During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to change the name of Celebrities Sports Grill to The Victory Bar and Restaurant. The bar decided to keep the name, but closed shortly after the makeover. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for The Victory Bar and Restaurant since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):
Positive Reviews:
None
Negative Reviews:
- "I heard Bar Rescue was here but what did they do other then change the sign which actually looks kinda cheesy. The place is still a dump. It's dark and just feels yucky. Food was bland, hardly anyone was in the place. The whole vibe was just negative."
- "Can we go no stars? Hope everybody found a new job. This place is odd. It's a big ass chunky cheese type area, with a. Bar in the back. Perception is it's a mismatched bar with area given. It seems dirty. Bartender is nice. It's just odd. I dunno. I heard bar rescue was here, but it's not rescued. Whatever...."
- "Bar Rescue came to help the restaurant????!!!! No way, there is no evidance this place is a mess. Bar Rescue should be ashamed to mentioned they "helped" this place. I went here for the first time on 4/22. Waitresses don't know the food or drink menu. "
- "The vibe here isn't that great either. Some of the servers seem unhappy and lost. Had high hopes for this place since this is the third time the name has changed and they were just on Bar Rescue. Hopefully they figure something out because the location is pretty cool and they have an arcade for kids and pool tables."
- "A sports bar that is clueless about sports. We walked in to watch the NCAA Final Four and it wasn't on any of their dozen + TVs. What was on? Spring training baseball, women's basketball, sportscenter. This was like the third time we had come to Celebrities to watch a major sporting event only to find the place empty and all the televisions tuned to sports highlights or something else."
- "Worst dinner I've had in a long time. My boyfriend and i came in here for the very first time on a Saturday night. The place was empty, and still our waitress managed to forget us."
Other News and Links:
- The Bar Rescue makeover happened in April 2016.
- Here are two preview videos of the episode from the Spike TV website - Video 1, Video 2
- There are actually two Celebrities Sports Grills, which are both owned by the same owners. The one from the show is in Yucaipa and the other is in San Bernardino.
- Here is the Celebrities Sports Grill Yucaipa Facebook Page and here is the San Bernardino Facebook Page. Also, here is the Facebook Page with the new name The Victory Bar and Grill.
- Here are the Facebook Pages of Candice (bartender), Sabrina (bartender), and Max (owner).
- Here is the YouTube video of Max giving the homeless man a meal which went viral and has over 700k views.
- Here is the GoFundMe page set up by Max for homeless veterans that has raised over $20,000 and is apparently still accepting donations. I don't have any update on where the money raised has gone.
- The Victory Bar and Restaurant, which appeared on the show is now closed. It closed sometime in June 2016, so it was only open a month or so after the Bar Rescue makeover.
- Here is a post about The Victory closing on a local Facebook Page from July that has tons of comments from locals. There are a lot of comments with people saying they are glad and karma came back to get the bar. Also an employee is saying she didn't get her last check and Max's wife is commenting and trying to defend the bar. Also someone said they sent Jon Taffer a screenshot of Max blaming the show for his failure, but that post has apparently been deleted.
- This is apparently the "homeless" guy from the video that went viral.
- Here is a post on the Bar Rescue Facebook page telling them not to rescue Celebrities in Yucaipa. The post is from Alycia, who is the person on the episode that calls out Max. Alycia also claims Max was never a navy seal and the guy in the video wasn't homeless.
- The filtered Yelp reviews at Celebrities have negative reviews calling out Max such as, "I refuse to support a business that falsely claims to be a nonprofit organization. Nearly $20k was supposedly going to homeless veterans that has not been donated but was accepted by Max. He has also claimed to be a Navy Seal and has never served in the US military. Upon asking for his 501c3 he sent me a message calling me a "c*nt" and told me to shut up about his bar."
- Sabrina posted this about the upcoming episode, "Can't wait for it to air then die down already.... Shit is giving me anxiety .... Feels like reliving all the issues YUC had... Standing there in an empty restaurant, wondering why not a soul walked in... Only to find out some dumb shit happen earlier that day on the Internet or the night before "
Conclusion:
The Victory Bar and Restaurant kept the name given by Bar Rescue, but closed not long after the makeover. All of the reviews after the makeover were negative and people didn't notice much different after Bar Rescue besides the new sign. It seems like the bad online reputation from the GoFundMe page and viral video was too much to overcome for the bar. The owners of the bar also own another bar in San Bernardino and it appears that bar is still open.
*To see how all of the bars from Bar Rescue are doing, go to the Bar Rescue Updates page, and also Like us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter to stay up to date with all things involving Bar Rescue.