During the Bar Rescue makeover, Mary's Outpost was renamed to Thirsty's Roadside Bar. From the looks of their website/Facebook, it looks like they are going with a combination of the two and will not commit to one name. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Thirsty's Roadside Bar since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar:
Reviews:
- "This is my first time at Mary's Outpost. The waitress was very nice to us. It was awesome we got to meet the owner. He was very nice too. Overall very cool place to go for karaoke bar in the grand prairie area. We will definitely be back here. Awesome place. The place looks great.
- Great place to hang out and do some karaoke with your friends. Love this place everyone very friendly. Must go place while in Grand Prairie"
- "The bartenders and owner are all hanging around, the people you meet are true Texas characters. We've gone back several times, stopping by after work to unwind and also on the weekend when bored at home. It's like walking into a Texas Cheers. Recently "Bar Rescue" was there, changed the name to Thristy's, but it will always be Mary's Outpost."
- Owner replied with a great response. I respect that very much. Offered to speak about any issue over a free drink."
Other News and Links:
- Here are 2 preview videos for this episode on the Spike TV website. The owner has a back room where he lures supposedly tries to lure girls back there to take their tops off. One of the bartenders Nikki acts as his wing woman.
- Here is the Thirsty's Roadside Bar Facebook page (still listed as Mary's Outpost), another Mary's Outpost Facebook page which is more up to date, and website (with a picture of 5 girls in skimpy bikinis as the first picture).
- Here is a status from their page "This is the trailer for the show Sunday 8 pm. REMEMBER this is all for show. Bill not sleeping with Nikki, and He was only chasing him around the parking lot for fun. And contrary to later in the show He DID NOT become a nice guy! This should be a very embarrassing, I mean FUN experience."
- The Bar Rescue makeover happened in late January 2014.
- The bar replaced all of the bar stools in March 2014. It seems the ones Bar Rescue provided were not that great and many people were complaining about them. (Link)
- The bar also has recently redone their bathrooms and have sold the picnic tables provided by Bar Rescue.
- In another Facebook status, the bar states: "Ever since Bar Rescue came in we've heard many comments like "It's not Mary's anymore." I don't understand this. Mary's wasn't about the torn up chairs and stools or anything else material. Mary's was and will always be about the people-the customers and employees. Mary's is a place that doesn't care about your age, race, how much you make, gay or straight, Tattoos, piercings, or whatever. Mary's is about a safe place to come and have a good time. None of us are happy with many changes that were made, and we've done our best to improve it with chairs and stools that actually match!, smoke eaters, getting rid of the damn picnic tables, Kimmie's newly remodeled bathrooms and several other things to improve the looks, but those things are "nice-to-haves" not "have-to-haves." Sorry this was so long..."
- The public Texas Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts for Mary's Outpost were:
- Before Bar Rescue - $4803.54 in September 2013, $4831.40 in October 2013, $5024.46 in November 2013, $4707.50 in December 2013,
- After Bar Rescue - $1405.52 in January 2014, $1866.01 in February 2014, $2388.41 in March 2014
- So, it looks like gross receipts dropped pretty big, unless they are cooking the books.
- Here are the Facebook pages of Bill (owner), his wife Kimmie, and Nikki, Elena, Rachael, and Bruce.
- Here are 5 Youtube videos from someone who was in the bar during the Bar Rescue taping. She seemed to be taping undercover while the crew was filming. Nothing too special in the videos, but you can see how many cameras are in the bar and some behind the scenes action.
- The owner Bill has been responding to the few reviews on Yelp. He is telling people in the positive reviews to look for them on Bar Rescue, and he offered a free drink to someone that left a negative review. (Link)
Conclusion:
The few reviews of Thirsty's Roadside Bar seem to like the atmosphere of the bar and their karaoke. Judging by the Facebook page of the bar, some of the regulars were upset by the changes. The mixed beverage gross receipts submitted to the state of Texas seem to indicate that business has been down a bit since Bar Rescue visited.
This episode looks like it is going to focus on the owner Bill. The bar has said everything was done for show, and that Bill is not sleeping with Nikki. They also expect the episode to be embarrassing/fun. Bill has responded Yelp reviews online and their Facebook page is pretty open, so it will be interesting to see their reaction after the show.
Also, Nikki who was fired on the show, still works at the bar and is friends with Kimmie on Facebook.
*To see how all of the bars from Bar Rescue are doing, go to the Bar Rescue Update page, and also Like us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter to stay up to date with all things involving Bar Rescue. One update from this week is that Headhunters closed.