why a person working for a corporation would be incredibly turned off by a bar called CORPORATE handing out flyers at their office building? I wouldn't trust the advice of anyone who thinks that's a good idea.
bro they’re almost a million dollars in debt with a failing business and a concept that clearly isn’t working it’s time to change. you peoples weird obsession with “following passions” doesn’t pay the bills. they’re not on a dock they’re not on a beach the pirate bar doesn’t make sense. so yes it really is do you want to be a pirate or do you want to be homeless 900,000 in debt is not “surviving” it’s actively putting yourself into homelessness
@@slothschewgum There’s a big difference between revamping the business model and completely wiping away everything that gave it any whimsy. You can have both you soulless bastard! (you’re probably fine, I just like being dramatic)
im glad they stuck with the pirate theme. the theme wasnt the problem, it was the shitty service and bad food! people love themed restaurants as long as they're actually *good*, and even then, well... rainforest cafe is still around somehow.
Yeah n they're dead Jim. U should be pissed like everyone else was cause they literally destroyed their one of a lifetime opportunity that could made their lives way better than they ever could imagine especially with over +$1 million made have they stick with Jon version. Instead they ruin their lives forever, n will be buried & forgotten in no time as a example of what no to do when someone offers you help. U take it no matter what, otherwise you'll regret it forever
@@Derivedwhale45 ignoring the low hanging fruit of how hard it was to read what you typed, I don't think that's what to take from this Taffer just had to fix the basics, but instead he decided to change the whole thing and emotionally berate a woman out of her passion project because he personally didn't like it
@@kinnelyuwu5771 Yes, there is a very clear middle ground to anyone with a brain. Tracy's bar as it is, wasn't working; but Taffer's 'bar' was honestly just as bad in the opposite extreme. And literally calling it 'Corporate Bar' really is a complete piss on everything. Tracy was fine with improving food, and service and such. But when the end result is the most boring and generic bar in all creation... yeah I don't think anyone would want to go there either. It's not fancy or high class, its literally as soulless as possible. Hell, at the bare minimum you could have done something like Red Lobster, where there is an obvious nautical theme when you enter the restraunt. People don't say "Oh no one would ever go to Red Lobster if it wasn't on the beach" or whatever. You can keep the spirit of the place while trying to broaden the appeal.
@@Derivedwhale45 As a lot of people have mentioned in the comments, Taffer's idea for a "corporate bar" for people who most definitely already hate their jobs is a shitty idea, cooked up by an out of touch millionaire. The bar would have collapsed soon after John left.
@@DanniBananni No I agree the whole corporate change to the bar was honestly stupid of jon and in poor taste. But Their location wasn't the best spot for a pirate themed bar and as I said their good time wasn't making them money. Its something they all should've compromised on like moving to a more active area or something. Idk im not an expert but I'd say both parties were wrong in their own ways
the worst part is that it would’ve been so easy to turn it into a really cool pirate bar. do away with the gimmicky decorations, change the menu, and train the staff. I would go to a pirate bar with a cool atmosphere, good drinks, and, most importantly, A STAFF THAT LOVES THEIR JOBS (which they ALREADY HAD). but then again I’m a former theatre kid
@@Greenhawk4saw lots of comments from people who live in maryland saying it oddly would have fit well since they have a habour with a pirate ship, and even then, themed bars are what makes bar culture so fun and unique. you're telling me you WOULDN'T want to go to a bar your friends told you is kinda shitty but the staff is insanely friendly and are dressed as PIRATES? that's so fun! i live in a small town in canada and genuinely, i hate going to the places downtown that are just basic and contemporary in design. sure the drinks are better but what's the fun is going somewhere mundane and void of personality when you can go two doors down to the arcade themed bar that serves drinks based on video game characters and sometimes has FACE PAINTING. creativity and freedom of healthy expression is so so important
While I'm not a fan of those Pirate films or the genre in general, a pirate themed bar sounds far better to spend an evening at, rather than some extremely pompous & pretentious "Corporate" bar.
That was like, one of the most gut wrenching things ever. The second hand embarrassment from the “Corporate Bar” was INSANE. The endearing theme and their commitment to it was literally the only thing keeping me attached to it, man. I hope themed restaurants never die but this didn’t give me a lot of hope lmao
The Renn Faire/pirate scene in Maryland is actually huge. MDRF is the largest ren faire on the east coast. If they moved 30 minutes closer to Crownsville, they would've make a killing during renfest season. The rennies are always looking for places to go after the fairegrounds close for the day.
Taffer and his crew were unnecessarily aggressive and rude this entire episode. It's hard to look down on how animated the servers were when they were CONSTANTLY demeaned. Wow the dude whose language is CLEARLY not English got shellfish confused, better make sure he realizes how stupid he was, right? That'll actually teach people, right? This was hard to watch.
That's not an excuse. If the wrong person eats it, it can kill them. Realistically he should have never been in the Kitchen alone if he didn't understand what Shellfish was.
@@Vaniity_VelvetThat’s missing the point. Berating an demeaning someone doesn’t help them learn, and if he shouldn’t have been in the kitchen then it’s the fault of his supervisors. He’s just there to follow directions, it’s their responsibility to make sure he knows what to do.
@@TheNerevahkiin well said. i know One-Eyed Mike could have been a lot more professional and patient dealing with Jessie but he owned up to it later in the episode.
The saddest thing is that this bar had real problems that Jon is perfectly capable of fixing without gutting the soul out of the whole place. And he just blatantly chose to artificially staple those problems to the concept.
This is just my opinion; but if I worked 12 hour days or more at a high paying corporate job, the last thing I'd want to do is go to a corporate themed bar. I want to get away from work, not stay in it 24/7! I feel if they toned down the pirate stuff slightly while still maintaining the theme and hire-on more qualified candidates, plus modifying the menu they could've potentially been in a better situation.
I love this episode because they barely focus in the actual reasons the bar was failing like it being terribly ran and instead focus on the only redeeming factor of it that could draw in thousands of people
Except even some of that isn't true. The reason we see the bar nearly empty on Jon's investigation; is becuase he told them to tell everyone it was closed. What few customers you see are walk bys. So when business is dead; of course Service is gonna be slow. I've worked in places where some nights are naturally dead; and you end up doing other things becuase there's literally almost nothing to do. So it just makes it look bad becuase Jon is presenting that as the usual. Like the bar had problems, but much of what we see is purposefulyl designed to make it look much worse then it actually is.
@@CassidyShadewing If it had been doing as amazingly as you say, WHY were they on the show and why was it failing so hard? 900k in debt is not surviving, it's not even barely scraping by. That is abyssmal failure.
This is heartbreaking. I grew up near a restaurant/bar that was Doctor Who themed that was pretty popular. This definitely a market for fun restaurants and bars
I mean I live in Washington Puget Sound area, so not even on the coast, and we have a pirate-themed bar here. Seems to be doing fine. As long as the food is good, nobody cares. And as long as the drinks are cheap, nobody cares.
It feels out of place though It’s like having a cowboy bar in Maine or Wisconsin, or a New York themed bar in California. Or an ice fishing bar in Florida I’m not saying that it can’t work or that I hate it, it’s just a weird place to do it. like, if I opened a Dinosaur themed bar, I’d probably do it in the Mountain states, like Montana, Utah, Colorado, or the Dakotas. These are places where Paleontology is a very relevant thing and Dinosaur Fossils are actively being dug up (Montana and the Dakotas have formations like Hell Creek, famous for Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus. Meanwhile, Utah and Colorado have the Morrison Formation, Famous for Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Allosaurus) But if I did that in Florida, it’d feel very odd, because we don’t have dinosaur fossils here. Though I could see a prehistoric-themed bar in Gainesville work, thanks to the Paleontological presence there, but it’d largely have to be Cenozoic Themed. Turtles and Gompatheres (prehistoric elephants) a plenty!
@@andrewb6194 To me, having a themed restraunt/bar in a place where those themes are common, feels like completely missing the point. If I'm in Texas and already around a lot of ranching and cowboy culture; why the hell would I want to go to a novelty themed cowboy bar and grill? It makes more sense for those places to exist, where people aren't constantly steeped in that culture. It's like saying the Rainforest Cafe shouldn't exist outside the Rainforests; when that's exactly the point of them.
If it makes you feel any better, they're often told to lie about how much debt they're in for the show. So she *probably* wasn't actually in that much debt.
