(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 7 | View All Season 7 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: June 14, 2020
The Bar's Original Name Was: Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill
Renz Social House Address: 654 E 1st St Ste 3418 Tustin, CA 92780
Episode Recap
Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill, later renamed Renz Social House, was a Tustin, California bar featured on Season 7 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Pineapple Hill Grill Bar Rescue episode aired in June 2020, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Bar Rescue Season 7 Episode 14 and the episode name was “Fear and Molding on Pineapple Hill”.
The Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill is located in Tustin, CA, which is near Irvine and a bit southeast of Los Angeles.
The owner, Reva Renz, bought the bar for $580,000, which is quite a hefty chunk of change.
At the time of the Pineapple Hill Grill Bar Rescue episode, though, Reva was now over $400,000 in debt, which is also quite a hefty hunk of change.
The bar started well, but after Reva stepped back, it began to decline.
Reva was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, which is very sad.
She is also a single mom to a ten-year-old.
Reva is very overwhelmed, and the quality has suffered because of it.
Basically, she’s a sympathetic character so it’s easy to root for Jon Taffer and Bar Rescue to successfully turn here bar around.
Mixologist Mia Mastroianni and Chef Jason Santos do recon with Jon.
The sign is not fully lit; only the word ‘Pineapple’ is glowing.
There is too much pineapple decor in the bar.
It’s a bit overboard with the whole theme.
The bar is also very worn and has worn-out furniture and duct tape holding things together.
Jon and the staff discuss Reva.
Chef Mike makes a simple burger but doesn’t use gloves and cross contaminates food.
The bartenders aren’t pouring correctly, and they are not consistent in their recipes.
Two people are sent in as spies and order an Irish coffee and a margarita.
The Irish coffee is too weak, and the margarita is too watery.
Jon notices Linda, the manager, working hard, but Reva isn’t doing anything.
The spy orders ribs, and Chef Mike takes out ribs with mold. Ewww….
Jason runs out, stops the ribs from being served, and finds more moldy ribs.
Jon is furious as he comes in.
He yells at the chef for not washing his hands.
Jon takes Reva and Linda aside and tells them how dangerous cross-contamination is.
It is a huge liability that can potentially kill someone.
You don’t need me to remind you – if you watch the show, you know how Jon Taffer feels about cross-contamination haha.
Both Reva and Linda promised to change.
Chef Mike is fired.
Jon tells the staff that the bar only has about four to five months left.
There are 148 bars within just a few miles radius.
The bar needs to be unique and stand out.
The experts train Martin, the prep cook, on correct kitchen hygiene.
Linda can’t make any management decisions.
She is not aware of any of the financial stuff happening with the bar, so she can’t make any choices.
Jon promises the women that he will help them set financial goals.
Mia asks the bar staff to make a pineapple margarita.
They are all made differently, in different glasses, and they are all terrible.
You can’t have that type of inconsistency if you want to have a successful bar.
She then demonstrates a simple Mai Tai cocktail.
Mia reminds the staff they must be consistent in their recipes.
Reva and Martin both love Chef Jason’s new recipe for ribs.
He teaches them how to make it.
During the stress test, the bar serves just three drinks.
Reva is lost and serving half-cooked food.
The bartenders are spilling too many drinks.
After Reva burns her hand, Jon shuts down the stress test.
Mia teaches the staff a new way to make the pineapple margarita, and Jason teaches the kitchen a catfish dish.
After the Bar Rescue renovations, the bar looks stylish and modern.
Jon also changed the name from Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill (a real mouthful) to Renz Social House, which is obviously based on Reva Renz’s name.
So – did Jon’s changes to Renz Social House save the bar? Keep reading to find out if it’s still open…
Renz Social House Update - What Happened Next?
After the Renz Social House Bar Rescue aired, Reva seems to have given Linda more control over the bar, which lets Reva spend more time and energy on her kid.
However, Reva doesn’t seem to have been totally on board with Jon Taffer’s changes when it came to the name.
After the episode, she started a GoFundMe page to raise money to change the name and signage back to Pineapple Hill Grill.
With that being said, the Pineapple Hill Grill GoFundMe only raised $3,800 of its $13,000 target, so they might need more time to raise the money.
The GoFundMe page has since been deleted, but here’s a screenshot from when it was still active:
For now, Reva has kept the name of Renz Social House and that’s still the bar’s name in 2022.
Given that it’s been multiple years since Reva tried to change the name back to the Pineapple Hill Grill bar, I’m guessing that the name will stay as Renz Social House.
Is Renz Social House still open?
As of 2023, Renz Social House is still open and serving customers in Tustin, California.
The bar is active on its Facebook page, regularly posting about events and specials.
It did have to close for a decent amount of time because of COVID-19 restrictions, but it is now open again and seems to have successfully weathered the storm.
Here’s what the Pineapple Hill Grill Tustin CA location looks like in the most recent Google Maps street view update – I have two pictures.
First, there’s the street view from inside the shopping center, which hasn’t been updated since 2019.
It still shows the Pineapple Hill Grill sign.
However, I explored a bit more and found a more updated shot from the street outside the shopping center.
This picture is from July 2022 and it shows the signage as just being “Social House”.
You can still see the discolored space where the “Renz” used to be.
