As Jon Taffer expands his businesses with new restaurants in Washington, D.C., and Boston, fans have high expectations after watching him judge bars for years on Bar Rescue. As the series shows significant changes in employees and bars, it's not always obvious when something is scripted or staged.
However, according to bar owners and employees who have appeared on the series, not everything is as it seems in the final, edited product. From allegations of encouraging bad behavior to dressing the set to appear dirtier, Bar Rescue is considerably more fake than viewers may think.
The Owner's Behavior
Audiences want to see drama with employees and bar owners acting outlandish. Unfortunately, it isn’t always reality. The season 3 episode “Don’t Mess with Taffer’s Wife” finds the owner of the Sand Dollar, Dr. Paul Wilkes, making inappropriate comments about women and hitting on Jon Taffer’s wife only to be punched by the bar expert.
Wilkes sued Taffer, his wife, and the production company in 2014, and light was shed on the series as he claims in the lawsuit that he was instructed to be inappropriate by producers (per Deadline). Wilkes claims Taffer even made sure a drink was nearby so that he could throw it in his face during the confrontation.
The Dirty Kitchens
Jon Taffer discovers some pretty disgusting things, but former bar owners claim their businesses were intentionally not cleaned. Several patrons of Schafer’s Bar and Grill from season 5 took to Facebook to express how fabricated the bar's appearance and poor performance were while the show was being filmed.
Burks also claims production took away bottles from behind the bar so they intentionally couldn’t make proper drinks and make it seem like one of the bartenders was trying to sabotage the business. While some kitchens certainly look as if they haven’t been cleaned in years, production seems to exaggerate.
The Storylines
Former employees are brought in, and bars are open to filming on days when they are normally closed, according to the former owner of Piratz Tavern from season 2. Everything is staged, from storylines to employees not being current employees, in order to make the business appear as more of a failure.
The owner, Tracy, took to Facebook to announce the closure of the pirate bar due to losing their lease and claims her family was given specific roles to play in Bar Rescue: Back to the Bar. She claims that storylines were made up to make the bars look more unsuccessful and dramatic.
The New Equipment
Bar Rescue can only accomplish so much in a short amount of time. The crew provides tons of equipment, from draft beer taps to new ice machines and POS systems. However, the series implies that the crew has taken care of everything for the bar to be successful once Taffer leaves.
The Los Angeles Brewing Company of season 4 was given equipment to brew beer on location, but the show doesn’t provide the proper permits (per LA Weekly). The show doesn’t help the bars take the proper measures to utilize their renovated spaces and equipment. It is entirely up to the owners.
The Employees
Bar Rescue has seen tons of drama. However, it’s only because bigger and more annoying personalities get bigger ratings. James Iadanza, the former manager of Cashmere, returned to the bar as a manager for filming only. He was reportedly told to act outrageous but recalls, “Everybody is acting like angels, and they've already filmed me” (per WRAL News).
Iadanza’s outrageous behavior and huge personality turned him into the scapegoat for everything wrong with the bar when in reality, he hadn’t worked at the bar in months. The show is full of illusions to present visual reasons why a bar is failing.
The Context
Jon doesn’t walk out on bars very often, but according to an employee of O’Face Bar, his reasoning made no sense. The season 3 episode reveals shocking behavior from employees in the Iowa bar, and a video of the owner slapping an employee named Dave Peters is the last straw for Taffer.
Peters addressed the video on Facebook, writing, “the producers pushed us to have drama to [influence] Jon to come.” He claims the video is from an audition tape for the show and is not real, but the show took it out of context. The owners and employees have no control over the editing process.
Jon’s Bartending Knowledge
Taffer may be a wizard in the bar and nightlife industry, but he has come under fire from bartenders (per Vice) for incorrectly stating the origins of tequila and mezcal and calling the liquor a hallucinogenic. Though he brings expert mixologists onto the show, he often gives advice to bartenders and his opinion on various cocktails.
His lack of bartending knowledge and science behind drinks takes away from his credibility as a professional of “bar science” as the intro to the show claims. His portrayal may be embellished in the series to highlight the difference between his knowledge and the bar owners.
The Undercover Authenticity
The people Taffer sends undercover at the beginning of each episode to review the bars are not the first to research the food and drinks. Food writer Debbi Snook claims the producers ordered the entire menu at Martini Brothers Burger Bar ahead of her undercover visit to “find its weakest points” and told her to order those menu items (per Cleveland.com).
While her reactions are genuine, she may not have had the same experience had she ordered the bar's better dishes. It is just another aspect of the show being staged and fake. The undercover patrons go into the bar knowing they’re ordering the worst food and drinks possible to intentionally show nothing positive.
The Filming Schedule
The show claims to generally film across five days. However, the owner of Piratz Tavern, Tracy, argues against it. When the bar closed, she wrote on Facebook how she was told to bring multiple outfits for the shooting of their re-rescue to make it seem as though it had been filmed over several days.
Bar Rescue has intense arguments, but owners like Tracy just don’t agree with changes, how production plans storylines, and the rewritten narratives. The filming schedule is clearly a questionable point as more long-term changes could happen over more time.
How To Get On The Show
Generally, bars apply to be on the show. Occasionally, bars are contacted by producers to gauge interest. Maria of Murphy’s Law Irish Pub claims the bar was contacted, and the producers’ invented reasons that the bar needed saving, including setting up fake confrontations between the owners (per BrentResser.com).
She also claims she was forced to sit at the bar and do nothing while filming took place. The bars that are contacted by producers likely have fewer issues than ones who reach out themselves looking for a rescue. The producers had a generic storyline they wanted to tell by using any bar.