(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 3 | View All Season 3 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: November 24, 2013
The Bar's Original Name Was: BoondoxXx BBQ & Juke Joint
Pit and Barrel Address: 515 2nd Ave S, Nashville, TN 37210
Episode Recap
BoondoxXx BBQ & Juke Joint, later renamed to Pit and Barrel, was a Nashville, Tennessee bar that was featured on Season 3 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Pit and Barrel Bar Rescue episode aired briefly in November 2013, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 3 Episode 28 and the episode name was “Music City Mess”.
In this episode, Jon Taffer visits BoondoxXx BBQ and Juke Joint in Nashville, Tennessee.
This episode is known as the “lost episode of Bar Rescue” because it’s hard to find/watch. Why is that? Well, if you keep reading our BoondoxXx Bar Rescue update, you’re definitely going to find out.
Chris Ferrell is the BoondoxXx BBQ bar, and he’ll play a big role in the update.
He had borrowed money (around $100,000) from his parents to open up BoondoxXx BBQ and Juke Joint.
Chris has a temper and gets easily angry at his staff. This is kind of foreshadowing of what will happen later on.
Staff members have quit due to his character.
The bar will be forced to close soon if Chris doesn’t get help which is why he called bar rescue.
Trevor Frye is the expert mixologist Jon Taffer brings in for the recon.
BBQ expert Kevin Bludso is also brought in to help with the food, especially because it’s a BBQ place.
Eighty locals are sent into the bar as Jon’s spies.
The bar is quickly overwhelmed, and many customers sit and wait a long time for their orders.
Chris puts on country music, and many customers leave because it is not their type.
Since so many customers have left due to the music and food quality, Chris goes into the back office and yells at Stacey, the manager.
Jon Taffer decides to come into the bar since customers can hear Chris yelling.
Jon calls Chris out on the state of the bar and makes him clean the kitchen.
The fridge isn’t working correctly in the kitchen, and food isn’t stored at the right temperature.
Because of this, everything must be thrown away. In the bar, Jon finds fruit flies and mold.
Jon Taffer leaves and wants to return to a clean kitchen the next day.
Jon comes back the next day, and the staff is still cleaning the kitchen.
Chris and Jon start to argue because of how Chris treats his staff members.
Chris denies his behavior, so Jon brings in two former employees.
After they reveal more incidents regarding Chris, he walks out of the bar.
Trevor and the bartenders start working on how to pour the right way.
This will stop them from overpouring and losing money.
Chris returns and says he is sorry and wants to change, but no one believes him as he has done this before.
Jon calls in 100 customers for the stress test, which kicks things up another notch from the first recon session.
The bartenders are too slow and are still overpouring.
The kitchen isn’t holding up either, and many orders need to be refired.
Jon Taffer invited a country band to perform for the test, but Chris isn’t a fan.
Chris and Jon start arguing after Chris doesn’t take accountability.
Do you notice a trend with Chris being combative and getting into arguments?
The fight is broken up, and Jon sends everyone home.
Chris and his parents meet Jon at the bar the next day.
Trevor trains the staff on different drinks like Studio B.
The drinks they are being trained on pair with BBQ food.
Kevin takes the kitchen staff through making a pork sandwich which is easy to make and tasty.
As part of the renovations and concept change, the bar is renamed from BoondoxXx BBQ to Pit and Barrel.
Jon Taffer has added outdoor seating to bring attention from the passers-by.
There are new bar stools and a POS system.
The customers are delighted by the renovations made to the bar.
The bar has become more organized, and Chris is stepping up.
The patrons love the new food.
Unfortunately, the changes from the Pit and Barrel Bar Rescue episode never really got a chance to be successful, as you’ll learn in a second.
Pit and Barrel Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Pit and Barrel Bar Rescue episode, let’s talk about what happened after Jon Taffer and his crew left Music City (Nashville).
Things got pretty crazy after episode, as you’ll see in a second.
However, things seemed to start off on a good note.
At the six-week check-in with the Bar Rescue producers, we learn that sales at the bar have increased by 29%, which has allowed Chris to start paying back the loan from his parents.
However, things went off the rails in a very wild and sad way.
Is Pit and Barrel from Bar Rescue still open?
Pit and Barrel closed in November 2013, right around the same time that the Pit and Barrel Bar Rescue episode was supposed to air on TV.*
The bar closed because Chris, the owner, shot and killed another man inside the bar in November 2013.
Because Chris was being charged (and later convicted) with second degree murder, that obviously led to the bar closing.
*The episode did not air at its original time 10 PM time because of what happened. Spike TV aired a re-run instead, though it did air the BoondoxXx Bar Rescue episode a couple hours later at the midnight slot. The episode is still hard to find today, as Paramount doesn’t promote it for obvious reasons.
The Pit and Barrel building was eventually demolished in 2016.
As of 2023, the old Pit and Barrel Nashville, TN location seems to be a parking lot, so there is no more bar there.
Pit and Barrel shooting
So – what the heck happened that led to Chris shooting a man in the bar?
The shooting happened because Chris got into an argument with Wayne Mills, his friend and a country singer.
The argument was about Wayne smoking in a non-smoking area of the bar.
Things got heated and it ended with Chris shooting Wayne. Chris fired three shots but only one hit Wayne.
Wayne initially survived but later passed away at the hospital.
Chris claims that the shooting was in self-defense after Wayne threatened him with a broken beer bottle.
Chris was originally in jail for about a month as he was charged with second degree murder.
He was eventually released on bond in December 2013. However, he would later be convicted of second degree murder in 2015.
He was eventually sentenced to 20 years in prison, with no eligibility for a reduction.
Here are some local news articles about the shooting:
Overall, this one has a really sad ending.
The bar’s closure obviously had nothing to do with Jon Taffer’s work, but it’s weird to even talk about the show given that someone lost their life at Pit and Barrel.
If you want to see some other Tennessee Bar Rescue episodes with happier endings, you can check out these posts:
- MT Bottle / Bottles and Cans update
- Robusta / Havana Mix Cigar update
- Gaddy Shack / Crossroads Grille update
- The Dickson / Wanted Saloon update
- The Legacy / Game Time Sports Bar update
And if you want to share your thoughts on the episode, you can do so using the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
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Last updated: 2023-07-10 08:16
Is there anyway to view this episode?
I don’t think officially.
It might be available somewhere on illegal streaming sites, though.
Yup! Here’s the link 🤘🏼
https://archive.org/details/375685510
Thank you
Yes, unlike Episodes 10 and 11 from this season, no one will ever be able to buy this one! The link to the Internet Archive is the only way to view it.
If one didn’t know what happened later, this episode wouldn’t particuarly stand out. However, despite Jon Taffer’s confident statement at the end, subsequen events proved that he can’t necessarily magically “transform” people in a five day time span.