Bar Rescue - The Shattered Bar (Eliphino Dive and Dine) Update

On this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Las Vegas, Nevada to rescue Eliphino Dive and Dine. Eliphino is owned by John McDonnell who supposedly makes more enemies than friends at his bar.  Jon Taffer does recon with a former employee Casey and the kitchen is not being used at the bar due to leasing it out to somebody else.  The owner John also tells Jon Taffer that he feels he is perpetually one step away from a panic attack.


During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to change the name of Eliphino Dive and Dine to The Shattered Bar and the bar did keep the name.  However, the bar has already closed before this episode aired.  Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for The Shattered Bar since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):




Positive Reviews:

• "Good place to grab a beer and watch a game in the evening. John - bartender/owner (?) - is a smart guy and a great conversationalist."
• "This place will make your feel like you can take your shoes off and just chill and relax at your local bar. Well at least that's how I felt walk-in in lol. Drinks are price decent and the vibe is nice. I really enjoyed my self tonight. They had a Special Event tonight, where you you purchased a $10 dollar wristbamd and some selection drinks are just priced $1.00. I mean just take my money why don't you. Yes, with this event I will be coming back. John the guy running the show tonight was nothing but professional and very pleasent to chat with. It's the chill atmosphere I was looking for in my local area bar."
• "Any restaurant/bar that is non smoking, is one of my favorite bars... but The Shattered is my new favorite place to watch a game."
• "Best Long Island Iced Tea ever! The owner John is amazing, always great entertainment."
• "Stopped by The Shattered Bar for the first time out of curiosity after reading that Bar Rescue had been there. I don't know what the bar looked like prior to the remodel, but I thought the decor they have now is pretty cool....Like the bar area, the stage was backed by a mural themed off the bar's new name. My wife had a blast with it. Best of all the bartender was friendly and the drinks well made. I got to speak to the owner a bit. Nice guy. He was very active on the bar floor and seemed invested in making sure everyone was having a good time. The only downside was the kitchen wasn't open. The owner said it was something they were working on though. Overall a fun time. Check it out."

Negative Reviews:

• "I will not visit this bar again. Very unprofessional management. Management bans customer and performers over hearsay and personal feelings rather than facts. Just unprofessional all around."
• "Empty, nice contemporary look inside, no food offered@ this place won't last especially after being filmed for Bar Rescue!!!"

*Reviews from Yelp, Google


Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue makeover for Eliphino/The Shattered Bar happened back in February 2018, so more than a year before the episode aired.
• Here is a five minute preview video of the episode from Paramount TV.
• Here is The Shattered Bar Facebook page and website.
• Here are the Facebook pages of John (owner), Amanda (bartender), Lee Lee (bartender), Angie (bartender), Autumn (bartender) and Casey (former employee), Yausmenda (kitchen)
• In May 2018, John was looking for lawyers to help deal with the conflict of the kitchen lease. (Link)
• Also in May 2018, John emailed me detailing the issues at the bar which was mainly with the person who leased the kitchen.  He asked if I could reach out to my audience to see if there was anyone out there to help him legally in defending him against the person who had the kitchen lease.
• In June 2018, John posted, "If the person leasing my bar's kitchen spent even a third as much time on her business rather than trying to take down mine....we would BOTH be rich." (Link)
• The Shattered Bar closed in October 2018 and John posted, "Hi guys. John here. Needed to take a little time to myself. In case you haven't heard, the bar closed. Could have been a good transition but kinda got screwed. But I don't want to focus on the negative. It is what it is. I'm not going to give those people any power. They may have been able to knock me down but they will not be able to stop me from getting back up. This is a transition period and not an end. I don't know what is next, yet. But in starting to work on it already.  The stage's Shattered sign is safely in my house. It will reign again.

In February 2019, when John saw his bar on a preview for the new season of Bar Rescue, he posted,

