As Jon Taffer expands his business with new restaurants in Washington, D.C., and Boston, fans have high expectations after years of watching him judge bars bar rescue. Since the series shows major changes to the staff and the bar, it’s not always obvious when something is scripted or staged.
However, according to bar owners and employees who appear on the series, not everything is as it seems in the final edited product. From accusations of encouraging bad behavior to making sets appear dirtier, bar rescue Much more fake than the audience imagined.
owner behavior
Audiences want to see drama with employees and bar owners behaving erratically. Unfortunately, this is not always the reality. In the Season 3 episode “Don’t Mess with Tarver’s Wife,” Sand Dollar owner Dr. Paul Wilkes makes inappropriate remarks about women and strikes up a conversation with Jon Tarver’s wife, only to be beaten by the bar pro A punch.
The truth about the show came to light after Wilkes sued Tarver, his wife and the production company in 2014, in which he claimed the producers directed him to engage in inappropriate behavior (per Deadline ). Wilkes claims Tarver even made sure there was a drink nearby so he could throw it in his face during the confrontation.
dirty kitchen
Jon Tarver discovered something pretty disgusting, but former bar owners claim their establishments were deliberately not cleaned. Several patrons of Schafer’s Bar and Grill in Season 5 took to Facebook to express how fabricated the appearance and poor performance of the bar during the show’s filming was.
Burks also claimed that the production staff took bottles from behind the bar so they intentionally failed to make the right drinks and made it appear that one of the bartenders was trying to sabotage business. While some kitchens do look like they haven’t been cleaned in years, the output seems exaggerated.
story plot
According to the former owner of Pilatz’s Tavern in Season 2, former employees were brought in and the bar was open for filming on days when it was not normally open. Everything was staged, from the storyline to the employees not being current employees, to make the business look more like a failure.
Owner Tracy announced on Facebook that the Pirate Pub would be closing due to the loss of its lease, claiming her family had been given specific roles. Bar Rescue: Back to the Bar. She claimed the storyline was concocted to make the bar seem more unsuccessful and dramatic.
new device
bar rescue You can only accomplish so much in a short time. The staff has provided plenty of equipment, from draft beer taps to new ice machines and POS systems. However, the show hints that now that Tarver has left, the staff has put everything in place for the bar to succeed.
Season 4’s Los Angeles Brewing Company was given equipment to brew beer on location, but the show didn’t provide the proper license (per LA Weekly ). The program does not help pubs take appropriate steps to utilize their refurbished space and equipment. It all depends on the owner.
staff
bar rescue I’ve watched a lot of dramas. However, that’s just because bigger, more annoying characters get higher ratings. Former Cashmere manager James Iadanza returned to the pub as manager, just for the filming. He was reportedly told to act rude, but he recalled, “Everyone acted like angels and they had me filmed” (per WRAL News).
Itanza’s shameless behavior and huge personality make him the scapegoat for all the bar’s problems, when in fact, he hasn’t worked at the bar in months. The show is full of fantasy and provides a visual representation of why the bar failed.
context
Jon doesn’t go to bars often, but according to an employee at the O’Face Bar, his reasoning makes no sense. Season 3 episodes revealed shocking behavior by Iowa bar employees, and video of the bar owner slapping an employee named Dave Peters was the final straw for Tarver Straw.
Peters posted the video on Facebook, writing: “Producers urge us to make dramatic content [influence] Jon is here. ” He claimed that the video was from an audition tape for the show and was not authentic, but that the show had taken it out of context. The owners and employees had no control over the editing process.
Jon’s bartending knowledge
Tarver may be a wizard in the bar and nightlife industry, but he’s come under fire from bartenders for misrepresenting the origins of tequila and mezcal and calling the drink a hallucinogen (per Vice ). Although he invites professional bartenders to participate in the show, he often provides bartenders with advice and his thoughts on various cocktails.
As the show’s introduction claims, his lack of knowledge of bartending and the science behind the drinks undermines his credibility as a “bar science” professional. His appearance may be embellished in the series to highlight the differences between his knowledge and that of the bar owner.
The authenticity of undercover
The undercover officer Tarver sends to inspect the bar at the beginning of each episode isn’t the first to delve into the food and drink. Food writer Debbi Snook claims producers ordered the entire Martini Bros burger bar menu ahead of her secret visit to “find its weakest link” and told her to order the menu items (According to Cleveland.com).
While her reaction was genuine, she might not have had the same experience had she ordered one of the bar’s better dishes. It’s just another aspect of the show that’s fake. Undercover patrons walk into bars knowing they are ordering the worst food and drinks, deliberately trying to show any positivity.
shooting schedule
The show claims a typical shooting time of five days. However, Tracy, the owner of Pilarz Tavern, objected to this. After the bar closed, she wrote on Facebook that while filming the rescue, she was told to bring multiple outfits to make it look like it was shot over several days.
bar rescue There were heated debates, but owners like Tracy just didn’t agree with the changes, the production’s planned storylines, and the rewritten narrative. The filming schedule is obviously an area of debate, as more long-term changes may occur over time.
How to attend the show
Generally speaking, bars apply to participate in the show. Occasionally, producers will contact bars to inquire about interest. Mariah of Murphy’s Law Irish Pub claims that we’ve contacted the bar and that the producers made up reasons why the bar needed to be saved, including creating a fake confrontation between the bar owners (per BrentResser.com).
She also claimed that she was forced to sit in a bar and do nothing during filming. Pubs contacted by producers are likely to experience fewer problems than pubs seeking rescue on their own. The producers had a universal storyline that they wanted to tell by using any bar.