Bar Rescue 5x1

1. Just like the Strip,

2. they're knocking all these casinos down.

3. They put a kindergarten up over there.

4. And just you know, this place could go too.

5. And then what?

6. This year,

7. 6,500 failing bars nationwide

8. will close their doors for good.

9. If things don't change soon,

10. Champagne's Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada

11. will become just another statistic.

12. Owner, Greg Sims bought Champagne's in 2015

13. with a loan from his mother.

14. It was her way to keep her son close to home

15. after his father passed.

16. Greg Sims: She loaned me $150,000.

17. And the first place I found was this place.

18. The history of Champagne's Cafe goes back to 1966.

19. Back in those days it was a hangout for the Rat Pack.

20. And later, in the '80s, it became a mobster hangout.

21. And members of the Hole in the Wall Gang,

22. and Tony Spilotro, people like that.

23. It makes me comfortable to come in here.

24. It sort of brings back, you know, them old memories.

25. My name is Frank Cullotta,

26. the underboss for Tony Spilotro.

27. We ran organized crime in the state of Nevada.

28. The law enforcement gave us a label.

29. They called us the Hole in the Wall Gang.

30. When we needed to go somewhere to talk,

31. we would come to this place.

32. Thirty years ago it was completely different.

33. It wasn't as gloomy.

34. The first thing I noticed

35. when I walked in the door was the wallpaper.

36. It's the first thing everybody notices

37. about this place.

38. There's a lot of it.

39. Everybody loves this wallpaper.

40. Who could not love that wallpaper?

41. Wallpaper!

42. The wallpaper on the wall? No, I don't recall that up there.

43. It sort of looks something like

44. you would see in a funeral parlor.

45. Stuck on the decor of the past

46. Greg focused more on wallpaper

47. than on training his bartenders.

48. Greg let's us do pretty much whatever we want.

49. And doesn't say a whole lot about it.

50. I'll make sure to destroy everything

51. - while you're gone. - Okay.

52. Greg is definitely a pussy.

53. He does not have much of a backbone at all.

54. It's easier for him just to turn the other way.

55. The owner is a hell of a nice guy.

56. He might be too nice.

57. If you're too nice, they'll take advantage of you.

58. Courtesy of some previous employees,

59. word got out pretty quickly about the show

60. that at least possibly happening.

61. I hope "Bar Rescue" doesn't destroy this bar.

62. What do you mean by "rescue"?

63. Like, what does it need to be rescued from?

64. I don't believe "Bar Rescue" needs to come here.

65. I've been told that there's no reason

66. to redo anything in this bar,

67. and if anything's redone in this bar

68. they will never come back.

69. It's been unflattering, but it does tell you

70. that people do love the bar.

71. I need to get those people to come in here more.

72. Time is running out for Champagne's Cafe.

73. This bar has to succeed, because of its history.

74. So Greg has decided to pull back the doors...

75. If the place dies, so does the history.

76. bust open the books.

77. I have $150,000 to pay back.

78. To make a call for help

79. to "Bar Rescue."

80. I need help.

81. Here we are, Lisa.

82. Champagne's Cafe.

83. It looks weathered, Jon.

84. The customers won't come here, but the birds certainly do.

85. Look at all the bird crap on that awning.

86. It's literally the.

87. For the bar,

88. Jon brings in master trainer Lisamarie Joyce.

89. Her knack for training novices

90. can bring even the most brand-new bartenders

91. beyond the basics.

92. Welcome to my hometown.

93. We are in a great local's neighborhood.

94. And within one mile of here,

95. there's about 25,000 residents.

96. - Oh. - And it's got

97. a rich history.

98. The Rat Pack used to come here.

99. - Oh. - Some mobsters

100. used to come here.

101. There's a lot of people that love it as it is.

102. Okay.

103. The rumor sort of got out there

104. that I might come rescue this bar.

105. And a whole bunch of people said,

106. "Oh, he's going to turn it into a sports bar.

107. "He's going to turn it into a cafeteria.

108. He's going to make neon blink everywhere."

109. And the fact of the matter is, we've got a real dilemma.

110. Do you keep it, make it better?

111. Or do you discard it?

112. And that's what we got to figure out.

113. - So look at this place. This is a time warp. - Lisamarie: Wow!

114. But this is the combination of different generations.

115. Look at the pink and chrome freaking chairs.

116. All of this is an afterthought.

117. None of it is deliberate.

118. I love history. I love old buildings.

119. But it looks like they had a solid base,

120. and just started throwing crap in the middle of it.

121. Yep. Look at the stains in the carpet.

122. The dirt on the wallpaper.

123. I mean, look at the filth.

124. I hate it when a wonderful, historic place like this

125. is just allowed to rot away.

126. There's no integrity. No respect.

127. It should be protected.

128. So this bar is owned by a guy

129. - by the name of Greg. - Lisamarie: Okay.

130. I haven't made a champagne cocktail, in like, 10 years.

131. Greg bought this bar about a year ago.

132. Whoa.

133. Borrowed $150,000 from his mother.

134. And has been losing money since he bought it.

135. Yeah, I'm good.

136. What about you, Frank? You good?

137. That old guy at the end of the bar is Frank Cullotta.

138. He's a former gangster,

139. and has been coming here for decades.

