(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 2 | View All Season 2 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: September 23, 2012
The Bar's Original Name Was: Rocks
Power Plant Address: 26022 Cape Dr Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Episode Recap
Rocks, later renamed Power Plant, was a Laguna Niguel, California bar featured on Season 2 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Power Plant Bar Rescue episode aired in September 2012, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 2 Episode 9 and the episode name was “On the Rocks”.
Located in Laguna Niguel, CA, Rocks is owned by Scott Terheggen.
Scott is retired from real estate and bought the bar in 1996.
Rocks was initially an upscale bar and cigar room.
The owner was able to open the bar under a legal loophole that allowed customers to smoke in the bar.
The cigar bar was making $50,000 a month, so things definitely weren’t too shabby for Scott and the bar.
However, in 2009 Scott was forced to comply with the smoking laws, and smoking was banned from the bar.
This practice made sales go down.
I mean, a cigar bar that doesn’t allow smoking is obviously not a winning proposition.
Now the bar is empty most days, and at night they have rowdy, loud crowds.
They are losing $2,000 dollars a month now, why is why the Rocks Bar Rescue episode exists.
Jon’s daughter Sam comes with him to do recon on the bar.
They first notice how small the front sign is and barely visible from the main road.
It’s also hard to even see the bar’s name.
Online reviews say they give the bar zero stars.
Sam decides to head inside and find out what is going on for herself.
Sam is bothered by an older man, and she then realizes the lack of other women in the bar.
She then moves her seat to a different area.
She orders a watermelon shot that night’s special, but she says it doesn’t taste like watermelon at all.
There is a DJ, but he is often distracted and leaves the booth.
There is a long space between songs.
Jon meets with owner Scott to discuss the bar and what Sam saw.
Scott isn’t generally at the bar and lets the staff run it.
The team uses saran wrap to cover the drink bottles, which looks bad to the customers.
Scott’s brother-in-law is in the bar drunk and is harassing female patrons.
After a confrontation, he is finally kicked out.
A social club meets at the bar, but Jon doesn’t like this and has the staff remove the sign.
The social club is not happy with this.
Jon shows the bar footage of the social club drinking for free.
They had lost close to $1,200 by giving the social club free drinks, which is a pretty good explanation for why the bar is losing so much money every month.
Jon brings in bartending expert Joseph Brooke.
During his inspection, he finds the bar dirty and sticky.
Jon wants to turn Rocks into a nightclub and have it closed during the day since they only make money at night.
It will be a high-end nightclub with a strict dress code.
Pretty much a complete turnaround from how the bar currently is.
DJ Green Lantern teaches the DJ how to be an expert.
Joseph trains the bar staff on different pouring techniques and new drinks.
The stress test starts, and the bar staff forgets everything they were taught.
After renovations, Jon unveils a new bar called The Power Plant.
During relaunch night, IDs are checked.
Customers come in the club jackets but are asked to leave.
The bar gets overwhelmed, so the DJ plays a song to get people on the dance floor. The night is a success.
So – was the Power Plant Bar Rescue episode a success?
Power Plant Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Rocks Bar Rescue visit, let’s talk about what happened after Jon Taffer left and the cameras stopped filming.
At first, Power Plant seemed to be doing well.
Sales were up 20% and, by cutting out the free drinks to the social club, spoilage was way down as well.
However, Scott didn’t like the new name so he changed it back to Rocks.
This is a pretty classic move for Bar Rescue owners.
I mean – what does Jon Taffer know about running a bar?
Scott also got rid of some of Jon’s other changes, such as closing during the day.
Those decisions probably weren’t for the best, which brings me to the next question…
Is Power Plant bar still open?
Power Plant closed in November 2014, around two years after the Bar Rescue episode aired on TV.
For a time, the old Power Plant Laguna Niguel location was occupied by another bar called The Karman Bar.
However, that bar also seems to be closed.
As of 2023, the old Rocks Laguna Niguel location might be occupied by a bake shop named Butter + Cream.
However, I’m not 100% sure if that’s the right business because I don’t have the suite number.
Here’s a Google Maps street view embed of the complex if you want to dig around yourself:
Overall, there’s just not a lot of information about Rocks / Power Plant, and I’m not sure why.
This is literally the hardest Bar Rescue update I’ve written because there’s just nothing.
There’s no Yelp page.
There’s no Google Reviews page.
There are no local news articles about it.
At least that I can find.
So – pretty much all I can report is that Power Plant ditched Jon Taffer’s name and went back to Rocks and then closed.
If you know anything, please let me know in the comments because I’d love to make this update more detailed.
If you want to see some other nearby Bar Rescue California episodes, you can check out my updates for Renz Social House / Pineapple Hill Grill in Tustin, Brix / Pacific Coast Wine Bar in Sunset Beach, and Second Base / Extremes in Orange.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
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Last updated: 2023-02-12 06:04
Show was hilarious , a group of sons of anarchy d bags . Weren’t even a biker click just some wannabes .
Lol 😂
that bartender chick was hot
The hotness is cancelled out by her stupid cockyness. “Choose your words wisely…”. What was she going to do, beat Joe up?
She was a thief.
It makes me sick to see Mr. Jon Taffer rescue a bar and then see the idiots that run the bar change the name back to the old one change their hours and tear all the beautiful items that Jon takes his time effort, and some of his money to help them for them to turn around and destroy the beauty.
It does seem like such a waste, right? Sometimes Taffer will spend over $100k on renovations, which is a lot of money to ignore.
I really think Tapper should sign a contract with these rescued places. Not to change for at least one year. That always seems to be the kiss of death.
