Bar rescue thoughts

I really like the show I find the science behind how things like chair hight and lighting can affect how much money the bar can make, it's interesting but what I can't wrapt head around is why the owners ask the host for help then argue with him.

Drama, drama, drama. Either that or the owner just wants the makeover and does not want to think that they such as a owner.

In sure a lot of it is probably staged but if its not how could you argue with an expert in your field when your losing thousands a month when he's trying to help

Anyone catch that is it almost always a 30% increase in sales? If the place was going under with nobody in it then being packed now should be higher then 30%

mb82 said:

Anyone catch that is it almost always a 30% increase in sales? If the place was going under with nobody in it then being packed now should be higher then 30%

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I'm sure they take an average of the first 2-3 months after they re-open. Increasing foot traffic may be more difficult than increasing sales. If you keep traffic the same, and your guests buy an extra drink, maybe that's enough. I've never thought about those places being packed, wall to wall, after they re-open. I just don't think it can happen. There is always a stigma associated with a dumpy, gross bar.

I saw an episode last weekend for a gay bar where the owner closed the bar three days after the show. Fired all the employees and closed up. I bet John Taffer was pissed after investing the time and energy into revitalizing it just so the owner could walk out.

I really like the show. As for why some of the Owners argue with him, it might not have been the owner who made the original overture to the show. Sometimes it seems like an employee was the one that made the original request and the owners just sorta go along with it. Plus if these owners had any idea of what they were doing they would not be in the spots they are so it makes sense they would not see the benefits and not see what they are doing wrong.

As for the 30% increases in sales, the show is not silver built. The owners might not fully implement the changes, the managers might still be sub-par, the waitstaff might now be able to pull of the new ideas, people might be slow in giving the place a second chance.

I would like to see a craft beer bar on there sometime and not just cocktail or whiskey joints.

danielofthedale said:

I would like to see a craft beer bar on there sometime and not just cocktail or whiskey joints.

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A big reason they do liquor joints is that spirits have a higher profit margin than beer

How do you suppose, at the beginning of the show, they get all the "candid" shots? Sure, they show some cameras in the ceiling they claim to have installed, but the shots are taken from eye level. Even the people they send in early to see whats going on, you get a shot of their face at the bar. I don't doubt some of the drama is real or that the stuff actually happens, but some of it is just acting and playing a role to generate viewership. Hell, it's probably part of the agreement that you need to act like a jerk.

I still like it though.

I like the show too, although I think 95% of it is staged "drama".

mb82 said:

Anyone catch that is it almost always a 30% increase in sales? If the place was going under with nobody in it then being packed now should be higher then 30%

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not exactly. restaurants operate in thirds. pricing = 1/3 food cost, 1/3 labor and 1/3 profit. 30% increase in revenue means they were making nearly nothing.

tmendick said:

A big reason they do liquor joints is that spirits have a higher profit margin than beer

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craft beer is high margin as well in most cases. as homebrewers most will understand that all grain brewing and buying in bulk saves you tons of cash. pros do this too. without going into all the nuts and bolts of it i'll just say this. local brewery here in town spends $0.50-0.65 to make a pint of beer. they then sell it for $5.50 a pint. there's money in craft beer depending on what you're making. high gravity beers are a tougher sell because of regulations in how much alcohol can be served versus how much ingredient it takes to make such a beer.

Really like the show. But, I do believe parts of the show are drama made for TV. Not all, but some. These are real places you can go to. The stupid pirate ladies bar isn't to far away from me and I have friends that have walked by it. They won't go in....no different then the patrons Tafer told her she was chasing away. But really, if you call him in : CLEAN YOUR DAMN KITCHEN AND BAR. You know that's the first place he going to hit.

It blew my mind when the pirate women was like I know your an expert and I'm over a hundred thousand dollars in debt but I really like dressing like a pirate for some reason so I'm just going to completely ignore every single thing you said

The restaurant stakeout show seems even more staged.

Haven't seen the show but it seems to be following the Gordon Ramsay Kitchen Nightmares formula.

Drama is what sells these days. It's worth noting that very few of the restaurants featured in his show lasted more than six months after he left.