Bar Rescue 5x11

1. Like, literally, just sitting there...

2. Who wants... Who wants a drink?

3. You know what? I want you to be my friend.

4. I want you to be my friend. You wanna like me? You wanna like me?

5. I'm just gonna give you all this.

6. I just want you to like me. that.

7. This year, 6,500 failing bars nationwide

8. will close their doors for good.

9. If things don't change soon, Fort One nightclub

10. in San Francisco, California, will become just another statistic.

11. In 2014, Jason Wanigatunga became the owner of Fort One.

12. Located just a block from Fisherman's Wharf,

13. raised by a successful nightclub owner,

14. he hoped to follow in his father's footsteps.

15. My dad opened Cafe Cocomo about 20 years ago in 1996

16. Jason's father was so successful with Cafe Cocomo

17. that he bought Fort One for his son as a gift.

18. First three months that we had the place, it was great.

19. We were doing about $110,000 a month.

20. I definitely saw good things coming in the future for it.

21. However, Jason was quickly sucked into the party scene,

22. and away from managing the business.

23. I'd drink, like, you know,

24. four, five, six, seven beers.

25. Hey, can you make the drinks faster, please?

26. Throw in a couple of shots here and there.

27. Can we get some more shots, dude?

28. This bar is lame as.

29. My name is Scott, I'm a general manager at Fort One.

30. Can you give us— this guy'll take a shot with us.

31. And we're trying to work and he just parties, parties, parties.

32. I can't do anything about that.

33. I have no control. My hands are tied.

34. I need you to give table four a free bottle on me.

35. Yeah. I'll figure it out later.

36. When Jason gives bottles away

37. we're not making any tips on that,

38. we're not making any money at all.

39. Congratulations, you get it.

40. You're over all your staff.

41. I like to drink, I like to meet people

42. and I give away drinks and I give away bottles. It happens.

43. You wanna a shot or something? On the house.

44. Six more shots. Cheers.

45. He's definitely been gifted this place

46. and that's part of the reason why we are where we are.

47. Jason's careless attitude has caused a free-for-all.

48. So this is why I drink. You want another shot?

49. If he's drinking at the bar, the bartender's like,

50. "Hey, I'll drink at the bar, too."

51. Everyone's just hammered 90% of the time.

52. The staff recognizes that Jason

53. is wasting a golden opportunity.

54. We are in an amazing location

55. in the heart of Fisherman's Wharf of San Francisco.

56. There's a good 5,000-6,000 people

57. walking by this door in the summertime

58. and we're just not bringing them in.

59. Jason's generosity towards his customers

60. leaves his staff empty-handed and his bar in shambles.

61. The bar is $200,000 in debt.

62. In order to keep this place afloat,

63. my dad has had to sell cars, like his prized possessions,

64. and some of his houses. It's definitely been tough.

65. - What? - Yeah, it's just—

66. It's just— it's just tough.

67. I'll make you some shots.

68. I'll go get you guys some shots. Do some shots.

69. Anyone else would be so grateful

70. and work their ass off to have this.

71. Now in the hopes of being gifted a remodeled bar,

72. Jason has agreed to pull back the doors,

73. bust open the books, and make a call for help to "Bar Rescue."

74. Oh, here, let's just hand you another chance,

75. and see if you that up again.

76. So here we are, Mia, downtown San Francisco.

77. Love it.

78. This neighborhood where this bar is,

79. it's a block from the wharf.

80. Pier 39 is there, Alcatraz is there.

81. It's a monster tourist destination.

82. Sure.

83. Those tourists spend 10 billion a year.

84. Well, with numbers like these, there's gotta be high volume.

85. For the bar, Jon brings in expert mixologist,

86. Mia Mastroianni, named the fastest,

87. the most accurate bartender of Southern California.

88. Mia understands the nightclub industry,

89. making her the perfect expert for Fort One.

90. Here's the bar.

91. Fort One.

92. So what I did, because there's no parking here,

93. is I set up recon in the bar around the corner.

94. - Oh, cool! - Okay, let's go to it.

95. Look at the front of that bar.

96. They have some plastic banner for a sign.

97. It's definitely not approachable.

98. Not when there's this much other stuff in the area to compete with.

99. Look at the floor plan.

100. The upper level is a bar, and the lower level is a nightclub,

101. but neither one is working.

102. So this bar was bought for the owner, Jason,

103. by his father

104. - about two years ago. - Okay.

105. - As a gift. - Oh, how nice.

106. So, there's Jason.

107. Can we get shots for the people over here

108. like, this whole section right here?

109. Put it on my tab.

110. Mr. Hospitality.

111. I hope you guys come back.

112. There's Lynette. She's a bartender.

113. Cheers!

114. And there's Desiree. She's another bartender.

115. Cheers to me.

116. Thus far I think I've seen each take a shot.

117. You want a table? I got you, girls.

118. There's Scott, his manager.

119. What table would you like?

120. There's Ashley. She's a bartender.

121. Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot.

