Bar Rescue - Robusto By Havana Mix (Havana Mix Cigar Emporium) Update

On this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Memphis, Tennessee to rescue Havana Mix Cigar Emporium.  Havana Mix is a cigar bar owned by Robb Hunter who is starting to think that hiring his millennial son wasn't such a good idea.  He is too focused on talking to customers about cigars and is forgetting about the other customers that want to buy drinks.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer somewhat changed the name of Havana Mix Cigar Emporium to Robusto By Havana Mix and the bar has kept the name. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Robusto By Havana Mix since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):

Positive Reviews:

• "Humidor, Bar and lounge without the fees. Simple nice and up to date with all the new cigar releases."
• "Great place to go and the atmosphere is so relaxing. "
• "Black excellence at it's best if you smoke cigars in memphis go out of your way to support robusto by Havana mix. Atmosphere is wonderful live music friendly knowledgeable service rite in the heart of downtown memphis. What more could you ask for??"
• "This is a terrific place. They have an incredible selection as well as friendly, knowdgable, and helpful staff. Great experience."
• "Great atmosphere and fine selection of cigars and a nice bar. People are welcoming and friendly. Staff is attentive and customer focused!"
• "I stopped in here while on vacation. What a great cigar lounge. Great environment, everyone was friendly, and a great selection of cigars. Thank you for your hospitality."
• "Had a great time! Knowledgeable employees. Cigars, whiskey and live jazz band. What more can u ask for?"
• "While passing through on our honeymoon we decided to drop in. We were instantly impressed and treated as if we were long time customers. Great atmosphere and awesome staff!"
• "The atmosphere is awesome. The staff is friendly and the facility is clean.Great cigars"
• "Great new look and great place to sit and smoke the just purchased cigar."

Negative Reviews:

• "Went in with the hubs. Definitely not somewhere we would hang. Definitely way too crowded. The humidor was waaaaaay too warm and there were about 4 guys in there BS'ing and smoking, being in the way. And probably not somewhere anyone should be smoking cuz it sure as heck seemed that there was no ventilation in there. Way too Smokey in the actual lounge too."

*Reviews from Yelp, Facebook, Google+


Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue makeover happened in October 2017.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Paramount website.
• Here is the Havana Mix website which still has the old logo.
• Here is the Robusto By Havana Facebook page and Instagram.
• Robusto By Havana Mix is having a viewing party for the episode and are boasting that they are the first cigar bar ever to be made over by Bar Rescue. (Link)
• From the 'About Us' section of the website, "Havana Mix is the first establishment of its kind in the area to combine an upscale cigar lounge, wine bar, Cuban cuisine, and a large custom-built cedar walk-in humidor"
• Robb Hunter was the official cigar provider for Superbowl 39 in 2005. (Link)
• Robb Hunter played in the NFL as a kickoff return specialist for the Los Angeles Raiders.
• That article also said, "Hunter is a partner with the Memphis restaurant management company, Serve Holdings, which owns and manages 20 different Captain D's restaurants locally, but he is turning his personal passion for fine cigars into a business venture as well."  It appears those restaurants were sold to another LLC in 2009.
• Robb also owns two other cigar bars, Burning Desire Cigar Emporium (opened in 2014) in Lakeland, Tennessee and Cigar Haven (opened in 2015) in Southaven, Mississippi.
• In this video, NBA star Dominique Wilkins said he is partners with Robb Hunter at a place in Atlanta.
• Havana Mix had great reviews before the Bar Rescue makeover with at 4.5 out of 5 star avg. on Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Google reviews.

Conclusion:

Robusto By Havana Mix has kept the name of the bar given to them by Bar Rescue, but most of the time they just go by Havana Mix.  The reviews of Robusto By Havana Mix are overwhelmingly positive with compliments on the atmosphere, friendly service, and cigars.  The reviews for Havana Mix before the makeover were also overwhelmingly positive.  Robb is also an owner of two other cigar bars, so who knows if they were actually struggling.  Perhaps Bar Rescue thought the idea of doing a rescue at a cigar bar was appealing.


*To see how all of the bars from Bar Rescue are doing, go to the Bar Rescue Updates page, and also Like us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter to stay up to date with all things involving Bar Rescue.