"Now I'm pissed. Fuck this shit. Over a year later and four months after closing THIS is how I find out and what they show???!! Bullshit
First of all....when Lee says "We're open we just don't have any customers" she meant that the show producers needed to let all the people who they held up in line for over an hour in the cold, come in!!!
Then...it shows Lee talking to me, cut to all the girls, cut to Taffer saying "None of your employees like you" THEN cut to me saying "I'm ready to change". Taffer said that at another bar!!! Not to me.
Just wanted to make it look like he said it to me in the commercial. For the record, THE GIRLS FUCKING LOVE ME! They wouldn't have put up with all they did with the show if they didn't like me. We told them we needed help with marketing and organization. The publicity is really the main thing I wanted. They gave no help with marketing, made a mess of my already disorganized office and the publicity never came. I was told,most likely, 6-8 weeks before airing. Then 8-10 weeks. Then in a few months. Then by August.  The show does not "Rescue"bars. It should be called "Bar Renovation". That's all they did. They find people in bad situations and capitalize on them. They offer false hope. Which is cruel and wrong. I had the bar listed for an asset sale. I pulled it off the market so we could at least give it a chance. There was so many hoops and bullshit we had to endure. There is no redeeming value to the "Stress Test". They jam the place full and dump out the drinks whether made right or not. Just to make us look stupid and create drama.
Help people or don't pretend what your goals are!! "Bar Rescue" could be entertaining and actually help people. Those things are not mutually exclusive. We were not "Set up for success". Anyone who thinks we were doesn't know bars. My Bar's failure was MY fault. It was a bad business plan (based on incorrect assumptions) and executed poorly. That left us vunerable to outside challenges...and we endured plenty.
One of the things I did right was make the bar Smoke-Free. That brought people in. Unfortunately the show took down my "Smoke-Free Bar" sign or anything else that said "Hey, come in we're a bar!"
Not exactly the "Call to Action" he says to other bars.
"No Excuses" or "Don't Bullshit Yourself" may sell books and drive ratings, but life is not black and white. At one point Taffer said to me that I was a coward. Bullshit. Noone who puts it all on the line and risks it all is a coward. You know who also isn't a coward? Robert Irvine...or Gordon Ramsay
They have similar shows but still put their names on restaurants and open themselves to criticism. They back up their talk. There is no Jon Taffer's Bar and Grill. He's hinted at it for years but apparently doesn't have the guts to put it all on the line. Giada has a show where she tells everyone she can cook well. Never has opened a restaurant. But she had the balls to open her first restaurant on one of the busiest corners in the world. Guy Fieri shows off great restaurants around the world. He says "Hey, I can cook too" and has multiple places. Easy for people to criticize and critique. But he does it.
There's no way a Taffer bar on the strip would be anything but profitable. Then why doesn't he do it?
Is he afraid someone will come in and scream out "THIS PLACE SUCKS - SHUT IT DOWN!!!"???
Number one question people ask me is "Is Jon Taffer really an asshole?"
Answer is...I don't know. I never spoke with him off camera. I've known of him for years. He is the real deal in the industry. Then again, Jerry Springer was once the Mayor of Cincinnati. During filming Taffer yelled at Lee Lee and told me she was the reason I was failing. Cowardly I did not stand up for her......pathetic of me. The next day on camera I told him, "Noone has brought more people through my door, noone has put more money in my register and noone has shown more care and concern for my business than Lee Lee has". I should have said that when he yelled at her. That was wrong of me and I am so very sorry for that. But if that line is not aired then there is not one scrap of reality in that show.
Someone will have to let me know if they show me saying that. I will not watch that show. I do not wish to sit through a rehashing of my failures or the show's bs. My only goal now is for there to be something good that comes out of the show for the girls.  Angie, Autumn, Amanda and Lee Lee are amazing bartenders and extraordinary human beings. Hopefully people will recognize that and offers (legitimate) will be coming their way. They damn sure deserve it.
John W McDonnell
Former owner of The Eliphino / The Shattered Bar"

In April 2019 when the episode description for this episode came out, John said,

"Airing the episode long after it could have done any good, the show has decided to describe me as:
"THE BAR OWNER WHO MAKES MORE ENEMIES THAN FRIENDS"
Very few descriptions of me could be more upsetting. Describing me as such is, disgusting, egregious and reprehensible. It also makes no sense to me because of what was filmed and how they talked to me about my issues as a bar owner. Never once did they even infer that I make enemies. This is just pure unadulterated bullshit. I'm sorry I ever did that goddamn show.
I understand that the people who know me and care for me are aware that describing me as such is bullshit and that's what truly matters. But it still sucks when you are described as an asshole to the world. There is a cult-like following of that show. So now thousands of people believe something that is completely wrong about me. Thank you to all my friends who know that is not an accurate description of me."

On the day the episode aired, John posted,

"For reference, our Bar Rescue episode was filmed almost a year and a half before airing today.
I was told, yet not promised, that it would be on in about 6-10 weeks.
I did the show and opened myself to ridicule, humiliation and misrepresentation in exchange for the publicity which I hoped would increase foot traffic.
Because the show never aired, until after it could have helped, all the time, effort and stress that I and the girls endured for Bar Rescue was a complete waste.
Dangling false hope in front of people in troubled times is cruel. In my opinion, Bar Rescue takes advantage of people's struggles for their own profit.
Bar Rescue did not leave us "Set Up for Success". If you could have seen how much time went into being on that show and the mess they left, you would understand.
The Bar's failure was my responsibility alone.
I created a bad business plan and executed it poorly.
However, there were situations and people who made it impossible for me to correct my mistakes after I identified them. Actual realty is not binary, black and white or A vs B. There are always multiple variables in varying degrees of control. Life is full of grey.
I wish I could discuss the kitchen situation.
Any attempts of the show to make me a "Bad Guy" is a complete misrepresentation and truly cruel.
Bar Rescue could actually help people AND be entertaining. But they seem to be comfortable in becoming the Jerry Springer show of "reality" TV.
I hope they change their format to actually help people struggling.
Oh yeah...one more thing...just to let you know....I was not alone when I decided to name the bar Eliphino....I was brainstorming with someone, and that person thought it would be a fun name too....just saying"

Conclusion:

Eliphino Dive and Dine was renamed to The Shattered Bar by Bar Rescue and the bar did keep the name, but it closed in October of 2018.  The Bar Rescue makeover happened in February of 2018, and the reviews for the bar after the makeover were somewhat positive with people complementing John and the bartenders but complaining there was no food.  It seems like the issue with the leased kitchen continued and there was legal issues with that.  The owner John it not happy at all with Bar Rescue or Jon Taffer and he has no plans to watch the episode.  He hopes that his bartenders are shown in a positive light so something good comes out of the episode.  I have a feeling John will watch the episode and will be responding to fans online or on his Facebook page after the episode airs, so stay tuned.


*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.