Cap’n Odies Bar Rescue Update – Florida – Still Open in 2024?

Episode Recap

Cap N Odies, also spelled Cap’n Odies or Cap’n Odie’s Lounge or Captain Odies, was an Atlantic Beach, Florida bar that was featured on Season 6 of Bar Rescue.

Though the Cap’n Odies Bar Rescue episode aired in April 2018, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place a couple of months before that.

It was Season 6 Episode 8 and the episode name was “An Ode to the Cap’n”.

In this episode, Jon Taffer heads to Cap’n Odie’s Lounge, also spelled Cap N Odies Lounge.

As the name suggests, the bar is located in Atlantic Beach, FL.

If you’re not familiar with Florida geography, Atlantic Beach is, quite obviously, a beach community.

I don’t think you could name a bar Cap’n Odie’s unless it’s near the beach haha.

It’s located in the north of the state, almost due west from Jacksonville.

While many of the other beach communities have become part of Jacksonville, Atlantic Beach is still somewhat independent.

The Cap’n Odies owner is named Kim Goings.

The bar has been operating for almost forty years and was given to Kim after her father unfortunately passed away.

That is, the bar has been in the family for its entire 40-year history, so there’s a lot of connection there.

Liz is the manager of Cap’n Odie’s Lounge, but she has let many things slide.

This includes staff drinking behind the bar, which is obviously going to drive Jon Taffer crazy (which you should know if you watch the show a lot).

Despite the bar not doing very well, Kim is never at the bar.

As a result, the employees blame her for the bar’s disrepair and failure. 

The bar uses a book to collect its tabs, but many charges are not getting paid.

That’s quite literally leaving money on the table.

To make matters worse, a hurricane hit the area and affected businesses.

Customers are choosing to stay home and save money instead of going out to bars like Cap N Odies.

The owners are in severe debt, and the bar is near closure, which is why the Cap N Odies Bar Rescue episode exists.

To help Jon Taffer with the rescue, Jon brings in expert mixologist Phil Wills.

Cap’n Odie’s Lounge is near a naval base that houses many families, so it should be able to pull in people from the base (along with people going to the beach).

Jon Taffer and Phil are introduced to Liz in the camera footage.

The footage shows a weird deal the bar offers -$10 dollars and you can drink all night.

That’s an insane deal! Even for a dive bar.

I would’ve loved to have a bar with that offer when I was in college, but it does seem like it’s not a great way for the bar to make money.

I mean, I could easily drink more than $10 worth of alcohol in the first hour!

Two naval officers go undercover for Jon to spy on the bar and gain some knowledge.

The bartenders are drinking alcohol, smoking behind the bar, and ignoring the spies.

It’s pretty standard fare for Bar Rescue, but it’s not something you usually see in successful bars.

Eventually, the staff notice Jon Taffer’s Naval Officer spies and take their orders.

The officers ask for a whiskey sour which is served too sour.

The spies overhear a customer return their soda because black flecks are floating in their drink. 

Instead of figuring out the issue with the soda, the bartenders replace the soda.

Jon Taffer and Phil have seen enough so they enter the bar.

Phil immediately tries to find the problem with the soda while Jon meets with Kim Goings, the owner.

Kim complains about Liz and the bar’s disrepair.

Liz is called in, and Jon Taffer tells her it is illegal to smoke behind the bar.

Jon tells the entire bar that all drinks are contaminated and they should not keep drinking them.

The ice machine is moldy on the inside, and the mold is leaking into the ice.

It’s so gross – ever since watching Bar Rescue I’m super paranoid about ice machines and just assume they’re riddled with mold.

The customers leave in disgust and Kim is told to clean the ice machine.

When Jon Taffer leaves, Liz is smoking a cigarette in the corner (which again, Jon Taffer already told her is illegal).

At the staff meeting the next day, Jon addresses the issue of the tabs book.

After calculations, Jon determines there are $200 dollars unaccounted. The money is counted as a loss.

Liz tells Jon she is doing things the same way Kim’s father did, but Jon does not believe her.

Jon tells Kim she needs to step up as a leader. 

While that’s happening, Phil trains the bartenders on making drinks with Captain Morgan in order to prepare them for the stress test.

They even get a visit from the Captain himself – yay for product placement!

Liz is working as a manager for the stress test.

Jon is going to watch the employees on their quality and consistency.

The bar keeps making mistakes, and drinks are dumped.

The bar is being ignored, and some customers wait for almost thirty minutes. 

Miami, a bartender, works well but falls behind because the bar lacks a POS system.

Side note – customers seem to love Miami, as she’s mentioned positively in a lot of reviews. More on that later.

After things get out of control, the test is shut down.

The next day Phil continues showing the bartenders how to make cocktails with Captain Morgan.

He shows them how to make their new signature drink in a signature glass. 

The bar is renovated and revealed.

The name has stayed the same, but the colors have been updated to reflect the nearby naval base.

Jon Taffer also slightly simplified it, dropping the lounge part and just going with Cap’n Odie’s.

I like that he kept the original name because of its long history with Kim’s father.

In addition to new decor, the bar also got a bunch of equipment.

As always, the equipment is free of charge, mostly provided by the show’s sponsors.

Customers come into the bar for the relaunch.

The bar does a great job, and the customers are happy with the decor, food, and cocktails. 

So was the Capn Odies Bar Rescue episode a long-term success?

Keep reading to learn what happened next and if this Atlantic Beach, FL bar is still open in 2024 and beyond.