On this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Merritt Island, Florida to Kings Duck Inn. Kings Duck Inn is a Cape Canaveral area bar frequented by local NASA astronauts. The bar is owned and operated by Serena Biscontini and Amanda Biscontini who are mother and daughter. The conflict between them is causing issues at the bar and the bar's POS system is old and inefficient.
During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to keep the bar's name of Kings Duck Inn. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Kings Duck Inn since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):
Positive Reviews:
- "My husband and I stopped last night for a quick bite and to check out the changes after Bar Rescue had been. I hadn't been in quite some time but was pleased with the change in decor immediately. It now sports a very fitting space theme and the comfort and appearance of the chairs and tables was appreciated. I do hope they are waiting for some air conditioning parts though. There are spots on the ceiling with cardboard taped over and a very large fan was quite noisy. I would hate to think those issues are permanent. The food, though! The food was so delicious! ...It's so exciting to have a tasty and reasonably priced bar in the neighborhood. KDI is finally what I had hoped it would be the first time I went. A clean and reasonably priced neighborhood joint with friendly service."
- "Place is great! Good food and good drinks at good prices. Friendly staff and a nice outdoors area away fron the traffic of N. Courtenay. Worth the few minutes drive over the barge."
- "Food is always consistent and reasonably priced, very comfortable atmosphere and simply a cozy place to enjoy your favorite drinks at!"
- "Not sure how Bar Rescue (not a tv fan) did this, but the first thing we noticed was the attentiveness of all staff. The bar and table seating areas were almost to capacity, drinks arrived quickly, and the food menu has been revamped with quirky space food item names to go with the NASA theme throughout.... KDI is your average neighborhood pub which now boasts new faces with above par service!
Negative Reviews:
- "We have not been here in months. Wow what a disappointment. The food for lunch was not what it was. Dried out fish; mahi? The server was too busy chatting at bar and the owner was drinking and being obnoxious. The once great spot for lunch is no more for us when we are in town. Only good thing was the remodeling. There are much better option nearby"
- "We have gone there many times. Last night was awful. Our waitress was the worst. She never told us they had 1 slice of pizza left when 2 people ordered. She just didn't bring it, when asked she then told him good thing he ordered wings Too. It was lady's night and she charged for the wine. When we need something we searched for her and she was stand In front of the air conditioner cooling her self. Great sight to see"
- "Food is still good but not as good as it used to be. It is also very expensive. The menu prices have went up alot."
- "Old KDI's was better, the updated place was nice, if given a choice, I like the old look. Food was ok, not sure if they lost the cook during remodel and service was friendly"
- "I don’t know why I keep trying this place over and over. Disappointment after disappointment. This is the last one thought. We just tried to order of the new menu put in when Bar Resue was here and was told, oh we don’t use that menu any more. Some Rescue!"
- "The local establishment had a "make-over" but the overall quality has not changed. Good place to stop by to visit the locals. Average food. Average prices."
- "Stopped in on a Saturday well after Bar Rescue changes which looked pretty lame/cheap for the most part. Sat at bar and service was spotty as bartender was overwhelmed with just a few customers....This place was a pig before and putting lipstick on it changes nothing. Go elsewhere and save yourself disappointment. Gave it a 2 as beer was cold and (late) fries were fine."
- "We ate there for the first time and the food was pretty good but very expensive for the type of place it is. It needs quite a bit of updating on the inside and is a total local hole-in-the-wall... which is awesome! But don't charge a fortune for your food. The customers and staff were super-friendly so that pulled the score up to a 3 for me."
- "We have been here before the revamp and we're not impressed before or afterwards. It's a big wrap around bar. They have redecorated the place and put comfortable seating in it. But the bar prices are off the chart for liquor. I had a Jameson and club soda. Most places I pay $5 ....higher end restaurants $7....(I guess for the atmosphere). This place charged $8! It took over an hour to get our food.... We won't go back. Food was poor, service was extremely slow, and prices were high. This is not a high end restaurant."
- "5 days after Bar Rescue left and it is no better. One waitress who could not keep up and there was only four tables. We waited over ten minutes to get our order taken and table next to us complained because it took over 20 mins for their order to be taken. Ordered a new specialty drink and it never arrived....Bar Rescue did not do enough to fix this place. Was much better 7 years ago."
Other News and Links:
- The Bar Rescue makeover happened in June 2017
- Here are two preview videos of the episode from the Paramount TV website - Video 1, Video 2
- Here is the Kings Duck Inn Facebook Page that hasn't been updated since 2014.
- Here are the Facebook pages of Serena and Amanda.
- The Kings Duck Inn website (www.kingsduckinn.com) has an expired domain so they do not currently have a website. Here is what it looked like in Sept. 2017 if you are interested. (Link)
- A pool table company helped makeover the bar's pool tables and installed blue felt. Here are before and after photos of the pool tables. (Link)
- Here is a food inspection report for Kings Duck Inn from January 2018. There are 13 total violations, with 4 high priority ones. Violations included soiled soda guns, mold-like substance inside the ice bin and storing raw foods above ready to cook foods. Most violations were corrected on site at the time of inspection.
- Amanda Biscontini was arrested in 2013 for cocaine possession, marijuana possession and possession of narcotic equipment - link to mugshot. She was also arrested in 2014 for battery - link to mugshot.
- Serena Biscontini had a DUI in 2012 - Link.
Conclusion:
Jon Taffer decided to keep the name of Kings Duck Inn and the reviews for the bar since the Bar Rescue makeover are a bit negative. People seem to have complaints about the air conditioning, the food/drink prices and the service at the bar. There are a few compliments on the compliments on the food and the atmosphere. According to one of the reviews left about Kings Duck Inn, they no longer offer the menu installed by Bar Rescue. Kings Duck Inn also does not have an active Facebook page or a website that works, so they aren't putting in much effort to succeed after a Bar Rescue visit.