The Secret Behind Bar Rescue's Success

[00:00:00]But, you know what I realized, fixing the business is easy, man. It's fixing them that's hard. Cuz they walk past the filth. They know their employees hate them. They know their costs stink. You know, they're not I'm not the first person to tell them these things in many cases.

[00:00:15]>> So, if I don't get them off their butts or somehow change the way they behave, Tyrus, then I'm not going to succeed.

[00:00:22]That's a huge challenge though. I'm only there for 4 days, man.

[00:00:26]>> Yeah, that's not a lot of time.

[00:00:27]>> change?

[00:00:29]What you do if I'm only with you 4 days?

[00:00:31]The only way I can do that is to change the way you think.

[00:00:35]And the only way I can change the way you think is to to discredit the way you are thinking.

[00:00:41]>> Yeah.

[00:00:42]>> In that moment of doubt, I can sort of start to change you.

[00:00:47]>> Do you think that has a lot to do with the success? Because there have been a lot of people who have tried the, you know, the self-help TV shows or you know, we're going to come in and but you have been at the top uh since you began. And there's uh Gordon Ramsay had one where he came into restaurants for a little while. Uh And uh you know, you see a lot of like it's like rescue this, rescue that. There was dog rescue show. And they all seem to kind of come and go, but yours doesn't go anywhere. Do you think it's the human side of it? Because I also you're tough as hell. Like you're you take no from nobody. And that's one of the things I respect about you. But, you do it differently. Even though you're emotional and you can lose your cool, there's a tenderness to it. I'm trying to find the there's a way because the same guy you're screaming at within 4 days you're hugging and he's calling you brother when you're leaving.

[00:01:39]>> Yeah. It's it's amazing. I can curse him out >> Yeah.

[00:01:42]>> ugly in front of his wife and then put my arm around him a minute later. You know why? I think that they figure it out after a few hours. My intentions are really good. I'm not fighting with them.

[00:01:53]I'm fighting for them.

[00:01:55]>> Yeah.

[00:01:55]>> They have to figure that out at some point to tolerate my aggressiveness.

[00:02:00]But, think about the impact sometimes, Tyrus. I've had situations where I'll tell you a funny story. I'm doing a bar in Orange County, California, and the the my production crew gives me about a 60-second briefing. That's all I get, Tyrus. You know, John and George are ready to kill each other. They've been in business 2 years. They're losing 40 grand a month. They have enough money for 2 more months. That's about all I know. So, they tell me that this guy has been not coming home. His wife says he doesn't come home at night. She thinks he's cheating on him.

[00:02:28]They're losing their whole fortune.

[00:02:29]They're about to lose their house. So, I say, "Let me have the wife to do recon with me." So, I put the wife in my car.

[00:02:36]Her name was Edith. And I said to her, "Hi, Edith." She gets in my car.

[00:02:40]Remember I had the screen in my SUV? She gets in my car with a little gift bag.

[00:02:45]And I say to her, "What's that?" She goes, "Oh, it's it's my 14th anniversary." I said, "Oh, so is that for your husband?" She goes, "Yes." I said, "What did you get him?" She goes, "Divorce papers." and pulls them out of the bag.

[00:02:57]>> Oh, wow.

[00:02:57]>> That's how the show starts. Then he flirts with some girls. We're watching him on a video screen, and I see the veins popping out of her neck. And some girl says to him, "Are you married?" And he says, "There's no ring on this finger." And she's shushing this with me.

[00:03:12]So, I say, "Edith, this is the time to change your life.

[00:03:15]I've got your back. You need to go in there with me, and he needs to understand that you are not going to tolerate this anymore. That this is a different day." And she goes, "Okay.

[00:03:25]Okay." [clears throat] We get out of the car. She runs in the bar, punches him in the mouth, rips his shirt open, and throws a drink in his face. But, you know what? 4 days later, at the end of that episode, she put her wedding band back on, tore up the divorce papers, and her tough husband, this was one tough son of a [ __ ] her tough husband looked at me and cried and said, "Thank you. You're the father I never had."

[00:03:48]>> Wow.

[00:03:48]>> 6 months later, I get an email. They had a They're having another baby. So, that's Bar Rescue, man. It's unbelievable how personal it gets, Tyrus. And after that, I screamed even louder the next week. You know what I mean?

[00:04:01]>> Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is like I cuz I used to I used to watch the show when I first started cuz you the first time you watch anything, you you look for the the highlight is you losing your on somebody, right?

[00:04:14]>> Yep.

[00:04:14]>> And then that kind of becomes less because it's the you want to know how it turns out.

[00:04:21]I want to know that it's going like when you when you come give us the Hey, 4 months later they're doing this and that. In a lot of situations, uh I also love the fact that you there isn't really uh a laid out objective on your shows. And what I what I mean by that is like you don't you're not guaranteeing this is going to I'm not saving you. I'm giving you the tools. It's up to you.