The Renz Social House reviews are also pretty solid.
When I originally wrote my Renz Social House Bar Rescue update in early 2022, the bar had a 3.5 star rating on Yelp.
However, as I’m updating it later in the year, I see that the rating has now moved up to 4 stars, which suggests that the service is only getting better.
A lot of people seem to like the bar’s karaoke, at least based on the reviews that I read.
However, one person did complain that Renz Social House stopped their trivia night after Bar Rescue. They’ve since started offering trivia night again, so it seems like that was temporary.
Here’s a sampling of some reviews that were written after the visit from Jon Taffer…
5 star Yelp review from June 2022:
The original Pineapple Hill Grill, newly rebranded as Renz Social House.
All your original favorites are here,
The best Karaoke Jockeys, Rashad + Guy set it off most nights.
Fendi is always ready to pour you a drink any night just make sure to use your please and thank you’s Rodney 😉
Kayla + Devin do a great job of working the bars mature daytime crowd with their Daisy dukes and heavy pours.
Daniel is the best chef in Tustin with his Albondigas soup that rotates the menu regularly.
Reva the founder is regularly here and the place is kids-friendly before dark, sometimes they play Magic + board games on Mondays too.
LGBT Karaoke Night just started on Wednesdays too just started this week.
See you here.
4 star review from May 2022:
I had come here a handful of times pre-Covid when it was under a different name (and I think different ownership).
It had the cheapest drinks and a very mixed crowd of all ages and backgrounds.
I am pretty introverted and do not participate in the karaoke.
But oh em gee, you would be amazed by the talent that shows up here.
This place still has a similar vibe, but the crowd seems to be mostly middle aged.
The talent is still showing up, although, I don’t recognize the faces or voices.
Drinks are more but still reasonably priced.
The part that kills me is they renovated it to look more modern and it kind of looks cheaply done.
Someone mentioned they were on “Bar Rescue” a bar renovation reality show and to be honest, nothing should have been changed other than raising their prices if the business was in trouble.
5 star review from March 2020:
Long time Pineapple Hill customer and karaoke-holic here.
Still love the place after the Bar Rescue changes.
More current karaoke library, decor is modernized.
Haven’t tried the new menu yet, but drinks are still great and the bartenders, servers, and KJ’s are still friendly and accommodating.
Bar is more open, seats are more comfortable.
No better place to hang out and sing some karaoke.
4 star Yelp review from June 2022:
Beautiful place.
Very cozy.
Service could be more engaging.
Got a drink, tasted good but bartender did not come back and check on me.
Didn’t ask if I wanted good or another drink.
Told bartender that I visit ALL #barrescue bars to check out.
Score it 7:10
1 star review from February 2020:
Why did they get rid of trivia?
That was why several of my friends and I would go there.
I’ve seen BAR RESCUE do more and better renovations than this…
Overall, Renz Social House seems like a Bar Rescue success story so far, despite Reva not liking the name at first.
If anything changes, though, I will be sure to update this post.
If you want to see some other nearby California Bar Rescue episodes, you can check out my updates for Second Base / Extremes in Orange, The Cave in Anaheim, and Power Plant / Rocks in Laguna Niguel.
Or, you can read my full list of all 48+ Bar Rescue episodes in California as of 2024.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/renz-social-house-tustinhttps://www.facebook.com/RenzPineapple/
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Last updated: 2023-03-30 05:18
i wish i could beg everytime i screwed up losers should not run bars they got free leg up and still failing . close it and make it a massage parlour for all the alcoholics in Ca . omg 148 bars in a radius of few miles .dumb waste of time to compete. just turn it into a pot bar and you’ll be rich due to the potheads in ca .otherwise dont beg ,just close.Get out
She should not change the name back AT ALL!!
I do not know why this Riva wants to go back to the original name after Jon Taffer came in, fixed her bar and helped her become successful. Plus she is asking the public for money to do this. She should either close it down or ask Jon to come back and rescue her again.
I think it’s Genius.
I am sure there are some regulars that go to the bar & complain about the new name. Locals who think the old name has history so they go to the bar & ask her to change the name back.
Why should she pay to change the name & then risk having new customers who come just because they saw the “Bar rescue” episode complain about changing back to the old name.
So the patrons who go to the bar & complain about the name change can put their money where there mouth is.
Apparently they whispered “change the name”
Genius.
The pineapple is a historic symbol of hospitality – you see it on door knockers – in flower arrangements etc. So I understand the name but maybe not for a trendy bar unless it was named Pineapple Hospitality House or something. Current name is too generic – nothing special
Good Maps has been updated. The “RENZ” on the sign out front has been removed, and it is now called “SOCIAL HOUSE.”
Was just by there today and the “RENZ” is back up on the sign
Renz Social House, or just Social House is not a good name, I understand wanting to change the name, but they could have done better, but as long as it’s a good place to go, and the food and drink is good, word of mouth will help them, it seems like they are surviving, good thing, but I think they should come up with a better name, maybe Renz Pineapple Bar And Grill?
“But oh em gee, you would be amazed by the talent that shows up here.”
Spelling out an acronym and making it longer than the original phrase is brilliant.
It’s like people who say BRB out loud instead of Be Right Back even though it’s the same number of syllables.
January 2024 Google street view shows the name Renz is back on the building.