(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 2 | View All Season 2 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: September 16, 2012
The Bar's Original Name Was: Win, Place or Show
America Live Address: 7121 Dixie Hwy Fairfield, OH 45014
Episode Recap
Win Place or Show, later renamed America Live, was a Fairfield, Ohio bar featured on Season 2 of Bar Rescue.
Though the America Live Bar Rescue episode aired in September 2012, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 2 Episode 8 and the episode name was “Owner Ousted”.
Located in Fairfield, Ohio, Win Place or Show is owned by US Navy vet, Barry Rogers.
In order to open the bar, Barry had to invest his life savings (around $50,000).
The bar was initially a biker bar but was transformed into a sports bar when Barry bought it.
Unfortunately, not many customers know about the change and avoid the bar because of its reputation.
Rudy Garcias is Barry’s friend and co-owner who performs at the bar.
Rudy’s wife Tracy helps out as a bartender but has no experience behind the bar, which shows in the episode.
Win Place or Show has never earned a profit and is now three months from closing.
Jon recons the bar with Chef Aaron McCargo and bartending expert Jason Bran.
The bar is misleading and has no identity.
It looks like a bar to place horse bets – you can see the original sign in the image above.
A spy goes in and orders a long island iced tea, but it is too strong.
The platter that the spy orders is rubbery and cooked in a microwave.
Jon comes into the bar and confronts the owner.
Jon tells the owner he thinks Rudy has no respect for the bar.
He does a tour of the bar and kitchen and finds old fruit, dirty soda guns, and bad chicken thawing on the counter.
Rudy defends his staff, but Jon says the kitchen would be clean if they cared.
The following day, Jon meets with the staff. He tells them they lost an incredible $600 worth of liquor on Saturday.
How can you have a successful bar if you’re losing hundreds in drinks? It’s crazy!
Rudy admits that it was him giving out free beer.
His wife Tracy also doesn’t care about the business.
The experts train the staff. The bar is also given a new electric smoker for BBQ food.
There is also a new whiskey and bourbon menu to compliment the BBQ menu.
The bar staff is trained on simple drinks such as a BLT and a Tennessee Apple.
With that basic training done, they open for the stress test.
Tracy is problematic at the bar, so she is put on the floor.
She is missing when customers are ready to order their food, getting frustrated.
Rudy is only greeting guests, and Barry is doing most of the management work.
Customers start to get up and leave because of the poor service in the stress test.
Tracy and Rudy are called out after the stress test for not caring.
The next day everyone is present but Tracy.
Jon is planning on unveiling the newly renovated bar to the staff.
Aaron continues to work with the kitchen staff.
Jason shows team how to be fast behind the bar.
Jon Taffer tells Rudy that he should stop playing at the bar.
Amber, a bartender who Jon recognizes, has passion, is brought in as the bar’s part-owner, writing a check on the spot.
Rudy walks out of the ownership, which is a first on Bar Rescue as far as I’m aware.
For the relaunch, Jon promotes the bar on a local radio station.
He reveals the new name of the bar, America Live Bar and Grill.
Beyond the name change, the Bar Rescue renovation includes a Touchtune sound system for karaoke, a photo booth, and two new POS systems.
And of course, America Live got a big brand new sign on the outside.
I think that the new sign looks great – it’s a massive improvement over the weird kiddy design from Win Place or Show:
The staff is nervous at first during the relaunch.
Eventually, the customers enjoy their drinks and food.
To add some more fun to the relaunch, Halestorm comes and plays songs off of their new album.
So, was the America Live Bar Rescue episode a long-term success? Keep reading to learn what happened next and if this Fairfield, Ohio bar is still open in 2025.
America Live Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Win Place or Show Bar Rescue episode, let’s talk about what happened to the newly named America Live bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left.
At first, things seemed to be going well as sales were up 25% around six weeks after Jon Taffer’s original visit (his actual visit – not when the episode aired on TV).
However, the good times would not last.
In fact, things started going downhill even before the America Live episode aired on TV.
Is America Live from Bar Rescue still open?
America Live closed in July 2012, which is before the episode even aired on TV.
There seems to be some drama around the bar’s ownership, which played a role in its closure.
