The Midway Tavern (The Union) - Bar Rescue Update

In this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Midvale, Utah to rescue The Union.  The Union is owned by Bill Rowe who is supposedly $500,000 in debt and owes his in-laws $300,000 because of the bar.  While doing recon, Jon sees that the food and drinks are bad, there is a lack of training and Bill isn't engaged at all.  Despite owning the bar, Bill doesn't know how to make any drinks, so he cannot help his bartenders when they need it.

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





Positive Reviews:

• "Was sitting in the parking lot after playing laser tag next door and just kept seeing several people walk in so we decided to see what was going on. The only thing I didnt like about this place was the lights were so bright. Kinda weird for a bar to have all the lights on. We played darts and pool soo much fun!!! Everyone there was great and it's not a bad spot to hang on a Wednesday night."
• "Went on a weekday, was a surprising amount of people there but we still had plenty of room and service. Darts is cheap."
• "Great place for drinks and food. Come here for lunch whenever I have a chance. The staff are always friendly and the environment is always easy going. Darts are cool too!"
• "The Midway is an odd place. The bar has changed its name a couple times now in the past couple years with very minor changes. The bar itself is clean, plenty of tables for seating. It also has a large patio with more tables and TVs outside. The over all circus theme to the bar was a little weird to be honest, but once you appreciate everything else, the theme is last in your mind."
• "Was there Saturday night.... had great service on the patio and enjoyed the new menu. My friend smokes, so the patio made it easy for us to visit, enjoy a few drinks and eat. Casual, not overcrowded and seems to have stepped up the environment with a remodel. nice job."
• "The Union has always been a fun place to hang out, eat, have drinks, and play games, but they have really stepped it up! The new menu items are amazing and we especially liked the bison sliders, warm pretzels with cheese fondue, and the wings."
• "Was surprised about how affordable this place was for the quality. Server was great too."
• "I met a friend here for drinks on a Sunday. Pricing is reasonable. The staff is friendly and the drinks are tasty. We ordered the Mac n cheese with bacon and it was phenomenal! If you like spicy food add jalapeños. I highly recommend!"
• "Great friendly staff, fun and cheery. Love throwing darts and shooting pool, most of all, KARAOKE! The food and drinks will cover all tastes. Large patio too."
• "This is a pretty unique place! I was shocked to see the theme they have going. It's really different. My mom & I wanted a drink & some eats. Salad was stacked!! And oh my gosh- FRIED PICKLES. I have looked high & low for some fried pickles. I like the atmosphere and they have dart games, pool, plenty of room and seems like a great place to hang."

Negative Reviews:

• "Sorry but the awful bathrooms will keep me away from here even though the service and food were good. I do love the 80's rock music and videos but can't get past the fact that I gagged continuously due to the hideous state of the women's restroom.
• Please update and clean the bathrooms."
• "I'm not sure what to make of this bar. It was formerly "union" and now the name change to "Midway." If you're thinking games, circus and cotton candy, you're correct! Apparently, Bar Rescue came here and remodeled the bar into a carnival themed one. I don't get it and I think they seriously dropped the ball on this one. The menu is also carnival themed and it doesn't fit the location or environment or the regulars that come in. The wings are really good here! But they added their regular menu on top of their carnival one. Fried pickles are a joke. They're thin slivers of pickle (cut long ways) and deep fried. They look more like cheese curds and you're eating more batter than pickle."
• "What the @#$! This place as the union was great it went from a good place to stop and grab a drink and food with friends maybe sit on the patio ,to what mess !!!! They used to have a great atmosphere good food , we loved the wings. Now there are only a few selections a of which none were good .remodel is nightmare looks cheap unwelcoming and the name Midway ? and the theme is a joke looks like a amusement park. or a place to take your kids for there birthday parties. What were they thinking ? a total disaster ,sad we really enjoyed this place."
• "Good bar but the bathroom sucks really unclean like there is no up keep threw the day"

*Reviews from Yelp, Google


Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue for The Union happened in August 2019.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Paramount TV YouTube page.
• Here is the Facebook page for The Midway and here is the website for The Union.
• Here are the Facebook pages of Bill (owner), Megan (bartender), Noelle (bartender/Bill's daughter), Amaya (cook), Cristella (cook)
• Right after the makeover, regulars of the bar complained on Facebook about all of the changes and said Bar Rescue ruined the bar. (Link)
• On Jon Taffer's post advertising the makeover for The Midway, a few people were saying it was bad, such as this quote, "Hey Jon, gonna need another bar rescue for The Union someone made it into a carnival for children and got ride of all the food. Thanks Jon"
• Here are the reviews for The Midway from Yelp, Tripadvisor and Google.
• The owner responds to all of the reviews on Google.  He thanks all of the positive reviews and uses the negative reviews to try to make things better or improve with their suggestions.
• The Midway has added some food items back to their menu based on customer feedback.
• The bar was called Scofy's Social Club before The Union.
• The Midway is currently closed due to state mandates for bars and restaurants and they decided not to offer takeout food. (Link)

Conclusion:

Jon Taffer decided to change the name of The Union to The Midway and the bar has kept the name.  The reviews are more positive than negative with people liking the food, service, staff and darts.  There are some negative reviews about the new theme and the Bar Rescue makeover as well as complaints about the dirty bathrooms.  Despite some people complaining about the makeover of The Midway, the name and theme remain, and some menu items have been added to the food menu.  It also seems like Bill is putting in the effort by responding to all of the reviews about the bar.  The Midway is currently closed due to state mandates for bars and restaurants and they decided not to offer takeout food.  They will reopen when the state of Utah allows bars to reopen.

*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.