(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 5 | View All Season 5 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: July 2, 2017
The Bar's Original Name Was: Casual Tap
Casual Tap Address: 5924 W Montrose Ave Chicago, IL 60634
Episode Recap
Casual Tap was a Chicago, Illinois bar that was featured on Season 5 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Casual Tap Bar Rescue episode aired in July 2017, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 5 Episode 22 and the episode name was “Casually Tapped Out”.
Casual Tap is located in Chicago, Illinois.
Steve Magna bought the 60-year-old bar in 2008, which means he’s owned it for almost a decade at the time of the Casual Tap Bar Rescue visit.
He was also a fireman, and due to that, the bar was successful when it first opened.
The bar has irregular hours due to Steve’s stress from firefighting.
The staff was left to run the bar, and they did not have any structure.
Louie is Steve’s friend and manager of Casual Tap, but he hasn’t stepped up as a leader.
Sadly, Steve’s daughter’s mother is in the end stages of Huntington’s disease.
Because this is a genetic illness, Steve’s daughter is at risk of contracting it.
Casual Tap hasn’t been opened for months but will reopen for the visit from Jon Taffer.
Bar Rescue wouldn’t usually do this, but it seems like they wanted to help out because of the situation with Huntingdon’s disease and drawing awareness to it.
Jon Taffer also donated money to a charity that supports Huntingdon’s disease, as you’ll learn later on.
Mixologist Rob Floyd arrives at the bar with Jon Taffer.
The bar is closed, so the men drive to Steve’s firehouse.
Steve informs Jon that the bar has been closed so he can focus on his family.
Jon promises to help Steve reopen Casual Tap.
The following day Steve and the staff begin to clean the bar as they wait for Jon.
Zee and Louie have some tension between them as they clean.
There is no draft beer at the bar even though a sign outside says they offer it.
The bar does not accept credit cards, which holds them back during the stress test.
Louie makes too many mistakes, and all of the drinks he makes have to be dumped.
There are bugs in the beer bottles, and the stress test is forced to shut down.
Steve doesn’t take accountability for the test’s failure and blames the bugs.
Steve doesn’t make Louie take accountability either, despite having just graduated bartending school.
Jon Taffer wants Steve to pick a staff member to manage the bar while he spends time with his family.
Louie is Steve’s choice, but Jon wants Zee.
Both Louie and Zee are taken through Jon’s management training program.
Jon tells the staff he is not going to change the bar’s name, unlike the changes he makes on a lot of other episodes.
Rob is creating new, fun cocktails for the bar to serve so they can make more money.
Jon sets up a mock scenario with issues to see how each management candidate responds.
Zee is first and resolves all the problems.
Louie makes mistakes when it is his turn.
Rob shows the staff how to make cocktails themed to the Chicago fire department.
Louie and Zee are called on to make the drinks Rob has shown them.
Steve and Jon look over the blueprints for Casual Tap and get excited. The bar is remodeled over a day.
The bar has created a signature cocktail, with all proceeds going to benefit the research of Huntington’s disease.
Jon also makes a generous, private donation to the foundation.
Customers come in for the relaunch. Louie has cut his finger and has to go outside to an ambulance.
Steve’s family comes to the bar and is proud of him.
So was the Casual Tap Bar Rescue visit a long-term success?
Keep reading to learn what happened next and if this Chicago bar is still open in 2024.
Casual Tap Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Casual Tap Bar Rescue visit, let’s talk about what happened after Jon Taffer and his crew put down their deep dish pizzas and left Chicago, IL.
This one is not an exciting update because there’s really nothing to report and this one had zero chance of being successful. Here’s why…
Is Casual Tap from Bar Rescue still open?
Casual Tap was already closed at the time of the Bar Rescue visit and it remained closed even after Jon Taffer’s changes and the Casual Tap bar Rescue episode aired on TV.
Steve originally planned to reopen Casual Tap in time for the episode’s air date on TV, but he wasn’t able to achieve that.
Casual Tap remains closed permanently as far as I can tell.
With that being said, I’m not 100% sure what’s happening because some commenters pointed out that it’s no longer marked as closed on Google (whereas it was before).
However, it is still marked as closed on Yelp and the Facebook page hasn’t had a new post since 2015.
Assuming it’s still closed, there was zero chance of this one being successful because the bar was already closed when Taffer visited and it never reopened.
As of 2022, the old Casual Tap Chicago, IL location seems to still be empty.
In a Google Street View picture from October 2021, the building still has the Casual Tap signage up even though the bar had been closed for multiple years at this point.
Here’s the picture of the building from October 2021:
It still looks exactly the same in this image from October 2022.
The sign is still there and the windows are still boarded up.
I really don’t get why nothing has happened with the property, but it really does seem to just be sitting there vacant.
If you want to connect with Steven, you can do so on Facebook here.
If you live in the area and know what’s happening, please let me know so that I can update this.
I suppose it is possible that Casual Tap has miraculously come back from the dead and is open again.
