Bar Rescue - The Federal (Martini Brothers) Update

On tonight's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are once again in Youngstown, Ohio to try to rescue Martini Brothers.  The owners clash with their landlord and partner who would rather paint fruit than save their failing bar.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Martini Brothers was renamed to The Federal.  They have kept the new bar name and still go by The Federal.  Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for The Federal since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):




Reviews:

• "Food is delicious but the service is terrible. The server was very slow and inattentive."
• "Absolutely horrible!  Chicken was dry and tough and the burger had absolutely no flavor. I never would've known that Bar Rescue was there!"
• "Recently this place was on Spike TV's Bar Rescue. They used to be known as Martini Bros. My wife and I stopped in to watch College Football on a Saturday. We sat at the bar and ordered burgers and fried shrimp for an appetizer. They had a few seasonal craft brews on tap and a few more in bottles. Overall a good beer selection. Our food was very good and burgers were cooked properly to order, medium rare came out as expected. Fries are hand cut and I suggest adding garlic and parmesan, they were very good. Really loved the fried shrimp. Portion size was also good. Service was good. Nothing bad, but our bar tender had trouble hearing us, although she got the order correct. They kept our glasses full, and when we were ready to go they were prompt with the bill. Two burgers, an app, and four beers ran us 61 dollars including a 20% tip. Overall, good experience, I'll be back again."
• "Tv show bar rescue did an overhaul on this place! The atmosphere was great, the food was great and so were the drinks!! Staff is friendly and the prices were reasonable! Go check this place out!!"

*Reviews from Yelp, Tripadvisor


Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue makeover happened in August 2015.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Spike TV website.
• Here is The Federal Facebook Page which is kept up-to-date.
• Here is a website for The Federal and here is a link to their menu.
• There is a watch party for the episode at the bar tonight, and in the event, it states - "Ok, all that can be said, is that we are all in for a wild ride. And remember its only tv. In reality there have never been any mistakes, flaws, business or personality failures of any of the ownership, management, or staff of the Federal, Martini Brothers, Lemon Grove or any of their subsidiaries. Party Starts at 9pm. Episode at 10pm. Public Shaming 11pm"
• The Yelp reviews before the makeover were pretty positive with a lot of complements on the burgers.
• People in this Reddit thread say the place was always crowded on weekends and the burgers were very good. 
• Someone appearing on the show as a critic said Bar Rescue goes to the bar a few weeks before filming to find try the whole menu and find the weakest items.  They then get people to order those items for the show. (Link)
• In local articles, it says the bar is owned by Jacob Harver and Dan Martini (Link).  Also Jacob is the owner of the building (Link).  So I am not sure if the 46% vs. 8% ownership stake is just for the show or if it is the actual breakdown.
• Shortly after the Bar Rescue filming, owner Dan Martini was arrested for his part in a $2 million dollar Ebay sports memorabilia fraud.  Investigators say it is the biggest case of domestic fraud in the history of Ebay and the sports memorabilia had forged autographs and forged certificates of authenticity.  Dan cooperated with the investigation and plead guilty to money laundering and sentencing has not happened yet, but probation was recommended. (Link)  He allowed the ring master to use his account for the transactions. (Link)

Conclusion:

The bar has kept the name of The Federal and the reviews since the makeover are mostly positive.  It seems like this bar wasn't in need of a rescue from the Yelp reviews before the makeover and the comment from the bar's watch party saying there weren't any issues with the bar.  The publicity from the show should help The Federal, although the negative publicity of Dan Martini being involved in a large fraud scheme may hurt business.


*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.