 |
| Photo - Second Base |
During the Second Base Bar and Grill re-rescue, Jon Taffer said he would put about $100,000 into the Second Base re-rescue, but only if the owner Terry was willing to put up some money of his own. Terry needed to put up about $30,000 of his own money for Jon to start the makeover, which he refused and said he could not come up with the money. So Jon walked out without making any changes. Here are some updates for Second Base Bar and Grill since Bar Rescue visited the first time.
Reviews:
There are a lot of bad reviews for Second Base on Yelp, which complain about fights, rude bartenders, and filth.
Other News and Links:
- Here is a preview video of the episode, and you can also watch the full episode before it airs on the Spike TV app.
- Here is the Second Base Bar and Grill website, which has a "As Seen On Bar Rescue" picture at the top.
- Here is the Second Base Facebook page which is kept up to date. Judging by all the recent photos, it appears that everybody from the show is still working there despite Jon suggesting they find other places to work.
- Here is the Second Base Twitter page and Instagram page
- As reported earlier on this site, there was a fatal shooting behind Second Base Bar and Grill in November of 2013.
- Jon Taffer will be doing a Taffer Talk on Twitter during this episode if you are interested.
- This is the second time Jon Taffer has walked out on a bar, with the other bar being O'Face.
Conclusion:
Second Base Bar and Grill continues to get a lot of bad reviews and the shooting that happened outside the bar probably didn't help business either. It seems that Gary and the bartenders from the show all still work at the bar despite Jon suggesting they find somewhere else to work.
Whether Jon was actually going to re-rescue the bar or if they did all of this for TV is probably up for debate.
*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.
Second Base redux - Taffer should have walked out at the half hour mark and started to rescue another bar. By then he'd already established that the bar failure was entirely the owner's fault in oh so many ways, and the owner (re-)established himself as a thorough a-hole. I don't like the show so much when I'm rooting against the bar. I wish the staff the best, and I hope they're really looking.
ReplyDeleteTaffer - give me someone to root _for_!!
agreed , the owner was a sleezzzz-bag..I just don't understand why Taffer wasted all the time he did with this man..I am beside myself!#*?!
ReplyDeleteI had to DVR this episode and didn't catch the last minute..I made it up to 6 weeks later..ugh..what happened? I'm thinking Taffer got new jobs for the employees..this would be great if he left the owner there alone with no staff.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that when Taffer started showing the $100,000 new design, he was going to tell us that he's decided to open a competing bar right next door and how all the staff,them run that lousy owner out of business once and for all. Or, when the DB owner didn't put up the $30,000, that Taffer was going to give each of the employees $2,000 to go find new jobs!
ReplyDeleteI was working when this episode was on new, but thank you Spike for running it again. Best episode. Ready to smack Terry, stupid. He has to be pretty dumb to treat people like this. Taffer is definitely at his best and I'm happy to see him there just for the employees.
ReplyDeleteInstead of requiring the owner to put up money, John should have required him to give each employee a percentage ownership, maybe 3-8% depending on position.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird to me that the shooting wasn't even *mentioned* (or at least, made the final edit) but I guess that gets in the way of the it's-all-Gary's-I-mean-Terry's-fault. It was crazy to me right off the bat (heh) that Jon was trusting Terry's version of things.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Jon was way too quick to just buy into Terry's version of events. I think he should have kept what Terry said in mind, then questioned the staff to hear their version, rather than just blowing up on Gary because Terry said he was responsible.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason is quite simple. Jon's been doing this for 30 years and, if what he said on the O'Face episode is true, this is only the second time he's ever walked away from a rescue. I don't think it's a case of all the other owners being cooperative, or being simple fixes. He just doesn't like admitting defeat. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I admire Jon for it (even if his methods can be a bit...overly exuberant, to say the least).
ReplyDeleteAlso, while the owner was El Doucho, the rest of the staff (including Gary), were good, hard workers. They just needed to get inspired again. That's what Jon tried to do.
Profits are still declining. Everyone is still at the bar, but are looking for jobs elsewhere. In my mind, they deserve to have a boss that actually cares about them, so godspeed.
