In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits 360 Lounge Reloaded in Charlotte, North Carolina.
360 Lounge Reloaded is owned by Napoleon.
He is a former engineer and was given the opportunity to buy into the club with other partners.
He invested $50,000 of his life savings in the club in 2019.
Within 2 years he had bought out his partners to own it fully.
He is a clubber, who thought he could be a club owner.
His lack of experience is showing, with staff pointing out he doesn’t know what he is doing including one of the managers.
The club is losing $20,000 a month and is in $200,000 debt.
Jon arrives at the bar for the recon with Derrick Turner in the recon van.
They are not blown away by the interior of the club which they find uninviting.
Jeremiah is the lead bartender but does not want to be a manager.
Nick is the cook and everything in the kitchen looks dirty, even the frying oil.
The bar has no soda gun and they using canned soda, which is four times more expensive.
Jon has asked Shay, a local food blogger to come to the bar with 2 friends and expert chef Chris Oh.
Napoleon serves the table and insists on asking for the girls numbers.
When Jon comes in to find out what is going on Napoleon says he is getting their information for membership.
However, he had not even explained any membership programmes to the spies.
Jon sits and they all order from the menu.
They are made to pay beforehand as the receipt will be used as a ticket in the kitchen.
Napoleon claims he was not aware of this process.
The drinks come and all taste like sugar water and Kool Aid, which Napoleon agrees with.
Napoleon is hopeful the kitchen will impress them.
Jon and Chris enter the kitchen and see the dirty fryer and black mold in the ice machine.
Jon tells him all the things that are wrong and Napoleon has an excuse for everything.
Jon gives him the task of staying overnight to clean up the bar and kitchen.
The next day, Jon comes in and he is happy to see it all clean.
He gathers the staff and learns all the problems at the bar.
They have no real management and the staff are not trained properly.
Jon brings in his experts and Jon reveals the results of the Partender report.
They lost $4000 in revenue in 3 days.
The experts start working with the staff with Derrick teaching them to make a variation of a Mule.
Chris in the kitchen and it is cleaner now but he thinks it can still be better.
He takes them through making a shrimp dish.
After a few hours of practice they open up for the stress test.
They are swarmed immediately and the bartenders make mistakes.
Jon has the customers start a timer until they get their drinks.
Nick is in the kitchen and he seems overwhelmed already.
Food is sent back because it is under cooked and then a fryer stops working during service.
The table with the timer gets their drink in almost 10 minutes.
The bar ends up doing better than the kitchen.
They shut the stress test down as the kitchen will not be able to catch up.
The next day, Derrick reminds the staff they need to communicate better at work.
He demonstrates a new signature drink that they all taste and love.
Jon sits with Napoleon to figure out if his passion has been reignited.
They have a good chat and Jon reminds him to work smarter and focus.
By the end of the week, the staff are gathered outside the club for the big reveal.
The new club is revealed to them and it has been renamed Rio Ultra Lounge.
They are taken inside to see the changes.
It has been elevated from boring black and red to a full fun palette of colors.
They have new bar seats, a pathspot device, 3 Skytab POS systems and new bar tools from Barproducts.com.
There is a new ice machine Manitowoc, a new refrigerator, a subscription to Partender, an Orange Door Entertainment system and 2 CO2 cannons.
They are shocked by all they have been given and are excited to leave 360 behind.
They prepare and let in the waiting customers.
On relaunch, the bar and kitchen are slowly swarmed but they keep on top of it.
They served the whole room in 20 minutes.
Nick is happy in the kitchen and Napoleon is grateful for all the help.
What Happened Next at 360 Lounge Reloaded / Rio Ultra Lounge?
Six weeks later, it is revealed sales are up 12%.
The customers love the new look, concept and menu of the club.
Napoleon is connecting better with customers.
360 Lounge Reloaded / Rio Ultra Lounge is open.
Reviews are mostly positive with a few complaints on service.
Click for more Bar Rescues
Previous episode - Hideaway Bar & Grill
Next episode - Colorado Cork and Keg / Valerie’s Brew House
This post was last updated in June 2023.
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