(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 3 | View All Season 3 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: September 15, 2013
The Bar's Original Name Was: Marley's on the Beach
St. Michelle's Beach Club Address: 885 Oakland Beach Ave Warwick, RI 02889
Episode Recap
Marley’s on the Beach, later renamed to St. Michelle’s Beach Club (and then Marley’s Beach Club), was a Warwick, Rhode Island bar that was featured on Season 3 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Marley’s Bar Rescue episode aired in September 2013, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that in the summer of 2013.
It was Season 3 Episode 20 and the episode name was “Barely Above Water”.
In this episode, Jon Taffer and his crew visit Marley’s on the Beach in Warwick, Rhode Island.
As you can probably guess from the name, the bar is located on the beach.
It’s owned by Kevin and Michelle, a husband and wife duo who opened the bar in 2010.
That means they’ve been running it for around three years at the time of the Marley’s Bar Rescue visit.
The bar is named after their dog, Marley, which means it has some sentimental value (which will become more important later on).
After having Michelle pull $170,000 from her retirement savings to open the bar, it’s been a bit of a disaster because the bar is losing over $4,000 per month and the couple is in over a quarter million dollars worth of debt.
They’re also having trouble paying rent to Dave, a successful restaurateur who owns the building and has a restaurant next door named Iggy’s.
Both the food and the service at Marley’s on the Beach are bad.
The stress from the bar has put a strain on Kevin and Michelle’s marriage.
The assistant manager and the cook also have a tumultuous relationship.
Expert chef Brendan Collins and the owner of Iggy’s, Dave, join Jon Taffer for the rescue.
Dave is the owner of the building Marley’s on the Beach resides. He leases it out to Kevin and Michelle.
Jon has 200 customers walk into the bar to see how the staff act.
The bar is short-staffed, but Kevin stays in the office. Once ticket times reach over one hour, Jon Taffer enters the bar.
Kevin is forced to leave the office and help Michelle in the dining room.
Chef Brendan goes to the kitchen to watch the cooks.
The food is at the wrong temperature, which is a hazard, and the cooks made the soup incorrectly.
Diana, one of the cooks, can’t take the criticism from Chef Brendan and leaves.
Jon Taffer tries to get her to stay, but she leaves even though her son also works at the bar.
Jon returns the following day, and Diana is back.
Diana says she is sorry for yesterday, but the other employees tell Jon she is rude.
The assistant manager, Elsie, says she can’t work with Diana.
Michelle decides to give Diana one more chance for the next twenty-four hours.
Kevin confides in Jon that he is busy with the children, so he isn’t more present at the bar.
Michelle denies this and tells Kevin she doesn’t even want him around the bar anymore, so he takes her lead and leaves.
In the kitchen, Chef Brendan wants Diana to make him a cheeseburger so he can study her cooking skills.
Joey, Diana’s son, almost walks out due to the pressure.
Russel Davis, an expert mixologist, arrives to help train the bartenders.
He asks the bartenders to make a major.
It’s a bit awkward, though, because no one can make it correctly.
Using Captain Morgan Rum, Russel then shows them the right way to create one.
The stress test starts, and the bar is packed.
Customers are sitting on the patio who get up to leave because they are not being served.
Elsie breaks down in tears as she says she is sorry to the customers.
Michelle is made to fire Elsie since she messed up during the stress test, but she tells Jon she wants her back the next day.
Instead, he asks Dave to look for a new manager.
While that’s going on, the experts are continuing to train the staff.
Russel trains the bartenders on different drinks.
Chef Brendan shows the cooks Caribbean-based dishes that are delicious.
Chris, from Iggy’s, has been hired as the new manager.
As part of the attempt to save the bar, Jon Taffer gave it a big renovation, including a new name and concept.
Jon wants the bar geared towards older clientele during the day and the nighttime for younger customers.
He changed the name from Marley’s on the Beach to St. Michelle’s Beach Club, which sounds pretty dang fancy.
The bar also has an upgraded dance floor, which Jon helps will help it attract a younger crowd at night.
St. Michelle’s Beach Club has been gifted an Orange Door entertainment system, an outdoor foot station, and POS machines.
Kevin leaves when the customers enter, and Michelle greets them.
The food is tasty, and the customers leave happy.
Michelle is pleased with all of the changes Jon made.
So was the Marley’s Bar Rescue episode a success? Let’s find out…
St. Michelle's Beach Club Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the St. Michelle’s Beach Club Bar Rescue visit, let’s talk about what happened after Jon Taffer and his crew left Warwick, RI.
At the standard six-week check-in with the Bar Rescue producers, we learn that sales at the bar were up by more than 30% after the visit from Jon Taffer, so it seems like things were off to a good start.
However, the owners didn’t like the new St. Michelle’s Beach Club name that Jon Taffer gave the bar.
As a result, they ditched the name shortly after Taffer’s visit.
Rather than going back to the original Marley’s on the Beach name, they settled for a sort of compromise – Marley’s Beach Club.
It’s a mix of Jon Taffer’s “beach club” concept but with the original Marley’s name.
Here’s a statement from the owners about the name change:
Bar Rescue changed the name from Marley’s On the Beach to St. Michelle’s Beach Club, named after the owner.
We didn’t like the name change and neither did our regulars.
We compromised and are now Marley’s Beach Club.
The show upgraded the dance floor, upgraded our lawn furniture and added nice brick fire pits; Bar Rescue gave us a fresh look.
They also changed up and added to our drink list.
A lot of regulars at the bar seemed to be upset with more than just the name change.