Tbh that means that John wanted to taint their image even more, same vibes as him adding the "Tracy still lives with her parents in the basement" at the end of the episode😭Ouch john really does hate pirates and creativity
@@Derivedwhale45 I'm gonna need you to write out "I must not tell lies" 400 times. Becuase none of that is true. The bar lasted 3 more years, even showed up again on the show, and mostly closed because of assholes like you. Then they moved to Florida, open edanother Bar for several years; and then sold it and as they decided to focus on their artistic passions.
@@Derivedwhale45 I don't doubt that she still had a substantial debt, also in America right now MOST people live with their parents so it's not really a good basis. If that's true that she is now homeless, it's very sad and I hope she does survive, if only to spite your prediction if nothing else.
The successful type? The type that make money if you stick with the concept for more than a few days before going back to the theme that put you 900,000$ in debt, that type?
@@skywalker01974didn't he do a steampunk bar for an owner? He's done themes for bars before and a pirate bar makes a lot of sense but from what I've seen the location of the bar was a big part of the issue. Turning the bar into the most bland corporate thing ever is petty and spiteful.
@@skywalker01974Yeah because a bland, soulless corporate theme won’t alienate anyone at all, the theme was quite literally the least of Piratz Tavern’s problems, it was everything else, the food, the drinks, the staff, the hygiene, THAT’S what put them in debt, the pirate theme is fun, it adds charm, in fact, I think giving the place a corporate theme would actively alienate businesspeople, they have a life outside work, why would they want to go to a place that says “I make my job my whole personality”?
@@sneakymcbadguy5121 he at least tried to change the theme to something adults could get in line with instead of a six kids birthday party nightmare.the staff was so fixated on their cosplay they didn’t want to change anything if they could play pirates all day they were just going to take their ball and go home .plus the owner and her boy toy couldn’t run a hot dog stand if their lives depended on it.
"Let's talk like a normal person." "Do you want to be a pirate or do you want to send your daughter to college?" "Corporate people don't want this." This entire episode gives me the ick.
He was right. The bar was in a corporate area, and it was bleeding to death while insisting on not catering to its area. Change the bar or move the bar. They refused both, and now it's gone.
@@grabble7605more to the story then that dude. In the end they were better without him or his generic bar ideas. Also i doubt people that work in corporate places want to work all day then go somewhere meant to relax just for it to remind them of work
@@grabble7605 You may find this hard to believe but people who work in corporate businesses are freaks and geeks too. The only time that dry professional aesthetic matters is when businesses take clients out for lunch and they are definitely not going to bars for that. After hours nobody that works in that environment wants to be reminded of the degenerate corporate bullshit they have to put up with to survive.
this is literally so sad. yeah traci needed a wake up call but stripping the entire identity out of a small bar, even a crappy small bar, that the people working at it are very passionate about, is just. soul crushing
Sometimes u gotta be harsh to make idiots like her listen n if she actually stuck with Jon concept, she would've have a bright future like Ami & the guys on bourbon street did. Instead she decided to play Russian roulette with her luck, fails n now is gonna be gone eventually. All because she was too stubborn.
U shouldn't u should treated them crap just like they did to Jon & the majority expect for Mike, at least he knew Jon version of the bar would've worked n save everyone there. At least he got out just in time
@@Greenhawk4 Full offense, do you have to butt into every single damn comment thread on this video so you can copy-paste this? You're still here three days later saying basically the same thing over and over, contribute something interesting to the discussion instead of barging in and saying the same shit.
Wouldn't work no matter what, thus why they have to rebuild the new concept from the ground up n instead Tracy destory her life. Have she stuck with Jon version, she's would've been making a fortune n her daughter in Harvard by now
@@Derivedwhale45I've seen u just commenting on ppls post without actually looking at the situation full. U can have a successful themed bar that isn't basic. Lots of them exist. U can fix the bar without making it look like shut. Her dream was to have a fun bar that she enjoys. Clearly her staff feels the same way an they enjoy working for her, there's no hate there between her an her staff. So why not focus on the issue instead of killing the dreams of her an her staff
@@francis-ip8ub Because her dreams are harming the innocent person she forced into the world and has a moral responsibility to do anything and everything to protect and help thrive.
I looked into what happened after this episode. The owners hated jons changes (obviously) and burned/shot the decore he added and turned it into a pirate thing again. They eventually were on another episode of bar rescue, and hated it again. They closed and opened a new bar called "bar refuge" as their "refuge from bar rescue." And after a couple years sold it to make art instead. They said the reason they closed the original was because of prank calls and fake reviews from bar rescue fans. I doubt that was the only reason, but judging by the comments on the RUclips video they made burning the decore, I'm sure it was one of the reasons. People really wanted to see them fail and were mad they wouldnt bow down to Jons dumb ass "corporate bar" idea.
the way he acknowledges that its not what anyone wanted except for him is _insane_ . it's crushing the staffs dreams, but its what i wanted so its perfect! jesus christ, just make your own bar at that point. really depressing episode
John seems like the type of bratty guy who demands the friend group only does what he wants while on holiday and never notices how miserable he makes the people around him.
This episode of bar rescue was so hard to watch, He just got rid of the reason she even opened a bar and was aggressive with that "are you unhappy" this is the wildest one I have seen bro is a straight villain with that corporate bar and grill design
An old friend of mine was the cook in the episode where he comes to Portland Oregon. He said that when the kitchen wasn’t dirty enough for John to yell about they left the back doors in the kitchen open for hours until bugs came in so he had something he could yell about that was disgustingly. In that episode they don’t really talk about the kitchen anymore then that, it’s another episode like this one kinda it’s was a punk rock bar that did live shows and was located on a notorious street for hookers and across the street was a porn store (where I worked at the time) and I think they tried making it into a martini bar or something? I don’t remember what I do know tho is if you go on google earth and look at that bar it is nothing but ruble now, nature has reclaimed the land. The hookers and porn store are still there, still going strong
I had a bar rescue episode film in my area, I wish it was something crazy, but the only thing that really happened was one of the cooks stayed overnight to clean and it showed him showering naked in the kitchen as John came back in.
I honestly felt really bad for One-Eye Mike. He was so passionate about the job as a pirate and seeing him have to dress in a "marketable" way broke my heart for him. But god forbid Jon doesn't get his corpo themed restaurant I guess.
Andy, you should look into what the piratz bar did after this episode. They made a whole music video bashing Taffer and lit the corporate bar sign on fire.
That’s like the perfect way to get back at John Taffer. He’s so used to people yelling at him that he’s not affected by it, but someone singing at him is something that he absolutely could not handle. Good for them.
When they begged Jon for a second rescue after they went back to their McDonald’s land theme and closed their doors one week after asking for him to come back? Truly epic.
@@skywalker01974 Your being misleading with this comment. Theres alot more to the story afterwards and your only saying the part that makes taffer look good. When the full story is they are better without him or his generic bar ideas
I hope somehow she see this… people on the bar’s Facebook page were being nasty to her, but here people seem to understand her dream, and more importantly, that john is a freaking maniac.
Those people, and not just on Facebook; are the real reason she shut down the Piratz Bar. The bar operated untill 2015. But constant review bombing and general social media hatred got to her. She eventually moved down to Flordia and opened a second bar "Bar Refuge" named such becuase they wanted it to be their refuge from Bar Rescue; which also operated for several years before being sold so they could focus on artistic pursuits.
Fucking hell, absolutely no one who has spent a week working in a corporate office wants to spend their Friday/Saturday in a bar named and themed around being a soulless corporate drone. This episode was far more bar destruction than bar rescue.
i think working at this place the way it was before bar rescue would've literally been my dream job. such a shame that they took so much of the personality out of it, it looked like so much fun to hang out there. :(
I used to watch this show every week. He would usually try to tie in the owners or bars history to the rebrand, I remember thinking this was such a weird and jarring episode even for this show. He truly seemed to hate these people.
I would've had an emotional meltdown at that condescending "are you unhappy?" YES!! of course she's unhappy that you came in and stripped her of her dream business, made it boring and unremarkable, and then went "see? I did you a favor!" even if there were contractual obligations of any sort in play, I would've absolutely gone off on him
It’s deranged to me that Jon thought he could make that change and any of the clearly passionate staff would stay. They’re performers. All you can do is teach them to be better bar workers while they perform. Like how is Tracy supposed to keep her horrible soulless bar open (that no corporate worker would want to go to, mind you) when she has to hire entirely new staff because these people are enthusiasts and they’re not going to transition into classy bar workers. She needed someone with themed management experience, mixology training for her bartenders, and a real cook, not the worst rebrand I’ve ever seen with literally no other fixes except the new line cook. This is one of those things that’s so frustrating and I think what sets kitchen nightmares apart from bar rescue. Jon only cares about profit and his very conservative viewpoint makes him believe he’s the only one who knows what’s right. Gordon is interested in highlighting the soul of the place and cares about what’s important to the owners because he’s not an idiot. He knows that people with no passion do bad work and bad work means a business fails anyway. Jon thinks that people only work for a paycheck and doesn’t consider the aspect of fulfillment.
