The Roost (True Grit Tavern) - Bar Rescue Update

 In this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Maricopa, Arizona to rescue True Grit Tavern.  In 2015, Ralph Skrzypczak borrowed $150,000 from his father to open True Grit Tavern.  The bar started off well and was eventually doing $100,000 to $120,000 a month but is now supposedly $500,000 in debt.  

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





Positive Reviews:

• "My son and I stopped in to eat and catch part of the Suns game. Our server, Josh, was exceptional. We chose 2 items off the new menu, Bison trip tip and the Hot Chick n cheez, they were delicious! This just became a place we will go to for the food and service. Definitely recommend."
• "This bar has everything you need...great food and a great atmosphere! I have gone here twice since the reopening because it's THAT good. The food is top notch and for a great price! The servers are so so friendly as well! You guys gotta try it for yourselves!! I had the Mac n cheese and my husband had the bison French dip sandwhich, both amazing choices! We were taking bites of each others meals haha!"
• "Previously known as True Grit I would say they have made some much needed improvements. The staff and service they now provide is above average and a welcome change. We ordered drinks and wings and were pleasantly surprised to see some consistency in the cook and quality of the wings. The sauces are very good and the quantity of sauce is much improved. The decor is better and the inside overall is much cleaner feeling and looking. I am happy to be able to add this destination back to our list of places to enjoy an evening, we had gone from weekly customers to saying we would never go back. I guess being in bar rescue worked!"
• "Full 360 turnaround compared to how true grit used to be. Food was good, beer was cold, fast and great service. The overall new face lift of this place was a plus. Definitely going to be coming back more often. Keep up the Good work."

Negative Reviews:

• "Now it's the roost and we have ordered a couple times. The garden salad is just sad. And they changed the batter for their fried foods now, instead of delicious beer batter now it's like they went to frys and bought frozen onion rings and made them. We ordered wings tonight as well as salad and onion rings. The rings and salad arrived with no ranch after we asked for ranch. And the wings...so disappointing. Instead of that perfect crunch and perfectly sauced, the wings were so fatty and soft, no crunch at all. And the sauce was literally non existent. We asked for Buffalo hot and saucy and what we got looked like a dry rub that sat in the sun for awhile... I hope they get better, I would really like to enjoy this place again."
• "It's ok. Just ok. Was better when it was True Grit Tavern. They took a bunch of good menu items off and added weird yuppie items in its place. It's way too dark. The high boy tables have chairs that are wayyyyyy too heavy. Oh and they have a Bitcoin ATM.....in Maricopa. Guess the makers of Bar Rescue convinced them these were all good ideas."
• "The server we had was amazing. The problem is it was to dark. The chairs were the most uncomfortable chairs ever. Couldn't stay long because it hurt my legs and back. They need more low tables for those who has legs issues and back problems. Most likely won't go back because of those things. It was better before cause of the tables and more light."
• "Service was poor/slow. Sent one dish back as it did not taste right and it was not removed from our bill. Only positive thing i can think of was that the beer was cold. Will not be back."
• "Bar rescue makeover?! 😂 That's a joke! The only difference was they took regular tables out and put high bar tables in. It's was extremely dark and nothing changed as far as the food, terrible as always. Plain and nothing to write home about."

*Reviews from Yelp, Google

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue for True Grit Tavern happened in June 2021.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Bar Rescue Facebook page.
• Here is the The Roost website and Facebook page. 
• There will be a viewing party for the episode at the bar. 
• Here is the Facebook page of Rob (owner)
• Rob says he will be portrayed as the villain in this episode. 
• Rob also owns a dating app called Wan2date and a comicbook store called Mr. E Comics.
• On Rob's LinkedIn page, he describes The Roost as, "Redesigned by Jon Taffer and Bar Rescue, we are proud to share our wonderful establishment with you and yours! Join us for hand made food, amazing cocktails, and a great time for the whole family or late night for the whole group! Join us for Saturday Karaoke, Thursday/Friday Dancing, and Comedy nights every other Friday! We are your football Sunday destination all season long with 25+ TVs!"
• Here are the reviews for The Roost from Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google.
• This is the 2nd Bar that Jon Taffer has renamed to The Roost as The Broadway Club was renamed to The Roost Bar in 2019. (Link)

Conclusion:

Jon Taffer decided to change the name of True Grit Tavern to The Roost and the bar has kept the name.  The reviews for The Roost are mixed with people liking the food and the service.  The negative reviews complain about the bar being too dark and people who do not like the changes made by Bar Rescue such as the high top tables. Rob seems like he is happy with the Bar Rescue makeover and gaining national exposure despite being portrayed as the villain on this episode.  This is also the 2nd bar that Jon Taffer decided to name The Roost on Bar Rescue. 

*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.