In this Bar Rescue episode, Jon Taffer visits Cirivello’s Bar in Long Beach, California.
Cirivello’s Bar is owned by Danny Harris, who saw the opportunity to purchase his favorite hangout in 2015.
He was not able to make the purchase on his own so he has three investors for the bar.
Justin Allen, Val Allen and Marcus Rosenthal are the three investors.
They all invested $50,000 each and own 60% of the bar.
Danny invested $111,000 and owns 40% of the bar.
Val says they invested into this bar because they love Danny.
They saw an opportunity to make some money each month and have fun.
The bar reopened for business in February 2015.
Danny quickly realized that the bar was more of a commitment than he anticipated.
There are many areas of the bar that desperately need repairs.
The bar is losing roughly $12,000 to $15,000 per month.
Danny says they are in about $375,000 in total debt.
The bar has about four months left before they will be forced to close for good.
Danny’s investors are frustrated with the state of the bar.
Danny doesn’t want to let his friends down.
Jon brings in his experts, expert chef Brendan Collins and expert mixologist Lisamarie Joyce.
The previous owners of the bar drove clientele out with not keeping up with the upkeep of the bar.
Jon brings in his wife Nicole and her friend Ashley for the recon tonight.
Ashley orders an old fashioned and Nicole orders a whiskey sour.
The drinks look disgusting.
They have the other bartender remake the drinks and they’re still disgusting.
The staff quickly realize that they are spies.
Nicole introduces herself as Jon’s wife.
She orders everything on the menu in hopes of them getting it together before Jon walks in.
The food they receive is very greasy and slimy.
There’s a flood in the kitchen.
Jon decides now is the time to walk in and he says he wishes he had a life preserver.
Jon tries to find out why they know the food is gross but still chose to serve it.
Jon says Danny is irresponsible.
Danny is very mad with Jon for the things he said and doesn’t handle criticism very well.
Danny leaves the bar in frustration.
The next morning Jon meets with the staff to discuss what happened the night before.
Val says that she was surprised that he left them.
Danny says he felt it was best that he left.
Jon says that standards are everything and they need to take that more seriously.
Danny realizes that he is failing this bar.
Danny says he’s going to do whatever he can to make sure the bar survives this.
Jon says Danny is a good guy but that he is in a tough spot.
Lisamarie shows the bartenders the proper way to make an old fashioned.
Lisamarie says that Danny is realizing that consistency is important.
Brendan shows the cooks a steak recipe that is upscale and people will love.
Jon tells them to keep up with standards for tonight’s stress test.
Everyone is doing well but Danny is standing around.
Customers are loving the drinks.
There’s a full house and Danny is nervous he’ll look like an idiot.
They’re getting a little backed up in the bar and in the kitchen.
Food is being brought to the wrong people.
Lisamarie puts the owners to work but most of them can’t even pour beers.
Brendan says that none of the staff in the kitchen know how to run the window.
Lisamarie says that the bartenders are trying so hard but can’t shine with the owners not knowing how to do anything.
Jon meets with Lisamarie and Brendan to discuss the concepts for the remodel and the new drinks or dishes they will serve.
The next morning is offsite training while they are remodeling the bar.
Lisamarie is adding two new drinks, the Toasted Cask and the Rack Reserve.
Brendan adds a few new dishes to the menu too.
Jon meets with Danny and the other owners to discuss the state of the bar and where they are going.
Jon asks each of them what they have learned the past few days.
Jon meets with the staff at night to show them their newly renovated bar.
The bar has been renamed and is now called The Aging Room at Cirivello’s.
Val is amazed and says that it looks so beautiful.
She says that she can see that the future is going to be wonderful.
There are barrels and casks displayed throughout the bar.
There is a temporary bar made to help with the pressure of the draft beer.
Jon got them a lifetime subscription to Taffer Virtual Teaching so they can be trained properly to keep up with the standards of the bar.
Jon says draft beer systems can’t be more than 120 feet long so he shortened it by over 40 feet.
Instead of trying to hide it, Jon showcased it.
He says this will help them sell their beer.
Jon says that tonight he will bring the customers but the staff must keep them.
They open up the bar for the first time since remodel.
On relaunch, things are going very smoothly.
The customers are loving the new drinks and food.
Due to the new draft beer system, they are pouring beer at three times the speed than before.
They don’t have to wait for the foam to go away anymore.
Jon says that this is increasing their drink production time twice over.
Nicole comes back into the bar.
Ribeyes are taking about 10-12 minutes to get to the customers.
Jon says that Danny is engaged and paying attention to his standards.
Because of this, the customers are getting quality food and drinks like how they should be.
Nicole says the food is incredible and a total 180 from the other day.
The other owners are feeling way better about their investments.
Jon says his work is done and he hugs all the owners.
Jon says this bar is going to make money.
What Happened Next at Cirivello's Bar / The Aging Room at Cirivello’s?
Six weeks later sales have gone up by 20%.
Danny is proud and happy with where they are at right now.
Jon revisited with his wife a year later and they were still open.
They were serving edible candies made of bacon, they kept all of Jon's changes and business was up 22%.
Cirivello's Bar / The Aging Room at Cirivello’s closed in July 2017 after it appears that they lost their liquor licence and were forced to close.
This post was last updated in February 2022.