122. So one of the problems with this bar,

123. - is that Jason gives the place away. - What?

124. So if you come in, being a pretty girl,

125. he'll give you a bottle.

126. So, what I did tonight for recon,

127. is I sent girls in.

128. I wanna see if those girls can get Jason

129. to keep giving them stuff, bottles, drinks,

130. whatever they can get.

131. John's spies enter Fort One,

132. a 6,500 square foot space,

133. housing both an upstairs bar, and a lower level nightclub,

134. each equipped with their own

135. fully functional service stations.

136. Welcome. Thank you for coming out tonight.

137. This is Olivia, she'll be your waitress tonight.

138. - Hi. - How are you?

139. There's Olivia, who just does bottle service.

140. You guys can take a seat.

141. That's bottle service back there.

142. No customers, of course.

143. I've been into nightclubs in prominent cities,

144. and you expect sophistication, certain levels of upholstery.

145. - Look at it, it's a piece of garbage, man. - I know.

146. What's up, guys? You guys popping a bottle or are you—

147. - Popping a bottle tonight. - Yeah. You going to drink with us?

148. May as well, right?

149. I told Olivia I'll take care of it.

150. It's on me tonight, guys.

151. Yeah! There it is.

152. Are you sure you don't want a drink?

153. That's complete rookie stuff that he's doing.

154. - More shots! - Whoo!

155. - More shots on Jason! - Jason: Keep it coming.

156. - Working on it, Jason. - You know, bring another bottle, too.

157. Does that make sense for business?

158. At this point it doesn't matter about business.

159. - It's about having fun. - Sure.

160. You and I know that bottle costs about 80 bucks.

161. They sell it for $400

162. and he just gave them a second one.

163. How much taking care of are we doing?

164. It's not really your problem right now.

165. If I'm bringing it out, it's my problem.

166. Just get over it, all right?

167. This is completely social. It's not a business at all.

168. - No. - Well, I think everyone needs a double.

169. And another bottle. Why don't you double up on the bottles?

170. We can drink another bottle. Thanks, Jason.

171. Less— less talky more poppy.

172. - Man: You heard the— - Jason: Popping bottles.

173. Cheers.

174. And this is all on daddy's dime.

175. All on daddy's dime.

176. - Have you offered to see if maybe they'll buy it? - I have not.

177. Look at Scott, this man has to say to himself

178. "What am I doing here?"

179. Jason's giving away another bottle.

180. I don't know what to do. I'm handcuffed.

181. We're not going to survive like this.

182. Jason, are we getting another bottle?

183. Hey! Someone's gotta keep the party going, right?

184. This guy has given away four bottles.

185. - See, I'll be your bottle service girl tonight. - Okay!

186. You can give me that.

187. Maybe you can go in the office and do work for once?

188. I'm the only one keeping the party going, so—

189. Yeah, by giving out free bottles.

190. Hey, whatever keeps the people here.

191. - Cheers. - Hey, keep that attitude up,

192. you're not going to work here very longer.

193. Ooh!

194. - Would you like me to pour your shots? - I'd love it.

195. If Jason pops off at me one more time,

196. I swear to God I'm gonna slam him into the floor.

197. Like, I'm not dealing with this anymore.

198. No, I understand.

199. It's another night of work at Fort One making no money,

200. and it's all because of Jason.

201. I really need to get people in here.

202. Happy hour!

203. What's going on in the street here?

204. Hey, ladies, how are you doing?

205. So she's out on the street trying to get people inside.

206. Will you have it at happy hour right now at my bar?

207. So now she's desperate on the street trying to hustle people in.

208. Is there even a bartender behind the bar, right now?

209. They're all partying and drinking there.

210. To heck with work, it's party time!

211. Hey, pour more shots.

212. - More shots! - More shots!

213. - Jason's the best. - I am the best.

214. There's nobody in that bar who's there to spend money.

215. Well, why would you if you don't have to?

216. I need you upstairs bartending. Can you at least do that?

217. Why do you need an upstairs bartender?

218. We got Lynette up there. It's dead.

219. Maybe if the bar was full we'd have someone to serve.

220. Look how they scream at each other across the room.

221. Clearly the staff is frustrated with Jason.

222. Hey, Lynette, I need some shots for my friends over here.

223. More shots. Less talks.

224. - Ugh! - Do I have to do it myself?

225. Yes. Yes! Do it yourself.

226. This owner is an obnoxious ass.

227. Nobody's making any money, and he doesn't seem to care.

228. I'm going to go in this bar now,

229. because these employees are being hurt by Jason,

230. and he doesn't even realize it.

231. That's what I'm talking about.

232. That's it?

233. Jason.

234. Hi.

235. - Are you open or closed? - No, I'm closed.

236. - You're closed? - Yeah.