As someone who lives kinda close to that area, the pirate thing and them being actors makes 100% sense because (I think) the MD ren faire is like one of the top 5 biggest ones in the us
Andy that was the best bar rescue episode until when Bar rescue had a crossover episode with 2 folks from the Pirate Bar be the guest experts with tips and tricks to help failing bar , I just laughed so hard of the ridiculousness, I was like: "after all these years being exposed to spoiled alcohol with bugs, old hot wings fryer's grease pan from the 1920's and black mold buns with mutation powers, it finally got to Taffer's brain and he lost his mind" Even on the episode Taffer asked them about how is the Pirate bar and they said they had to close it, but now they are in the process to open another bar, and he remarks with "another successful story", I don't know if he was delusional or sarcastic! 🤣😂
I get where John is coming from. A pirate theme bar in downtown is now working if they are in so much debt. Something needs to change because a cosplay bar in that location isn’t going to work. That said, his makeover has to be a deliberate insult. This staff hates suits, and you’re asking them to work at a place called Corporate with a logo that is literally an office worker deprived of a face and identity?! That idea is so dumb that it has to be deliberate. What hurts is that the rebrand isn’t even that conceptualize. You pitch it as an island escape from work. Keep the nautical theming, keep the anti-work vibe, but you classy it up a bit. You are inviting these corporate drones to come in, hang up their tie, and get some drinks and seafood to unwind after being the office. It’s not “hell yeah, we’re pirates! Corporations suck!” It’s “agh, you tired of corporate? So are we! Come in and rest a second. Among all these offices, here, you’re safe to relax and be you!” Basically, it needs to get a 9 to 5 office worker to feel included on the fun.
Especially when there’s a HUGE market for that exact concept! My father worked a soul-crushing corporate job before he retired, and he loved Jimmy Buffett and island vacations for this exact reason. A pirate fantasy theme could have worked for this exact crowd!
1. The Piratz staff actually posted a video on RUclips where they burned the Corporate sign in effigy, I think. 2. Jon actually revisited the bar after the change back and called them "traitors". 3. To be honest, I hated the makeover Jon gave Piratz.
John misjudged this one so bad. A pirate bar could be really cool if they fixed the food, drinks and trained the employees a bit it could be a cool novelty bar. but instead he decided to strip all individuality from the bar and turn it into a generic café/bar.
the only thing more shocking than hearing the name of my city as the location of this episode is looking it up and seeing that it closed because of the harassment they received from viewers of this show :(
It’s like prescribing Extreme Home Makeover for a hoarding situation. A drastic aesthetic change that fixes nothing and will inevitably get trashed right back to square one.
Do you know why this is a fav episode of so many? Because it's not only funny and the cook is amusing but John says how a pirate bar is a stupid idea gaurnteed to fail only in later seasons to take it back, fix up a pirate bar in a pirate fashion and brought the couple from the first pirate bar in for recon. John also can't pour a beer but that's me just being petty and picking on the man because he can't see this xD
Someone needs to take John to a maid cafe in Japan if he thinks a restaurant can’t be interesting (I mean they literally have the servers do idol performances and interact w/ A FUCK TON of business men or women)
"I started this bar because I loved the theme and was having fun! It was my passion!" "No. No passion, no fun, only business and money. Joy is incompatible with success."
"Corporate Bar & Grill" is a fucking HORRIBLE idea oml. Like, seriously, WHO in their right mind would want to leave work just to go to a bar that reminds them of their job??
I love/hate Bar Rescue. Every ep is the same, "angry Jon", then "angry mixologist and angry world class hot dog maker Vic Vegas", then the tour pointing out flaws, then training, then the always destined to fail stress test, then the "heart to heart that miraculously heals a family and brings them closer together", then more training, then the remodel reveal and a suddenly successful re-launch only two days after they failed the stress test under the same circumstances. Anyway, in this ep, the fact that his wife orders a glass of wine is a dead giveaway that her inclusion was bullshit regardless of if she got "made" or not ("made", like she's some CIA agent). How are you going to judge the bartender's skills by ordering a glass of wine? It's never been done in any ep besides the one that was set in a wine bar.
@@Derivedwhale45 This bar made sense for this city too they just needed to move it closer to the harbor which has an actual pirate ship. The reality is Taffer is a shill who will only dip into that kinda stuff to salvage viewers and I can guarantee the Halloween and steampunk themes were not his ideas.
I remember this one! My favorite rescue fail though is the one in Tempe where they made alterations, didn’t get permits from the city and basically ghosted the owner when they asked them for help.
there was also the Scottsdale comedy bar that Taffer tried to turn into a Laugh Factory except that Laugh Factory never gave permission to use the name. So it had to revert to the original name, Stand Up Scottsdale. It was still open the last I checked.
The TV in our breakroom had that episode playing yesterday. I was thinking then, this can't be real in the slightest. Funny now here we are discussing the ridiculousness of that same episode.
@Xandropolis yeah I guess I should have clarified the bar being the only thing that was real. The situations, beyond the bar existing and needing help I believe, were either grossly exaggerated or fabricated entirely.
The bar itself is literally right in the middle of blocks of corporate offices. So the area of town dies during the nights and there are other restaurants that are fast lunch spots that get lots of business like millions per year because they CAN attract the thousands of corporate workers that are within a few miles of the spots.
Andy please please PLEASE keep this series going. if you ever run out of bar rescue episodes, do other reality shows because this is way more entertaining then the show itself.
In defense of Mike, he apologized to the etiquette teacher a few minutes after he lashed out at her. I remember he admitted that he was stressed and that he was wrong to take it out on her.
the fact he made people dress up to go in and not himself then. Also whenever he was like “WHAT MAKES YOU ASHAMED” that is just people having fun bro. Honestly he’s using manipulation to make everything a corporate bar. Elanes really pretty too lol
I feel like John thinks the only bars that can survive are boring sports bars and generic bars that all look about the same. A pirate bar could work if the base of the bar was fixed properly like properly working on food/drinks and not having workers drink on their shifts.
There’s a difference between surviving and thriving. The business was $900,000 in debt and shut down three years after the episode aired. Also, surprise surprise, the owner moved to Florida and opened another bar. But wasn’t pirate-themed; it was a regular bar! She finally had the perfect location for her pirate bar, yet scrapped it entirely!!
If it was Gordon who ran the show, I personally think he would have maybe toned down the pirate stuff a bit but mostly taught the chef how to cook since that is the biggest problem I can see.
the worst part is that even when he sucked tracy's passion and own interests out of her buissness he turned into a place tat wouldn't survive bc the buissness ppl can't escape their busy and stressfull work lives in a place LITERALLY called corporate. like, did he want it to fail?
![Digital Circus Episode 4 [TRAILER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/abZtsmMUbJo/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks Bright Cellars for sponsoring this video and for the limited-time offer! Click here bit.ly/BrightCellarsAndyKing to get your first 6-bottle box, a $150+ value, for just $60!
“Interact”
Here I am. Interacting.
😂😂
not even exaggerating when i say that was probably one of the smoothest sponsorship integrations i’ve heard in a while. julien’s old J&J sponsor segues are shaking in their boots rn
You should watch the pirate bar rescue episode!
Sick glasses shoot the link😂😂😂
Fun fact: not only did the owner revert back to being a pirate bar, they gathered up all of the “Corporate bar & grill” signs and anything that was labeled “Corporate” and took it to a shooting range where the whole staff shot it up, then burned it all. They posted the whole thing on RUclips too, the video is called “Piratz Revenge.”
Yeah how’s the business doing now?
@@lunchbox3124it’s shut down on 2015
@@lunchbox3124dunno but I can’t imagine they’d be doing much better if they kept the generic ass corporate shit
@@lunchbox3124failed, she opened a 2nd pirate bar and that also failed
Too bad the comments of that video is filled with sycophants sucking John Taffer’s nuts while insulting and celebrating the bar’s closure
John turning a pirate bar into a bar meant for corporate business men is like that episode of SpongeBob literally called "Selling out" where the Krusty Krab turns into a run of the mill sports bar and the customers end up hating it for lack of authenticity.
