On tonight's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in
Omaha, Nebraska to try to rescue Oasis Hookah Bar. When Jon gets
there, he notices a bad odor and also bad behavior from the bar
employees. The odor is supposedly a dead rat and the bar is also serving "toxic" drinks to customers. One of the "toxic" drinks makes a customer puke after just one sip.During the Bar Rescue makeover, Oasis Hookah Bar was renamed to Taza Nightclub. The bar seems to be using both names and goes by Taza Nightclub/Oasis Hookah Bar. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Taza/Oasis since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar:
Positive Reviews:
- "I had a wonderful experience at taza/oasis. The staff and atmosphere was very welcoming and friendly!"
- "The new hookahs they have are amazing, so smooth. This is what a hookah bar should be!"
Negative Reviews:
- "Horrible. It took a total of 40 minutes for my friends and I to even be able to smoke the hookah. The hookah only burned for 15 or so minutes till it was done. We saw the staff standing around smoke hookah pens instead of serving us. It also said 12 dollars for a hookah for parties of 4 or more instead of what it really was. It was the worst service I've had at any place."
- "Horrible service, rude, pushy, and unprofessionally. They also rip you off 5 bucks tell you it's super packed after they take your money then won't give it back, the best way to describe this place is CHEAP and TRASHY"
Other News and Links:
- Here are 2 preview videos for this episode on the Spike TV website. In one video a customer pukes after having just 1 sip of a drink. That guy was supposedly allergic to citrus, which caused him to puke. The other video has Jon Taffer smelling something bad, which is supposedly a dead rat that ate rat poison and could not be found. While the bar staff can't find it, Jon miraculously is able to sniff it out like a dog and finds it.
- Here is the Oasis/Taza Facebook Page, website, and Instagram,
- Here is a post on a forum from Hookah John describing how he got chosen to be on the show as the hookah expert. Also, Oasis got all of their new hookahs from Hookah John in January (Link).
- Here are the Facebook pages of some of the employees - Jesse (owner), Susie (bartender), Corrie (manager), Brandon, Nathan, and Nick. Also Tyrie from MTV's The Real World was a bartender in this episode.
- On a photo after the makeover with the staff and Jon Taffer, Corrie is not in the picture and comments on the photo " Now if you could only cut john out ;] nice photo though!" So, I would expect her to get fired on the episode from Jon's recommendation.
- The Oasis Bar has said Bar Rescue gave them awesome new furniture and fixed up their bathrooms. They also said that the price points for the mixed drinks were higher than they envisioned, but that was Bar Rescue's recommendation. (Link)
- Bar Rescue did the makeover in November 2013, and recommended they turn the place into a 21+ nightclub. Oasis/Taza went with that recommendation for a few weeks, but turned it back into 18+ all the time. (Link)
- Hit That Dive was at the stress test and reveal, and will also be interviewing the owner Jesse after the episode airs. (Link). If anything interesting is revealed in that interview, I will update this post.
Conclusion:
The reviews for Oasis Hookah Bar/Taza Nightclub are mixed and people seem to not like the cover charge or the limited seating after the Bar Rescue makeover. There are some positive reviews of the new hookahs. The bar does respond to the reviews on Facebook, so it seems they are putting in the effort to respond to customers and their reviews both good and bad.
Oasis Hookah Bar/Taza Nightclub seems to be happy with the makeover judging by their comments to people on their Facebook Page. While they have kept the new furniture provided by the show, they decided to turn the place back into an 18 and over place with hookah rather than a 21 and over place suggested by Bar Rescue.
UPDATE - The owner Jesse stated in the comments section that his liquor license for Oasis/Taza operates under a Cigar Bar License. Therefore, the state of Nebraska requires him to sell tobacco to maintain his liquor license. That is the reason why he brought the hookahs back with the help of Hookah John. I guess Bar Rescue overlooked that detail when doing the makeover.
UPDATE - In August 2014, the city of Omaha had a hearing to determine if the Taza Hookah Lounge liquor license should be cancelled. In the city council document, it states,
"Omaha police report that a disturbance and assault occurred at this business, that police are regularly being dispatched to control disorderly crowds congregating outside the business, and that the activity offered at the bar is attracting customers who engage in this conduct….. In addition, when the liquor license application was before the City Council in 2012, representatives told the Council the business would be operated as a hookah lounge with occasional live entertainment. Media reports and police reports indicate the business model has changed and it now operates as a nightclub with a focus on recorded music and dancing."
City Council decided not to cancel the liquor license and said if another incident occurred within six months, the bar would have to come back to City Council for another review. (Link)
UPDATE - In April 2015, there was a shooting that occurred outside of Taza Nightclub. (Link)
UPDATE - In February 2016, Omaha City Council recommended against renewing the Taza/Oasis Liquor license. (Link)
UPDATE - IN July 2016, Omaha City Council again met about Taza/Oasis, but didn't recommend denial or approval of the license. It was also revealed that the bar owed back taxes. (Link). Jesse also said he was switching to his roots and making it more of a lounge than a nightclub.
UPDATE - In December 2016, Omaha City Council stripped Taza/Oasis of their liquor license citing numerous 911 calls for the bar over the years. The bar can appeal the decision to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, which it appears they did (Link).
UPDATE - In February 2017, Oasis Hookah Lounge closed - More info on the closure.
*To see how all of the bars from Bar Rescue are doing, go to the Bar Rescue Update page, and also Like us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter to stay up to date with all things involving Bar Rescue.