[00:04:43]And when you leave, it's not haha, I've done it. Like I have I think they're on the right trajectory. You're You're giving them the tools. Ultimately, they have to do the work.

[00:04:52]You're not solving their problem. You're just giving them wisdom.

[00:04:58]>> Yeah. You know, that was not an easy thing to accomplish. When I started the show, Tyrus, I was nobody in TV. But I was very successful in my business.

[00:05:05]>> Yeah, cuz outside Yeah, that's another one We'll get into that cuz I want to talk about what made you cross over.

[00:05:10]>> So So, when I started the show, my deal with the network it would was it would have to be real. And I wanted real failures so I could, you know, stretch my muscles and do this. And they agreed to that. The third show in, some new producer, vice president of the network comes to set and takes a Tampax, puts it in ketchup, and drops it in the ladies' room on the floor.

[00:05:31]I see this, go absolutely crazy, shut the production down, tell this guy to go F himself, have a massive fight with this network vice president on set. The show shuts down. Everybody leaves. The president of the network flies to to Chicago where we're shooting, walks me around the block and says, "Listen, John, we can have creative agreements, but you can't tell the vice president of the network to go [ __ ] himself."

[00:05:56]>> I I feel like in that situation, the [ __ ] yourself is accurate because for one, you're creating problems that aren't there when they already have problems.

[00:06:05]Two, if that was my place and I saw that, then I'm like, "Wait a minute, you came here to help me and you're creating problems? Get the [ __ ] out of my restaurant." You know what I'm saying?

[00:06:13]Like, you're it >> I mean, being dishonest.

[00:06:16]>> producer's not going to be the one that's being like, "Oh, this guy's" And you know how quick that would spread?

[00:06:21]It would be everywhere. Like, "Oh, he comes in, he he sets up he's fake. He's reality." And And people Here's the thing, as much as a lot of the stuff you see on TV is is scripted and stuff, people smell that quick. They know the difference between genuine and somebody who's just trying to make a show. And And that's the difference. I think that's why you don't need it. Life's hard enough.

[00:06:44]You don't need the bells and whistles.

[00:06:46]>> No, I don't. And so, after that incident, you know, they've left me alone. So, I've shot well over 100 episodes without any network people on set ever.

[00:06:56]And I don't know what I'm doing when I get there. You know, my idea with my production company is I show up, I do recon. After recon, I put everybody in vans in the parking lot and I design the bar that night.

[00:07:08]>> Yeah, I was almost I was almost going to I was going to call >> this when she was on.

[00:07:12]>> Yeah, I was going to go with you in Colorado and then I had a scheduling conflict I used to bounce clubs and I was a kitchen manager at Carlos' O'Kelly's.

[00:07:20]Uh Shout out to Carlos' >> I still want you to do recon.

[00:07:23]>> Oh, yeah, 100%. Yeah, oh, yeah, once.

[00:07:25]And but the the restaurant business, you deal with a lot of personalities, a lot of emotions, a lot of people who are there, uh especially the waiters and waitresses and the cooks like myself, it wasn't our plan, you know, and where it's a it's a job that is fairly easy like if you don't have a lot of experience, you start there you can still get a starting spot, you know, you can get a job there.

[00:07:50]Bartending's a little more complicated, but you it's a place where a lot of people start their life or or where they're there to reset. So, there's a lot of emotion >> next thing.

[00:08:03]>> Yeah.

[00:08:04]And then you're working for someone who's this is my life. I don't you I know you're waiting for your next big break in Hollywood, but I really need you to bust my tables.

[00:08:14]>> Yeah.

[00:08:15]And it's a challenge, you're right, especially in today's environment. And you know, the the entire workforce has changed, Tyrus. If I can deep for a second. You know, social media, if you and I posted pictures of us looking the worst we've ever looked in our lives, somebody's going to say, "Looking good, Tyrus. Great picture, buddy."

[00:08:33]>> Yeah. So, we get this instant gratification on social media. Instant.

[00:08:38]For people who don't deserve it, they're getting it constantly. So, now they come to work and their boss doesn't give them instant gratification. They don't get a pat on the back 10 freaking times a day.

[00:08:49]They don't get promoted in a week. So, things don't happen quick enough for them from a recognizing a standpoint. So, so it's very difficult to motivate employees in this type of environment today cuz they've been conditioned for this immediate, you know, kind of recognition. They think they should be promoted in a week.

[00:09:10]>> Hey, thanks for watching. If you like what you just saw, don't stop there. You can catch the full conversations right here, only on Planet Tyrus. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss what's next, and you don't want to miss what's next. I'm telling you, bad things will happen.

[00:09:23]Oh, I'm just playing. Nothing bad's going to happen, but I I won't be your friend.