When the bar closed, they posted the following message on Facebook (though it was removed soon after):
America Live would first like to thank all are friends, supporters and loyal patrons.
You all have humbled us with your kind words and support!!
It truly helps us all!
We would like to let everyone know that we were ambushed by two members of the community who schemed to take our bar out from underneath us.
This had apparently been in the works by these individuals for awhile.
We have lost our entire life savings and everything we put into the bar.
We can’t even get in to get our personal things as of now.
They screwed us in the worst way!
We will release more details as we can, but rest assured that we may be down, but we are definitely not out!
Spoiler alert – they actually were both down and out.
I’m really not sure what happened, but America Live is definitely closed.
For a time, the old America Live Fairfield Ohio located was occupied by a new bar called Buzzard Bay Pub.
However, that bar closed in 2018.
You can see Buzzard Bay Pub in the Google Maps street view image for the front of the property, which hasn’t been updated since 2018:
After that, the location was occupied by a new bar named Mango’s Tropical Oasis.
However, Mango’s Tropical Oasis was destroyed in a fire in November 2020. The fire caused over $250,000 in damage.
As far as I can tell, the location is currently empty (and probably fire damaged).
Here’s the most recent Google Maps street view image of the back of the property, which shows the Mango’s sign (it’s still only from 2019, though):
There aren’t any reviews on the America Live Yelp page, so I can’t share any reviews like I normally do.
Overall, it seems like this one closed because of legal/ownership disputes rather than the business itself.
If you know anything about what’s happening at the old America Live Fairfield Ohio location, please let me know in the comments section below.
If you want to see some other Ohio Bar Rescue episodes, you can check out my updates for The Public House / The Black Sheep in Cheviot, The Federal / Martini Brothers in Youngstown, and The Royal Oaks in Youngstown.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/america-live-bar-and-bbq-fairfieldWhat did you think about the episode? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
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Last updated: 2023-02-06 06:11
Wish they would have remodeled my bar instead. Im still open in 2022 !!!!
You can always submit your bar to be featured on Bar Rescue if we ever get a Season 9 of the show.
how in the hell was this bar legally stolen from these two owners? I’ve been thinking about this episode for the last couple of years.
Awe. This one hurts. I was so excited for them and had so much faith. That really sucks for them.
Yeah it’s a bummer. Amber really believed in the place and invested real money into it so they could buyout that wannabe rocker guy.
I’m guessing the ‘someones’ are the useless rocker partner and the useless wife. What a shame, this was a great episode and looked like a great venue.
Rudy the “rocker” screwed everybody…. including himself…
I was gonna get America live bar an grill another band that I feel is just as good if not better then Hell storm when they had the female singer .
Hailstorm, dork
Try Halestorm…Lzzy Hale is the lead singer. And, no, not a typo. That is how she spells her name. #Googleisourfriend
Halestorm you bigger dork.
yeah, the NO talent bleached blond pig was pissed his lame band wasn’t able to practice there I guess….typical ohio attitude
Crazy people can’t see they suck and drag the business down. Hailstorm might have been too heavy as well. People want to have a good time and dance after a long week. Not bang their head. Save that for certain venues. The letter seems shady on why they closed. Or they just sold out.
I got an awful feeling that bloated, beached hair wanna be, failed Rocker and his lousy wife who got her feelings hurt had everything to do with the reason the bar closed. He and his lousy ugly band failed not only to get signed to even the lowest label, but also get gigs anywhere due to how lousy they were. And his lazy ass wife was so angry and embarrassed by her being scolded on video that she was raging with fury, and convinced her fat hubby to take his former partner and friends to court.
I couldn’t agree with you more
You hit the nail on the head! Perfect.
I think that’s what happened as well. He got bought out for $10,000 which isn’t a lot of money, without even discussing it with his wife or an attorney first. I’m sure he likely had immediate sellers remorse, especially with how much money Bar Rescue put into refurbishing the entire place and the publicity they would receive with being on the Bar Rescue show. Also it seemed like the entire sale of the company was done simply on a “handshake” deal which might not have been official if the proper paperwork wasn’t signed, giving him the ability to force his way back in.
