Sand Dollar Bar Rescue Update (Bar 702) – Still Open in 2024?

Is Bar 702 still open today?

Status: >> OPEN <<
(keep reading to learn what happened)

Season: 3 | View All Season 3 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: July 7, 2013
The Bar's Original Name Was: Sand Dollar
Bar 702 Address: 3355 Spring Mountain Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89102

Bar 702 bar Rescue Update

Episode Recap

The Sand Dollar Lounge, later renamed to Bar 702, was a Las Vegas, Nevada bar that was featured on Season 3 of Bar Rescue.

Though the Sand Dollar Bar Rescue episode aired in July 2013, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.

It was Season 3 Episode 11 and the episode name was “Don’t Mess with Taffer’s Wife”.

Originally named The Sand Dollar Lounge, Bar Rescue was featured on Season 3 of Bar Rescue. Located in Las Vegas, NV, The Sand Dollar Lounge was in dire need of help from Jon Taffer.

This episode is famous for the owner, Dr. Wilkes, allegedly hitting on Jon Taffer’s wife, Nicole.

Jon was, naturally, angry as hell. Though they eventually managed to move past their problems.

Sand Dollar opened in 1976 in Las Vegas, NV.

The blues and gambling bar was successful during the 1970s because singers like Eric Clapton and BB King performed there.

Sadly, due to the decline in the popularity of blues music, the original Sand Dollar closed down. 

Lisa Guerena purchased The Sand Dollar Lounge in 2009 with help from Dr. Paul Wilkes. Unfortunately, Lisa was struggling with the bar and at the time of the show’s filming was a whopping $300,000 in debt.

Lisa and Dr. Paul Wilkes were once in a relationship but now own Sand Dollar together.

The owners host live blues shows, but they can only attract older customers.

The employees think Lisa is neglecting her duties as a manager as she is usually working behind the bar trying to make money.

The staff also believes Paul is scaring off the women customers. 

Professional gamer Anthony Curtis and mixologist Jen J join Jon Taffer for the rescue.

As Jon Taffer explains the history of Sand Dollar to the experts, his wife Nicole Taffer and her friend go and spy on the bar.

There is blues music playing, but no one is listening to it. Jon’s wife and her friend agree the bar looks dirty and run down. 

There are fourteen slot machines in the bar, but only two are used.

Paul is playing pool instead of managing the bar.

Nicole, Jon’s wife, orders a screwdriver, but the bartender makes her a cranberry and vodka.

The cocktails are served in plastic cups and taste lousy. The spies are told there is no food, so they order another drink. 

The women order a Sex on the Beach, and Paul makes an inappropriate comment.

Nicole and her friend quickly get offended at Paul’s behavior, and after Paul puts his hands on Jon’s wife while talking crudely, Jon Taffer storms into the bar and confronts Paul. Jon leaves with his wife and tells Paul he is not interested in saving Sand Dollar. 

Side note – this interaction would lead to a lawsuit, which I’ll detail below. Paul claims the Bar Rescue producers told him to treat Nicole that way and it led to him being punched by Jon Taffer.

Jon Taffer returns to Sand Dollar the following day, where Paul apologizes for the day before.

Paul tells Jon he wants to see the bar succeed for Lisa.

Jon meets with the employees and admonishes them for not being able to make basic drinks.

The staff also tells Jon that Lisa spends too much time behind the bar when she should be managing. 

The experts are introduced and tell the owners there should be more gaming machines in the bar.

While inspecting the bar, Jon and the experts find that it is rotted. They also see a cockroach.

Lisa tells Jon that roaches are a common occurrence in Sand Dollar, which is pretty gross.

Jenny quizzes the bartenders on simple drinks, but they do not know how to make them.

She then trains them on how to male a lemon drop.

Anthony talks to the owners about maximizing gameplay and how to boost bar sales.

The stress test begins, and Lisa is not working behind the bar but will be leading instead. 

A blues band plays for the stress test. Lisa holds a cowbell and is made to ring it every time a mistake is made at the bar.

Paul can’t keep up with the bar and is forced to run drinks instead.

The customers do not like the games and begin to leave.

Jon ends the test and tells the owners that the blues theme is not beneficial for Sand Dollar. 

Anthony thinks the owners should pay more money out on the machines to get more customers to play.

Jen continues to train the staff on drinks, and Paul does excellent.

The renovations are done, and Jon has renamed the bar from Sand Dollar Lounge to Bar 702.

702 is the area code for the Vegas area, which is where the name comes from.

A window has been added to the wall connecting the bar with the restaurant next door. This window will make it easier to serve customers food.

Thundergroup has replaced the junky plastic cups with glass-like plasticware. The staff set the bar up and got ready for the relaunch. 

A customer is happy that the machines are paying out more often.

Lisa works behind the bar, much to the dismay of Jon.

Live music plays, and it is not blues, and the younger customers love it. 

So was the Sand Dollar Bar Rescue episode a success? Keep reading our update to learn what happened next and how the bar is doing in 2024 and beyond.

Bar 702 Update - What Happened Next?

Now that we’ve recapped the Bar 702 Bar Rescue episode, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left Las Vegas, NV.

Things seemed to start off well for the bar business wise.

At the normal six-week check-in with the Bar Rescue producers, it seems like business and customer numbers are up at the bar.

In addition to increasing drink and food sales, the video poker machines are also earning 33% more than before the Sand Dollar Bar Rescue episode.

However, there was some drama here. Paul Wilkes, one of the Sand Dollar owners, filed a lawsuit against Jon Taffer claiming that Taffer had punched him and thrown a drink in his face.

Wilkes also claimed that the Bar Rescue producers had told him to treat Taffer’s wife that way, which is why Taffer attacked him.

The case was eventually settled out of court.

Maybe the settlement was big because the owners soon got out of the business.

In 2014, the owners sold the bar to new owners who soon went back to the old Sand Dollar Lounge name.

Is Bar 702 from Bar Rescue still open?

As of 2022, Bar 702 is still open but it’s doing so under new ownership and the original Sand Dollar Lounge name.

As such, it doesn’t have a lot to do with bar as it appeared on Bar Rescue. However, there is still a Sand Dollar Lounge operating at that location under the original concept, so I still have this one marked as open.

Reviews of the new ownership look great.

The Sand Dollar Lounge has a 4 star rating on Yelp, with people complimenting the drinks and service.

It also has a 4.6 star rating on Google Reviews.

Overall, it’s tough to count this as a Taffer success since the bar ditched his new name and is under new ownership. But overall, there is still a Sand Dollar Lounge there so Taffer did technically rescue the bar!


More Information

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-sand-dollar-lounge-las-vegas
https://www.facebook.com/Sand-Dollar-Lounge-118485108305029/


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Last updated: 2022-05-30 06:10

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