237. So, I can't get a drink or anything from you?

238. I mean, would you like a drink? What would you like?

239. So can I have a drink for free since you're already closed?

240. You can purchase a drink.

241. Nobody else has bought any drinks.

242. Everybody else seems to get everything

243. for free in this place, right?

244. Yeah.

245. Do you make any money here?

246. This is my tips.

247. - You made $8 tonight. - Yeah!

248. - Do you have any kids? - I have one baby.

249. I'm a single mother.

250. You're okay being drunk and going home

251. and saying to your kid "I only made $8 today."

252. Hell, no. I'm not okay with that.

253. Do me a favor, don't have any more drinks, okay?

254. You've had enough for tonight.

255. - Hello, Mr. Taffer. - Hi. Scott.

256. I watched your owner give away four bottles.

257. What type of an owner does that?

258. An irresponsible one.

259. And how's that working out for you?

260. It's really hard holding out and not getting paid.

261. So this guy has the money to give away booze,

262. - but not pay employees? - I don't— my hands are tied.

263. Did you invest anything in this place?

264. $23,500.

265. Somebody wanted to buy into his bar.

266. Not a favorable character.

267. So I lent him money to kinda get out of that situation.

268. Can you afford to lose that money?

269. - No, absolutely not. - 'Cause you know it's gone.

270. Your owner will keep giving away your money,

271. and he doesn't give a.

272. You can put it that way.

273. And you come here and look beautiful

274. and smile and act professional?

275. And leave with how much money tonight?

276. - Nothing. - Nothing?

277. Do you have a family?

278. I do, I am a single mother, and I have an eight year old,

279. and it's hard.

280. I came here for Scott and I'm holding out

281. 'cause we're a family that came here together.

282. Let's get him over here, please.

283. Jason, come on.

284. What's up, Duderino?

285. - You wanna make money? - May as well, right?

286. 'Cause you then gave three girls

287. - four bottles of liquor, right? - Yes, sir.

288. What did you get for that money?

289. I got people in the seats.

290. People in seats.

291. Is this about you being a big shot at her expense?

292. Because as you're having fun, she made $8

293. and she made nothing!

294. It's a harsh reality.

295. Harsh reality.

296. You don't give a. You haven't grown up yet.

297. And your actions hurt people!

298. I never really thought of it that way.

299. So you're a complete moron.

300. Is that what you're telling me?

301. - Easy with the language, please. - Really?

302. I wouldn't say I'm a moron. I'm just trying to get the customers in here.

303. They're already here!

304. You're stressing me out.

305. You wanna burn your father's money, God bless you.

306. - But your ass. - Honestly.

307. Look at this place.

308. This is your name. This is her future.

309. If you don't come through for them,

310. I will make you miserable,

311. because she's gonna go home and be miserable tonight

312. when she says no to her eight-year-old because of you.

313. Someone needs to throw away your money,

314. like you threw away theirs.

315. Dude, you are the worst, man.

316. Really? Look at this.

317. Look at this piece of.

318. Everybody here now knows how irresponsible you are.

319. So, clean that up, then go home tonight

320. and look in the mirror and stare in your own eyes,

321. and realize the moron that you are.

322. Don't even talk to him.

323. He's not worth your time.

324. idiot.

325. I normally deal with struggling owners who are in trouble,

326. not rich kids who don't care.

327. Owning a business is a responsibility

328. to your employees, to your community,

329. and to yourself.

330. Tomorrow Jason's gonna learn that.

331. Words can't describe how I feel right now.

332. I have never really had to work hard.

333. I'm nervous that Mr. Taffer doesn't have faith

334. I'll be able to turn this around.

335. I get overwhelmed,

336. but it's on me to make it work.

337. More shots!

338. Last night Jason gave away four bottles of alcohol based on ego,

339. so I went in with a single purpose, to embarrass him.

340. And now with this ego broken, I wanna go in and see if I can

341. actually communicate with the man.

342. I have no desire to build you a bar

343. for you to it up,

344. because that becomes my reputation.

345. $350 worth of product, 1,600 in revenue,

346. you just gave away last night.

347. And you fed your ego,

348. you looked at their blond hair,

349. and you frickin' melt.

350. They got you by the short hairs

351. and they're leading you around the room.

352. And your father's money is left in the trail behind.

353. Just too easy.

354. - How much money did you make last night? - Eight dollars.

355. - How much did you make last night? - Nothing.

356. - Got any kids at home? - A baby.

357. - Kids? - Yes.

358. - How often do you say no to them? - Often.

359. So, she's saying no to her kid,

360. while you sleep like a baby.

361. Why does it bother me that she didn't make money,

362. but it doesn't bother you?

363. I hate what you do to them.

364. We have a really, really good team

365. that just needs structure.

366. This is my career. I love what I do.

367. I don't come somewhere to not be able to improve my craft.

368. - What the am I here for? - I see your passion.

369. I do. I love this job.

370. I want him to love this

371. as much as I would love to have this.

