Tonight on the season finale of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Houston, Texas to try to rescue End Zone Sports Bar and Grill. The bar and the kitchen in the End Zone is filthy and the beer they are serving the customers is sour. The bar is owned by two "muscle-bound meatheads" who get in a fight with each other during the recon. Two other female employees also get into a fight while the bar is under surveillance. Despite all of the fighting, Jon Taffer still goes through with the rescue and makes over the bar.During the Bar Rescue makeover, End Zone Sports Bar and Grill was renamed to Houston Sports Hub, and they seem to have kept the name. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Houston Sports Hub since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar:
Reviews:
- "This is the first bar I have been to where I feel welcomed, and at home. I guess you can say "My home away from home." During the day time you have lots of regulars, from business men to veterans. During the Houston Texans daytime games I would bring my family and have a blast."
- "When I first walked in I liked the interior. Cool clean sports concept. I looked over the new bar and food menus. Over the course of the night I ordered the Texan Truce and Shasta Shot. All I could taste was the lemon juice it was very sour and unbalanced. I also ordered the Astro Tea which was very good. Some of the bartenders drank behind the bar.....The bathroom also needed some attention and the soap dispenser was broken. I probably won't be coming back based on the lack of commitment I saw by management not maintaining the standards set by Jon Taffer."
- "Pros: cheap drinks, no cops, karaoke, ok food, (free) parking lot, easily accessible/ok for neighborhood bar, IF you're friends with management, they take care of you. Cons: no good wine :(, no dance floor, trashy clientele, many of which snorting coke on patio and/or inside bar, not enough wait staff, bar owners have too much control/are on-site entirely too often (led to decline in loyal regulars), ice tastes funny, dirty hole-in-wall atmosphere, even after the remodel, floozy, inattentive bartenders, remodel (courtesy of "Bar Rescue") was complete waste; only difference now is the name (Houston Sports Hub) and the superfluous/non-functional interior decorations to make the bar appear more "sporty"
Other News and Links:
- The Bar Rescue makeover happened in January 2014
- Here are 2 preview videos of the episode on the Spike TV website that have both of the fights.
- Jon Taffer will be live tweeting during the episode and answering questions with the #TafferTalk hash tag.
- Here is the old End Zone Sports Bar Facebook Page, the new Houston Sports Hub Facebook Page, and website with menu.
- Here are the Facebook pages of Justin (owner), Dana (Justin's wife), Shawn (owner), Stephanie (Shawn's wife - Fights Taylor) Taylor (bartender) Samantha (bartender), and Kiana (bartender)
- Taylor and Stephanie are Facebook friends.
- Shawn seems to be embarrassed about his appearance on the show, and has commented on multiple posts saying he is "not happy" about it.
- Shawn has had some MMA fights and has a 2-4 record with 4 straight losses. (Link)
- The owner Justin was a male stripper and has wrote multiple books (found here
) about being a stripper. Him and his wife are also on a few erotic book covers such as this one
(pictured right)
- The Houston Sports Hub Tax receipts submitted to the state of Texas - Before Bar Rescue - August 2013 - $9704.52, September 2013 - $8862.98, October 2013 - $8793.12, November 2013 - $7897.68, December 2013 - $6953.94, After Bar Rescue - January 2014 - $3168.69, February 2014 - $3228.39, and March 2014 - $4005.99. So it looks like business went down according to receipts and business wasn't bad before the Bar Rescue visit.
- In July of 2013, Justin posted on his Facebook page - "Bar rescue just called my bar. Should I or shouldn't I?" Most people said to do it, and when someone asked "Do you need it?", Justin responded "No, but a free new bar and all the advertisement is hard to pass up" So it looks like Bar Rescue contacted the bar to be on the show, rather than the bar applying to be on the show. This seems to be the case for the upcoming season, and I will probably do a post about that soon.
- Justin has left six different 5-star reviews for his own bar on Yelp and seems to stress the fact that there are "hot girls" on his staff in all of his reviews. (Link)
) about being a stripper. Him and his wife are also on a few erotic book covers such as 
(pictured right) Conclusion:
Judging by the comments Justin made about Bar Rescue calling his bar, and the tax receipts submitted for the bar, it looks like this was not a struggling bar in need of a rescue. Also, it doesn't seem like people are too impressed with the Bar Rescue upgrades and it is still the same bar with just a different name.
UPDATE - Someone posted a comment clarifying the tax receipts, stating: "Before Jan 1st of 2014, bar owners were require to pay a Gross Receipts Tax of 14%. On the Jan 1st of 2014 the law changed. The new requirements lowered The Gross Receipts Tax to 6.7%. However owners are now required to collect A Mixed Beverage Sales Tax of 8.25%. The difference is that the "Sales Tax" is now just passed on to the consumer where as before it was included in the price of a drink. Owners caught a break and the consumers are getting the short end of the stick. Most customers never noticed the change. Based on the Gross Receipts Tax paid, the alcohol sales for Oct 2013-$62,808; Nov 2013-$56,412; Dec 2013-$49,665.29; Jan 2014-$47,293; Feb 2014-$48,184; Mar 2014-$59,790. These are alcohol sales only and include no food sales."
Also, Justin had some quotes in the Houston Chronicle, and said: "It was a great experience. I wouldn't do it again, though, because I don't like being yelled at. The yelling wasn't so bad. It was the stress." He also said Jon Taffer is a really nice guy and they kept all of the changes he made.
UPDATE - Apparently Shawn is no longer a co-owner at the bar, and Justin is running the bar on his own.
*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.