People were mad that the food quality went down and the menu changed.
Is Marley’s from Bar Rescue still open?
Marley’s closed in November 2013, which was just a few months after the episode aired on TV.
At the time of its closure, it was doing business as Marley’s Beach Club instead of the new St. Michelle’s Beach Club name that Jon Taffer gave it.
Michelle, one of the Marley’s owners, said that they closed the bar for personal reasons.
At the time of the closure, reviews for the bar weren’t that great after Jon Taffer’s changes.
Here are some Yelp reviews that were written after the Marley’s Bar Rescue episode.
2 star Yelp review from November 2013:
I have been here both before and after the Bar Rescue show came.
Honestly, not much has really changed, which is not a good thing.
My husband and I came into the building, only to be ignored for about 10 minutes.
It was not busy, and there were several staff who walked past us.
Finally, just as we debated on just leaving, a waitress told us to just sit wherever we wanted.
No signs anywhere stating that, nor any word from any of the employees who saw us just standing there, looking around.
…
All in all, definitely not somewhere I plan on returning.
I had higher expectations after seeing the episode on Bar Rescue, but maybe it is better for the night crowd as opposed to those coming for lunch/dinner.
2 star Yelp review from November 2013:
As an avid watcher of Bar Rescue when I heard my friends band was playing at Marley’s I thought it was a perfect chance to check out this upgraded bar, sadly I was not overly impressed.
The decor is tacky at best and it seems like all the money was spent on some fancy lights and a dance floor that no one used.
We sat at a table and waited and waited and got NO service what so ever, finally we gave up with our seats and grabbed a drink from the bar.
The only attention we did get from the wait staff was a waitress nagging my boyfriend not to spill our drinks on his way back to sit down.
Oh, now you see us huh?
Our friend had ordered fish tacos earlier in the night and they were average.
I hope this location can make the best of the warmer weather and outdoor seating next year, if not in my opinion Marley’s by the beach will be washed out to sea for good.
1 star Yelp review from September 2013:
My 1st time there we ordered drinks and they were served in old dirty plastic cups.
We ordered sandwiches one was warmed up in the microwave the other was still half frozen.
Also this was after Bar Rescue tried to save there asses I will never go back or ever bring anyone there.
Overall, it seems that people weren’t happy with the service at the bar. In terms of food, the reviews weren’t great either but some people did like it.
As of 2023, the old Marley’s Beach Club Rhode Island location has been absorbed by Iggy’s Boardwalk, which is a lobster and clam bar.
If you recall, Iggy’s is the restaurant owned by Dave, who was the property owner next door who you saw on the Marley’s Bar Rescue episode.
Here’s a Google Maps street view shot that shows Iggy’s occupying the old Marley’s on the Beach Warwick location:
Reviews for Iggy’s restaurant seem good as it has a 4 star rating on over 190 Yelp reviews. It’s also been expanding, which is obviously a good sign.
If you find yourself in the Warwick, Rhode Island area, check it out and let us know how it went in the comments.
The St. Michelle’s Beach Club episode was the only Bar Rescue Rhode Island episode.
However, if you want to see updates for some other nearby bars, you can check out my updates for Handlebar Cafe / Handlebar and Grill in Pawcatuck CT, Libad’s Seaside Tavern in Bedford MA, The Bone / Chicken Bone in Framingham MA, and Angry Ham’s Garage / Octane Bar in Framingham MA.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
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Last updated: 2023-02-16 06:39
I thought the episode was good and sorry the serice did not meet expectations and closed so soon!
Jon comes, helps, leaves and the owners went right back to their way. Why even having Jon come if you aren’t going to stick with it? They deserved to fail for being that full of themselves.
Taffer wasted his time with these two jokers as owners…. the concept was great but the owners couldn’t migrate.,.. at least Dave, the owner of Iggy’s and his staff, knows how to handle beachside customer service…
Visited “Iggy’s Boardwalk” Sept. 2021 during prime time and even though the place was slammed, they delivered. From the on-time reservation for six to the excellent food and drinks Dave and his staff didn’t miss a beat.
I guess the moral of the story here if you’re not open to new proven ideas and set in your failed stubborn ways, you can totally screw up a goldmine.
Well you can’t lead a horse to water, and can’t fix owners that are clueless!
Given a great future and great place and they deserve nothing, closed for personal reasons? This is a business not a family event.
Michelle was hot. I hope she kicked her deadbeat husband to the curb. Hell, seemed she was the only one who wanted to work.
Husband is standing their smirking, drinking, making jokes w buddies as wife is working herself to death. Taffer, at least on screen, tries so hard to keep dysfunctional and twisted marriages together, or, totally interferes and exaggerates problems, creating huge mistrust, and drives a nasty wedge between marriages. I really don’t understand his motivation when it comes to marriages on this show. He should keep out of it and focus on business, manufacturing fake drama might be good for ratings but it’s scumbag af
Agree! He needs to mind his business when it comes to marriages! He’s no marriage counselor and I often question his bar ideas. There was nothing with the name Marley’s and naming it Marleys in the Beach. Taffeta can only have it his way!
It’s funny you say that because Jon Taffer actually did have a marriage counseling show haha. It was called Marriage Rescue.
The chef was very smug for someone also without any discernable talent
Dave was superstar, we were grilling chicken out back, they brought all the clam cakes and chowder had after closing! Everyone knew the name was going to chang after, they went back to poor quality food compared to what’s in street. Dave was very lenient with them. They really blew it big time. Still live here and was fun working on episode, really was nothing like it in area, and on the beach!