140. Are youse going to put a kitchen in here?

141. Have you thought about it?

142. They're a lot of money involved.

143. And that woman talking to him is Bernie.

144. She's Greg's fiancée.

145. She sometimes helps Greg out here at the bar.

146. Right now we're missing two bartenders.

147. They're both MIA.

148. They're not answering their calls.

149. Two of his bartenders didn't show up tonight. Two of them.

150. So as an end result, the bartender who is there,

151. Autumn, is on her own.

152. So, what does that tell you about employee respect for the owner?

153. None whatsoever.

154. It's like they think they can do whatever they want.

155. This is from Candy. "No, I can't make it in right now.

156. I don't have anyone to watch my son, and he's sick."

157. - Did she tell you that yesterday? - No.

158. I'm actually worried about Raleigh, though.

159. One named Candy and another one named Raleigh.

160. So they're walking all over Greg,

161. and now Autumn is paying the price,

162. 'cause she's stuck there alone.

163. Oh, that's no good.

164. Hey, we actually have customers.

165. I guess we're open.

166. - Jon: You know what we say.

167. In Las Vegas, hospitality is the number one

168. industry in this city.

169. Number one, oh yes.

170. So I have Ryan and Laurie,

171. who are both younger hospitality professionals.

172. And they love going to local bars.

173. So I think they're the perfect people

174. to give me a good local scoop on this bar.

175. Absolutely.

176. As locals, you don't want to go to the Strip,

177. because there's just so many tourists there.

178. The drinks are $20 apiece.

179. So you want to kind of come to an off-Strip place.

180. A little dive bar where you have friendly bartenders.

181. Like, you've been there before.

182. Hi, hi. What can I get for you guys?

183. Martini? Okay.

184. I'll have one of those Godfathers.

185. - Autumn: Godfather? Okay. █ - Yeah.

186. The Godfather should be Scotch and amaretto.

187. - That's my drink, you know. - The Godfather's your drink?

188. - That's what I drink. - What?

189. I've been drinking Godfathers for many years.

190. I love Godfathers.

191. They all tend to just put— You know, the classic recipe

192. is an ounce and a half of scotch,

193. - half ounce

194. of amaretto, right?

195. - Lisamarie: Yeah.

196. I would just put a few drops. So I do a little dry.

197. - Oh, you— - So I do scotch

198. - and just a few drops of amaretto for me. - Got it.

199. You know, in an old, historic bar like this,

200. you should be able to get a nice classic cocktail.

201. Oh, absolutely.

202. - What are you looking for? - I just need to shake it.

203. A whole bunch of shakers down there.

204. But I have to do it like this?

205. I'm not sure what you're doing.

206. - I'm making a martini. - Making a martini?

207. So he's teaching her how to bartend. Look.

208. In the middle of the—

209. So she doesn't know what to do.

210. And shake it like this?

211. Nope. Make the drink in there, then use the shaker tin.

212. - You're using the wrong glass— - Okay, I got it, I got it.

213. You got it?

214. The best way to learn is behind the bar.

215. Here you go.

216. And you wanted to start a tab, yes?

217. Yeah.

218. I tried to order a Godfather.

219. That was terrible.

220. She claimed that she went to bartending school.

221. I don't think she'd ever drank before in her life.

222. You don't like it?

223. They can't drink that drink.

224. If I show you this recipe, can you make me this drink?

225. - Sure. - Okay.

226. - Thank you. - Okay. You're welcome.

227. So look at how awkward this is.

228. - She wants this drink. - Bee's Knees?

229. I have no idea what a Bee's Knees is.

230. The Bee's Knees was created in the Prohibition.

231. When they were making gin in bathtubs.

232. So the gin tasted like absolute.

233. What they did to it was cover up the gin

234. with lemon and honey syrup.

235. I don't— I don't have this stuff.

236. This is ridiculous.

237. Three simple ingredients. Gin, some honey and lemon.

238. Here's what I want to do. We've never done this before.

239. I want you to go in alone,

240. sit down at the bar, order an Old Fashioned.

241. The minute it's wrong,

242. jump up, go behind the bar and show them how to do it.

243. - With pleasure. - All right, bust them.

244. All right.

245. Where's the gin?

246. I'll get as close as I can.

247. Most of these things I've never even seen before.

248. Oh, I need to see the rest of that.

249. What is it, simple syrup and...

250. Syrup and a lemon twist. Okay, I got it now.

251. Watching this owner and bartender work together is infuriating.

252. It took forever for me to get their attention to make me a drink.

253. They pride themselves in a legacy of Las Vegas.

254. Yet, they're not putting out anything.

255. Can I help you with anything? I'm so sorry.

256. - Hey. Oh, no worries. - We're short on bartenders.

