In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer has asked Spike Mendelsohn to visit The Fireplace in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Fireplace is owned by Stephanie.
She dropped out of school to take over the bar after her fiance sadly passed away.
With no experience, she threw herself into running the bar, as she inherited the debt as well.
The staff is not disciplined or trained and they all drink at the bar.
This has contributed to the bar losing money.
They are in $250,000 of debt and losing $5,000 a month.
With about 10 months left until they would have to close, she needs help.
Spike is in the surveillance truck with expert mixologist Nick Ortega and expert chef Vic Vegas.
He tells them the history of the bar, which previously was a hunting lodge.
They all learn about how Stephanie inherited the bar.
She is also struggling with MS, raising two sons while taking care of her father, who is in a nursing home.
They see the bar staff making drinks incorrectly and a kitchen with two small pizza ovens for cooking frozen pizzas.
The spies are two local radio personalities.
They ask for a menu, but there isn’t one.
The staff must verbally tell them what they have.
Bartender Lucy takes a smoke break in the middle of service.
The wait for pizza is 30 minutes, which is not ideal as it is supposed to be fast food.
Lucy also has a drink along with her cigarette.
She then goes back to work without washing her hands.
Spike goes into the bar and meets with Stephanie to hear her out.
She tells him Meridian acts as a manager but is not officially a manager.
Stephanie cannot afford to increase her pay.
When Spike enters, all the other staff run away and he has to call them back to question them.
Lucy is problematic, saying she only does shots and not cocktails.
Stephanie is blamed because she has no control over her staff.
The next day, Spike comes in to meet with the staff and introduces himself properly.
Stephanie has news for Spike and the other staff.
She has terminated Lucy’s employment due to her behavior the night before.
The staff all introduce themselves.
They admit they are losing money from drinking on the job and giving away free drinks.
Spike has a Partender report to show them.
They are losing about $2,000 a week and $90,000 a year from free drinks and staff drinking.
This brings the problem into perspective for Stephanie and the staff.
The experts are introduced to the owner and staff.
They have been given some new equipment to train for the stress test as they did not have much that was usable.
Nick takes the staff through making a Washington Apple.
Two of them demonstrate the drink and make mistakes.
They are thrown into the stress test after some more training.
They have some cardboard fires on their fireplace.
Every time someone does something wrong, one is extinguished until there are none left.
The customers are let in and orders come through.
The bartenders are on top of each other trying to make drinks.
In the kitchen, they are only serving pizzas and each new order is an extra 15 minutes.
Drinks are dumped and two fires are put out.
In the kitchen, the pizza line gets longer, with an hours wait time for food.
They decide to sell hot dogs in the meantime.
Stephanie does well and pushes the hot dogs.
They arrive cold because they are not getting delivered fast enough.
More fires are extinguished once customers complain and there are just two fires left.
After some more mess-ups, the last fire is put out because of a hair in a drink.
The night is shut down.
The experts meet with Spike to discuss what the bar needs to be successful.
They need to work on a theme for the drinks and food menu.
The next day, Spike meets with Stephanie.
She is happy with all the training her and her staff have received.
Meridian joins them and they are told that they have been given some more equipment.
Sandwiches will be now be a part of their menu as they are fast and tasty.
Stephanie is advised to relinquish control to Meridian.
There are workarounds to the salary problem.
She can be incentivized with profit sharing along with her tips.
They are both happy with that arrangement and agree to it.
The staff is gathered outside the bar a few days later for the unveiling.
The name is unchanged but the sign has been updated for better visibility.
The interior has been updated to give it more life.
They are leaning more into the hunter's lodge theme.
It is also modernized with audiovisual equipment.
They have new pro bar tools, Skytab POS systems and two new terminals.
There is also a lifetime subscription to Partender, a sandwich prep cooler, a panini press and a hot dog roller.
After setting up, the waiting customers are let in and the orders come through.
The kitchen is staying on top of orders, with prepped food items ready to cook and send out.
The bartenders work very hard and fast and most of the bar is served quickly.
Spike is happy for Stephanie and her manager and they say their farewells.
What Happened Next at The Fireplace?
Six weeks later, the community loves the new decor and menu, especially the Cubano sandwich.
There are plans to expand the kitchen to provide an even bigger menu.
Lucy remains friends with Stephanie.
She now drinks at the bar as a patron and not a staff member.
The Fireplace is open.
Reviews are very positive.
There is praise for the staff and food.
They have made further changes including to the patio area of the bar.
Click for more Bar Rescues
Previous episode - CJ's Pub & Grill
Next episode - Jon's Goodtime Bar and Grill
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