Gaslamp Social (Jolt N Joe's) - Bar Rescue Update

In this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in San Diego, California to rescue Jolt N Joe's.  Jolt N Joe's is a bar owned by Phil Paccione that is located in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego.  Things were going well for the bar when it first opened, but now Phil is supposedly $1.2 million in debt and losing $10,000 a month.  While Phil was battling prostate cancer, he hired a general manager Sean to help run the place.   Now Sean and Phil are in a disagreement over Sean's compensation which is causing tension at the bar.

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



Positive Reviews:

• "I haven't been here before but I came for the Gaslamp Mardi Gras event. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of this place! I never would have thought to make a trip here before, but after seeing how awesome it is, I'm definitely excited to come back. They have a whole second floor with tons of pool tables. The food and drink that I tried here was also pretty good."
• "Super fun place outside of the Gaslamp norm. We stopped by after paying way too much on way to fake type places...our fault not our at type but it's for most. Quite empty on a Monday at about 4:30PM but what else do you expect, we should be working. Tried the drinks, great tap selection didn't get to the food we will at sooner point. All the games a bar should have. Jenga, pool, foosball, ping pong and cornhole."
• "Recently remodeled, love the new look. Come check out new edition to Gaslamp. Food is on point"

Negative Reviews:

• "Absolutely horrendous service. Waited at the non crowded bar for 10 minutes before the bartender acknowledged my presence. Finally asks me for my drink order, order a rum and coke. Bartender comes back 30 seconds later asking if I ordered a vodka and cranberry...the two don't even sound remotely alike. Tried to play ping ping but the cost was $18 an hour, EIGHTEEN DOLLARS FOR ONE HOUR. Place has terrible service and is absurdly expensive. 0/10, would not come again.

*Reviews from Yelp, Google


Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue for Jolt N Joe's happened in January 2020.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Bar Rescue Facebook page.
• Here is the Gaslamp Social website and Facebook page.  The old Jolt N Joe's website has also been updated to say Gaslamp Social.
• Here are the Facebook page of Phil (owner), Sean (General Manager), Mindy (bartender)
• The rates from the website to play games at Gaslamp social are: Mon – Thurs before 6pm: $8/hour, after 6pm: $12/hour; Friday before 6pm: $8/hour, after 6pm: $15/hour; Saturday - Sunday: All Day: $15/hour; Happy Hour: 2pm-7pm Weekdays: $8/hour
• A month after the makeover, Gaslamp Social posted, "San Diego is loving our new drink menu and food since Bar Rescue left in January!!!"  So, it appears they kept the menus from Bar Rescue. (Link)
• Gaslamp Social had to close for some time due to the pandemic, but it appears they reopened in late June. (Link)
• They haven't posted on social media since and it appears they are closed again.  There are no reviews since March and a recent Google review says they are closed.  I also called the phone number and nobody picked up. (Link)
• In 2018 a man died in Jolt N Joe's after playing a punching game with a friend where they took turns punching each other in the chest. (Link)
• There were two Jolt N Joe's locations. The original location was in La Mesa California, which opened in 1996, but closed in 2019.  The location on the show in the Gaslamp district opened in 2005. (Link)
• Here are the Yelp reviews for Jolt N Joe's before the Bar Rescue makeover. 

Conclusion:

Jon Taffer decided to change the name of Jolt N Joe's to Gaslamp Social and the bar has kept the name and the menu.  The Bar Rescue makeover happened in January and the bar had to close in March due to the pandemic, so it is hard to say how the bar has been since the makeover.  Gaslamp Social seems to have reopened in late June, but it appears they didn't remain open because they haven't posted on social media after that and they are not answering their phone.  The bar will not be marked as closed because they are closed due to the pandemic and could reopen when things settle down.

UPDATE - Gaslamp Social closed in April 2021 -  More information 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.