372. Well said.

373. Is this guy even worth rescuing?

374. We are.

375. I'm starting to buy into that.

376. What happens to you, Scott? If I walk out of here now,

377. because he doesn't give a

378. and I don't think I can change it,

379. do you stay?

380. I'm out.

381. Did you invest money in this place?

382. I did. $23,500.

383. What did you get for your 23,000?

384. Failing business.

385. Do you understand what fiduciary duty is?

386. Fiduciary duty means if you take investment money

387. from a third party, from somebody else,

388. you have a legal responsibility to treat that money responsibly.

389. That is the law.

390. So, what do you think would happen in a court?

391. I would owe him money and I'd get shut down.

392. At a minimum.

393. Right.

394. So,

395. this is not yours to give away!

396. Right.

397. You don't own it

398. - until he gets his money back. - Got it.

399. - Do you have a family? - Yes, sir.

400. - Can you afford to lose this money? - Absolutely not.

401. And he doesn't give a.

402. Finally someone says something.

403. No, finally someone said it

404. so he can actually listen to it.

405. Well, I'm gonna give him no choice.

406. I will make him listen.

407. Now that Jason is humbled up,

408. it's time to hold him accountable.

409. He's gonna learn what responsibility is.

410. Here's the deal.

411. He gets complete authority over this building

412. - for the next 24 hours. - Got it.

413. - You're a barback. - Okay.

414. - You work for him. - Okay.

415. - You don't question anything. - Understood.

416. He tells you to sweep a floor, what do you do?

417. - Sweep the floor. - That's the deal.

418. What you think, what you feel means nothing to me,

419. just like it meant nothing to you how they felt.

420. All I care about is him delivering for you.

421. And sometime in the next two days,

422. I want you to look at me and say, "Jon, I want to stay here.

423. He proved himself," or "I want my money back."

424. And if you're standing next to him,

425. I will build this bar, if you're not, I won't.

426. Understood.

427. So, you ready to go to work?

428. - Ready? - Okay.

429. I brought you the best.

430. Mia, come on in.

431. Mia is one of the greatest mixologists when it comes

432. to speed and production.

433. - Jason. - Yes, ma'am.

434. Barback, show me your ice room.

435. This is gonna be interesting.

436. I don't think he's ever iced a bin here ever.

437. Okay, so, fill me up.

438. I don't think he's gonna know what to do.

439. What's this deal up here?

440. - This is the uh— - The filtration?

441. - Yeah. - Okay.

442. Just scoot around me, I just wanna check that out.

443. I don't think he has a clue what he's doing.

444. Oh, my God, look at this.

445. - Rust. - Rust?

446. That's frickin' mold.

447. Oh, my God!

448. No! No, no, no, no.

449. This is in all of your ice—

450. we can't make drinks with this.

451. - God. - Oh, God.

452. What's wrong? Oh, my God.

453. It's covered in mold. This is absolutely disgusting.

454. It's caked on.

455. Oh, God.

456. This is your ice.

457. That is on all of your ice.

458. That's from the actual unit that the ice falls through.

459. Do you think I'm gonna serve drinks with this?

460. No.

461. Matter of fact, here, wear some since you own it.

462. There you go.

463. There's your badge of honor.

464. What else, Mia, while I'm here?

465. Your garnishes aren't labeled, dated.

466. I'm surprised you're not all sick.

467. There's fruit flies flying all over the place.

468. There's fruit flies everywhere.

469. - Everywhere. - Is that a storage bin?

470. Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

471. Oh, my God, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

472. Oh,

473. - Oh, my God! Oh, my God! - Oh!

474. Oh, my God, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

475. Two dead mice.

476. Oh,

477. - Are you kidding me? - That's disgusting.

478. I did not expect that, guys.

479. The mice were absolutely disgusting.

480. It was so nauseating.

481. I can't even believe I served people anything from here.

482. Let's get this place together.

483. Who's gonna deal with the mice?

484. - Barback. - Okay.

485. - I need this bar cleaned and frickin' sanitized. - Got it.

486. When you tell me this bar is ready,

487. Mia will come check it,

488. - and then we'll start training, okay? - Okay.

489. That's gross. It's Jason's responsibility

490. for any kind of rodent problem.

491. It should never get to that point.

492. Ever. It's disgusting.

493. Dead mice can be rabid, or have other bacteria attached to them.

494. And mold is no small matter.

495. This isn't a visual issue. This is a health issue

496. and it's serious business.

497. My staff is pissed.

498. I need to step up right now

499. cause, you know, if I can't change,

500. there's no way the business is gonna change.

501. Thank you. It's time to train.

502. This bar is clean and up to my standards.

503. Now I wanna focus on the bartender training.

504. After the last night, my biggest concern

505. was the fact that you guys are a bunch of drinkers

506. but when you are at work, you're at work.