Holy shit I haven't thought about that, you're right lol
Technically the customers in that episode didn’t hate the lack of authenticity, they were just disgusted that they were eating grey sludge
@@sari9645babe that was a *metaphor*
The pirate bar was in the middle of a downtown business district bottom line is know your customers or you won't succeed
The Krabby O Mondays, or whatever it was called, does actually feel like this Corporate Aesthetic bar. Never made that connection before.
Jon: **hates the pirate bar**
Also jon in later seasons: **remodels two bars into steampunk and zombie apocalypse respectively**
What? I need to see these 😂
Weren’t those both in Vegas though?
@@Life_Universe_EverythingThe zombie one (The Underworld which became The End…or it might’ve been the other way around) was Vegas; Metal and Lace (formerly Headhunters) was Austin, TX
Definitely a case of different markets (ESPECIALLY Austin for the steampunk bar)
In his defense, those bars were located in places where tourists would eat that shit up.
As a Maryland local, this bar would've worked real well downtown by the Harbor, considering we have a LITERAL PIRATE SHIP THERE
omg that would've been amazing
RIGHT? IT WOULD DO SO WELL IN BALTIMORE
Like idk someone could make a day of going to Ripleys and then getting fucked up at the yo ho ho bar
yea literally, in oc, balt, or even salisbury this bar would flourish!
That's what I think is so funny, there are so many dickriders here who just assume what he said about concept bars not working in Maryland, when there's a ton of them all over the state.
This would KILL in oc
the way John absolutely hates any sort of theme and fun idea is the most Corporate Money Brain shit
Jon is the most Corporate Money Brain shithead
A feel like a bar like this would do really well if it was managed properly
fr instead of getting rid of the theme altogether how about we keep it and make it better? sheesh can't have any fun anymore
@@theflaminglitten-fo6jd John's a fucking Oligarch his fun is bleeding the working class dry
Get a living parrot too, and you can feed it nuts
I think if I was walking & literally saw a place called Corporate Bar, I'd think it was some kind of crime front.
What do you mean "Italian mob front" this is clearly "Food restaurant for eating" nothing suspicious there.
I saw a Simpsons episode several decades ago in which Bart joined the Mafia (don't ask). The local Mafia management congregated in a bar/restaurant called "The Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club."
You ask for the manager and get greeted by Wilson fisk.
True story: I lived up the a minute away from this place. One day, I did walk by and saw the stark switch from Piratz Tavern to Corporate Bar and Grill. My thought wasn’t “Italian gangster,” it was “from one Halloween costume to another.”
The fact that Jon thought this was a good idea was insane. Corporate Bar was the restaurant equivalent of the meme from 2012 of the business man on his phone smiling enthusiastically and saying “haha BUSINESS!”
I would think it was crime front themed.
this is the biggest glow-down that possibly any bar has ever experienced :(
Exactly! Just another generic bar...
Genuinely was speechless when it turned and it just fucking said “Corporate” that’s INSANE
Yeah they shoulda just keep going deeper and deeper into there already 1M+ debt that makes complete sense !
@calub_wendex1233 You're aware that pretty much NONE of the bars actually get rescued right? He just gave her MORE debt by forcing a souless renovation instead of helping her by working with what they had.
@@calub_wendex1233you realize that people absolutely were interested in a pirate themed bar, right? taffer didn’t have to completely renovate and redo everything the bar was about, just had to introduce a level of management, control, a decent chef, and people willing to actually WORK in a bar. good business practices are what get people out of debt, not completely changing what they started. also the debt was 900k
I actually hate this. The bar might not have been the best but just upgrade the food and drinks then let it go. Completely changing it, sucked very aspect of a personality out of it and just crushes that woman’s dreams along with the people that work there. It’s so sad. Also the emotional blackmail was awful.
@@Derivedwhale45 God people like you need to be purged.
@@Derivedwhale45 seeing all of your replies really just makes me think this is Jon Taffer's salty alt account
@@kinnelyuwu5771 not really fool. Just one of his millions of millions loyal individuals as well as powerful connections that follow powerful individuals like him & you brought 11 botted likes which thousands of elite cc members are capable of doing that everyday for over a decade kid ;)
@@Derivedwhale45 That wasn’t my point bro
@@kinnelyuwu5771 Either that or they're a simping fanboy for him.
Andy you should go to work at a really bad bar and then just really hope that an episode of bar rescue happens there.
I agree he needs to do this
AGREED!!!
@@pe9ch3d W wendy pfp
i dont for his mental health, service industrys kinda crazy
@@last-hv3svTRUE
Fun fact: most pirates wore eyepatches not because they lost an eye. but because when they went under deck their eye under the patch would already be adjusted to the darkness underneath inside the ship.
I saw that episode of myth busters.
I've 'eard it t'was to improve aim when shootin', yar-har-har-harg (🤐). Wonder what is true.
:0
thats actually quite interesting
@littlejunkettes4122 it might be true cuz if you only have 1 eye you loose your depth perception
I think the biggest take away from that episode is that Jon taffer hates people with creative passion
This episode proved to me that he's nothing but a generic industrialist who cares about bottom line above all else.
no shit, he's never shown that he even has the slightest touch of whimsy.
@@NoxNyx666who the fuck wants to go to a pirate themed bar
Like I will always tell people to shoot for their passions rather than money but she is 900000 dollars in debt, with a 6 year old. She should be more worried about her kids wellbeing than having a fun business.get out of debt than make a fun bar. But what John did was actually the worst, and nothing but an insult to those people
Or he hates people who want his help to get out of the $900,000 dollar debt they've dug and when he tells him and gives them a way to do it they turn him down. But yours is good, too.
This is the episode that made me stop watching Bar Rescue. Tracy was really open in the beginning, unlike so many owners. Like you said, John had something against this idea of a pirate bar and was unnecessarily mean.
He didn't just change their bar to something else, he changed it to "Corporate". Literally spitting in their face and the reason why they were in the business to begin with. The whole thing felt wrong.
Lowkey that's how I felt about the golf bar episode. It's clear that the owner had a passion for that! And he was forced to abandon his passion for it some shit ass college coffee bar.
Personally, I would have loved that golf bar. I don't have the money to go golfing and that simulator looked really neat!!
John could have simply reworked things to work with those themes and to target the audience that the owner was looking for but he didn't. Because John, at the end of the day, is a capitalist scumbag and passion shouldn't get in the way of profits for him.
Personally, I would love to go to the pirate theme bar!! Gimme some ale! Play some swashbuckling music! Gimme some cheap ass seafood! That sounds like a hell of a time!!
Yeah, he was like legitimately offended by the idea of a pirate themed bar
Especially since Tracy used to be in the corporate business and then decided to pursue a passion that made her happy. She needed help to execute that dream in a financially stable and prosperous way, not someone to spit in her face and drag her back into the corporate hellscape in any form possible.
Whats wild is that Tracy appears in later seasons as a special guest and its revealed that she burned up the corporate shit😂
@@haleyseleneas she should
missed opportunity for Andy to do his own pirate cosplay for this very special episode
🤤🤤🤤🤤
I worked down the street from this bar when the episode was shot. Pretty much everyone thought that the corporate change was a really weird move.
Yeah, now instead of "You wanna go to the pirate bar?" it's "Which basic bar do you want to go to?"
@@bloodmooncomics2249 No one went to the bar in the first place he actually gave it business.
Is it still open?
@jordanbailey8251 No, it closed a while back. I heard they opened a new bar in Florida though.
@@Greenhawk4dog did you watch the video?? First shot is them talking about having REGULARS
John could've focused on improving the service and reducing the drunk staff issues, but instead he ignored the real problems and screwed everything up
No he addressed those problems, and fixed it by training the staff, introducing new drink and food menus that make sense, and change the bars image.
He didn't screw anything up, the idiots at that bar screwed it up, and now their business is closed. All because they couldn't accept change.
@@GrandMastaKiwi awww someone is salty that the idea was great and not corp themed
@@LISSAxKIRA94 also their business is now closed. So their plan wasn't so great after all right smartass?
@@LISSAxKIRA94No, because it was a half-assed idea that the owner and the staff weren't ready to commit to.
It was more of their own personal clubhouse than a bar and its failure shows it.
@@Lobsterwithinternet LOL 😂 tell me you are a corpo shill without telling me
"Corporate" is literally the worst possible thing he could've ever done to that bar. Like he's completely showing how little he actually knows the working class people. When normal people leave their jobs, they don't want to go to a bar that reminds them of their job. Does John think people get these shitty soul stealing jobs because we like being in that environment? Imagine being so damn rich that you can't see the problem with that concept.
