America Live Bar Rescue Update (Win Place or Show) – Still Open in 2023?

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 2023.