507. Now I have an exercise that's going to show you why.

508. Today during training

509. I'm bringing in some specialty goggles

510. that are gonna simulate intoxication

511. and I'm really hoping that this proves the point

512. you can't function as a bartender if you're intoxicated.

513. Okay, so vodka soda.

514. Oh, oh, careful there, gonna break it.

515. Try to get it in the glass. Find your vodka.

516. No, that's orange juice.

517. Does this look familiar? You guys seen this before?

518. Oh, dear God. Find your soda.

519. Oh, almost in the glass.

520. All right, and straw.

521. Yeah, Thank you very much.

522. You explained my point perfectly.

523. This is what impairment will do to you.

524. All right, so let's move on

525. to making some cocktails without being drunk.

526. - Sure. - We designed this menu to be super simple

527. that you can turn and burn for your stress test.

528. So this is a margarita.

529. We're gonna make it a little bit different

530. with a fun spiced rim.

531. Gonna start three quarters of an ounce,

532. three quarters of an ounce.

533. One, two, three, boom, I'm done.

534. Then you grab your spirits, boom,

535. that's an ounce and a half of tequila.

536. Cap it off.

537. And we're garnishing with lime-soaked cucumbers

538. and a piece of jicama.

539. So, here is our version of a classic margarita.

540. So jump in there.

541. - It's good. - I like it.

542. We have to do something that's going to compete

543. with the surrounding area.

544. A good margarita can cover all of your bases.

545. So the last thing that I want to emphasize,

546. is it should take no longer than 30 seconds.

547. I wanna see you hustle.

548. - Ashley... - Hell, yeah.

549. Already going right for the specialty cocktail rim.

550. Today I actually learned a nice beautiful cocktail.

551. Which is more than I've learned here... ever.

552. Love it. Oh, the booty shake.

553. Now that we have no drinking, oh, we're gonna be on our game.

554. How long did that take her? Not long.

555. Ashley is passionate and I feel like she's eager to learn.

556. Thank you so much.

557. She'll probably be one of our

558. strongest bartenders tonight.

559. Now it's time for our staff meeting for our stress test.

560. I think for the bartenders, there's gonna be mistakes that are made.

561. As soon as that happens, reset and go right again. Time is money.

562. - It's on you. - Yeah.

563. Okay? Glassware, straws, all of that,

564. you gotta keep an eye on all of that

565. cause if they run out of that, they can't ice,

566. can't make money without ice.

567. I'll do my best, whatever you guys need from me.

568. When you guys are all setting up and getting ready

569. me and Amanda are gonna be proactive.

570. We're gonna go outside and get people in here for you,

571. tourists that are in this area that want to see this venue.

572. All right? This is money to be made here.

573. And this is go time.

574. I never barbacked before, but it's something I need to do

575. just to regain the trust of my staff.

576. I'm extremely, extremely nervous.

577. If I don't succeed tonight, you know,

578. Scott's definitely gonna walk

579. and I'm gonna have to close the doors,

580. literally have to start my life from trash.

581. - Hello, guys. - Hi.

582. I'm gonna invite you guys to a bar Fort One lounge here.

583. Scott seems to be a man of action.

584. We have a few specialty cocktails

585. we're making for everybody today.

586. He's got flyers. He's out on the street.

587. He's trying to pack us tonight to stress test.

588. That's an action that he took

589. to improve the business that Jason never did.

590. - Appreciate it. We'll see you inside. - All right.

591. Okay. I got you complete control.

592. Tonight is about him proving himself to you.

593. In the next 24 hours. Scott is gonna determine

594. if he's gonna keep his investment in this bar

595. or if he's gonna take his money out and leave

596. if Jason doesn't come through for him.

597. As barback, Jason needs to prove he's willing to work

598. and he's not the spoiled brat he used to be.

599. Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming out to Fort One.

600. - All right, let's go, come on in.

601. Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

602. Five almond whiskeys? You got it.

603. All downstairs. They left me up here by myself.

604. I guess I'm just that good.

605. There you go, my dear. What's going on over here?

606. Ashley might be the strongest bartender we have.

607. So she's gonna handle the upstairs bar all by herself

608. while Lynette and Desiree work together

609. downstairs in the nightclub area.

610. Olivia is focused on bottle service.

611. Now Scott needs to manage,

612. Jason needs to back them up

613. and we need to see how they can perform.

614. - Ho, ho, here they come. - What are you guys drinking?

615. Tonight I'm looking for speed of service.

616. 30-second drinks or under.

617. Yeah, I'm gonna make it for you right now, yeah.

618. These ladies are not used to high volume.

619. Yeah, I'll be right with you. Thanks for being patient.

620. - Oh my God. - Ladies, pick it up.

621. How are we doing here, ladies?

622. Can we have more rosemary?

623. Yes, I can get some downstairs.

624. Jason's breaking a sweat, but he just isn't fast enough.

625. Behind you.

626. Jason needs to start moving quicker.

627. - Two almond whiskeys and a margarita. - Oh!