I absolutely agree with that and I’m surprised why they don’t do that. I don’t know if that’s still happening past season 2 though
Half of these moron owners and managers change name and shit back to what didn’t work! Dumb shits! Jon should have a clause if they change shit to pay him back!
Sometimes the original name fits the environment/customers better. Taffer does more than just rename the bar, sometimes whipping the employees/owners into shape is the most important aspect.
EXACTLY 💯 I’ve been overdosing on reruns and got in habit of checking is Bar Rescue revamp still open. Many resort to their old ways. Then it closes. Not worth it. Taffer is the professional, not you loser (going down the toilet manager).
Pretty incredible how the owners think they can succeed with old crappy concepts. Huh. I mean, he had what was coming for him, which could have been avoided if he didn’t go back to his ramshackle old shitty environment. Wasted.
You know after he changed back he let those biker dude bros back in there to play Sons of Anarchy in their little safety bubble. I don’t feel bad at all for the owners that go right back to their old ways and fail. They asked for help, got it and then spit on it after Jon and his crew left.
🤣😂🤣 those little pricks, especially Matt, are nothing even CLOSE to bikers. Just a bunch of nasty, pathetic losers.
This is another example where the owner was just tired of the clientele and his workers, but knew that his bar was in a real shitty condition and wouldn’t make anything upon selling. So he got Jon to come over and fix it up really nice, then he can unload it and make some money. That’s all. Jon And his team was used again.
Idk why they bother going to old ways and even an old name when it’s clearly working with the new setup. They deserve to be shut down
It’s as if this Dark O Thirty group
Commandeered the bar and drove it out of business. Owner should have been more vigilant in protecting his business.
They get free drinks there, of course they would hang out there!! Lol. Drinking club…dorks.
Jon was wrong. He fixed up the place too much and made it into a venue that will be visited once or twice when it is trendy, then die off because some other place became the place to go. All the place needed was cleaning up and getting rid of the trash customers by making them feel unwelcome a couple of times. “Nightclubs” always fail unless they are an established tradition (like some salsa clubs).
Wow you must make a lot of money in the bar business. Remind me again why Jon is on tv?
This comment must be from one of the failing owners.
That’s what they thought. That’s why they no longer exist. People try to use Taffer for a renovation then think they can continue their same concept. They never last 3 years. Waste of money. Great entertainment.
Big mistake by the owner to change back to the old name because the only thing that there is bring back bad experiences for customers they started to attend the new club. Why ask for help and then return back to what was not working. Great transformation but some of the staff including the owner were never 100% convinced no wonder it failed
Honestly, 5 days to change the habits, minds and sometimes hearts of both owner and staff is just never enough. Per most mental health experts, it takes roughly 30 to 60 days to break habits. So yeah, its pretty easy to determine within the first roughly 10 minutes of an episode what will happen after Jon leaves.
You are watching 1 hour of their experience. They have 5 days of reno…but realize that the owner has already reached out for help, and likely has had 90-120 days of realizing they need to get it together.
I cant believe that the name was changed back, after all the work Jon did to help them out. The location was good too. A great city too, I miss it down there so much. After seeing this episode and reading the article, I must take a trip back to the OC. MVHS class of 1975! Definitely have to go check out Goody’s, its been a long time.
Why would an owner who was losing money, and only a month or so away from going broke after being rescued go back to his old ways.
Kind of remind you of the definition of insanity- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! And this owner fits the criteria to a T of someone who is insane , and I don’t mean literally, but just not that bright to go back to doing something that definitely wasn’t working before
This is the age old question for a lot of the bars that appear on the show haha. Who knows what’s going through their heads.
It’s only a question if you believe everything claimed by Taffer and his crew. People look like illogical idiots who only failed because of their own behavior. IF you believe a reality tv production crew. Being reality tv, of course 3/4 of what the show claims is utter BS. CAnt say it without sounding like a dick, but, insane how gullible people are Re “reality” tv.
You’re right! From what I have read, every bar owner that reverted back to their former bar name eventually closed down.
No cure for stupidity.
Everybody keeps on saying they used Jon Taffer. He made a TV Show Episode out of the experience. He then have to pay the Staff including the Owner Acting Fees for appearing on the Show. All the money that was spent renovating the Bar was probably still a lot less than someone would ahve to pay for doing a one Hour TV Fictional Drama.
Still, he probably used the Renovation to help sell the Bar
The only way this Bar rescue would work, if everyone was fired.
They were nothing but unprofessional welfare parasites.
Jon could have hired 6 random people from the street with no resumes and done better.
The owners loyalty to these douches was completely misplaced.
Here’s a thought. What’s the point of asking Jon to come and help, then argue with him and change everything after he leaves? You can tell who is going to end up closing after the rescue by how they respond to the help Jon is giving them. These owners got days of training and a whole new bar. I’m sure there are many people who would love a boost like that in any business. The type of owner who unpacks all that Jon did for them deserve to close.
Queenie:
You’re absolutely right! Every episode, owners try to defend their idiocy.
I’ve seen every episode at least twice. Every owner resists change.
I admire Jon for his [loud] patience, but the first words out of my mouth would be:
WHY THE EFF AM I HERE IF WHAT YOURE DOING IS RIGHT!?!?
It was suite C (see Karman Bar’s Yelp page). The Butter + Cream is next door in suite B (see their Yelp page).
What was Rocks/Karman Bar has construction going on inside now.
Since the guy with the star tattoo on his throat came out of the closet his whole attitude has changed for the better. He’s living a happier life with his partner Ray.