In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Scoreboard in Norwalk, California.
Scoreboard is owned by Larry.
He bought a sports bar in his building in 2010 for his daughter Michelle.
He bought the bar to keep her occupied while her husband Bryan was at work.
She has a degree in management so running the bar shouldn’t be a problem for her.
Bryan promised to payback the $300,000 paid to purchase the bar.
Business was good in the beginning but Michelle is neglecting to manage her bar.
Soon patronage dropped and Bryan and Michelle missed repayments to Larry.
Bryan started taking on maintenance work to settle the bar bills but they are $364,000 in debt.
Jon recons the bar with expert mixologist Mia Mastroianni.
They see the bar has a small and uninviting entrance.
Jon breaks down the ownership of the bar and how Bryan works five other jobs to keep them afloat.
Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro, both well-known personalities from AfterBuzz are Jon’s spies.
They enter and sit at the bar but are ignored for a while.
They are eventually acknowledged and order a strawberry margarita and a rum and coke.
The bartender makes the wrong drink and corrects it but makes it incorrectly again.
The drinks were awful, with Maria coughing upon tasting her drink.
They order food but the cook microwaves the food and it is both soggy and undercooked.
Only one food order comes in and the bartender forgets to put the second one in.
The bartenders are the ones cooking in the kitchen.
The second dish has raw potatoes.
Seeing the spies eat the food Jon goes in to meet Michelle and Bryan and introduces them to the spies.
They give feedback on the drinks and food and Jon calls them out on the bad practices.
Larry is $360,000 in debt.
Mia is introduced and she assesses the bar.
She finds that the strawberry margarita mix used that night had expired years ago.
Everyone is shocked to hear this.
The bar is dirty with bugs and there are also bugs in the bottles.
The soda gun has grime and sludge so every time it is used it is contaminating the drinks.
Larry says they have two more months left.
The kitchen is also filthy with dirty grease and grime.
There is twenty day old chilli that they planned to serve.
They are made to clean the bar and kitchen while Jon leaves.
They work all night and Jon meets them after finishing and he is impressed by the work they did.
He sits with the staff and have them be honest about the issues at the bar.
They say that the food is a problem as customers complain about it often.
Michelle does not do much in the bar and leaves before the night service.
All the bartenders cook, do security and basic maintenance.
The security man Cory has restaurant experience and is recruited for the kitchen.
Jon introduces his experts, Mia and expert chef Anthony Lamas.
Anthony trains them on making potato skins in clean oils, making them crispy and nice.
Michelle is not as enthusiastic as Cory in the kitchen.
Mia trains the bar staff on making a tequila sunrise and a classic margarita.
Jon meets with the family afterwards to get her father and husband to get Michelle to step up and be more responsible.
The stress test starts and Michelle is expected to be a manager while Bryan supports.
Anthony, Marissa and Robert are behind the bar and the kitchen ticket times should be no more than ten minutes.
The spies will be bringing their colleagues and staff for an afterparty.
The bar opens for the stress test.
Cory is doing great making food in great time.
The tickets do not have table numbers so they do not know where the food is going to.
The bar is trying its best making drinks fast but incorrectly so they have to be dumped.
There is soon confusion as ticket times increase from the kitchen.
There are incomplete orders and customers are not getting drinks they have paid for.
Bryan is working hard helping with drinks while Michelle confuses the kitchen.
The drinks sent out are inconsistent in taste and strength.
The spies drinks are too strong and when replaced it is still off.
The spies’ food is also not good.
Soon kitchen is shutdown and the bar soon follows as the drinks dumped finished all the tequila.
In feedback Robert is commended for doing the best while Bryan did well as well.
Jon rewards them with a trip to Mexico to the Don Julio Tequila Distillery.
They are given a tour of the facility from the farming of agaves to the production and bottling.
Mia trains the staff on making some new cocktails.
They will be using Don Julio Tequila and there is a Mangria Sunrise made from Mangria, a mango sangria.
Anthony trains them on Tacos Fajitas and other Latino dishes.
The bar is then renovated over thirty-six hours.
The bar has been renamed to Agave Junction Cantina.
The logo has bright coloured letters on dark a background for better visibility.
The bar has been modernised with lots of TVs and a Blue theme.
There is a steel bar-top and the soda gun has been cleaned.
The spies and their colleagues will be coming once again for the relaunch.
The staff get ready for the relaunch and the customers are let in.
The spies cannot believe the bar is looking so much better.
On relaunch, the bar is overwhelmed and the staff have to work hard to keep up.
They make few errors but the customers love the food and drinks.
Larry is happy with the help and says it is just the beginning.
What Happened Next at Scoreboard / Agave Junction Cantina?
Six weeks later, it is revealed sales increased by more than 50%.
Tequila sales have more than tripled.
Larry was paid rent for the first time in eight months.
Scoreboard / Agave Junction Cantina closed in September 2018.
They closed after the bar was sold.
There was a stabbing incident with three injured at the bar in December 2016.
There was also a robbery outside the bar in early 2018.
Reviews prior to closure were mixed with negative comments on service but praise for the staff.
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Next episode - The Tailgate / The Shot Exchange
This post was last updated in February 2022.
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