(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 6 | View All Season 6 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: June 2, 2019
The Bar's Original Name Was: New England's Ale House Grille
Das Brauhaus Address: 3419 Alt 19 Palm Harbor, FL 34683
Episode Recap
New England’s Ale House Grille, later renamed to Das Brauhaus, was a Palm Harbor, Florida bar that was featured on Season 6 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Das Brauhaus Bar Rescue episode aired in June 2019, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place a few months before that.
It was Season 6 Episode 37 and the episode name was “Driving Miss Tara”.
Tara Cook and her ex-husband are the owners of New England’s Ale House Grille in Palm Harbor, FL.
If you’re not familiar with Florida geography, Palm Harbor is located on the beach right near Tampa and Clearwater.
The bar was originally an old building called The Old School House, and the couple renovated it.
After Tara’s husband left her, the bar began falling into debt.
Due to the debt and the stress, Tara snaps at her staff.
Doug was hired as a general manager, but he has difficulty with the staff members.
In addition to managing the bar, Doug runs errands for Tara, like bringing her children to school.
Jon Taffer observes the area from outside the bar and sees that the bar is in a wealthy neighborhood.
This fact should put it in a good position for success.
Jon watches as the cooks prepare food unhygienically, and he calls Tara out to the SUV.
Tara confides in Jon Taffer that she is weeks away from losing everything, which is a big part of why she asked for the New England’s Ale House Bar Rescue episode to happen.
The Yelp reviews say Doug is rude, although Tara says he is a huge help.
Three NFL players spy on the bar’s service for Jon Taffer.
After the spies order food, Jon and Tara watch the cook prepare the food.
The cook, Mo, touches raw chicken but does not wash her hands before moving on to handle a quesadilla.
That’s such a classic Bar Rescue move. I’m honestly more surprised when a chef doesn’t cross-contaminate chicken at this point.
Ten minutes pass, but yet the food is not ready.
After Doug touches food with his bare hands, Jon calls him out.
Doug is made to apologize to the three NFL players.
Then, the staff has to stay to clean the kitchen overnight.
Jon Taffer returns the next day and wants to meet with the team but does not want Doug or Tara there.
In this separate meeting, the employees tell Jon both Doug and Tara verbally mistreat them.
Doug and Tara come back, and Jon tells them their cost of food and drinks is fine, but they are chasing away their customers.
Jon makes them say sorry to their employees for disrespecting them.
At this point, expert mixologist Mia Mastroianni and Chef Michael Ferraro are introduced to help Jon Taffer with the rescue and prep the staff for the stress test.
Chef Michael trains the cooks on handling raw meat the correct way and then prepares them on a chicken dish.
Mia shows the bartenders how to make consistent, well-balanced cocktails.
The staff is challenged to serve their customers in fifteen minutes during the stress test.
Each table has a flag, and when a mistake is made, they will put the flag on the pool table.
The Bar Rescue producers seem to be really running with the NFL theme in this episode.
The bar starts slow and has to pour many drinks.
The kitchen also starts slow and sends out several raw chicken plates.
Doug is expediting, and food is being delivered to the wrong tables.
The stress test is eventually shut down because they can’t catch up.
After the stress test, Mia continues training the bartenders and has them learn to make a stout cocktail because the bar’s focus will be beer.
The kitchen is trained on making a beer-based burger which is delicious.
Tara and Doug meet with Jon, who wants them to fix their work relationship.
While all of that is happening, Jon Taffer and his crew are working on renovating the bar and introducing a new concept.
The bar has been renamed Das Brauhaus, and the theme is Germany and beer.
There is new stonework and a POS system for the bar.
A German dance team entertains the customers outside before the relaunch.
The NFL spies come back and are impressed.
So was Das Brauhaus a long-term success? Keep reading to learn what happened next and if it’s still open in 2024 and beyond.
Das Brauhaus Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Das Brauhaus Bar Rescue episode, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left Palm Harbor, FL.
Things seemed to start off well for Das Brauhaus with the new concept.
At the normal check-in with the Bar Rescue producers, we learn that liquor sales at the bar are up by 40%.
But while the business side of the bar seemed to be doing well, the personal side would lead to Das Brauhaus not surviving for very long.
Is Das Brauhaus from Bar Rescue still open?
Das Brauhaus closed on Sunday, May 12, 2019, which is a few weeks before the Das Brauhaus Bar Rescue episode aired on TV.
Unfortunately, that means this is another bar that wasn’t even able to stay open until its moment in the spotlight.
The reason for the closure is sad, though. Tara Cook, the Das Brauhaus owner, said that her tough divorce and current status as a single mother has forced her to drop the bar so that she can focus on her children.
That seems like a pretty fair reason to me.
She posted a video on the Das Brauhaus Facebook page that detailed her reasons for closed the bar.
Unfortunately, that Facebook page has since been deleted, so I can’t embed it here.
However, I did find this recap YouTube video that includes Tara’s explanation for the closure at around the 14:39 mark:
As of 2023, the old Das Brauhaus Palm Harbor location is occupied by a new bar/restaurant named Wings Etc.
