In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Gipsy in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Gipsy is owned by Paul San Filipo.
He bought the legendary gay nightclub in 1993.
It was immediately popular and made up to $160,000 a month.
As the first gay nightclub in Las Vegas it was popular until more competition opened in the late 90s.
The club is now outdated and customers no longer come to the club.
Paul is now in debt and drinks to cover up his disappointment.
The work environment is toxic and he leaves the bar for days and weeks to fend for itself.
The club now has a $400,000 fine for not paying the live entertainment taxes and is in $2,000,000 of debt.
Jon recons the bar with expert mixologist Rachel Ford.
They see the bar exterior is very dated and run down.
Jon has footage of customer feedback and it is not good.
Jon introduces the staff and the owner.
Jon has invited Daniel and Joe, experts in the nightlife of Las Vegas to visit as his spies.
They sit at the bar and order a gin martini and they are served in a plastic cup.
They order whiskey sours and they are also served in a plastic cup too.
There is no vermouth so the drinks are bad.
Paul keeps calling his bartender Brandon from across the bar.
He is being degrading towards the staff and is insulting them.
Paul breaks a glass by throwing it at the manager.
Jon goes in to confront the inebriated Paul.
Paul says his staff deserved all the abuse.
Jon attempts to correct him but Paul is confrontational.
Paul’s display does not stop when Jon leaves the bar.
He is forced out of the bar and into a taxi to go home.
The next day, Jon comes in and Paul has sobered up.
They sit and Jon gets Paul to promise to not drink whilst he is fixing the bar and apologise to the staff.
Jon meets with the rest of the staff.
Paul finds it hard to keep a straight face as he apologises.
The staff say his behaviour was uncalled for and they want him to go back to being driven.
Jon introduces his experts and Rachel inspects the bar.
They find lots of dirty tools, produce and spaces at the bar.
The staff are made to clean up the bar before they start training.
Rachel trains them on making a gin martini, serving it in a martini glass.
They do a team work exercise where they interlock their arms and try and make a whiskey sour together.
Jon has a surprise and brings in the spies from Angel Entertainment.
Amie will bartend at the bar at the start of the stress test so they can watch them operate.
The stress test starts and the bartenders are seamless, making drinks quickly to the delight of customers.
Amie complains of the service behind the bar area.
The new bartenders are pulled while Brandon and Justin work the bar.
They are too slow and take up to ten minutes to make a drink.
The customers are left waiting twenty minutes.
They are nervous and flustered.
They are making drinks incorrectly and dropping tools.
Rubio and Gerry do a lot better than the previous two, with Rubio doing great.
Paul is happy talking to the guests.
The show starts and the bar closed down, which is bad for business.
Jon praises the bar staff for how they performed that night.
He points out all the things that went wrong and he decides to pull the drag show.
The next day, the sign is being taken down.
Paul is not happy but Jon lets them know they should focus on the future.
They meet in the bar.
Jon explains he wants to create an immersive show.
There will be three stages at three minutes long so as not to stop service.
Bartenders can also perform during the intervals.
Jon brings in one more expert, choreographer Dominique Kelley.
Dominique starts her training first with a group routine.
Rachel shows them new cocktails inspired by the beach and Florida.
The renovation has started at the bar so Paul calls to meet with Jon to defend Brandon’s spot.
Jon decides to give him a second chance to prove himself.
Thirty Six hours later, the bar is renovated and the staff are gathered.
As the reveal is about to happen Paul interrupts to let Brandon go.
Brandon leaves disappointed and Jon is shocked at the display but continues with the reveal.
The bar has been given a new new, it is now SBLV Ultra Lounge.
This stands for South Beach Las Vegas.
The name is inspired by the 1950s and Florida.
The outside of the bar is bright and eye-catching.
Inside is warmer and upscale with colours.
Paul finds it horrible and is not excited about the changes.
He leaves before Jon can explain the changes.
There is new furniture and the old seats have been reupholstered.
Their sound system has also been updated.
There is a service bar area big enough to work in.
The staff all love the changes and the space.
The manager is the one who opens the bar for the relaunch.
On relaunch, the bartenders are doing well.
Drinks are made quickly and are well made.
The customers love it all and the shows start to the delight of the customers who keep ordering drinks.
Jon congratulates the manager on the night and leaves.
Paul never came back that night.
What Happened Next at Gipsy?
It is later revealed that Paul came back two days later and closed SBLV.
Three months later, the club is still closed and he is still in debt.
Paul moved the staff to another bar that he owned across the road.
In January 2014, Paul announced that he would be stripping out the entire interior of the club.
He planned to remodel and open as a day and ultralounge.
This was stalled when the county wanted more land for an adjacent expansion.
The land they wanted was where Paul was digging out a pool for the nightclub.
There were issues with contractors and various lawsuits and litigation that paused the remodel.
In 2020, the building was demolished with the plans to rebuild from scratch.
It was found that the costs to remodel were found to be higher than rebuilding.
Brandon branded the episode a sham on Facebook.
He claimed that parts were scripted and set up.
Paul passed away in April 2022.
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