257. I was just wanting— Oh, that's sucks.

258. I just wanted an Old Fashioned, if that's okay.

259. Okay, I'll tell him.

260. Thank you so much.

261. All right.

262. The lady has been waiting over there.

263. She's been wanting a drink.

264. An Old Fashioned, please.

265. Old Fashioned? Okay.

266. I'm going to need you to make an Old Fashioned.

267. Muddle an orange, a cherry,

268. bitters and simple syrup, and then it's a bourbon.

269. That's all there is to it.

270. - Do you got that? - No.

271. Okay, hang on a sec.

272. Okay, orange, cherry...

273. Oh.

274. When he made that Old Fashioned, it looked disgusting.

275. Greg muddled a bunch of fruit in it.

276. There's club soda.

277. I'm going to jump behind the bar

278. and teach him how to make it right.

279. That's $4.75.

280. What's your name?

281. - Greg. - Greg? I'm Lisamarie.

282. - Nice to meet you, Lisamarie. - Nice to meet you.

283. Who taught you how to make an Old Fashioned?

284. I— It would have been 30 years ago.

285. - I couldn't tell you that. - Yeah?

286. Can I teach you how to make an Old Fashioned?

287. - Sure. - Okay.

288. He doesn't know what he's doing.

289. Number one, if you're going to stand behind the bar,

290. whether you're training or not on a Friday night,

291. you got to at least know your basic drink, like, hands down.

292. Okay, so let's make an Old Fashioned, all right?

293. You put your cube in there.

294. We're going to put a couple dashes of bitters.

295. Now we're going to muddle.

296. Make sure you get that sugar in there.

297. Go ahead and throw in your cherry.

298. Put those flavors in there.

299. Okay, so we got two ounces of booze.

300. You're going to fill that glass all the way with ice.

301. And now tell me you have a bar spoon.

302. I own one, I don't know where it is

303. You guys don't even have, like, classic tools.

304. Is there even a strainer?

305. I don't know where it is.

306. Do you have a spoon of any kind?

307. Your menu that you have out for your guests right here

308. says "fine food."

309. So if it says "fine food,"

310. I assume that you have silverware, right?

311. - Do you have food? - I do not have food.

312. Okay, so we got a menu that's a liar. Great.

313. We have no way to make this cocktail.

314. I've never been a craft bartender.

315. I've never worked in a craft bar.

316. This is not a craft cocktail. This is just a basic cocktail.

317. I know. I've been making them that way for years

318. in about 50-plus different bars.

319. That's bull.

320. I've never been questioned on it before.

321. That's bull.

322. These are ones that your Rat Pack

323. that you all love so much that came to this bar,

324. that's what they drank.

325. You have a Vegas legacy.

326. What are you here for?

327. Well, right now, I'm here to help her.

328. - That's all I can do. - That's really sweet,

329. but you need to help you, babe.

330. You're the owner. Are you making any money?

331. - No. - No. Right.

332. You have got to put talent back here

333. to keep this bar a legacy,

334. or you will keep losing money

335. over and over and over and over and over again.

336. And then it doesn't matter what wallpaper's on the wall.

337. Nobody's going to come in here.

338. How do you feel?

339. I don't think that it was intentional,

340. but I think that tonight was a train wreck.

341. Embarrassed, I guess.

342. Why is she the only one showing up?

343. I have no idea.

344. Thank you.

345. Greg, this is Las Vegas. I live here.

346. I mean, this is the city of hospitality.

347. You put somebody behind the bar with no training, no tools.

348. I mean, how did they possibly succeed?

349. Why don't you just say, "I'm going to embarrass you

350. in front of everyone,

351. set you up not to make money, be degraded,

352. and then I expect you to come back here again tomorrow."

353. - Is that reasonable? █ - No.

354. So where are the employees that are supposed to be here?

355. One, supposedly,

356. an hour and a half after she was supposed to be here,

357. let me know that she was home with her sick kid.

358. The other one I have— is AWOL.

359. So it seems to me like your employees

360. have about as much respect for you

361. as you did training her.

362. The difference is,

363. you're the owner.

364. So I understand why your employees don't respect you.

365. I don't either.

366. I do need your help.

367. And that's why I need to talk to you.

368. So come on back here, Greg.

369. This is a really historic bar. People love this place.

370. If I change this place,

371. there are people in this town that will go nuts, correct?

372. Correct.

373. So you have a responsibility

374. to be the steward of this,

375. and to protect it as you would expect me to.

376. Correct?

377. Has it ever made money since you bought it?

378. I've had two profitable months the entire time I've had it

379. out of 13.

380. So Mr. Steward on History, here's the deal.

381. If your employees don't respect you enough to come back,

382. should I?

383. I hear you.

384. Get your employees to come back here

385. and show that they respect you,

386. and I will start to respect you.

387. And I will be on your side.

388. - Understood. - Okay?

389. Lisamarie, do me a favor.

390. Fix al their drinks and set them up properly,

391. so at least I know they had a good experience tonight.

392. Okay, baby, we're going to do this together.

393. Now you're going to take these over to that group of people.

394. Two whisky sodas. Here's your whisky ginger ale,

395. whiskey ginger beer.

396. So, what's your game plan for tomorrow

397. if your bartenders don't show up, just in case.