628. All right, we got a spill. We got a spill.

629. Jay!

630. - Jason... - Excuse me, folks...

631. - Jay...

632. Watch your step.

633. Aah!

634. Lynette is stressed, so I wanna find out what's going on here.

635. Hi, I understand you used to work here.

636. When?

637. A year and a half ago? What's your name?

638. Hi, Samantha, I'm Jon.

639. Did you leave under good conditions or bad?

640. How much you think he owes you?

641. $650.

642. Hang on, okay?

643. Right behind you, Olivia.

644. - Jason. - Thank you.

645. Who is Samantha?

646. She claims you owe her $650 in back pay.

647. We had a misunderstanding when she left.

648. That you were gonna pay her off?

649. No, I was never— we never agreed to that.

650. So what do you think you owe her?

651. I don't think I owe her.

652. I don't think I owe her.

653. We're at disagreement about the total amount.

654. - You gave away $400 worth of booze last night. - Right.

655. - $600, a girl like that kills your reputation. - Absolutely.

656. - You wanna go talk to her, make this right? - Yes.

657. Okay. Go do it!

658. Can I speak to you for a second?

659. Obviously, we're at a misunderstanding about the money.

660. I'd rather just have you as an ally rather than an enemy.

661. - Well, thank you so much. - Thank you, Jason.

662. Okay. Three whiskeys. Where is my whiskey?

663. You gotta pick up the pace, mama.

664. - Mr. Taffer, I took care of that like you said. - How do you feel about it?

665. - I feel better. - Dispute like that's not worth it, right?

666. You're absolutely right.

667. Here you go. What else can I get you?

668. - Four whiskeys. - Four whiskeys? You got it.

669. Bartender at top bar, really good customer service,

670. for working this bar by herself.

671. - This girl needs an A+. People at the bottom bar... - Not good.

672. Thank you guys for your patience.

673. Who's been here since we opened and hasn't gotten a drink yet?

674. This whole half of the bar.

675. Scott, that station wasn't set up and this one was.

676. You'd have bartenders on either end

677. you'd have a natural service bar here,

678. and they would both work the middle.

679. I'm gonna set up right now.

680. Manage, Scott, come on, take control of this.

681. Jay, I need you.

682. You gotta set up that third well.

683. You're also gonna have to get her glassware down.

684. - Got it. - Go, go, move.

685. Now you're hustling. I like it.

686. Now we're talking. One, two, three.

687. Speed, great, but is she accurate?

688. Here we go.

689. - Crowd: Oh! - Oh, yeah!

690. Don't you doubt me.

691. - Oh, yeah. - Don't you doubt me.

692. I'm in the presence of a rock star.

693. Ashley is accurate, fast,

694. having a blast behind the bar.

695. Ashley is a complete home run.

696. Being called a rock star by Jon Taffert

697. feels pretty damn good, I'm not gonna lie.

698. Stress test, pssh.

699. Look at this, going with two halves,

700. let's see, how's that pour? Pretty good.

701. Down here, at first, we were not set up for success.

702. We had Jason set up the third well down there

703. so Desiree is definitely catching up.

704. - How's he doing? - He's hustling.

705. Last night, Jason gave away four bottles of liquor

706. and drank about ten shots himself.

707. Tonight, no drinking, hasn't given away a damn thing.

708. He's working his ass off.

709. I literally have nothing to do right now.

710. Stop it right now.

711. You are amazing.

712. I love, for a second I was just up here, like...

713. - "I don't got to do."

714. Scott, so what do you think of Jason?

715. He's never worked like this before.

716. He doesn't know how to. He's never experienced it.

717. So he's showing that he cares, but you know what?

718. You can fake it for a little while.

719. - Yeah. - Remember, he took your money.

720. So you have to be certain that this is right for you.

721. Scott is in a tough place right now.

722. Jason stepped up.

723. Only Scott knows Jason well enough

724. to determine if it's real.

725. He's gotta figure out if he's gonna

726. keep his investment in this bar or move on.

727. All right, look at that.

728. Like the bar is clear, everybody has a cocktail,

729. You both are just chilling.

730. I've never seen this happen in a stress test.

731. - Really? - I've never seen this happen.

732. Yay!

733. Last night, Jason was a good barback.

734. He proved his commitment.

735. Now I wanna sit down with Jason and Scott

736. and see if Scott in fact wants to keep his investment

737. in the business or move on.

738. How do you feel about your staff?

739. I've been taking everything for granted.

740. I realized my staff work hard for me.

741. It's a powerful experience.

742. Scott, what did you think of last night?

743. He was working his butt off,

744. but running a business is not an easy thing to do.

745. It's not just filling ice bins

746. and making sure you got glassware, you know.

747. You have to manage finances properly

748. and you can't manage it day to day,

749. you gotta plan ahead, which takes organization.