However, I don’t see enough information to confirm that, yet.
If you want to see some other Chicago Bar Rescue episodes, check these out:
- Clear Bar / Underground Wonder Bar update
- Blue Frog 22 / The Local update
- The Abbey / The Green Room update
- The Dugout / Press Box update
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/casual-tap-chicagohttps://www.facebook.com/Casual-Tap-142029089227025/
What did you think about the episode? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
You can also click the buttons below to share this post!
And don't forget to check out all of the other Bar Rescue updates.
Last updated: 2023-03-18 04:58
I loved the Casual Tap episode. I think Steve is adorable, I wish him happiness as he moves forward, once he has gotten through his personal issues.
The bar update is stunning and definitely a place I would frequent. I imagine Steve is dealing with his grief over his exe’s situation.
I would love to know more about what is happening now. Will he ever re-open? I wish I could embrace him and give him some words of comfort for him and his family.
Good men are so hard to find. My brother in law recently passed away after a very shocking and brief battle with pancreatic cancer. He also was volunteer fire chief in his town for 20 years. Coincidentally, his name was Steve!
Hang in there my friend, life will be good again.
Fondly,
Barbara
I don’t understand 🤷♀️
John redoes your whole bar 🤔
And it looks wonderful 😀
You have Dee who is totally capable to manage the bar 😃
You have the time away from the with someone ya can trust
Sooo, I’m confused why ya don’t want to reopen when ya really have no reason
I was rooting for the owner. Zee was the star of that bar but we know they would’ve needed some sort of food to stay afloat. Great episode though.
Google maps says they are open from 12-2:15 daily
I see it marked as “Permanently Closed” on Google.
Just looked on Google map and it showes Open.
My Google search also said “open” with the same hours. Must be wrong then?
Hmmm not sure what’s up. I will try calling the number to see if it’s open.
I also see it marked as closed on Yelp, though: https://www.yelp.com/biz/casual-tap-chicago
And I don’t see any reviews since around 2015.
That’s typical for Google maps – you always have to call to confirm.
Someone who lives nearby reached out to me and confirmed that Casual Tap is permanently closed.
That’s what I do for a living. I help businesses with their Google Maps. A lot of times either. The owner does not keep it up to date or they have an agency that they no longer can access their own. It can become a mess.
I want to thank Jon and bar rescue! Huntington’s disease is practically unknown to most people even though it’s a horrible devastating disease.
I know what the bar owner is dealing with. Huntington’s disease took my wife after 38 years of marriage.
Wishing you strength and peace! Thank you thank you Jon/bar rescue!!
Caught this bar rescue this evening
Praying for healing for Steven and family
Had to be hard doing so many things at once and trying to reopen his fave bar .
Peace to you and I do mean peace
I loved this episode. All the little details Taffer did with the firefighter photos, the inspirational quote, and the proceeds being donated to Huntingtons disease was amazing. It made me cry and was a good episode.
even though i hate chicago because of how crooked it is, i would check out this bar. john taffer is amazing and so smart. you can tell he truly cares about the folks he helps. i love watching bar rescue.
Louie is a choke artist. Once he finally has the chance to prove himself at the grand reopening, he cuts his finger open before any guests even come in.
I think with a little bit of particle and patience Louie will be to snuff but , I’m the meantime Dee can ya handle it 😀
LOL Chicago is a dump
I don’t understand why Jon Taffer would makeover a bar that was closed. This makes no sense. I wish the former the best.
Now Google has it “temporarily closed” as of Oct 3, 2023.
This was a great episode, major bummer that Steve couldn’t get Zee or someone in there to run it for him. He deserves success. It must be sickening to wonder every day if your child is going to end up having Huntington’s someday. It is a horrible disease.
Wishing him and his family the best.
A reader who lives nearby reached out to me and confirmed that it is closed (and has been closed the whole time).
“The fire within you burns brighter than the fire around you….”
I thought that was so awesome! I got teary eyed seeing that written on the wall in large lettering. Beautiful! To the owner and admin(s) of this website… Thank you so much for this site! It must take a lot of work and effort to gather all the info about so many different bars and taverns; each having their own set of different situations and circumstances. Some owners seeming very eager to succeed while others, well… maybe not so much! Each bar is unique and has its own set of challenges. So thank you so much for your effort. I come here a lot; particularly right after an episode airs to see how they are doing or whether they closed up their business. You always have such great info on these bar updates! I don’t know how you do it but I thank you so much! Please keep up the phenomenal work with this website; it’s the best! Blessings, and take care.
Thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate it.
a few things. 1 I wished this bar would have been a success. Second. To the admin of this website Thank you! This is a huge help to me why you ask? I’m totally blind Yep I am blind as a bat 🙂 I can’t see the little captions that scrool across the bottom of the screen in many tv shows. For those wondering how are you writing this? I use the Jaws for windows screen reader for the PC you can find more info at http://www.freedomscientific.com and on the iPhone I use voiceover.