Paradise Cantina Bar Rescue Update – Las Vegas – Still Open in 2023?

Episode Recap

Paradise Cantina was a Las Vegas, Nevada bar featured on Season 8 of Bar Rescue.

Though the Paradise Cantina Bar Rescue episode aired in May 2021, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that during Bar Rescue’s Covid-19 focus on Las Vegas.

It was Season 8 Episode 1 and the episode name was “Two Tickets to Paradise Cantina”.

Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, Paradise Cantina is owned by Ronnie Pellegrino.

The bar is located on Paradise Rd – hence the name. It’s just a little less than two millions from the main Las Vegas Strip.

Ron bought the restaurant in the year 2018, which was about three years before the Paradise Cantina Bar Rescue visit happened.

In the first year of operation, the bar made $1.2 million, so things certainly weren’t going badly.

However, they began suffering during the state restrictions put in place in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ron had to let the staff leave and now he is over $700,000 in debt, and his life savings is gone.

Ron is homeless and living in a hotel. He has let the rules lax, and the staff drinks while working at the bar. 

Jon recons the bar with mixologist Derek Turner and expert chef Anthony Lamas.

There is a good mix of college students in the area as well as casino workers and tourists who should be visiting the bar.

Ron blames everything on the pandemic.

I kind of agree with him given that the bar was so successful before the pandemic happened.

Jon begins surveillance and sets up more than usual.

The bar gives out paper menus instead of using a QR code for less contact. 

The spies order a mojito, but the bar is out of the ingredients needed to make it, so they order a watermelon margarita and a Mai Tai instead.

Customers begin returning drinks as they are too strong, and they tell the spies that it is a common occurrence at the Paradise Cantina.

Ron comes out and recognizes the spies as Derek and Anthony. 

Jon has the two men then order multiple items from the menu to test everything.

The drinks all look alike, and the bar staff is having a hard time telling them apart.

Jon tells Ron he is too lenient with his team, but Ron says he is the problem, not his staff.

Ron quickly changes his mind, gets upset, and tells the staff that their overpouring and drinking are ruining the bar. 

Jon finds out that Ron has lost his home.

He then shows Ron that he overspent by $100,000 that year.

Jon believes that the failures of the bar area are due to the operations and the way it is run, not the pandemic.

Do you agree? Let me know in the comments!

Jon wants his experts to watch how the staff pours their drinks. 

Derek trains the staff to pour properly and teaches them a tropical-themed cocktail.

Anthony teaches the kitchen how to make chicken wings with pineapple salsa.

Jon does a stress test using poker chips.

The staff collects chips from customers when orders are filled correctly.

The bartenders immediately begin making mistakes.

The kitchen sends out incomplete orders and then gets backed up correcting the orders.

At the end of the test, bartender Jared has 25 chips, and Melissa has just 11. 

The renovations start the next day and take 36 hours.

The sign is new and bold, but Jon decided to keep the existing Paradise Cantina name.

You’ll see this a lot with the bars featured on the first half of Season 8, because the problem was more to do with Covid-19 than a need to rebrand Paradise Cantina itself.

The inside has a beach vibe and wood accents with shades of blue.

As part of the renovations, there is a new POS system and a lifetime subscription for inventory. 

So was the Paradise Cantina Bar Rescue visit a long-term success? Keep reading to learn what happened next and if this Las Vegas bar is still open in 2023 and beyond…