398. - I don't have anybody. - Call some people—

399. People out of the phonebook, or you got somebody in mind?

400. No, call any bartenders. Even men.

401. I don't know why you're telling me this.

402. My game plan tomorrow is to really try to find

403. my two missing bartenders and see what happened,

404. and hopefully be able to use them tomorrow.

405. I mean, I know I'm a mild-mannered guy,

406. but I do get pissed.

407. If you're too nice, they'll take advantage of you.

408. Your help will rob you and your customers will even—

409. Every chance they'll get they'll try to rob you.

410. There's this fine line how you got to handle people.

411. You got to know what you're doing with your patrons.

412. Hey, you about here, or...

413. Yeah, I saw the rain. I understand.

414. When two employees don't show up for a shift,

415. that is complete disrespect.

416. So these employees better show up this morning for Greg's sake.

417. If Greg's staff doesn't show up,

418. I can't help him.

419. I was scheduled to work,

420. and I was asleep the entire time.

421. Last night, my son got sick and I wasn't able to make it in.

422. Hi.

423. But there's somebody behind the bar.

424. There's always somebody to pick up the slack

425. if I'm not here.

426. Well, it depends if Greg fires me.

427. I'll act really heartbroken.

428. "But I live for my job."

429. And then, like, I'll come back in two months,

430. - because Greg is a pussy. - Hello.

431. - Hello. - Come on over. Let's talk.

432. Let's start this honestly.

433. This is my reputation.

434. I will walk out of here and not remodel your bar

435. in a heartbeat, do you get that?

436. And I will go back to my house

437. and enjoy my weekend

438. as you lose how much this month?

439. - Three of four grand. - Three of four grand.

440. How many more months do you have to continue this?

441. - Maybe three. - Three. And then what happens?

442. - Then it's over. - Then it's over.

443. So, Miss Big Mouth,

444. if I fire you he'll bring you right back?

445. Nope, because the bar will never get remodeled

446. and you'll lose your job in three months.

447. And so will you.

448. What do you say now?

449. So, what happens then?

450. How much money you got in the bank?

451. About 20 bucks.

452. Twenty bucks. What happens?

453. How do you survive next week?

454. You don't. So who's the idiot now?

455. Who? Say it!

456. No.

457. You have no future like this, do you get that? Zero.

458. If you work with me, I'll put money in your pocket.

459. Do you hear me?

460. Raleigh, what the happened last night?

461. How do you not show up like this?

462. Because with another boss that wouldn't happen, you know that.

463. This is the first time I've ever actually done it.

464. So, what happened today when you came in?

465. He said, "Hey," right? He said hello.

466. You do this because you know

467. you can get away with it, right?

468. Be straight with me.

469. Yeah.

470. You will have no money, no future, no job.

471. And the next guy who hires you

472. will be a bar where you won't make money there either.

473. Eventually, we figure you out.

474. It took me 10 seconds to figure you out.

475. He's just an idiot on mommy's money,

476. so he doesn't give a.

477. What do you say now?

478. You want to be a loser?

479. Because you're acting like one, aren't you?

480. I don't even know what just happened.

481. Humiliating.

482. Guys, help me understand him.

483. I don't think he sees his part in the problem.

484. Have you ever seen him get angry as a boss and say,

485. "Don't do this"?

486. No.

487. Well, he made me feel about this small, first of all.

488. I'm not saying I don't have issues.

489. I don't think that they're as bad

490. as what he's making it out to be.

491. Maybe I'm wrong. I need to find out if that's really true.

492. He has to start acting like an owner then, doesn't he, Raleigh?

493. He needs to be hard on himself.

494. Reflection is interesting.

495. Either you'll reflect and agree me

496. or you'll reflect and disagree with me.

497. I mean, there's only one of me to go around.

498. Oh, come on. I've owned 17 bars, Greg.

499. And I've been there, buddy. I lost my mom four years ago.

500. You don't want this to end without you making it right.

501. I do fight for it.

502. This is your fight?

503. Sometimes what you think of yourself

504. and what other people think of you has a big gap.

505. And until you come to grips with that

506. and get pissed, I can't help you, Greg.

507. - You understand now? - I do.

508. So we got to go to work, okay?

509. I got an expert to help me. You met her last night.

510. So let me bring in Lisamarie Joyce.

511. So, Greg, we're gonna train you with the bartenders.

512. You know the recipes, know the systems.

513. - Make sense? - Yeah.

514. All right, let's go to work.

515. I'm not sure what I'm going to do differently.

516. I know I need to be tougher.

517. I mean, everybody knows me as a nice guy.

518. That doesn't make me a pushover.

519. Have I done enough? Probably not.

520. I just need to make myself more aware.

521. All right, guys. Two new faces today.

522. So let's talk about last night.

523. You were making most of the cocktails.

524. And we had honey darling over here.

525. You don't know basic bar things.

526. You don't know how to build a drink.

527. You guys had the Rat Pack in here.

528. It's got to be an experience.

529. I want to respect the classics.

530. We're going to start off with the Manhattan.

531. So the first thing I'm going to do is take my bitters.

532. We flip it over. One, two.

533. We're going to do our sweet vermouth.

534. Two ounces whiskey.

535. We've got bar spoons, bar spoons, bar spoons.

536. And we're just stirring this.

537. Perfect pour. Now the garnish.

538. The Luxardo cherry.

539. And there's your Manhattan.

540. Is this something you think you can sell?

541. Absolutely.

542. The next one is called the Bee's Knees.

543. Who made that last night?

544. Well, she pulled out her phone and said,

545. "Can you make me this drink? "

546. Starting at the basics

547. and knowing where cocktails start,

548. and knowing about the Manhattan,

549. you would have heard about the Bee's Knees.

