(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 4 | View All Season 4 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: March 13, 2016
The Bar's Original Name Was: Van Goghz Martini Bar and Bistro
Crafted Address: 3200 Shenandoah Ave St. Louis, MO 63104
Episode Recap
Van Goghz Martini Bar and Bistro, later renamed Crafted, was a St. Louis, Missouri bar that was featured on Season 6 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Crafted Bar Rescue episode aired in March 2016, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 4 Episode 44 and the episode name was “Dragon Lady”.
In this episode of Bar Rescue, Van Gohz Martini Bar and Bistro is visited by Jon Taffer.
The bar is located in St. Louis, MO.
Dani Davis is the owner, and she bought the bar in 2013 because she had worked there previously.
That means she’s owned the bar for about three years at the time of the Van Goghz Bar Rescue episode.
At first, things were very successful.
Now, things are too stressful for Dani, and she fights with the staff and is rarely at the bar.
To help rescue the Van Goghz bar, Jon Taffer brings mixologist Lisamarie Joyce with him and Chef Pink.
When they arrive in the SUV, they see Dani drinking and smoking vapes at the bar.
There is also a dog in the bar, which is against the health code.
Two local mixologists head into the bar as Jon’s spies.
The spies hate the martinis they order.
For a martini bar, you’d expect the cocktails to be great…but they aren’t.
They also order Italian sausage owned by Dani’s family in Kansas City.
As the spies wait for their food, they catch Dani yelling at the chef in the kitchen.
She yells a lot, which is why the episode’s name is Dragon Lady.
The spies ordered food is excellent, which is a rarity for bars that are featured on Bar Rescue.
However, the camera notices an egg being cooked on a dirty grill, so things still aren’t perfect.
Jon Taffer goes inside and brings Dani into the kitchen to inspect the grill.
Rob, the chef, admits the grill is dirty, and Jon blames him and Dani.
As Jon walks out of the bar, he yells back that there should not be a dog in the building because it’s against the health codes.
Jon arrives with his experts to inspect the bar and kitchen the next day.
Chef Pink sees a roach in the kitchen as well as a freezer with fiberglass on the food and a dirty preparation area.
Lisamarie is in the bar and sees a sharp counter edge, which has injured patrons in the past.
Jon has a meeting with the staff, who all blame Dani for the state of the bar.
Dani doesn’t take responsibility and says the team does not respect her or her equipment.
There are obviously some issues that need to be worked out if the bar is going to be successful…
Lisamarie leads the bar staff in making cotton candy-flavored cocktails with Smirnoff.
Chef Pink is training the chef on a corn dog made with Dani’s family sausage in the kitchen.
During the stress test, Jon gives the customers flashing badges to be removed once they are served.
Drinks take a long time to get to the customers because there are no more martini glasses.
Some of the guests’ badges begin to run out of batteries before they are ever served their drinks.
Yikes…
Rob is doing well in the kitchen, but the servers are backed up due to the bar.
Jon ends the test and meets with an emotional Dani.
Jon and the staff meet the next day, and he informs them how Dani is going to try and be better.
Chef Pink trains the staff on making sausage ravioli while Lisamarie shows the bartenders how to use a cocktail press to infuse flavors into drinks.
While that’s happening, Jon Taffer and his crew get to work on revamping the bar.
Within thirty-six hours, the bar is renovated.
As part of the changes, Jon renamed the bar from Van Goghz Martini Bar and Bistro to Crafted.
I think the new name is much better as it’s shorter and easier to remember (and pronounce).
Beyond the new name, the interior of the bar now looks more upscale.
There is a new fryer from Perfect Fry and two new POS machines.
At the relaunch, the bar and kitchen are keeping up with the orders.
The customers are pleased with the relaunch and things seem to be going much better.
So would the changes from the Van Goghz Bar Rescue episode last? Let’s talk about what happened next in our update and how the bar is doing in 2024 and beyond.
Crafted Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Crafted Bar Rescue visit, let’s talk about what happened to this bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left St. Louis, MO.
Things start off very well.
At the normal six-week check-in from the Bar Rescue producers, we learn that sales as the newly christened Crafted are up by almost 50%!
