Bar Rescue - The Iron Horse (Joe's Thirsty Lizard) Update

On this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Horn Lake, Mississippi to rescue Joe's Thirsty Lizard.  Joe's Thirsty Lizard is a dive bar owned by a Navy veteran Joe Scott who has put his unqualified friend in charge of managing the bar.  The cook at the bar doesn't care about anything and is caught taking showers at the bar.  Joe's Thirsty Lizard is dirty and in need of repairs and Joe is losing about $4,000 to $6,000 a month.

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

Positive Reviews:

• "They call this place for whatever reason the Iron Horse now. It seems a friendly little place where everybody knows your name. Even the customers were friendly and outgoing. No reason to be shy in here. This is a bar. They have two bars in fact. This is a place for smokers so don't bitch about it if you go."
• "They don't have many choices to offer on the menu, but they do have the normal bar food. I ordered the burger. It was really, really good and I'm kicking myself in the ass for not remembering to ask for medium. Had the waitress asked, it would have been ordered correctly. What I got was a properly cooked well done burger. Nothing to complain about, but for my standards it was overcooked, dry and un-juicy. I did however recognize the potential of this burger if it were cooked properly. It was damned good. A really nice bun. I think it was a potato bun. I got a leaf of lettuce that says "We respect our customers." Even the tomato was pretty darn good and that says a lot these days. Onion rings hit the spot and the price was right on. This was a good lunch."
• "Awesome burgers ! Great fun."
• "Now known as the Iron Horse thanks to a Bar Rescue! Loved the makeover - we only got some of their wings but they were outstanding! Friendly bar staff, too. Smoker friendly!"
• "It's now called the iron horse but same great food, staff and drinks!!"
• "Always a good time. Fun trivia. And great bike nights. Be sure Kari is your bartender"
• "Great place to hang. Everybody is awesome! Very friendly, and make you feel at home. Good weekend entertainment too."

Negative Reviews:

• "New name is now Iron Horse. No idea why, but I guess they were on "Bar Rescue ". Smoke, smoke, smoke!! Need some major air ventilation! Other than that, the place is ok. Very small, to have a band. Food looked good. Nice staff. "
• "Loved it before the revamp. Tone down the lights at night and I could give 5 stars. Food is still fabulous."
• "Will never go back again! A no class crowd and very smoky!"

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue makeover happened in November 2017.
• Here are 2 preview videos of the episode from the Paramount website - Video 1, Video 2
• Here is The Iron Horse Facebook page, which also has "The Thirsty Lizard" in quotes. 
• Here is a Joe's Thirty Lizard website.
• The Iron Horse has Iron Horse tank tops for sale at the bar, so they have embraced the new name and are selling merchandise with the new name. (Link)
• The bar is having a viewing party for the episode tonight. (Link)
• Here are the Facebook pages of Joe (Owner), Michael (manager), Amanda Starr (bartender), Kari (bartender), Jennifer (bartender), Katie (bartender)
• Amanda shared the video of the preview and someone asked if they really had people showering in the kitchen, and she responded, "not since he left."  So, it appears the cook Dirty Red is no longer there.
• Joe's Thirsty Bar/Iron Horse has 100 reviews on Google with a 4.5 out of 5 average.  They also have over 200 reviews on Facebook with a 4.7 out of 5-star average.

Conclusion:

The Iron Horse has kept the name given to them by Bar Rescue and they have even begun selling "The Iron Horse" merchandise at the bar.  The reviews for the bar since the makeover are mostly positive with people liking the food, atmosphere and staff.  The reviews before Bar Rescue visited were also mostly positive.  The few negative reviews recently seem to complain about smoke at the bar, so non-smokers do not like it.  Dirty Red the cook is no longer at the bar, so no more showers are taking place in the kitchen.


UPDATE - The Iron Horse closed in late 2019 - More info on the closure.


*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.