550. So we're doing three quarter ounce lemon juice.

551. We're going to do three quarter ounce

552. of honey, simple syrup.

553. And now we're going to add our gin.

554. Two ounces.

555. The garnish for this is a lemon peel.

556. And just slide it around the top.

557. We're going to top this off.

558. And this is how you shake, guys.

559. Pour it right on top of that lemon peel.

560. You got your Bee's Knees.

561. - Candy: Oh my gosh, that is so good. - Yeah.

562. I'm going to grab Miss Candy back here.

563. Today during training we have a lot to work on.

564. Two bartenders just decide not to show up on a busy night.

565. So they better be on their game.

566. Make me a Manhattan.

567. Oh, I got this.

568. Well, damn. If you'd bother to show up for work,

569. you're a pretty good bartender.

570. - Raleigh. Okay, you ready? - Yes.

571. We're going to do the Bee's Knees.

572. - Sweet. - Okay? Go ahead.

573. Autumn's got a head start on these guys.

574. She got to train with me before anybody else.

575. So if these two are gonna pull their weight,

576. they've got a lot of learning to do.

577. And then let me see you shake that thing.

578. Oh! Notice how he's holding this.

579. You always want your tin to the guests.

580. Does anybody know why?

581. - So it doesn't fly. - Yeah!

582. Okay, we're good.

583. - Lisamarie: Show up. - Raleigh: Will do.

584. - Show up next time. Okay. - Absolutely.

585. If this place was eliminated,

586. I would say that there would be a big void in history.

587. It stands alone out here.

588. Although the neighborhood isn't that great,

589. nobody's getting robbed around here.

590. - Greg: Welcome. - Thank you, sir.

591. You're very welcome.

592. These bartenders have such a lack of experience

593. that I need to assess the individual capability of everyone.

594. So I'm going to send in

595. six groups of five at a time.

596. Each customer is going to order one drink,

597. and all three bartenders are going to make that drink.

598. What they're competing for is the best shifts.

599. At the end of this exercise, we'll know where our gold is

600. and we'll know where the weakness is.

601. My bartenders are competing today.

602. And you're going to pick one of the drinks,

603. and we're going to judge them on which one tastes the best.

604. What would you like?

605. Okay, guys. Make her a good one. Let's go.

606. You realize this wallpaper's older than you are, right?

607. Speed and accuracy.

608. I just finished bartending school.

609. I'm still trying to navigate making drinks.

610. I feel like I'm under a lot of pressure.

611. Go, go. Let's go. Move, move.

612. - What else you put in there? - What am I missing?

613. I can't concentrate. I'm sorry.

614. In the beginning, Autumn's slow, kind of nervous.

615. She's got to jump in there

616. and be confident right off the bat.

617. Let's go, guys. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.

618. Take a sip.

619. - It's good. - Jon: It's good? Okay.

620. Try the one next to it.

621. Try that one for me.

622. Okay.

623. - Lisamarie: Candy got the choice. - Jon: So that's your choice,

624. excellent, thank you.

625. So, what are you going to go for, buddy?

626. Okay, classic Manhattan. Show them what you got, guys.

627. All right, best bartenders get the best shifts,

628. so this is significant.

629. Here we go. Here we go, guys.

630. Amazing what you can do with a spoon, isn't it?

631. Move, move, move, move. Let's go, come on.

632. - What are you making? - Making a Manhattan.

633. What's in a Manhattan?

634. It's gin, lemon and honey.

635. - Is that the recipe?

636. - Totally made the wrong one. █ - Lisamarie: Okay, dump it. Let's go again.

637. Push, push, push. You're behind.

638. Hurry up, Candy.

639. What's happening? You're unraveling.

640. I've been bartending for about a year.

641. I'm still very, very new.

642. And there's a lot of things that I can't do.

643. I am a single mother,

644. and this is my only source of income at the moment.

645. There you go. First, Autumn.

646. - Raleigh, work.

647. Hurry up, Candy. Come on.

648. - I know.

649. Get it into the glass. Come on, serve it.

650. Think of balance and overall flavor.

651. Whose cocktail's the middle? Raleigh? Excellent.

652. Okay, guys, let's go for it.

653. What are you going to have, buddy?

654. Bee's Knees. Bartenders, let's go.

655. Go, go. Let's go. Move, move, move.

656. Let's go. Get them out there.

657. Yeah, there you go. Let's go. Connect.

658. Tonight, Greg is watching his bartenders perform.

659. He's learning who's better and who isn't.

660. Now that information should lead him to make better decisions

661. if he steps up.