You can learn more on the Wings Etc Facebook page.
Here’s a Google Maps street view that shows the Wings Etc. restaurant in the old Das Brauhaus Florida location:
It seems like Wings Etc. ditched the outdoor seating area/porch and converted it into indoor seating.
What happened to Tara Cook after Bar Rescue?
As of 2023, Tara Cook is working as a real estate agent. You can see her Realtor.com profile here.
I wish her the best in her current and future endeavors.
I don’t like digging into people’s personal lives – so I only post information that’s very public (e.g. her Realtor profile that already pops up at the top of Google).
Das Brauhaus reviews after Bar Rescue
While the bar wasn’t open as Das Brauhaus for very long, the reviews in that time did see positive, though there were some negative ones as well.
In total, it had a 4 star rating on 21 reviews at the time of its closure.
Here’s a sampling of some of the reviews that were written in 2019 (after the visit from Jon Taffer).
Five stars:
Always a great experience. Sad to see that the doors would be closing.
I loved this place and made an effort to come once a week or every 2 weeks.
Best drinks and delicious German food.
It was always so comforting.
The little lamp lights on the tables were just right .
They lit up the atmosphere a without being overwhelming.
A nice soft touch if you ask someone who actually likes to see things when they go out to eat.
Felt weird going there and all the lights were turned off.
I had to turn them all back on.
This place was always clean,calm, and comforting.
I’m really going to miss this place. Seemed so perfect to me .
Two stars:
Service is still great! I preferred the old menu though.
The brat was not memorable and needs to be on a different bun with a crispy crust.
The pork also was not memorable and came with an overabundance of bland cabbage.
The spaetzle with brown gravy was soupy and bland and the gravy wasn’t brown.
Won’t be back to be honest as the food isn’t worth it.
Four stars:
Really good food and comfortable atmosphere with acoustic live music on a Friday night.
Jager Schitzel, braised cabbage, Rouladen and apple strudel all really really tasty and very comfortably priced.
Also a good house wine for $5 a glass.
The only flaw for me was a side of applesauce was not homemade.
But great service friendly staff and everyone was upbeat.
Really enjoyed the experience.
Will return soon and spread the good word.
Overall, the reviews for Das Brauhaus seemed quite good, so it really does seem like the bar closed for personal reasons rather than business reasons.
That’s totally understandable given Tara’s situation – I hope things are going good for her in her new career.
If you want to see some updates for other nearby Tampa Bar Rescue episodes, you can check out my updates for The Bridge Lounge in Tarpon Springs, Sauced / Gil & Rick’s in Largo (the Dave Portnoy episode), and Buffalo City Bar and Grill in Saint Petersburg.
Jon Taffer also visited a few other Tampa area bars in Season 8, though these weren’t near the water.
If you want to check out those updates, you can read about Jerry’s Dockside / AJ’s On the River in Gibsonton, The Forge / Crowne Irish Pub in Brandon, JF Kicks / Jimmy’s in Valrico, and The Loft / Cerealholic Cafe in Tampa.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/das-brauhaus-and-cafe-palm-harborWhat did you think about the episode? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
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And don't forget to check out all of the other Bar Rescue updates.
Last updated: 2023-02-19 06:02
I find it incredibly funny that her Realtor.com ad says she relocated from the northeast to Florida and “dove headfirst into real estate.” Lol…I think she skipped a chunk between the northeast and her real estate gig. But, I’m happy to see she found another career.
Just SAD! Another bar owner took advantage of Bar Rescue.
Usually I would agree with you and don’t like when people sell right after Taffer rescues them.
But in this case, I don’t really blame her for not wanting to co-own a bar with her ex-husband.
Owning a bar also seems like a tough gig for a single parent.
Lol. Yeah, BR isn’t making major $ here. Poor reality tv producers, model of humanity and dignity.
So true!
I agree! I do not understand this woman! Jon Taffer comes in at her request and builds her a great bar. Sales are up 40% and before the episode even airs she closes the doors! Rude and ridiculous. She couldn’t have made that decision before Taffer came to town? I don’t get it.
I DO NOT understand this woman! Her bar has just been re-done. It’s GORGEOUS and sales are up 40%. She is in debt nearly 1 million dollars and now she just closes it? I don’t get it. I understand her being tired but the bar is on its way to being a big success. She could certainly start delegating more responsibilities at this point. So Jon Taffer sinks probably $100,000.00 into her bar and she closes down before the episode even airs. I feel sorry for her staff and I think she made a poor decision.
Yeah, but don’t cry for Staffer. Whatever money he spends on the renovation is minuscule compared to what he makes from producing a show that will air a hundred times in syndication. It’s just a production cost. He doesn’t have to pay high salaries to on screen talent like you would on a regular episodic TV show.
Selling the bar along with selling or one buying out the other to keep the house might have become part of the divorce settlement. We will never know as divorce judgements depending on the state are not made public.
I’d like to reopen it
Wonder what happened to Doug.