In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Hideaway Bar and Grill in Meridian, Idaho.
Hideaway Bar and Grill is owned by Dwayne Fulbright.
He bought the bar in 2012 with his income from construction work.
It was very successful for a few years and he decided to expand.
He moved the bar to a new location which he designed and built for $1.7m.
They continued their success but he couldn’t hire and keep skilled people to run it.
The staff are overwhelmed and with no training provided the staff tend to quit after just one day.
Dwayne’s girlfriend Vanessa helps him manage the bar but she has zero training too.
Dwayne started forming bad habits, including drinking at the bar and the customers noticed.
They are losing money every month and are a few months from closing.
Jon has been to Idaho many times for Bar Rescue.
He highlights the community support he has noticed in the past.
Jon arrives with expert chef Jen Murphy with him in the recon van.
He gives Jen the low down on the bar and reads her an online review of the bar.
It is clear that the customers perceive Dwayne as a town drunk.
They see the staff work and observe Dwayne at the bar via the surveillance screen.
Jon sends in his spies, a local radio personality and a friend.
They sit at the bar and they order some drinks.
They find the bar unfinished, bare and masculine.
They are given a large menu with too many items and they find their drinks very sour.
Only one bartender, Camri, is working.
Dwayne serves some drinks with his dirty hands and drinks one of them.
The spies see some particles in their drinks, it is remade but the drinks are still contaminated.
The drink is remade a third time but in a plastic cup and it is clean but does not taste any better.
Camri is fed up with that interaction and attempts to walk out of the bar.
Alexis calls her aside and says they are firing her for stealing.
They say that she was selling multiple drinks but only charging for one.
Camri accuses Alexis of going through her purse but leaves eventually.
Jon and Jen are confused at what happened and he enters the bar to see his spies.
They try their food and it is dry and the flavour is off so they spit it out.
Jon brings in Dwayne and gives feedback directly.
He tells him the bar has the worst design ever as Dwayne had no idea what he was doing.
Jon points out all that is wrong with the bar and reads out the negative online reviews.
Dwayne has no words and Jon insists on testing his alcohol levels daily.
The next day, the staff are gathered and Alexis explains everything to Lindsey, who was not around the night before.
She says the online review Jon read was untrue.
Jon comes into a tense room and wants Dwayne to be breathalysed but he refuses.
Vanessa will go into the hospital soon for surgery and will be away from the bar for up to 2 months.
Vanessa and all the staff say Dwayne is not a drunk and has never been accused of it before.
The denial is frustrating and Jon is not standing for it so he leaves.
Jon and his team look through videos for evidence to support his assertion that Dwayne is a drunk.
It turns out that the staff made the claim on camera and he had taken their word for it.
Jon comes back with his evidence of comments made by the staff.
He is upset they actively lied to him and called him a liar.
The staff are all enabling Dwayne by denying his drinking and Jon does not want to associate his name or show with them.
He leaves and asks his team to pack up.
The staff are all speechless as the team pack up around them and leave.
The staff then slowly leave one by one.
Vanessa is embarrassed and she is resolved to figure out the logistics of her surgery.
Lindsey feels guilty as it was her who said on camera that Dwayne is the town drunk.
Jon kept to his word and left, not rescuing the bar.
What Happened Next at Hideaway Bar & Grill?
The owners have been fairly quiet about their appearance on the show.
Hideaway Bar and Grill is closed.
They closed in August 2023.
Reviews were mostly negative with many complaints about cars being towed from out the front, poor food and service.
Some reviews are positive and praise the food but they appear to be few at the time of posting.
Click for more Bar Rescues
Previous episode - Rockabillies / Bar Retro
Next episode - 360 Lounge Reloaded / Rio Ultra Lounge
This post was last updated in February 2024.
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