750. Convince him you can do it.

751. If you and me worked— did this together

752. we can make something really special.

753. Seeing what you did yesterday, that's step one.

754. But, I mean, are you willing to commit and learn?

755. Yeah. I was scared less.

756. Sorry for just being not present.

757. I just needed to have that kick in the ass

758. and see the positive attitudes that come out of

759. us working together.

760. I don't wanna lose that feeling,

761. and I say that with all sincerity.

762. Scott, you know what you need to accomplish

763. to take this forward.

764. So are you gonna keep your investment in the business

765. or take your money out?

766. Um... ah...

767. For the team, and to you, and for what we have right now,

768. I'm fully committed.

769. But it all comes down to you. Let's make an agreement.

770. You know, give it a month and if I see you slipping back in the same habits,

771. then, I'll, you know, get my money and I'll be out,

772. and you can do whatever you want.

773. You'll have my support, 100%.

774. Having Scott tell me that, you know,

775. he sees me as a great barback

776. but still not a great manager,

777. it's totally understandable.

778. So I know he still doesn't trust me.

779. but I'm gonna continue to put in

780. the man hours that need to be done

781. in order to make this work.

782. Now that Scott is committed,

783. I'm gonna build this bar and target it

784. to achieve both the daytime and nighttime audience.

785. So, look at this area.

786. The median age of all the tourists is 49,

787. but this is a nightclub that skews younger at night,

788. so we gotta create a high-energy nightclub environment

789. that's hip enough for San Francisco,

790. and then we gotta do something with that front bar

791. that has that happy-hour feel

792. that relates to that older demographic.

793. What do you see for cocktails?

794. Talking about high volume,

795. I'm thinking two, three ingredients, max.

796. We gotta be able to turn and burn.

797. Okay, let's go to it.

798. Guys, I just want to start off by telling you

799. how impressed I was

800. with each and every one of you last night.

801. Today we're gonna be introducing

802. an approachable whiskey cocktail

803. that's gonna emphasize our speed of service

804. but give a quality product the guests in this area

805. are going to expect. Let's get started.

806. Two dashes cherry bitters,

807. three quarters of an ounce lemon juice,

808. three quarters of an ounce simple syrup,

809. one and a half ounces whiskey.

810. Shake and strain into an old-fashioned glass

811. over fresh ice.

812. Garnish with skewered cherries.

813. This is locally inspired. It's fresh produce.

814. It's indication of a fresh quality product.

815. I haven't made a really good cocktail in so long,

816. I can't even remember.

817. These cocktails are gonna make people want to come back

818. so I think it's gonna be great.

819. - Hello. - All: Hi.

820. - How you guys feeling? - Excited.

821. Think of where we started, our first night to now.

822. You're standing there not making a dime.

823. You made $8.00, Desiree.

824. You gave away almost $1,600 worth of bottles.

825. Yes.

826. How did you feel when you went home after stress test

827. - compared to recon? - Felt motivated.

828. I felt that there was actually a future in this,

829. and I felt that I'm becoming a better person.

830. - Pride is a powerful thing. - Right.

831. I looked at you as a wealthy kid who just didn't care.

832. - You do care. - Yes, I do.

833. Scott, if Jason handed you a check right now for $23,500,

834. would you take it or would you say,

835. "It's okay, hold it for a while"?

836. Scott, if Jason handed you a check right now for $23,500,

837. would you take it or would you say,

838. "It's okay, hold it for a while"?

839. No, definitely hold it for a while.

840. I'm ready to make this work.

841. - How's that sound? - It's exciting.

842. You're gonna have a bar you can all be proud of.

843. Ashley, you have a skill that you need to pass on.

844. You might be the best bartender

845. I've ever found in a rescue.

846. - What? - I'm gonna take you on the road with me.

847. I'm gonna bring you to help me do a rescue.

848. - Ha! - That's amazing.

849. What the actual , man?

850. For John to offer me to go rescue another bar,

851. it's just a huge opportunity for me.

852. I have worked so hard to make a name for myself

853. as a good bartender and to feel like someone

854. actually sees that I can do really well at my job,

855. that means the world to me.

856. - Whoo hoo! - Thank you.

857. - Thank you so much. - We're in Fisherman's Wharf.

858. 16 million tourists a year come here.

859. We have to capture these tourists and the locals

860. which means we couldn't have a bar that was half a nightclub

861. and a nightclub that was half a bar.

862. We needed a real bar and a real nightclub.

863. And that's what we did.

864. You guys ready to see it?

865. - Yeah. - I'm ready.

866. One, two, three.

867. Oh.

868. - I know, right?

869. So, The Roc.

870. It's relatable San Francisco.

871. It's a name that makes sense.

872. We can't change the outside structure.

873. We had to create two concepts.

874. So The Roc bar is very different than the The Roc nightclub.

875. You wanna lead your staff in to see it?

876. - I would love to. - Okay, go ahead guys.

