(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 3 | View All Season 3 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: March 30, 2014
The Bar's Original Name Was: Scoreboard
Agave Junction Cantina Address: 11957 Firestone Blvd, Norwalk, CA 90650
Episode Recap
Scoreboard, later renamed to Agave Junction Cantina, was a Norwalk, California bar that was featured on Season 3 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Scoreboard Bar Rescue episode aired in March 2014, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 3 Episode 34 and the episode name was “Scoreboard to Death”.
Agave Junction Cantina started its life as Scoreboard, a bar that Larry Herrick purchased for his daughter Michelle.
Larry owned the building, while Michelle and her husband Barry controlled the bar.
Michelle had an interest in running the bar as well as a degree in management, so you’d think Scoreboard had everything it needed to be successful.
However, customers generally weren’t happy with Scoreboard, and left negative reviews about the bar and management.
Michelle’s husband, Barry, was also working multiple jobs, so he couldn’t put his whole focus on the bar.
Combined, those issues had Michelle and Barry deep in debt, and they were thinking of selling the bar.
Before making the final decision to sell the bar, though, they decided to call in Jon Taffer.
Jon confronted the owners after sending in Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro as undercover informants.
They generally panned the experience, with poor service and disgusting cocktails that tasted like dish soap.
The food wasn’t much better, and was both soggy and raw.
To make matters worse, there were dead insects in whiskey bottles and bug traps on the counter, which definitely isn’t a great experience in a bar.
In the episode, Maria goes through the bar’s various failings…
Here’s Maria showing off expired ingredients:
And here’s a look at the bugs in the liquor bottle:
To address that, Jon made them hire a professional exterminator and otherwise clean up the place.
Jon gave Michelle some tough love, telling her she wasn’t doing a good job as a manager, but that he still believed she had what it takes to turn Scoreboard around.
In the one hundred person stress test, the team did well, though Michelle still wasn’t pulling her weight.
To turn the bar around, Jon decided to do a new concept and rebrand, switching the name from Scoreboard to Agave Junction Cantina.
The new concept featured Mexican cuisine and a number of Tequila-based cocktails.
He also redid the bars exterior and interior to make it more appealing and all of the equipment was professionally cleaned to ensure a sanitary environment.
When Jon Taffer left the bar, Michelle and Barry were confident that Agave Junction Cantina could be successful going forward.
So was the Agave Junction Cantina Bar Rescue episode a long-term success? Keep reading our update to learn what happened next and if it’s still open in 2024 and beyond.
Agave Junction Cantina Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Agave Junction Bar Rescue visit, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left Norwalk, CA.
Soon after Bar Rescue, the newly rebranded Agave Junction Cantina was doing well.
Reviews were generally positive when it came to the food, staff, music selection, and so on.
There were some general complains about food prices, but overall people were pretty happy.
The owners even held a big watch party for the Agave Junction Cantina Bar Rescue episode and everything was going well.
However, everything changed in December 2016 when there was a violent stabbing at the bar.
A man stabbed three other patrons and then fled the scene.
All the victims survived, but the Agave Junction Cantina stabbing still wasn’t great press for the bar.
Here’s live footage of the 2016 Agave Junction Cantina stabbing aftermath, which includes shots of the police and the bar in the background:
This was just the first issue in the bar’s decline.
Later in January 2018, there was another violent incident – a strong-arm robbery right outside Agave Junction Cantina.
Is Agave Junction Cantina still open?
Because of the bar’s many issues, it eventually closed in September 2018 and was sold to a new owner.
This was more than four years after the Bar Rescue episode, so it’s a pretty good run for a bar.
They went out in style with a party, but Agave Junction is unfortunately no more.
However, the owners were able to sell the bar for $825,000, so at least they got something out of the deal.
As of 2023, a new restaurant called Sushi Joint has opened in the location where Agave Junction Cantina used to be.
Here’s what the old Scoreboard bar Norwalk location looks like in the most recent picture from Google Maps street view:
Sushi Joint has 4.5 stars on Yelp, so it seems like the location wasn’t Agave Junction Cantina’s problem.
At the time that Agave Junction Cantina closed, it had a mediocre 3.5 star rating on Yelp and a 4.2 star rating on Google Reviews.
Here’s a sampling of a few reviews that were written after the visit from Jon Taffer…
3 star review from August 2014:
Stopped by this bar after watching Bar Rescue.
Dimmed lighting and TVs are spread around the bar.
Not bad for a quick drink if you’re in he neighborhood.
Tried the Maria’s junction skins..they were pretty good..
Must try the Adam Carolla’s Mangria!
1 star review from May 2015:
I came here with my boyfriend thinking this will be a cool spot because of bar rescue but it was a total bust.
Drinks are nasty and it took too long to arrive.
Food was not seasoned properly.
Their was a drunk guy being rude and no one done anything.
I will not be coming here ever again.
3 star review from June 2014:
We are fans of bar rescue and made our way this Saturday.
We had the El Chepe Margarita and the Adam Corollas Mangria, amazing.
Can’t leave out the potato skins.
Although the customer service lacked the experience is a must after watching the show!
Overall, all of the reviews seem pretty average.
When you combine that with the other incidents at Agave Junction Cantina, it’s no surprise that it closed.
If you want to see some other nearby Los Angeles Bar Rescue episodes, you can check out my updates for Cirivello’s Aging Room in Long Beach and Bottoms Up in Stanton.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
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Last updated: 2023-02-02 08:43
Michelle was horrible. This is proof that even with a college degree IN YOUR FIELD it doesn’t guarantee success especially with a lackadaisical attitude. I feel so sorry for her poor husband 😞
I cannot figure out why Jon was so nice to Michelle. He’s been much harder are on much harder working manager/owners. I don’t get it. That poor husband. He’s probably working 10 jobs now without her bar manager paycheck from Daddy. This one plain ticked me off!