662. What's in the recipe? Tell me the recipe.

663. - Gin. - How much?

664. Two ounces.

665. Raleigh is probably the most aggressive bartender

666. behind the bar.

667. He has confidence, but he's still not fast enough.

668. I am behind.

669. I let the bar down by not being present last night.

670. I'm not going to let it down tonight.

671. I'm nervous. I am excited. But I'm ready to go.

672. There you go.

673. Which one you like better?

674. Autumn, way to go, girl. Give me five.

675. Last night I was kind of just like a deer in headlights.

676. Tonight, I actually knew what I was doing,

677. because I was comfortable with what I was doing.

678. They actually did better than I thought.

679. They're surprising me.

680. I just want to see them pick up the speed.

681. Let's work them hard and let's see

682. who can actually win this thing.

683. - Let's do this. - Jon: Next five.

684. Come on in. Grab a seat.

685. So which one you going to go for?

686. - The Manhattan. - Manhattan.

687. Let's get this ball rolling, you know?

688. Go! You should get these out in seconds.

689. Even though I'm inexperienced,

690. I think we're all about the same.

691. I do know what I'm doing.

692. Raleigh, that's yours. Excellent.

693. - Bee's Knee's - For the Manhattan.

694. - Bee's Knee's. - You realize the difference

695. - in 24 hours? █ - Autumn: Yes.

696. - Jon: Proud of yourself? You should be. - Autumn: Yes.

697. - I'm going with that one. - Jon: Yeah! Autumn, way to go.

698. Wow, another one for Candy. Good job.

699. Okay, last five. Let's do it.

700. - I'll try the Manhattan. - Bee's Knees.

701. Hurry up, Candy. Come on.

702. You're on a roll there.

703. I am definitely nervous.

704. Right now we're in the middle of a pretty stiff competition.

705. We're all pretty neck and neck.

706. Now I have the confidence behind me to do these things,

707. and it's a lot of fun to make these drinks.

708. Before we get to the last one, what are our tallies right now?

709. Candy and Raleigh are tied, and Autumn's down by one.

710. All righty, what are you going to go with?

711. - I'll try

712. the Bee's Knees. - Three Bee's Knees.

713. Let's do it! Hurry up! Go! Move, move!

714. Okay, so there's the three of them.

715. Before you taste them,

716. this drink's actually going to determine

717. who works on Friday nights, who works on Tuesday nights,

718. who makes more money.

719. Here we go. The moment of truth.

720. This one's well balanced, but the middle is my favorite.

721. So you're going with the middle. Whose cocktail is the middle?

722. Candy! Wow.

723. That was rough.

724. And you didn't even show up yesterday.

725. Nope.

726. - I'm incredibly proud of you. - Thank you.

727. You know, Autumn, last night you couldn't make one drink.

728. - How do you feel right now? - Much better.

729. I'm extremely proud of my staff tonight.

730. I think they handled themselves beyond expectations.

731. It does make me want to be a better leader for them.

732. And now all you have to do is set them up to succeed

733. for a change.

734. Let's congratulate them, guys, because this is not easy.

735. So see you guys Tuesday night.

736. Let's see what we do to this bar, okay?

737. Thank you all for coming.

738. I'm happy that I was able to prove to everybody

739. that I do have the skills to be a bartender

740. when I'm provided with the right tools.

741. The average person, you know, they— It goes by them.

742. They just don't think about history anymore.

743. Life goes on.

744. And then once it's gone they go, "Oh, wow."

745. You know, "Why did it go?"

746. That's because you didn't patronize it enough.

747. It couldn't last.

748. Rescuing a historic bar like this is a real challenge.

749. - If I change too much, you're screwed. - I agree.

750. If I don't change enough, you're screwed.

751. I don't see any pictures of this wallpaper

752. out on the Internet.

753. I don't see people taking pictures in front of it.

754. I don't see them talking about it.

755. I don't see that out there.

756. I've never had a single person come in here

757. and not love that wallpaper.

758. Then why don't they come back?

759. If I walked into this saying, "I'm leaving it up"

760. and didn't evaluate this,

761. I'd be a fool.

762. The fact that the wallpaper

763. has been hanging on these walls since the beginning

764. is the most vintage thing I can possibly imagine

765. for this bar.

766. That loses $3,000 a month, so I wonder,

767. for every person who loves the wallpaper,

768. is there two that hates it? I don't know.

769. This actually gets filmed quite a bit.

770. They film the Desert Inn and then they razed it.

771. Are we here to make money or are we here to run a museum?

772. The point that I have to make is as a businessman,

773. I have a responsibility to assess and decide,

774. and not come in with a predetermined notion.

775. So, wallpaper aside, what do you want to accomplish today?

776. I would like to see you give as much love

777. to the cocktails and your bartenders

778. as you do that wallpaper.

779. - All right, we got

780. a lot of work to do today.

781. - We do.

782. - Let's get rolling, guys. - Okay, let's go to it.

783. If we're going to have classic cocktails

784. and really respect those classic recipes,

785. we've got to have the right tools to do it with.