ReplyDeleteYou HAVE to give this Terry guy some credit. It takes world class douchebag skills to make the chick from the Piratz place look smart by comparison.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame the guy for not sinking $30K into this failing bar. It's true that he didn't manage the business very well at all and failing to keep the menu and drink changes going after the resuce was his own fault. However, I think that the reason he didn't put money into the bar after the rescue is because he was paying off that huge debt that he owed from before Taffer showed up the first time. He finally paid it off but now the bar is in need of repair again so he thought he could get it done for free again with Bar Rescue but he wasn't willing to risk his own money and go into debt again. It's a business decision, he said that other bars opened in the area and now the competition makes things difficult. It's possible he thought the area has changed and is now too saturated with bars to make an acceptable profit even if he had gone for the $30K deal and did the upgrades. It could be that he just didn't want to go back into debt again, or it could be that he didn't like what Taffer wanted to spend the money on but I can't blame him for saying "no".
ReplyDeleteIn the original Extremes episode Taffer thought Terry was a low life and then after a heart to heart he said he deserved a chance. I would think once he was called back he should have known Terry screwed up.
ReplyDeleteThis seemed like a pretty pointless episode. I got the feeling that Gary and Terry didn't even really want Bar Rescue to come back, and maybe the producers just talked them into doing the second episode, probably with some cash paid to the bar. Terry came off pretty badly. I don't see why anyone would stick around working for him. Most of those bartenders could probably find jobs elsewhere, as they were pretty much the only reason anyone would come into that place.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe anything that goes on in these shows. The biggest
ReplyDeletepet peev I have about television is the crappy editing. I have seen
countless of blooper edits like you see in some movies and this show was
no different. At the beginning of the show when they scoped out the
place outside for the second time, they seen that the light on the sign
was off. A minute later when you see the two people go to walk in for
the recon, the light on the sign is magically on now!! The makes me
think that it's true that a lot of this stuff is pre-planned and acted
out. I guess Taffer's lawsuit against him has been resolved otherwise
this new episode would not have aired either. On another note, if Jon
Taffer is such a successful professional, why does he have to yell at
bar owners in front of their patrons? There are other ways of getting
your point across without being a bully, or is he trying to be like
Gordon Ramsey, or is it all just planned and for show.
Really wanted to find out what happens to these guys, sadly only getting grey boxes and no text at all
ReplyDeleteyou have to answer a question to gain access to the site.
ReplyDeleteI think they needed to show a Bar Rescue like this one to prove that Jon's concepts do work IF the owner keeps up with maintenance and investment. This was a way to show what NOT to do. And it also takes the blame off of Jon and puts it squarely on this scu--ag owner. If someone gives you a Porsche and you drive it like an idiot, it's not the fault of the Porsche (though you probably should never have been given one in the first place).
ReplyDeleteThat the shooting happened behind the bar doesn't mean much. There was a bar next to a store I once owned and there were literally bloody fights from the bar that ended up starting in front of my store. It didn't affect either of our places. It's when it happens inside and often that it ruins businesses.
ReplyDeleteThe owner should have kept his yap shut, said "yes sir" and took his lumps. If he had, I doubt Taffer would have required the $30K and he'd have a renovated bar to screw up again.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather watched 41 minutes of Taffer berating that jughead owner and 1 minute of them taking all the cameras down and walking out.
ReplyDeleteBarring that, Taffer should have said he would invest the additional $100K ONLY if the owner signed an agreement turning the running of the bar, checkbook included, over to Gary and completely stayed away. That would have included not taking any money out of the place until it was back on it's feet. After that....naa....it wouldn't work...never mind.
If the guy has no faith in his business management skills or bar, such that it's worth paying $30,000 to get a $100,000 remodel and the same sort of free publicity that allowed him to pay of $180,000 in debt, then Jon made the right call.