This is the first Bar Rescue episode you've covered where John is straight-up the villain
Considering John's helpful persona is just a mask, I'd say it was bound to slip eventually.
If Jon's the villain here, then the owners and staff were villains as well. Villain vs villain fights are always exciting
There's just something weird about John resorting to emotional blackmail to get a small business to completely change into being just another boring corporate bar meant for business lunches.
"Do you want to be a pirate or do you want to send your daughter to college?"
Edit: The people who are responding to this with "B-b-but, he's right. They need to change," are people who don't understand that forcing a costly renovation and high maintenance costs onto a business that is in massive debt is a bad idea, and who don't understand that naming a bar CORPORATE is probably the stupidest thing you can do to appeal to actual corporate people.
Like, bruh, do you really need to have it explained to you why a person working for a corporation would be incredibly turned off by a bar called CORPORATE handing out flyers at their office building? I wouldn't trust the advice of anyone who thinks that's a good idea.
The pirate theme isn't the issue John!
If by weird behavior you mean capitalist brain rot, then yeah for sure
bro they’re almost a million dollars in debt with a failing business and a concept that clearly isn’t working it’s time to change. you peoples weird obsession with “following passions” doesn’t pay the bills. they’re not on a dock they’re not on a beach the pirate bar doesn’t make sense. so yes it really is do you want to be a pirate or do you want to be homeless 900,000 in debt is not “surviving” it’s actively putting yourself into homelessness
@@slothschewgum There's a middle ground between dysfunctional pirate bar and transparently soulless corporate entity.
@@slothschewgum There’s a big difference between revamping the business model and completely wiping away everything that gave it any whimsy. You can have both you soulless bastard! (you’re probably fine, I just like being dramatic)
im glad they stuck with the pirate theme. the theme wasnt the problem, it was the shitty service and bad food! people love themed restaurants as long as they're actually *good*, and even then, well... rainforest cafe is still around somehow.
Yeah n they're dead Jim. U should be pissed like everyone else was cause they literally destroyed their one of a lifetime opportunity that could made their lives way better than they ever could imagine especially with over
+$1 million made have they stick with Jon version. Instead they ruin their lives forever, n will be buried & forgotten in no time as a example of what no to do when someone offers you help. U take it no matter what, otherwise you'll regret it forever
@@Derivedwhale45 ignoring the low hanging fruit of how hard it was to read what you typed, I don't think that's what to take from this
Taffer just had to fix the basics, but instead he decided to change the whole thing and emotionally berate a woman out of her passion project because he personally didn't like it
@@kinnelyuwu5771 Yes, there is a very clear middle ground to anyone with a brain. Tracy's bar as it is, wasn't working; but Taffer's 'bar' was honestly just as bad in the opposite extreme. And literally calling it 'Corporate Bar' really is a complete piss on everything. Tracy was fine with improving food, and service and such. But when the end result is the most boring and generic bar in all creation... yeah I don't think anyone would want to go there either. It's not fancy or high class, its literally as soulless as possible. Hell, at the bare minimum you could have done something like Red Lobster, where there is an obvious nautical theme when you enter the restraunt. People don't say "Oh no one would ever go to Red Lobster if it wasn't on the beach" or whatever. You can keep the spirit of the place while trying to broaden the appeal.
Except she didn’t improve food and service when she turned it back. It also wasn’t the right area, small town is not the place to open a theme bar.
@@Derivedwhale45 As a lot of people have mentioned in the comments, Taffer's idea for a "corporate bar" for people who most definitely already hate their jobs is a shitty idea, cooked up by an out of touch millionaire. The bar would have collapsed soon after John left.
This felt like "based on a true story" movie from the late 90s with a cast of plucky misfits who band together against the Man and refuse to sell out
😂
@@Robinripley Except that the heroes lose in the end and go to jail.
@@spiro3142 I'm not the one in jail. 🦞😜
It felt like he hated they were just having a good time and punished them with the whole corporate thing. That felt very personal in the worst way.
They should probably sue then cause that's acting in bad faith
Their good time wasnt making money for them though
@@SifGreyfang That doesn't mean he had to corporate-ify them. They could've still made money with a pirate theme. Maryland loves that stuff
@@DanniBananni No I agree the whole corporate change to the bar was honestly stupid of jon and in poor taste. But Their location wasn't the best spot for a pirate themed bar and as I said their good time wasn't making them money. Its something they all should've compromised on like moving to a more active area or something. Idk im not an expert but I'd say both parties were wrong in their own ways
@@DanniBananniThey WEREN'T. If a pirate theme was money, they would have ever made money. They at no point succeeded to any extent.
the worst part is that it would’ve been so easy to turn it into a really cool pirate bar. do away with the gimmicky decorations, change the menu, and train the staff. I would go to a pirate bar with a cool atmosphere, good drinks, and, most importantly, A STAFF THAT LOVES THEIR JOBS (which they ALREADY HAD). but then again I’m a former theatre kid
again again again its the location its a bad one for a theme bar.
They loved their jobs, cause they thought they could do whatever they wanted
Agreed, move that shit to a touristy part of Maryland and you'd be flooded with customers@@Greenhawk4
@@Greenhawk4saw lots of comments from people who live in maryland saying it oddly would have fit well since they have a habour with a pirate ship, and even then, themed bars are what makes bar culture so fun and unique. you're telling me you WOULDN'T want to go to a bar your friends told you is kinda shitty but the staff is insanely friendly and are dressed as PIRATES? that's so fun! i live in a small town in canada and genuinely, i hate going to the places downtown that are just basic and contemporary in design. sure the drinks are better but what's the fun is going somewhere mundane and void of personality when you can go two doors down to the arcade themed bar that serves drinks based on video game characters and sometimes has FACE PAINTING. creativity and freedom of healthy expression is so so important
@@crm7n Yeah, but they're running a BAR. A FAILING BAR. NOT A PIRATE PLAYHOUSE.
I’ve actually been to this bar. It was terrible but I did get to drink with knockoff captain jack sparrow. 6/10.
Heyo that sounds lit actually.
tbh that's the kind of experience i'm looking for when i go to a pirate themed bar so it's successful in that regard
seriously that sounds dope af. I live in the are and now im sad i can't go here@@abrasivesoup
While I'm not a fan of those Pirate films or the genre in general, a pirate themed bar sounds far better to spend an evening at, rather than some extremely pompous & pretentious "Corporate" bar.
If it was terrible, it wouldn't even be touching a 5 out of 10 man, that is 4 or lower out of 10, the knockoff thing makes it worse not better
John literally feels like the villain in a kids movie in this episode
At least he doesn't drink and drive like the owners did
Fr, he’s literally the “stuffy businessman who hates fun and wants to make everything corporate and boring” stereotype in this one
That was like, one of the most gut wrenching things ever. The second hand embarrassment from the “Corporate Bar” was INSANE. The endearing theme and their commitment to it was literally the only thing keeping me attached to it, man. I hope themed restaurants never die but this didn’t give me a lot of hope lmao
The Renn Faire/pirate scene in Maryland is actually huge. MDRF is the largest ren faire on the east coast. If they moved 30 minutes closer to Crownsville, they would've make a killing during renfest season. The rennies are always looking for places to go after the fairegrounds close for the day.
Taffer and his crew were unnecessarily aggressive and rude this entire episode. It's hard to look down on how animated the servers were when they were CONSTANTLY demeaned.
Wow the dude whose language is CLEARLY not English got shellfish confused, better make sure he realizes how stupid he was, right? That'll actually teach people, right?
This was hard to watch.
Yeah, dude got so mad over the dude calling a shrimp the wrong thing
That's not an excuse. If the wrong person eats it, it can kill them. Realistically he should have never been in the Kitchen alone if he didn't understand what Shellfish was.
@@Vaniity_VelvetThat’s missing the point. Berating an demeaning someone doesn’t help them learn, and if he shouldn’t have been in the kitchen then it’s the fault of his supervisors. He’s just there to follow directions, it’s their responsibility to make sure he knows what to do.
@@TheNerevahkiin well said.
i know One-Eyed Mike could have been a lot more professional and patient dealing with Jessie but he owned up to it later in the episode.
@@TheNerevahkiin And who were the supervisors?
The saddest thing is that this bar had real problems that Jon is perfectly capable of fixing without gutting the soul out of the whole place. And he just blatantly chose to artificially staple those problems to the concept.