So from what I was able to find, Rudy prior to the shooting of the episode had sold his interest to another third party before the deal with Amber. UNLESS the show was scripted to pretend the sale, Rudy committed a form of fraud, and with $10k gone, the owners of the bar couldn’t make rent thus the landlord locked them out.
Also, apparently Bar Rescue producers were partially to blame according to Amber, because they didn’t offer any operational capital and just a remodel which shut them down for three days, where they couldn’t make any money, so they could make rent.
Source: https://alt.tv.reality.narkive.com/B1BB6YCi/bar-rescue-bar-rescue-leaves-bad-taste-for-former-owner
Love your review! Hits it right on fat ass Rudy’s bloated body.
I think a band that yells “who wants to hear him play fucking guitar!” Would be offensive to anyone!
Oh my word, what losers. Hope karma gets them.
I’m super sad to see that this venue didn’t make it! Amber and Barry seemed to really be invested into the success of the bar. If this bar was open today, I could definitely see it having some really super nice bands.
Like a few others have voiced, I definitely think that dumbass rocker dude and his wife are the “two members of the community”. They were probably pissed off at being thrown under the bus on cable TV. The sad thing is that if that band was genuinely good, they could have played at this bar.
That dude was all about the rocker lifestyle, but wanted nothing to do with having an actually successful band.
Wow !
I figured after 10 years someone would know what really happened to this bar and why it closed. It had so much potential!
I blame Sam Bankman-Fried and cryptocoins.
Lool right before the clock struck 12
What?
Apparently the landlord locked them out shortly after Bar Rescue left claimed they didn’t pay rent. Sure there was more going on behind closed doors we are aware about. Wish the owners well they seemed like good people hope she got her 10K back but doubt that happened.
I’ve worked here when it was buzzard bay. From my understanding, no owner has had good luck with this spot. The location is kinda crappy in my opinion 😕
Cool thanks for sharing your experience! The location does seem a bit cursed
I am curious why Jon Taffer chose the name “America Live” for the bar’s new name.
If I remember correctly, America Live was the name of a nationwide chain of sports bars in the mid-1990’s that also featured cocktail lounges, live entertainment, a karaoke bar, dance halls, a piano bar, a comedy club, and a place for gaming. But by the end of the 1990’s, they all went out of business. So I cannot figure why Taffer decided to choose a failed brand name to replace Win, Place, or Show.
Finally, that wannabe rocker dude looked like a very poor man’s version of celebrity chef Guy Fieri!
In the dictionary under “clueless bitch” there’s a photo of Tracy, the wife of fat ass “rock star wannabe” Rudy.
Only person DUMBER is Janette from LIV.
Lmao yes Sally I AGREE!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Funny 😁
To fat ass Rudy: Where did you find urine yellow hair dye? Did you borrow it from your wife? If you “wanna rock and roll”, shave your head, lose 200 lbs (150 of which is that dead weight of a wife) and take guitar lessons.
😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😁😁 nuff said!
I really hope Amber got her money back. I’m very sorry the owner lost everything. Very sad for everyone.
I really enjoy reading the updates for the closed bars. The main commenter isn’t rude and doesn’t post snarky comments even though he certainly could.
The Win, Lose or Show episode rescue was doomed from the start. Rudy wasn’t to sincere and wife Tracy was totally antagonistic to any change.
I won’t comment on Rudy’s hair or his musical talents. He believes he looks good so I suppose that wife Tracy likes it that way. The music (meh) but again he likes.
I have tremendous empathy for the owners and workers. ‘Members’ of the community certainly has the Rudy/Tracy fingerprints all over. As to the owners, this act of betrayal stings hard, deep and takes a long time to recover from it. It also makes it hard to trust people in the future.
Thanks again for the updates.
Thanks for the kind words! I try to keep things pretty factual because I know there are real people behind the episode (and that producers can edit things in misleading ways, so people might not be as dumb as they’re portrayed).
Snarky comments are necessary in this case. 😀
Thank goodness Jon doesn’t use Jason Bran any more. As far as I can see, he only “trained” twice on the show. Both times he was on, the bartenders were underperforming. Not the bartenders’ fault. He is just a bad teacher.