877. - Let's go. - Whoo!

878. - Oh, wow. - Oh, man.

879. Oh my God.

880. This is awesome.

881. This place is sick.

882. It looks amazing, it's warm, it's inviting.

883. I'm so stoked to be here, so yeah, I love it.

884. This looks so dope, you guys! Look at down here!

885. - This is crazy. - This looks so nice.

886. - That's so cool. - Love it.

887. Oh you can get up both ways. That's awesome.

888. This place is awesome.

889. I'm gonna definitely be putting myself to work.

890. I don't see myself going back

891. to drinking and giving away drinks.

892. I have my eyes on the prize.

893. - What do you think? - Looks professional.

894. I love it!

895. Let me show you everything downstairs, come on.

896. A little different down here, huh?

897. This is what a nightclub looks like.

898. I wanted to make sure the dance floor was properly defined

899. with The Roc logo.

900. I wanted to realign all the dance floor lighting

901. down to the dance floor.

902. Look at the new booth seating.

903. Low cocktail tables providing a club environment.

904. Look at that elevation behind you.

905. There wasn't a staircase on the other side, was there?

906. - No. - No.

907. You see, people don't go to places in a nightclub.

908. They flow to places in a nightclub.

909. Now I can walk up one step, down the other,

910. walk past you with purpose.

911. - Exactly. - That creates interaction.

912. I gave you, one, two, three, two-touch POS systems.

913. You have two behind this bar

914. and another one in the back

915. so Olivia can sell cocktails directly to customers,

916. and we'll make more money that way.

917. And then of course, Taffer Virtual Teaching.

918. Log on, we train you and refresh you

919. and motivate you. What do you think, buddy?

920. I love it. It smells like money.

921. So, he gets to keep your money for a little while?

922. I feel like I'm gonna get it back pretty soon.

923. - There we go.

924. Jason, you're not barbacking anymore

925. but you still have to help out.

926. All right guys, only one thing left to do.

927. Tonight let's make some serious frickin' money.

928. Okay guys? Okay, let's get this bar set up.

929. There's about 200 people outside, okay?

930. Yes!

931. I'm really relaunching two bars tonight,

932. a bar and a nightclub.

933. And tonight, they start counting money.

934. - What's up guys? Welcome to The Roc.

935. Come inside, enjoy your drinks and have a good time tonight.

936. - Excuse me, guys. - Oh my God, look at Jason.

937. She's killing it.

938. We asked for two of each drink and she's doing work.

939. Hey, let me know if you need any help with the kiosk.

940. Can you please ring that in for me?

941. Mmm, delicious.

942. This is really a dual concept.

943. This is the bar. The nightclub is downstairs.

944. The bar is an intimate environment

945. where the people hang and relax

946. before the nightclub experience.

947. Ashley got slammed but she's keeping up.

948. The bar was working and in a little while

949. we'll see how the nightclub does.

950. Look, we got locals, we got tourists.

951. - Cocktails are going out balanced. - Yep.

952. I'd say this is a pretty successful beginning in the bar.

953. Now we'll open the nightclub in a few minutes.

954. We'll get slammed all over again.

955. Absolutely sure. I hope those girls are ready.

956. I hope so too.

957. Ladies and gentlemen, the nightclub is now open.

958. Hi, guys.

959. Roc Paradise?

960. Two margaritas and then one Lockdown.

961. - How they doing, guys?

962. - What do you think? How are we doing? - Great.

963. - Is Jason helping? - Jason? Yeah...

964. He's never done this before.

965. I'm serious. He's never taken initiative.

966. He's really taking a step forward and just taking this bar over.

967. Who doesn't have drinks yet?

968. Come on, let's crank, guys. Get this stuff outta here.

969. Five Lockdowns? Okay.

970. So Scott's pitching in,

971. Jason is helping with credit card transactions.

972. - Mm-hmm... - I mean, everybody is pushing.

973. We finally have effective management.

974. The first day, I made $8.00 in tips and I was drunk.

975. Today I'm super sober, on my game,

976. and right now my tip jar is filling up to the top.

977. - Everything all good with the register? - Yep.

978. Tonight's going great. We're making a lot more money.

979. We're doing sales. We're running to all the tables,

980. getting multiple drinks, and it's awesome to be able to know

981. that I'm gonna be making money at the end of the night.

982. - How's it going, sir? - So, look at this.

983. Nobody got anything for free.

984. - Did he support you tonight? - He supported me.

985. He supported me. He stepped up.

986. - I'm so frickin' proud of you. - Thank you, sir.

987. How proud are you of yourself?

988. I'm so proud of myself.

989. I'm looking forward to the future, man.

990. This is an interesting rescue.

991. I had an owner who had no purpose

992. cause he didn't understand how great success felt.

993. Now as a contributor, Jason has a reason to work harder.

994. His great staff now has the management

995. and the ownership they need to be successful.