Jon Taffer the kinda guy to go to a maid cafe and complain that all of the waitresses are in maid costumes
For real bro
The only people I can picture going to a corporate bar are people with a secretary fetish
😂 Ill take a Microsoft Teams Drink and Microsoft Excel Fried Pickles
My kind of place
Omg me
@@negative6442 is it a general formal wear thing or just secretaries?
@@Makarosc Bit of both, but I'm a sucker for the office lady look
A pirate named Rouge drinking on the job while serving straight liquor is the least surprising thing I've ever seen
This is just my opinion; but if I worked 12 hour days or more at a high paying corporate job, the last thing I'd want to do is go to a corporate themed bar. I want to get away from work, not stay in it 24/7! I feel if they toned down the pirate stuff slightly while still maintaining the theme and hire-on more qualified candidates, plus modifying the menu they could've potentially been in a better situation.
I agree. I think he was mainly trying to break their mental obsession with being pirates.
Make it a general sailing/nautical theme, and then once or twice a month have the bar be "taken over" by pirates for a night.
@@magimerlyn9596 thats actually really smart, gives employees and customers to look forward to
@@magimerlyn9596 That's actually such a cool idea.
@@magimerlyn9596 I think that was the original idea.
I love this episode because they barely focus in the actual reasons the bar was failing like it being terribly ran and instead focus on the only redeeming factor of it that could draw in thousands of people
Except even some of that isn't true. The reason we see the bar nearly empty on Jon's investigation; is becuase he told them to tell everyone it was closed. What few customers you see are walk bys. So when business is dead; of course Service is gonna be slow. I've worked in places where some nights are naturally dead; and you end up doing other things becuase there's literally almost nothing to do. So it just makes it look bad becuase Jon is presenting that as the usual. Like the bar had problems, but much of what we see is purposefulyl designed to make it look much worse then it actually is.
@@CassidyShadewing If it had been doing as amazingly as you say, WHY were they on the show and why was it failing so hard? 900k in debt is not surviving, it's not even barely scraping by. That is abyssmal failure.
This is heartbreaking. I grew up near a restaurant/bar that was Doctor Who themed that was pretty popular. This definitely a market for fun restaurants and bars
I went to a bar in Bismarck, ND that has a bunch of arcade machines. It was a pretty fun experience.
@@randomtinypotatocried If that was the case, they wouldn't need Jon Taffer.
I think a pirate-themed restaurant makes more sense to be in Maryland than in Florida, where there's already so many pirate-themed attractions.
I mean I live in Washington Puget Sound area, so not even on the coast, and we have a pirate-themed bar here. Seems to be doing fine. As long as the food is good, nobody cares. And as long as the drinks are cheap, nobody cares.
It feels out of place though
It’s like having a cowboy bar in Maine or Wisconsin, or a New York themed bar in California. Or an ice fishing bar in Florida
I’m not saying that it can’t work or that I hate it, it’s just a weird place to do it.
like, if I opened a Dinosaur themed bar, I’d probably do it in the Mountain states, like Montana, Utah, Colorado, or the Dakotas. These are places where Paleontology is a very relevant thing and Dinosaur Fossils are actively being dug up (Montana and the Dakotas have formations like Hell Creek, famous for Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus. Meanwhile, Utah and Colorado have the Morrison Formation, Famous for Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Allosaurus)
But if I did that in Florida, it’d feel very odd, because we don’t have dinosaur fossils here. Though I could see a prehistoric-themed bar in Gainesville work, thanks to the Paleontological presence there, but it’d largely have to be Cenozoic Themed. Turtles and Gompatheres (prehistoric elephants) a plenty!
@@andrewb6194 To me, having a themed restraunt/bar in a place where those themes are common, feels like completely missing the point. If I'm in Texas and already around a lot of ranching and cowboy culture; why the hell would I want to go to a novelty themed cowboy bar and grill? It makes more sense for those places to exist, where people aren't constantly steeped in that culture. It's like saying the Rainforest Cafe shouldn't exist outside the Rainforests; when that's exactly the point of them.
@@CassidyShadewing Tourists. A themed bar isn't meant for the locals. It's meant for tourists.
I feel like the theme wasn't the issue, moreso the service. If the food and drinks had been done better, they'd probably have a pretty good chance.
If it makes you feel any better, they're often told to lie about how much debt they're in for the show. So she *probably* wasn't actually in that much debt.
Tbh that means that John wanted to taint their image even more, same vibes as him adding the "Tracy still lives with her parents in the basement" at the end of the episode😭Ouch john really does hate pirates and creativity
She really was 900k in debt cause nobody would be THAT poor to live in their parents basement n now, she's homeless & won't survive long now
@@Derivedwhale45 I'm gonna need you to write out "I must not tell lies" 400 times. Becuase none of that is true. The bar lasted 3 more years, even showed up again on the show, and mostly closed because of assholes like you. Then they moved to Florida, open edanother Bar for several years; and then sold it and as they decided to focus on their artistic passions.
@@Derivedwhale45 I don't doubt that she still had a substantial debt, also in America right now MOST people live with their parents so it's not really a good basis. If that's true that she is now homeless, it's very sad and I hope she does survive, if only to spite your prediction if nothing else.
@@Derivedwhale45 someone cant read.
ive never seen anything more depressing than that reveal. i felt MY soul being sucked out of me
You know, for all Jon's alleged genius about the bar business, he sure only seems to know how to do one type of bar.
The successful type? The type that make money if you stick with the concept for more than a few days before going back to the theme that put you 900,000$ in debt, that type?
@@skywalker01974didn't he do a steampunk bar for an owner? He's done themes for bars before and a pirate bar makes a lot of sense but from what I've seen the location of the bar was a big part of the issue. Turning the bar into the most bland corporate thing ever is petty and spiteful.
@@TheNexDude he was genuinely trying to caters to the demographics of the area. I’m pretty sure the pirate demographic is low to non existent.
@@skywalker01974Yeah because a bland, soulless corporate theme won’t alienate anyone at all, the theme was quite literally the least of Piratz Tavern’s problems, it was everything else, the food, the drinks, the staff, the hygiene, THAT’S what put them in debt, the pirate theme is fun, it adds charm, in fact, I think giving the place a corporate theme would actively alienate businesspeople, they have a life outside work, why would they want to go to a place that says “I make my job my whole personality”?
@@sneakymcbadguy5121 he at least tried to change the theme to something adults could get in line with instead of a six kids birthday party nightmare.the staff was so fixated on their cosplay they didn’t want to change anything if they could play pirates all day they were just going to take their ball and go home .plus the owner and her boy toy couldn’t run a hot dog stand if their lives depended on it.
"Let's talk like a normal person."
"Do you want to be a pirate or do you want to send your daughter to college?"
"Corporate people don't want this."
This entire episode gives me the ick.
He was right. The bar was in a corporate area, and it was bleeding to death while insisting on not catering to its area. Change the bar or move the bar. They refused both, and now it's gone.
@@grabble7605more to the story then that dude. In the end they were better without him or his generic bar ideas. Also i doubt people that work in corporate places want to work all day then go somewhere meant to relax just for it to remind them of work
@@grabble7605 You may find this hard to believe but people who work in corporate businesses are freaks and geeks too. The only time that dry professional aesthetic matters is when businesses take clients out for lunch and they are definitely not going to bars for that. After hours nobody that works in that environment wants to be reminded of the degenerate corporate bullshit they have to put up with to survive.
this is literally so sad. yeah traci needed a wake up call but stripping the entire identity out of a small bar, even a crappy small bar, that the people working at it are very passionate about, is just. soul crushing
Sometimes u gotta be harsh to make idiots like her listen n if she actually stuck with Jon concept, she would've have a bright future like Ami & the guys on bourbon street did. Instead she decided to play Russian roulette with her luck, fails n now is gonna be gone eventually. All because she was too stubborn.
@@Derivedwhale45 who the hell is going to a place called "Corporate Bar & Grille"??
@Derivedwhale45 Are you okay? You're responding to every single comment and taking this episode of bar rescue very seriously.
@@Derivedwhale45 Seems like she's gotten a bright future despite what Jon trumped up in the show for your to swallow.
@@ProtoGhostal1701 bro who was going to the bar in the first place? Clearly more people were there instead of what it originally was.
This really feels like John had this Corporate bar idea on the back burner and was just looking for a place he could shoehorn it in no matter what.
Damn - I actually feel bad for the crew of that business. Like, they legitimately enjoyed running a pirate-themed bar.
