In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits the Dirty Rooster in Antioch, Illinois.
Dirty Rooster is owned by best friends Rob Hoffman and Steve Mallmann.
In late 2013, they decided they wanted to own and operate a successful bar.
Rob came up with the idea and Steve thought it wasn’t a bad investment.
Rob and Steve both invested $40,000 and started the bar.
They both were lacking the proper funds to kick-start the business so they brought in a mutual friend and investor Scott Lopes.
Scott bought a share of the bar for $25,000.
After the investment they were able to get started and they named the bar the Dirty Rooster.
Within the first few months of being open, the bar was packed.
Rob says that there were usually around 200 people in the bar each night.
Rob celebrated the bar’s success by allowing himself to drink.
Scott says that Rob sabotages the business and scares away the clientele.
They fear that Rob’s behavior will turn the beloved local watering hole to a washed-up dive.
They have invested $110,000 into the bar.
Jon says that there are 21,000 people in this area due to the chain of lakes.
Jon brings in experts, expert chef Nick Liberato and bar expert Raul Faria.
The median household income for this area is $78,000.
However, the median household income for the whole state of Illinois is around $44,000.
Rob and Steve both own 37.5% of the bar, while Scott owns 25% of it.
Jon brings in Jessica and her five friends for the recon tonight.
Jon wants her to try to see how many drinks she can get for just $5.
Dirty Rooster has a $1 beer, which makes them very little money.
The girls are getting all of their drinks for free.
Scott wants Rob to leave the bar.
Rob is binge drinking and doing crazy things.
Jon sends his experts in to talk with Rob.
Bartender Tara is crying because she has four children that she has to support.
Rob and Steve are fighting and Rob seems unnecessarily angry.
Steve goes back down to the bar and tells everyone to leave.
The girl left the bar with the same $5 she had to spend.
The next morning, Jon meets with the three partners to see if there’s anything salvageable.
Steve says they are losing $4,000 a month.
Both Steve and Scott invested in this bar trusting Rob’s ability to run the bar.
Rob says that Steve and Scott can’t run this business because they aren’t here very much.
Next, Jon wants to meet with the staff.
Jon put Partender in the bar.
In the past two days, the bar should’ve sold $9,639 in liquor.
They only rung up $2,700 in liquor sales.
Rob walks out on the bar.
Jon gives Rob the choice to walk out or stand here and work on this.
Rob chooses to stand here and admits that he’s an alcoholic.
They have taken away managership of the bar and Steve and Scott will now be running it.
Jon brings in his experts, Nick and Raul.
Nick says he’s excited to add fresh ingredients to the menu.
Nick shows them how to make nachos and fish and chips.
Raul makes them make a drink normally and then with anti-coordination goggles on.
The bar opens up for stress test.
The staff are struggling to keep up.
They’re making too much food.
Drinks are taking a while to get to the customers.
It seems like the managers don’t know how to ring in orders.
Some customers have got their drinks but have yet to pay.
Jon asks Rob if he got a check for $40,000 right now to walk away from this bar, would he do it?
Rob says no because he loves this place.
Jon goes to the other owners and asks them the same question.
Steve says he would walk away in a heartbeat.
Scott seems to be more in the middle about it.
Jon brings in investors who are interested in this place.
Jon says that they will always be behind until they shut the bar down for the night.
Jon brings in Bob and Frank, who are investors.
Rob doesn’t want it to be bought out.
Steve and Scott are open for this opportunity.
Scott says it’s an interesting proposal.
Jon brings in a counselor to talk to Rob.
Raul shows them some drinks he will be adding to the new menu, such as the Lake Marie Daiquiri and the House Lodge Cider.
Nick shows them some new recipes that will be added to the brand-new menu.
Rob says he feels good, that everything is coming together and that they are a great team.
He then apologizes for how he has been acting before.
Jon says that in the last 24 hours, Rob has really proven himself and that he wants him to be manager for relaunch.
The bar has been renamed and Dirty Rooster is now called Lake Marie Lodge.
Jon brings the staff to see the inside of the bar.
The staff are amazed by how beautiful the bar is now.
Rob says that people are going to come in here and they’re going to want to stay.
Jon installed two Revention POS systems.
The Lake Marie Lodge opens for the first time since remodel.
On relaunch, everything is going smoothly; food and drinks are going out.
Customers say that they like the outside seating and that the place looks great.
So far, 29 dishes have been sold from the kitchen.
Rob says usually they only sell around 10 dishes.
Not a single drink was given away for free.
All of the dishes look beautiful and the drinks are looking great.
The energy of the bar has completely changed and customers will definitely be coming back.
Steve no longer wants to sell his share of the bar and the same goes for Scott.
Scott says that he thinks Rob has come a long way and that they will be much better moving forward.
Jon hugs the three owners and tells them good luck.
What Happened Next at Dirty Rooster / Lake Marie Lodge?
Six weeks after relaunch, food and beverage sales have gone up 70%.
Rob is now running day-to-day operations and he has remained sober.
They didn't keep the name that Jon gave them and went back to Dirty Rooster.
In a Back to the Bar episode, it was revealed that Robert was drinking shots at the bar again.
Scott was no longer at the bar and all of the new menu items had been removed.
Dirty Rooster closed in December 2015.
Scott sued both the bar and Robert for $125,000.
They had to pay the state of Illinois $12,000 after being shown giving away alcohol during the episode.
Robert sold the POS system and other items from the renovation to pay the state the money owed.
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This post was last updated in February 2022.
They should have sold their shares when they had the chance
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on that!!!!
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