786. So today during training,

787. I'm bringing in these classic tools

788. that those bartenders used in the '60s,

789. when this place opened up.

790. We have a really cool tool that is one of my favorite tools

791. behind the bar.

792. We have got a crystallized mixing pitcher.

793. Has anybody seen one of these before?

794. So any fancy, classic bar that you go into,

795. they make their Manhattans and their Old Fashioned in these.

796. And the correct tool that goes with it is that julep strainer.

797. Do you see how it fits real nice in here?

798. So, Greg, you're going to make me an Old Fashioned.

799. - Let's make it right. █

800. Do you guys see his speed?

801. I want to dog you, but you're making it with efficiency.

802. Okay, like, you know what you're doing back here.

803. You just need to get a backbone and make them do it.

804. That was awesome.

805. I do realize that I haven't been

806. passing my skills along to my staff,

807. and I need to change that.

808. I don't bartend much these days,

809. but I still remember how to do it.

810. I think I'm more of a leader than I was

811. before Mr. Taffer got here.

812. I would dress up like in the '60s if I—

813. I mean, I do almost always anyways.

814. But I would dress up that way and come in here

815. and want to drink one of these cocktails.

816. Again, the experience.

817. Has anybody heard of a Vesper?

818. - No. - Heard of it.

819. Does anybody know where it came from?

820. James Bond, I think.

821. James Bond. Another classic drink.

822. Start with 11/2 ounces of gin.

823. Add a half ounce of vodka.

824. Then a half ounce of French aromatized wine.

825. Add ice. Shake.

826. And strain into a martini glass.

827. Garnish with a lemon peel.

828. This cocktail is called the Vesper.

829. It's very good.

830. Ooh.

831. Oh, that's good.

832. So now you've got classic cocktails.

833. You've got classic tools.

834. This cocktail menu is going to stand out

835. more than your wallpaper.

836. So let's look at what we go.

837. I have to redo the front of your building.

838. I'm going to replace all the furniture in the entire room.

839. Those pink chrome chairs from the '70s have to go.

840. So now you're gonna come through and you're gonna enter.

841. And either that wallpaper's going to be here, or it won't.

842. But what I'm capturing—

843. You can't deal with it not being here, can you?

844. It scares the hell out of me.

845. What if you walked in and loved what you saw?

846. I'd still miss the wallpaper.

847. But what if you were counting $100,000 a month in money?

848. Would you miss it then?

849. I could afford to buy a lot of wallpaper.

850. As much as you want.

851. You could probably buy wallpaper

852. that looks a lot like this.

853. I owe it to you to do the best that I can possibly do.

854. Will you agree?

855. Yeah. I still hope it includes the wallpaper.

856. - We'll see.

857. Okay, so I'm taking this wall back here.

858. I'm creating a picture spot for you.

859. I want to create something

860. that I know will be put on the Internet

861. several hundred times a day.

862. So this is going to be a really neat little area here

863. that really speaks to the history

864. and the legacy of the bar.

865. What do you think?

866. Feeling better, but still a little nervous.

867. I understand.

868. I'll see you in 36 hours.

869. Sounds good.

870. Hi, Greg.

871. Hey, how are you doing?

872. This was about taking a legacy and setting it up

873. for a whole new generation.

874. This is about you paying back your mom $150,000

875. and knowing that you did right by her, right by you,

876. and right by the city of Las Vegas.

877. - All three. - Yeah.

878. - So, you ready? - Yeah!

879. All right, on the count of three, here we go.

880. One, two... three.

881. Oh, my God!

882. - Raleigh: Yes!

883. Oh, my God!

884. Yes!

885. That color made such a huge difference.

886. - It really did. █ - Candy: I know!

887. Look at the sign.

888. - Raleigh: Legendary. █ - Autumn: I love it.

889. I like it.

890. The window too.

891. I'm very grateful that Jon kept the name.

892. I know how important it is to my customers.

893. Champagne's has had a lot of names over the years,

894. but this is the one that stuck for a very long time.

895. I think everybody's going to be happy with it.

896. - What do you think? - I'm loving it. I'm loving it.

897. So look at the sign.

898. "Legendary since 1966."

899. This bar has had five different names, really, over the years.

900. But it's been Champagne's for 20 years.

901. And that 20 years is really important.

902. Even the awnings were historic to me.

903. So I was extremely respectful by keeping the outside the same.

904. It gave me the creative space to make the inside different.

905. I'm scared.

906. You ready to see it?

907. - Yes! - Go.

908. Oh, gosh.

909. Yes! Wallpaper!

910. - Candy: Wow. - Autumn: I love it.

911. - Wow, look at these booths. - Oh, check out the booths.

912. Oh, my God.

913. - Look at what they did. - Oh, my God.

914. "Legendary."

915. - "1966" as well. █ - Candy: Oh, that's cool.

916. This is so good.

917. This is so nice. Oh, my God.

918. Where did these come from?

919. The blueprints for this place,

920. the people have been looking for for years.

921. I have no idea where Jon found them.

922. The previous owner told me he'd been looking for them,

923. and he couldn't find them.

924. As far as we knew,

925. all these records were destroyed.