U shouldn't u should treated them crap just like they did to Jon & the majority expect for Mike, at least he knew Jon version of the bar would've worked n save everyone there. At least he got out just in time
@@Derivedwhale45 nobody wants to go to a bar named Corporate, except you to prove your own points.
@@felixhenri1352 WHO WAS GOING TO THE BAR IN THE FIRST PLACE LMAO
@@Greenhawk4 Full offense, do you have to butt into every single damn comment thread on this video so you can copy-paste this? You're still here three days later saying basically the same thing over and over, contribute something interesting to the discussion instead of barging in and saying the same shit.
@@Derivedwhale45 except most bars that jon "saved" either revert, or die.
I completely agree. The corporate bar would not be something I’d want to go to. Why couldn’t they just tweak the Pirate bar?
Wouldn't work no matter what, thus why they have to rebuild the new concept from the ground up n instead Tracy destory her life. Have she stuck with Jon version, she's would've been making a fortune n her daughter in Harvard by now
@@Derivedwhale45I've seen u just commenting on ppls post without actually looking at the situation full. U can have a successful themed bar that isn't basic. Lots of them exist. U can fix the bar without making it look like shut. Her dream was to have a fun bar that she enjoys. Clearly her staff feels the same way an they enjoy working for her, there's no hate there between her an her staff. So why not focus on the issue instead of killing the dreams of her an her staff
@@francis-ip8ubyeah they just keep replying to everyone 😂 I’m starting to think Tracy hurt this person personally because it’s not that serious lmao…
@@francis-ip8ub Because her dreams are harming the innocent person she forced into the world and has a moral responsibility to do anything and everything to protect and help thrive.
@Likelyfairy Lol, it's Tracy's ex's RUclips account going undercover.
I looked into what happened after this episode. The owners hated jons changes (obviously) and burned/shot the decore he added and turned it into a pirate thing again. They eventually were on another episode of bar rescue, and hated it again. They closed and opened a new bar called "bar refuge" as their "refuge from bar rescue." And after a couple years sold it to make art instead.
They said the reason they closed the original was because of prank calls and fake reviews from bar rescue fans. I doubt that was the only reason, but judging by the comments on the RUclips video they made burning the decore, I'm sure it was one of the reasons. People really wanted to see them fail and were mad they wouldnt bow down to Jons dumb ass "corporate bar" idea.
@@pandaitis0157 No, we just wanted them to stop being stupid and start taking their business seriously instead of treating it like a clubhouse.
they coulda sold off all the bar rescue shit, climbed a few inches out of debt and got their act together for round 2 pirate boogaloo
you 2 are some sick twisted goofballs
the way he acknowledges that its not what anyone wanted except for him is _insane_ . it's crushing the staffs dreams, but its what i wanted so its perfect! jesus christ, just make your own bar at that point. really depressing episode
John seems like the type of bratty guy who demands the friend group only does what he wants while on holiday and never notices how miserable he makes the people around him.
Realistically he should have just refused to help. There was no changing that shitshow.
This episode of bar rescue was so hard to watch, He just got rid of the reason she even opened a bar and was aggressive with that "are you unhappy" this is the wildest one I have seen bro is a straight villain with that corporate bar and grill design
An old friend of mine was the cook in the episode where he comes to Portland Oregon. He said that when the kitchen wasn’t dirty enough for John to yell about they left the back doors in the kitchen open for hours until bugs came in so he had something he could yell about that was disgustingly. In that episode they don’t really talk about the kitchen anymore then that, it’s another episode like this one kinda it’s was a punk rock bar that did live shows and was located on a notorious street for hookers and across the street was a porn store (where I worked at the time) and I think they tried making it into a martini bar or something? I don’t remember what I do know tho is if you go on google earth and look at that bar it is nothing but ruble now, nature has reclaimed the land. The hookers and porn store are still there, still going strong
“Nature has reclaimed the land” and “the hookers and porn store are still there” are not two sentences I ever expected to read next to eachother
Was this at Tonic Lounge turned to Panic Room, turned back to Tonic Lounge before eventually closing ?
John is quite possibly the least whimsical person possible
Agreed 🧙
John could get trapped in a magical world and he’d be complaining the entire time
@@mrcritical6751 John is a parent in Charlie & the chocolate factory
@@frogskeleton222 John is the main character from I Hate Fairyland
Johns the type of guy who would rebrand Dragonforce into Pockrock Band and complain about the fans who dont like it.
I had a bar rescue episode film in my area, I wish it was something crazy, but the only thing that really happened was one of the cooks stayed overnight to clean and it showed him showering naked in the kitchen as John came back in.
Yeah I think everyone including Jon know bout it n decided to not bring in up of obvious reasons and didn't wanna embarrassed him n such
Was that the "Dirty Red" guy?
From a genuinely interesting idea to a bar literally NAMED CORPORATE is crazy evil😭😭
I honestly felt really bad for One-Eye Mike. He was so passionate about the job as a pirate and seeing him have to dress in a "marketable" way broke my heart for him. But god forbid Jon doesn't get his corpo themed restaurant I guess.
Andy, you should look into what the piratz bar did after this episode. They made a whole music video bashing Taffer and lit the corporate bar sign on fire.
That’s like the perfect way to get back at John Taffer. He’s so used to people yelling at him that he’s not affected by it, but someone singing at him is something that he absolutely could not handle. Good for them.
When they begged Jon for a second rescue after they went back to their McDonald’s land theme and closed their doors one week after asking for him to come back? Truly epic.
@@skywalker01974 Your being misleading with this comment. Theres alot more to the story afterwards and your only saying the part that makes taffer look good. When the full story is they are better without him or his generic bar ideas
@skywalker01974
for a guy with a unibomber pfp, you sure do love being a billionaires bitch.
all of the employees there definitely have a d&d campaign together
I hope somehow she see this… people on the bar’s Facebook page were being nasty to her, but here people seem to understand her dream, and more importantly, that john is a freaking maniac.
Those people, and not just on Facebook; are the real reason she shut down the Piratz Bar. The bar operated untill 2015. But constant review bombing and general social media hatred got to her. She eventually moved down to Flordia and opened a second bar "Bar Refuge" named such becuase they wanted it to be their refuge from Bar Rescue; which also operated for several years before being sold so they could focus on artistic pursuits.
@@CassidyShadewinguh no, they were forced to cell it since they built a patio without the cities permission
Fucking hell, absolutely no one who has spent a week working in a corporate office wants to spend their Friday/Saturday in a bar named and themed around being a soulless corporate drone. This episode was far more bar destruction than bar rescue.
i think working at this place the way it was before bar rescue would've literally been my dream job. such a shame that they took so much of the personality out of it, it looked like so much fun to hang out there. :(
I used to watch this show every week. He would usually try to tie in the owners or bars history to the rebrand, I remember thinking this was such a weird and jarring episode even for this show. He truly seemed to hate these people.
John really went "😡STOP HAVING FUN!!!"
I would've had an emotional meltdown at that condescending "are you unhappy?"
YES!! of course she's unhappy that you came in and stripped her of her dream business, made it boring and unremarkable, and then went "see? I did you a favor!"
even if there were contractual obligations of any sort in play, I would've absolutely gone off on him
It’s deranged to me that Jon thought he could make that change and any of the clearly passionate staff would stay. They’re performers. All you can do is teach them to be better bar workers while they perform.
Like how is Tracy supposed to keep her horrible soulless bar open (that no corporate worker would want to go to, mind you) when she has to hire entirely new staff because these people are enthusiasts and they’re not going to transition into classy bar workers. She needed someone with themed management experience, mixology training for her bartenders, and a real cook, not the worst rebrand I’ve ever seen with literally no other fixes except the new line cook.
This is one of those things that’s so frustrating and I think what sets kitchen nightmares apart from bar rescue. Jon only cares about profit and his very conservative viewpoint makes him believe he’s the only one who knows what’s right. Gordon is interested in highlighting the soul of the place and cares about what’s important to the owners because he’s not an idiot. He knows that people with no passion do bad work and bad work means a business fails anyway. Jon thinks that people only work for a paycheck and doesn’t consider the aspect of fulfillment.
As someone who lives kinda close to that area, the pirate thing and them being actors makes 100% sense because (I think) the MD ren faire is like one of the top 5 biggest ones in the us
Andy that was the best bar rescue episode until when Bar rescue had a crossover episode with 2 folks from the Pirate Bar be the guest experts with tips and tricks to help failing bar , I just laughed so hard of the ridiculousness, I was like: "after all these years being exposed to spoiled alcohol with bugs, old hot wings fryer's grease pan from the 1920's and black mold buns with mutation powers, it finally got to Taffer's brain and he lost his mind" Even on the episode Taffer asked them about how is the Pirate bar and they said they had to close it, but now they are in the process to open another bar, and he remarks with "another successful story", I don't know if he was delusional or sarcastic! 🤣😂
What?! I don't recall seeing this one!
