Bar Rescue - Brick and Barley (Baseline Sports Bar) Update

On tonight's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Tempe, Arizona to try to rescue Baseline Sports Bar. Baseline Sports Bar is owned by AJ Hunter who took out a lien on her house to purchase the bar.  Baseline Sports Bar was supposedly doing between $65,000 and $80,000 a month when AJ purchased the bar.  Then AJ made the staff all female and called them the "Baseline Babes," which included her two daughters.  The bar went downhill and AJ is supposedly losing $4,000 a month and is $190,000 in debt.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer changed the name of Baseline Sports Bar to Brick and Barley and the bar has kept the name.  Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Brick and Barley since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):

Positive Reviews:

• "Maria takes great care of us every time. I typically get the Caesar salad which gives me the fuel to go all Kirk Gibson around the bases. Stop by next time you're in the neighborhood, you won't regret it."
• "The recent upgrades have really turned it into something special. The old and new staff are some if the best that there is. The clientele is diverse and loyal. This place is a true gem. Great menu and service. An extremely good value for your money."
• "Amazing! What a great atmosphere, friendly staff, incredibly delicious food (try the Whitney wings!), well priced drinks and really just expect an all around great time! Highly recommended and yes, I will be coming back many times! Love it!"
• "The place is clean the food is good and the wait staff and bartenders are very nice. No complaints. Lots of TVs if you're looking for that. Angie is very personable with everyone. I had the Philly cheesesteak and it was yummy. I'd come back here with friends."
• "Baseline Sports Bar went through a recent renovation since being featured on the show "Bar Rescue" and has since renamed itself "Brick & Barley".This is a nice bar and grill with a decent menu and fairly priced drinks....I will be back for a drink and a bite soon. Check them out."

Negative Reviews:

• "I would give zero stars if I could! Disgusting flat Stella on draft and service was horrible. Waitresses would rather talk to each other in the back room than actually serve us. Someone should call bar rescue. Oh wait... they already did and it still needs rescuing. If Jon Taffer came in he would be livid! What a waste of space. This bar will not last!!!"
• "Food was okay, drink selection was okay, but neither are going to draw me back anytime soon."
• "Curiosity was killing us so we had to see what John Taffer did to BSB.Not much. It's brighter inside, not so dark and gloomy, but really the same exact place. A few new tables, same bar layout. Didn't try any food, but the beer out of the tap was warm"
• "It's called brick and barley now...2 stars for the service from the bartender. She just had a bad attitude and zero sense of urgency which comes off as lazy and uninterested in her job or customers."
• "I have been coming here off and on for many years. Came back to check it out after the bar rescue. Looks like they never changed the menu at all, and the bathrooms are still gross. It's clearly a bar for regulars and they get served before anyone else. The room itself looks good (though anything was an improvement) but it's nothing special. "

*Reviews from Yelp

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue makeover happened in January 2016
• Here are two preview videos of the episode from the Spike TV website - Video 1, Video 2.
• Here is the Brick and Barley Facebook Page and the old Baseline Sports Bar Facebook Page. 
• Looking at the old Baseline Sports Bar Facebook, it doesn't seem like spaghetti wrestling was a regular event. 
• Here is a Baseline Sports Bar website and it doesn't appear there is a new Brick and Barley one yet.
• Here are the Facebook pages of AJ (Owner), Xatia (Bartender/AJ's Daughter), Diva (Bartender/AJ's Daughter), Whitney (General Manager).  Here are other Brick and Barley employees tagged in a post as well.
• Judging by AJ's Facebook Page, she still calls the bartenders "babes" but they are now "Brick and Barley Babes".
• Here are Yelp reviews from before the makeover, and the reviews were not too bad before Bar Rescue came.

Conclusion:

The bar has kept the name Brick and Barley after the Bar Rescue name change.  The reviews of the bar since the makeover are mixed with people liking the updates and atmosphere but having complaints about the service.  The bar still has the same theme with the "babes" being advertised on Facebook and such, so it seems like they are still operating as they were but with just a different name.

UPDATE 7/24 - After the episode, Diva said about Jon Taffer, "He's very polite & respectful in person. It's all for show, & it's all fake lol" and continued "Yep. Everything was like 3-4 takes... They sabotaged a bunch of stuff in our bar to make it look bad."

Also manager Whitney did an interview with the local paper after the show and said they didn't have any cranberry juice because they couldn't get any deliveries while Bar Rescue was there because the parking lot was blocked off and tents were up.  She even tried to get her boyfriend to bring some and Bar Rescue security wouldn't allow it.  The bar has also got rid of the schnitzel and the two specialty cocktails created by Bar Rescue because they weren't popular.  The uniforms also weren't popular among the employees and they prefer to wear whatever they want to work.

*If you are looking for the update for The Base Line (Recovery Room), that update is here.

*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.