Paradise Cantina - Bar Rescue Update

In this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Las Vegas, Nevada to rescue Paradise Cantina.  Paradise Cantina is owned by Ronnie Pellegrino who had immediate success and took in $1.2 million in his first year in business in 2019.  The year 2020 started out well too and there were plans to open additional locations until the pandemic hit and disrupted everything.  Now Ronnie is supposedly $750,000 in debt and has lost his life savings.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to keep the name of Paradise Cantina which may be a common theme this season.  Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Paradise Cantina since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):




Positive Reviews:

• "Best wings in Vegas & maybe the world. Best happy hour in the world for sure. Lots of TV's. Great service. Staple in Vegas"
• "I cannot say enough about this great restaurant! First off the customer service is top notch. They were so nice and the playlist was on point! The drinks were incredible. I went with my brother and his girlfriend, and he doesn't like Bloody Maries, but he smashed his girlfriend's. I got the Spicy Margarita, and they did not disappoint. I am vegan, and they accommodated me in my food requests, and all of us loved our food. Brother got the South of the Border burrito, girlfriend got the taquitos, and I got potatoes topped with veggies. Everything from customer service, drinks, food, and ambience was fantastic. This was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad we came!"
• "Renovated and it looks really good ! This is the perfect local spot for tourist to hit as it is right across the street from the new Virgin Casino. The new look is great and very inviting as the last interior was cool but felt a bit too dirty...We also had the jalapeño margaritas which were really good !! The staff was extremely friendly, shout out to Aviva for her great customer service ! Bring back Karaoke and the DJ !!"
• "Paradise Cantina is my new favorite spot. Always a great time and machines are generous. The remodel looks great, they have the best happy hour in the city, the most amazing staff especially Jake one of the swing bartenders. The owner Ronnie is awesome, very hands on, has no problem jumping in when needed or just chatting with the guests. When you're there, I can't stress this enough CARNITAS!!! You won't be disappointed."
• "Great drink and food specials! Staff is sooo friendly! Food and drinks are delicious! And LOVE that owner and some staff are from my hometown Rochester NY"

Negative Reviews:

• "The staff was amazing, my wife and i were visiting from Long Beach and we ordered a few things like your queso cup, chips and salsa, your wings and something else, but the wings weren't done and there was no salsa for the container of chips you gave us and the item my wife ordered was completely bland. It was just super upsetting because we didnt know these things until we got back to our hotel."

*Reviews from Yelp, Google

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue for Paradise Cantina happened in March 2021.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Bar Rescue Facebook page. 
• This season of Bar Rescue features bars in Las Vegas that have been impacted by the pandemic.  Many of these bars were succeeding before the pandemic hit and this season will showcase the impact it has had on Las Vegas bars.
• Here is the Paradise Cantina website and Facebook page.
• Paradise Cantina is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Here are the Facebook pages of Ronnie (owner), Jared (bartender), Jake (bartender), and Aviva (server)
• Paradise Cantina is located across the street from the new Virgin hotel (old Hard Rock hotel) in Las Vegas, which opened in late March 2021.  The hotel opening should help business out a bit.
• Here are the reviews for Paradise Cantina from Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Google.
• The bar takes the time to respond to negative reviews on Google to try to make things right.
• Ronnie Pellegrino is also an owner of a bar named Salinger's in Rochester, NY. (Link)
• On Facebook, Paradise Cantina recently responded to a customer saying, "happy to say that the last month has been great. Starting to feel a lil bit like Vegas again."

Conclusion:

Jon Taffer decided to keep the name of Paradise Cantina and the reviews for the bar have been very positive since the makeover with people liking the food, staff, atmosphere, and happy hour.  Reviews at the bar before Bar Rescue came were also positive and the theme of this season will be how the pandemic has impacted the bar industry in Las Vegas.  The Virgin hotel which is across the street from the bar just reopened in March 2021, so that should help business as well.  Paradise Cantina has said that the last month has been great and it is starting to feel like Vegas again, so it looks like things are improving.  Ronnie also said in an interview after the makeover that they are starting have numbers that they had pre-pandemic.

*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.