The dopamine hit I get when I see an Andy king bar rescue video is unmatched.
The wine sponsor was so well timed oml 💀
They just HAD to be pirates 😂 that’s their whole life now
Now you gotta watch the episode where one of the employees tried to fight John
They burned some of the new decorations after they closed the corporate thing! Truly love that 😂
I get where John is coming from. A pirate theme bar in downtown is now working if they are in so much debt. Something needs to change because a cosplay bar in that location isn’t going to work. That said, his makeover has to be a deliberate insult. This staff hates suits, and you’re asking them to work at a place called Corporate with a logo that is literally an office worker deprived of a face and identity?! That idea is so dumb that it has to be deliberate.
What hurts is that the rebrand isn’t even that conceptualize. You pitch it as an island escape from work. Keep the nautical theming, keep the anti-work vibe, but you classy it up a bit. You are inviting these corporate drones to come in, hang up their tie, and get some drinks and seafood to unwind after being the office. It’s not “hell yeah, we’re pirates! Corporations suck!” It’s “agh, you tired of corporate? So are we! Come in and rest a second. Among all these offices, here, you’re safe to relax and be you!” Basically, it needs to get a 9 to 5 office worker to feel included on the fun.
Especially when there’s a HUGE market for that exact concept! My father worked a soul-crushing corporate job before he retired, and he loved Jimmy Buffett and island vacations for this exact reason. A pirate fantasy theme could have worked for this exact crowd!
... so basically you think they should have become Diet Margaritaville (you are correct btw)
1. The Piratz staff actually posted a video on RUclips where they burned the Corporate sign in effigy, I think. 2. Jon actually revisited the bar after the change back and called them "traitors". 3. To be honest, I hated the makeover Jon gave Piratz.
John misjudged this one so bad. A pirate bar could be really cool if they fixed the food, drinks and trained the employees a bit it could be a cool novelty bar. but instead he decided to strip all individuality from the bar and turn it into a generic café/bar.
the only thing more shocking than hearing the name of my city as the location of this episode is looking it up and seeing that it closed because of the harassment they received from viewers of this show :(
Yeah it definitely felt like this episode was setting up the bar to be sicked on by their fans
That’s so disgusting. This bar could’ve grown into a real gem with some honest help
"Harassment", same vibes as "death threats"
It’s like prescribing Extreme Home Makeover for a hoarding situation. A drastic aesthetic change that fixes nothing and will inevitably get trashed right back to square one.
Do you know why this is a fav episode of so many? Because it's not only funny and the cook is amusing but John says how a pirate bar is a stupid idea gaurnteed to fail only in later seasons to take it back, fix up a pirate bar in a pirate fashion and brought the couple from the first pirate bar in for recon. John also can't pour a beer but that's me just being petty and picking on the man because he can't see this xD
Someone needs to take John to a maid cafe in Japan if he thinks a restaurant can’t be interesting (I mean they literally have the servers do idol performances and interact w/ A FUCK TON of business men or women)
I dont think Johns fetid unimaginative brain is capable of understanding how something like that can be wildly successful in another culture.
"I started this bar because I loved the theme and was having fun! It was my passion!" "No. No passion, no fun, only business and money. Joy is incompatible with success."
john is like a cog walking into a toontown shop and turning it into a cog building
Guy actually doesn't understand anyone that doesn't think everyone is super into fitting into and impressing corporate America lol
You should cover the bar from Austin that literally had roaches in the pouring bottles. John turned it into a steampunk bar lol
"Corporate Bar & Grill" is a fucking HORRIBLE idea oml. Like, seriously, WHO in their right mind would want to leave work just to go to a bar that reminds them of their job??
a corporate bar? was he having a laugh? 💀
I love/hate Bar Rescue. Every ep is the same, "angry Jon", then "angry mixologist and angry world class hot dog maker Vic Vegas", then the tour pointing out flaws, then training, then the always destined to fail stress test, then the "heart to heart that miraculously heals a family and brings them closer together", then more training, then the remodel reveal and a suddenly successful re-launch only two days after they failed the stress test under the same circumstances.
Anyway, in this ep, the fact that his wife orders a glass of wine is a dead giveaway that her inclusion was bullshit regardless of if she got "made" or not ("made", like she's some CIA agent). How are you going to judge the bartender's skills by ordering a glass of wine? It's never been done in any ep besides the one that was set in a wine bar.
Remember the episode with the Halloween bar? And the steampunk bar? He was totally fine with those 😭
Because for those cities it makes sense 💯
@@Derivedwhale45 And because they weren't harming the future of an innocent life that the owner forced to exist and then never bothered to prioritize.
@@Derivedwhale45do you ever eat normal food ? or is it only taffers boots every night?
@@PosthumanHeresyhow was it harming her daughter's future? And forced to exist? Lets calm down here high and mighty
@@Derivedwhale45 This bar made sense for this city too they just needed to move it closer to the harbor which has an actual pirate ship. The reality is Taffer is a shill who will only dip into that kinda stuff to salvage viewers and I can guarantee the Halloween and steampunk themes were not his ideas.
I remember this one! My favorite rescue fail though is the one in Tempe where they made alterations, didn’t get permits from the city and basically ghosted the owner when they asked them for help.
N the son was actually a undercover cop that was murder the moment he was found out.
there was also the Scottsdale comedy bar that Taffer tried to turn into a Laugh Factory except that Laugh Factory never gave permission to use the name. So it had to revert to the original name, Stand Up Scottsdale. It was still open the last I checked.
The TV in our breakroom had that episode playing yesterday. I was thinking then, this can't be real in the slightest. Funny now here we are discussing the ridiculousness of that same episode.
I mean the bar itself was probably real. I think they likely just added some fake staff and gross stuff. The bar almost certainly existed
@Xandropolis yeah I guess I should have clarified the bar being the only thing that was real. The situations, beyond the bar existing and needing help I believe, were either grossly exaggerated or fabricated entirely.
The bar itself is literally right in the middle of blocks of corporate offices. So the area of town dies during the nights and there are other restaurants that are fast lunch spots that get lots of business like millions per year because they CAN attract the thousands of corporate workers that are within a few miles of the spots.
Andy please please PLEASE keep this series going. if you ever run out of bar rescue episodes, do other reality shows because this is way more entertaining then the show itself.
Honestly I would've rather gone to a cool pirate themed bar than a shitty corporate bar. I'm so mad at John for this
Honestly I’m just waiting for the day Jon Taffer goes to a maid cafe
In defense of Mike, he apologized to the etiquette teacher a few minutes after he lashed out at her. I remember he admitted that he was stressed and that he was wrong to take it out on her.
1:31 Hey, there I am!
the fact he made people dress up to go in and not himself then. Also whenever he was like “WHAT MAKES YOU ASHAMED” that is just people having fun bro. Honestly he’s using manipulation to make everything a corporate bar. Elanes really pretty too lol
I feel like John thinks the only bars that can survive are boring sports bars and generic bars that all look about the same. A pirate bar could work if the base of the bar was fixed properly like properly working on food/drinks and not having workers drink on their shifts.
There’s a difference between surviving and thriving.
The business was $900,000 in debt and shut down three years after the episode aired. Also, surprise surprise, the owner moved to Florida and opened another bar. But wasn’t pirate-themed; it was a regular bar! She finally had the perfect location for her pirate bar, yet scrapped it entirely!!
Words cannot describe how happy this series makes me
It makes me so sad that they stripped the "pirate" part away from the pirate bar..... You could totally have a successful pirate bar!!!
If it was Gordon who ran the show, I personally think he would have maybe toned down the pirate stuff a bit but mostly taught the chef how to cook since that is the biggest problem I can see.
If The Pirate Tavern was open in 2023, business would be booming. People would ADORE a place where you can just dress up and act like a pirate.
Businessmen when something isn’t the most boring generic shit imaginable and has a soul:
the worst part is that even when he sucked tracy's passion and own interests out of her buissness he turned into a place tat wouldn't survive bc the buissness ppl can't escape their busy and stressfull work lives in a place LITERALLY called corporate. like, did he want it to fail?
I agree with keeping the pirate theme. Like every Tuesday can be trivia about pirates. Saturday's can be costume night.