Extremes before Bar Rescue
In 2003 Terry Bryant purchased the struggling bikini and sports bar Extremes located in Orange, California. The bar’s concept easily seduced patrons into the fold and Bryant made around $12 grand during peak months. However Bryant himself was unable to resist the siren’s call and he began to focus more on customers and friends rather than doing his job. He drank in the bar and developed a habit of giving away booze to his pals.
Extremes slipped down the slope of negligence that left most of its areas in disrepair, not to mention the awful stench that lingered in the air that drove customers away. To make matters worse the bartenders were split into two factions that waged war over who gets to serve the patrons for the sake of tips. Extremes’ reputation went down the drain and most of the public thought that it was a strip club with some of the male customers exhibiting vulgar behavior and grabbing the scantily-clad bartenders.
With Extremes buried deep beneath an extreme amount of debt and trouble Bryant had no other choice but to call for Bar Rescue and Jon Taffer for help.
Extremes on Bar Rescue
Taffer, along with mixologist Joseph Brooke and chef Aaron McCargo, surveyed Extremes from the outside and noticed that the bar had nothing on its façade that could compel customers in. For the recon Taffer brought in Renee Vicary, the owner of bar Racks which was rescued last year, along with her general manager Brad Avery to check out Extremes on a customer’s perspective.
The pair ordered the same drink but from different bartenders and the concoctions turned out to be inconsistent. The food was not in good quality and Bryant was in the bar drinking with patrons with freely-given alcohol. Taffer entered the bar and subjected an inebriated Bryant to some verbal lashing before walking out. Taffer returned the next day for a staff meeting with Bryant now sober, and here he learned that the owner was virtually absent for entire months with general manager Gary left to handle the bar.
McCargo toured the kitchen and it didn’t take long for him to see how filthy the conditions were. In the bar area Brooke was met with the same uncleanliness and the incorrect temperature on the beer kegs resulted in an excess of foam when served on a mug. Taffer and Brooke uncover a covered hole behind the counter which was the cause of the bar’s disgusting scent and was a possible breeding ground for vermin.
While McCargo worked with the kitchen staff to improve their culinary skills, Brooke began training the bartenders starting with the very basics of mixing itself to ensure that they are consistent when making drinks. He also got a sample of the friction between the veterans and the rookies. That night Extremes was subjected to a stress test to see how the employees fared under pressure.
During the test Taffer utilized a real-time pour tracking system called BarVision and saw that the bartenders were still overpouring and underpouring. The orders piled up and the lack of teamwork between the girls crippled service. Gary did his best in helping the employees but Bryant busied himself in talking to the customers which caught the eye of an irate Taffer. The bar was shut down early after one of the customers found rat feces in his beer.
The following morning Taffer sat down with Bryant and the owner was now on the same page with the host. McCargo taught the kitchen staff classic sports bar dishes that were simple to make and not that time-consuming. Brooke introduced new cocktail mixes to the bartenders that complement the bar’s theme. During the training the girls eventually learned how to play as a team and how to ask for things nicely without having to spark friction. To help with promotion while the bar was being renovated Taffer had the girls go on a sexy calendar photoshoot while wearing sports-related outfits.
After the renovation Extremes was renamed to Second Base Bar and Grill with its dull dark green exterior now splashed in red and gray, and the towering signage bore the bar’s logo which was now easier to see. The interior was decked with decorations relating to sports like baseball gloves, bats, jackets, and many more. The counter was adorned with team colors and numbers and equipped with silver stools and a shiny new countertop, and the same treatment goes to the tables around the establishment. The old television set was replaced with multiple flat screens that are connected to the Sports Select wireless system which allows patrons to listen to a specific TV.
The bar area was given a new set of glassware, a TurboTap beer system, and a chilled Grand Manier shot machine. The hole on the floor was disinfected and properly sealed thus eliminating the horrid stench that plagued the bar for too long. The girls were given a red pinstripe uniform thus ensuring consistency in their work outfits.
The grand reopening ushered in a huge flood of customers and Bryant was in the front lines with the bartenders as they worked cohesively in serving, and overpouring was now a thing in the past. In the kitchen area chef Rey had no trouble preparing the new dishes with the help of Gary. Now that the girls moved as a team they efficiently handled order delays without losing even a single patron.
The relaunch was easily a homerun for Bryant.
Extremes Now in 2018 – The After Bar Rescue Update
A month later Bryant reported an increase in alcohol sales and Gary was improving his game as a general manager. However some of the reviews indicated that there were once again management problems, the sickening scent was back in town, and the food was not again in top quality. The other complaints were aimed at the restroom that was reportedly in disgusting conditions and some of the bartenders who were rude. The issue of inconsistency was again plaguing the bartenders as a customer wrote a review about conflicting prices and one of the girls even forgot how to make a margarita.
Tragedy occurred in the bar around November 2013 when a fight erupted in the establishment’s parking area and ended up with a man fatally shot. Prior to the incident the parking area was described in several reviews as being “sketchy” and the presence of gang members that fight in the back area.
In February 2015 Taffer and Bar Rescue returned to Second Base for a re-rescue as things seemed to be going downhill again. Click here to read our post about the episode “Second Base, Third Strike”.