Mia Mastrionnani also revisited the bar in 2017, a year after the Crafted Bar Rescue episode.
This was part of the Back to the Bar episode.
She learned that Crafted has a rotating, seasonal drink menu, which is pretty cool.
Rob is also still in the kitchen, though he had to hire more staff to keep up with the increase in business.
You can see part of the Crafted Back to the Bar episode in this YouTube clip:
And that’s just the start – Crafted has shown no signs of slowing down since then, even powering through the Covid-19 pandemic (which took out a lot of bars from Bar Rescue, such as The Kasbah in Denver).
Is Crafted from Bar Rescue still open?
As of 2023, Crafted is still open and serving customers in St. Louis, MO. The bar has very good reviews, with a stellar four star rating on its Yelp page.
They even serve a drink called the Jon Taffer!
Most of the other bars on Bar Rescue get 3-3.5 star ratings, so the Crafted Yelp rating is quite good.
People seem to praise both the food and drink and the negative reviews are few and far between.
Here’s a sampling of a few reviews that were written after the visit from Jon Taffer…
5 star Yelp review from February 2019:
I heard about this place from Bar Rescue and it did not disappoint.
The drinks were creative and delicious.
My fiancé got a pressed drink with herbs that blew my mind. It was fantastic.
Their food is so good I didn’t know what to do with myself.
The fried goat cheese balls.. get them.
That’s all I can say.
The X-factor ladies and gentlemen.. they do bottomless mimosas on Sunday!
Some wonderful genius came up the idea of bottomless mimosas and I love reaping the benefits.
They have bottomless mimosas from 10-2 on Sunday’s for only $10.. out of control.
This place was a great experience inside and out and I’ll definitely be back.
5 star Yelp review from November 2016:
We’ve drove by this place a few times and always wanted to try it.
We finally got around to it and man we weren’t disappointed!
The food was incredible, the place was super clean, everyone was very, very friendly.
We saw a mixed drink called the jon taffer and looked online to see if they were on an episode of Bar Rescue, and they were. so naturally we went home to watch it.
it was awesome to see a drama-free episode, with an owner and employees that were willing to listen to advice and adapt to change in order to help the business succeed.
And we ABSOLUTELY saw that in action when we were there!
we will definitely be back, as after just one trip, it’s becoming our new favorite place to go!
5 star review from July 2021:
Got the crafted burger with fries, and my vegan partner got the Brussels sprouts and sweet potato fries.
Everything was delicious.
Loved the atmosphere and loved our waitress.
We’re planning a big move to St. Louis and she gave us so many helpful tips.
The speciality cocktails are real nice too, which makes sense since they were actually on the show “bar rescue”.
I would honestly say the regular French fries were JUST LIKE McDonald’s fries… which is a good thing, in my opinion.
The bar is also active on the Crafted Facebook page, regularly posting about events and specials.
If you’re in the St. Louis, Missouri area and you want to pay it a visit, you can learn more and see the menu at the official Crafted website.
Here’s an example of the Crafted drink menu:
Overall, Crafted is definitely one of the biggest Bar Rescue success stories as the bar has already survived for over seven years with no signs of slowing down.
Congratulations to everyone involved!
If you want to see updates for some other nearby Missouri Bar Rescue episodes, you can check out my updates for Pastimes on 4th / O’Kelley’s Irish Pub in St. Louis, City Bistro / The Beechwood in St. Louis, and Water’s Edge / Edge of Town in Blue Springs.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/crafted-st-louishttps://www.facebook.com/craftedstl/
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Last updated: 2023-03-01 06:30
To be honest I would have thought this bar would fail, but glad to see its going strong and that they kept the name that Jon gave it.
Well done !
I thought the exact same thing, including being glad I was wrong.
Finally a bar owner that actually humbled herself and took Taffer’s changes and advise and ran with it. And what happened, the bar is still open. I am very happy to learn that this bar is still go9jg strong.
These other bars should take note. I’ll be sure to visit when I I head to St Louis.
Dani is a cutie. I am definitely impressed her and her staff overcame the Inconsistencies in the kitchen and bar.