926. Nobody's going to come in here

927. - and say they ruined Champagne's. █ - Candy: No.

928. Everybody that thought that Jon Taffer

929. was going to ruin this bar

930. were so wrong.

931. I think the naysayers are going to be yea-sayers.

932. It's pretty awesome.

933. Well, what do you think?

934. I absolutely love it.

935. There's a lot going on. Sit down.

936. I'm going to tell you all about it.

937. I didn't only keep the wallpaper,

938. I made it the centerpiece.

939. Look in the back wall.

940. Look at the gold trim around the sconces

941. and the black color in those insert panels.

942. All of that was designed to make the wallpaper pop.

943. And doesn't the wallpaper look better

944. than it did before?

945. - It does. - It does.

946. I not only restored it, I made it the centerpiece.

947. And then I got vintage chairs that I recovered

948. so that they would fit back into the age.

949. This wasn't about just remodeling it.

950. This was all about respect.

951. Right down to the blueprints on the back wall

952. that were the original blueprints of this building.

953. So when you look at those plans,

954. you'll see how respectful to history we were.

955. And I got Hartlauer Signs to do that sign out front

956. and all of the logo work to reposition the logo

957. to give a new look.

958. That is a picture spot.

959. And I want people to stand there

960. under that Champagne sign in front of that wallpaper

961. and send it out on the Internet that you are legendary.

962. And it's right there in a snapshot.

963. Next, I wanted to protect your profits.

964. So I got you a lifetime subscription to Partender.

965. Partender takes inventory behind your bar in 10 minutes

966. with a camera on a tablet.

967. With Partender protecting your profits,

968. you now have three complete workstations,

969. with three 2TouchPOS systems.

970. And you can really function now

971. on a Friday, Saturday night, when you're packed.

972. And I'm really proud for the city of Las Vegas

973. that Champagne's now lives for another generation.

974. - Beautiful. - Me too.

975. So let's do this, okay? All right.

976. - Oh, my God. Where's Greg? There's Greg. - Looks good.

977. Hi, Ma.

978. Doesn't it look so much better?

979. Yes. Yes.

980. I feel more like I'm back in time

981. All right, Raleigh, you ready?

982. Oh, I'm more than ready.

983. Great. We open in 10 minutes.

984. Let's do it.

985. Welcome to Champagne's.

986. Come on in.

987. All right, what are we drinking, you guys?

988. Bee's Knees?

989. All right, there you go, sweetheart.

990. - Okay, how many we got?

991. They're done, they're done.

992. - These guys have drinks.

993. I have not charged any of them.

994. Okay, we got to pick it up. Let's go.

995. Manhattan? You got it.

996. When you get a chance, I need you to do two Vespers

997. - and a Manhattan. - Greg, please don't—

998. I mean, I'm like— I can't. I'm, like, messing stuff up.

999. I'm sorry.

1000. Come on, guys. We got about 30% of the room to go. Move!

1001. Autumn crashed behind the bar.

1002. She knows what to do, but she lost her train of thought

1003. and fell apart.

1004. Greg stepped in as an owner should.

1005. In the future, he'll need to keep training Autumn

1006. 'cause she will get better.

1007. Godfather? You got it.

1008. I'll do a Manhattan and a Godfather.

1009. Manhattan and a Godfather? You got it.

1010. I was surprised you got the blueprints.

1011. That brought back a lot of memories.

1012. It really does look good.

1013. Hopefully the people appreciate it as much as I do.

1014. Yes, and it's got the character of the old place, right?

1015. - Yeah. - But it's newer.

1016. It looks a lot better.

1017. That spot right there on the wall is the picture spot.

1018. So if you want to take a picture in front of that

1019. and send it out on social media, that's why that's there.

1020. I finally got the Bee's Knees, which was the bee's knees.

1021. It was super good.

1022. A much better experience than the first time.

1023. Anything I can help you with making them?

1024. Greg was— He was definitely a pushover.

1025. - Yeah. - He was.

1026. But he's really stood up and took charge.

1027. We feel motivated to work for him.

1028. Here's the Godfather.

1029. I am the boss of Champagne's.

1030. I want you to take a second to look out at your bar.

1031. Look at your wallpaper now.

1032. The legacy of this bar is your future.

1033. Future's looking bright.

1034. Yeah, and my work's done, buddy.

1035. I live in Las Vegas because I love this city.

1036. I love its rich history.

1037. And this bar is a legacy to that history.

1038. It's legendary.

1039. And to be able to sustain it and set it up

1040. for a whole new generation, to me, is a legacy in itself.

1041. And I can't wait for the city to see it.

1042. "Bar Rescue" was here about five weeks ago.

1043. Sales have been really up.

1044. About 45%. About 12,000 in extra sales

1045. that we didn't get last year.

1046. The classic cocktails have been a big hit.

1047. Everybody loves the new look. Not one person in here

1048. is saying Jon Taffer screwed up this bar.

1049. Not a one.

1050. Promotional consideration provided by

1051. BarProducts.com, Crown Air Quality,

1052. American Backflow Services,

1053. DTE Services of Las Vegas, and ESRI.