ReplyDeleteI think its bullshit..bar rescue taffer kne he wasn't gonna throw down 30K ..if he could, taffer wouldn't have to re-rescue bar..and who deserves a 2nd chance anyway when 1000s of other bars in need of help, this guy was a loser ..talking to girl mixokogist who helping clean that literal toilet, guy was a skumbag and he just fucked all his employees, they'll be better in long run ..but what a shitty thing to do
ReplyDeleteHe paid off $180,000 in debt post-rescue. If he had a line of credit that would have allowed him to run up that kind of debt, pre-rescue, he could have come up with $30K had he wanted to do so.
ReplyDeleteOf course he did all of this for his show that has become insanely predictable and is losing ratings! Why hasn't Taffer invested in fixing those disgusting Chicklettes in his mouth?
ReplyDeleteThe 5 minutes of fame are running out on the big headed one trick pony.
During the first rescue, Jon put a lot of emphasis on changing to "approachable sexuality" - i.e. putting the girls in hot pants instead of ass-baring bikinis. He didn't seem to mind that the bikinis were back. Can't say I minded either.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of hotties, it's a shame that Nicole Taffer became too well known to function on the show. Her super low cut tops were the best part of the first season. Yo-Yo Ma!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the guy who invented Sunday Ticket and has a load of profitable bars is going to be just fine.... Certainly better than some yahoo taking pot shots at him in the comments section of a website.
ReplyDeleteSecond base owner SUCKS!!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought that was a bit odd, myself, that he didn't say anything about that...
ReplyDeleteI thought about Piratz too!! You could argue that the Piratz folk are sticking to their vision when they're being assholes. What's this guy's excuse?
ReplyDeleteJoe, it goes to show you that an older, not so sexy-guy like Jon Taffer can get a really hot wife if he's got the money, ambition and career. I definitely take my hat off to Taffer.
ReplyDeleteI fell and think john taffer is a inspiration for bar owners everywhere and if I owned a bar which I would love to one day the smartest thing to do would be to listen to what he teach is us every show I have experience in the bar biz and the what he says on the show you is right vary vary smart guy as for what I got a say on second base is staff is great owner is a complete loser with no balls to build a great bar that taffer inspired great job mr taffer as for the owner of second base have fun being bankrupt hahahaha ( loser)
ReplyDeleteKept waiting for the part where he was going to say either "I have a group of local investors to buy you out" or "I have a group opening a bar nearby, I forwarded your resumes and they really are interested in talking to some of you". But no.
ReplyDeleteObviously wasn't going to be redone once we hit the 3/4 mark with no renovation.
Its funny that everyone believes the line of BS this show says. Extremes never has $180k debt. And if he did I assure you they didn't pay it off on the 2 years since the first rescue. I manage the bat across the street from them and have not noticed a spike in their business at any time. It's the same cat of characters as it was 3 years ago when Gary was promoted from doorman to GM. The previous GM had better customer base and better staff years ago.
ReplyDeleteThat shooting took place in the bar parking lot and involved customers(known gang affiliated members) who were permitted in the place
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know what 5 powerhouse bars they are referring to. Cause I manage the place you see in the background across the street and I can tell you for fact nothing new has opened. In fact the nearest big sorts bar has actually closed down. So guys keep believing the stuff they feed you. Be careful how much you actually swallow
ReplyDeleteThis TV program regularly calls bars fishing for opportunity. I manage the spot across the street from Second Base. They have called us several times inquiring about doing a show and our other bar in Huntington Beach. Guys this show is all marketing and bologna. Lousy made for TV drama. Fun to watch but but as real as Professional Wrestling!
ReplyDeleteIt's perhaps funnier that newbies to the boards aren't aware of how often bar owners get called out for lying.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the Google street view, you should have chased Jon Taffer down and begged for help. Is the interior more impressive?
Yeah, I thought that was where the episode was going. That would have been neat, give Gary and the girls a stake in the business.
ReplyDeleteJohn is successful at what he does and makes money. That attracts attractive women (not saying his wife is some gold digger or something. she seems pretty genuine) but women go after men with money and/or power.
ReplyDeleteWow you must be as desperate as Terry since your trolling comments and pathetically self promoting your crap bar too as if anyone cares lol. Of course things are hyped up for television but can't imply the show was lies when that bar is still horrible overall. Also, after doing some research, YOUR bar isn't much better. I was wrong your definitely more pathetic then Terry!
