Bar Retro (Rockabillies) - Bar Rescue Update

In this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Arvada, Colorado to rescue Rockabillies Bar & Grill.  The bar is a retro 1950's bar owned by Virginia Nigg.  Her ex-husband Jim helped out financially to open the bar, but he continually drinks at the bar without paying his tabs. The bar is supposedly losing $15,000 a month and could close in six months. 

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





Positive Reviews:

• "nice spot to grab a beer and hang out. bar retro restoration provided nice bar seating but limited quality of seating. good fish fry tonight"
• "Great burgers! Really…great burgers! Great people too!"
• "I have not been here in awhile.. the new remodeling looks great. Food was good and the bartender was friendly. Thanks Nicole"
• "Went to check this place out for lunch. Had a burger with fries along with a beer. Good food and friendly service. Will have to go back to check out a live show"

Negative Reviews:

• "Typical dive bar. The bartender was nice but was hammered by the time we left. I am certain I sat next to someone that was under the influence of some hardcore drugs. I won't be returning but if you seek adventure I recommend."
• "Heard this place got a make over so thought I would stop by and give it another chance. They decor is now retro inside and looks really nice! The service and food quality is the same as my first experience. There was one waitress and one bartender for a fairly busy Sunday evening. The waitress didn't write our orders down so some of orders were not correct, like we had received someone else's order instead. The kids meals were perfect size and great. I don't recall being asked how I liked my burger cooked and it came out very rare. I didn't get the side salad I had requested and no pickle. My friend got a completely different burger than she had ordered. I'll be looking for another local joint to grab and pint and a burger at for next time."
• "Food was excellent. Place is understaffed so go if you have time to wait. Took 20 minutes to get a table. Took another 20+ minutes to get a waitresses attention. After food, I never saw waitress again. Our waitress was not friendly. I had to ask owner to cash me out."
• "We went in to check it out since the remodel and nothing has changed except the decor. Not worth it"
• "The only reason I'm writing this review is because Jon Taffer is here to do a bar rescue to this place. I sure do hope it works!! I live directly across the street and only come here when I'm alone. I would never bring my wife, family, my buddies for happy hour, a date or anyone that has any kind of class. Let me list a few reasons for this. First off the staff. There is clearly no leadership team here. No owner or any sense that that any, one person is in charge. The food is definitely hit or miss. The staff know the regulars and regulars know the staff."

*Reviews from Yelp, Google

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue for Rockabillies happened in the middle of 2022.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Bar Rescue YouTube page
• Here is the Rockabillies website and Facebook page. 
• All of the advertisements for the bar say Rockabillies and not Bar Retro.
• Here are the Facebook pages of Virginia (owner), Taryn (bartender), Amity (bartender)
• Virginia commented on the episode preview, "Well it’s happening tomorrow night , as I’m in Greece … don’t believe Everything you hear just sayin." (Link)
• Taryn and Amity no longer work at the bar. (Link) 
• Someone commented on Taryn's post, "I talked with Jim about it, and some others, consensus was that Jon Taffer was a jerk, and the "Bar Retro" name didn't last long. Some of the work the show did was so bad it had to be redone properly, the floor was messed up, etc." (Link)
• Here are the reviews for Rockabillies from Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google.

Conclusion:

Jon Taffer decided to change the name of Rockabillies to Bar Retro, but the bar quickly went back to their old name.  The reviews for the bar are somewhat negative with people liking the food but having complaints about the service.  Based on some Facebook comments, it doesn't seem like the bar liked the makeover or the experience of filming the show.

*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.