ReplyDeleteI just watched a rerun of this episode and I don't quite understand why the bartenders and the manager got a pass from Taffer. True, they had no control over the bar and food menu, the maintainece and policies of the bar, but what kept them from at least keeping the bar clean? How can someone who considers themselves to be professional bartenders serve cocktails from behind a filthy bar? I realize it's difficult to maintain standards if the management doesn't care, but what happened to the concept of a personal work ethic? I suspect that a lot of the staff gave up and continued to collect tips from customers who came into that stank nasty crap hole to ogle at women wearing bikinis.
ReplyDeleteI give them props for positively responding to Taffer's support and motivation, but they lost major points with me for their complacency. I see from the updates referencing the bars and the individual Facebook pages of the staff is that most of them are still working there. What does that tell you?
At first glance I didn't like the cut of the owners jib. My instinct told me the patrons should bring their own rubber gloves and bleach when having a pint. The usual excuses were in abundance. Insults were hurled around like guinness at a wake. Harmless entertainment with manufactured outrage and cliches, oh let's not forget the cliches, falling from their lips like grass before the scythe.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Photos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram it looks like the Bar might have gotten a small make over and some money put back into it by the owner. Probably because Taffer would not re-rescue the bar and the staff probably gave the Owner the ultimatum that if improvements are not made they will leave.
ReplyDeleteI think there were a few reasons for this.
ReplyDeleteFirst, there was some effort to standardize the bikinis a bit as the show progressed. When they first did recon, it looked like the same old random bra & panties deal as before the first rescue. But on the last night, when Taffer issued his ultimatum to the douchebag owner, the bikinis were basically all the same color and style. It was just never addressed aloud on the show.
Secondly, I'm guessing Taffer realized that family-friendly, "approachable sexuality" was no longer a viable option in an area flush with successful, non-bikini sports bars - especially now that the place is carrying the stigma of a shooting. Second Base couldn't be a slightly sexier Applebees anymore, so its only real chance to stand out was to play up the bare flesh in a more salacious way than before.
Third, I don't believe Taffer ever really expected to fix the bar at all this time. He would have followed through with a new concept & remodel (including new uniforms) if things had played out differently. But the writing was on the wall from the moment he set foot in there this time, and it would have been a waste of time to order new uniforms.
I think he should hire that Crystal chick from Second Base to be one of his recon people. Talk about a hottie!
ReplyDeleteI was hoping he would have made a deal with the other guy to buy the bar from the dbag and then rescue the bar again for that guy. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteTaffer loved the owner of Second base just pissing all over him,, who knew Taffer loved a golden shower from a dude
ReplyDeleteBullshit.
ReplyDeleteGood thing you only manage a bar. Your poor grammar and lack of spelling ability is not going to take you very far in life otherwise.
ReplyDeleteStfu asshole
ReplyDeleteyou answer the phone for us then... it's true guy!
ReplyDeleteyou people are funny with your passion of made for tv drama. soap operas are even more realistic. you obviously care far more about this show than an average fan. who do you know who is on payroll?
ReplyDeleteyou obviously haven't been to either spot Rob. i'm "trolling" cause i've been told... "for a good laugh check it out!"
ReplyDeleteWatching the re-air right now, to call that terpy owner a douche-bag is an insult to douche-bags across the world. He clearly wanted a makeover (got it) didn't keep the work required and thought that he would get another re-rescue for free....ahahahahaha, spare me dude.
ReplyDeleteYou can't save everyone if the owner a Fucking Bum what"s the point the staff will lose in the end. Taffer walked on the owner in Iowa running the bar because they were fucking scumbags. Should have left this clown. Their have been about three other episodes besides the piratz where the bar owners were fucking fools. You cant save everyone I don't care how good Taffer is
ReplyDeleteThe owner is a douche. They would have had to peel me out of his ass if he ever disrespected me the way he did to John, and the people there to help him. He's a delusional narcissist with absolutely no business smarts, and an out and out wanna be con-artist. I feel bad for the staff as they will never get anywhere in their lives working at this dump.
ReplyDelete