(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 9 | View All Season 9 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: March 10, 2024
The Bar's Original Name Was: Hogwash Saloon
Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge Address: 16737 E Parkview Ave, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268
Episode Recap
Hogwash Saloon, later renamed to Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge, was a Fountain Hills Arizona bar that was featured on Season 9 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge Bar Rescue episode aired in March 2024, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place earlier in October 2023.
It was Season 9 Episode 3 and the episode name was “Jason’s Last Call”.
In this episode, Jon Taffer and his crew visit the Hogwash Saloon in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
Fountain Hills is in Maricopa County, located not too far to the Northeast of Phoenix.
As you’d expect from its name, Fountain Hills is known for its…fountain!
Apparently it once had the tallest fountain in the world, though it’s now been relegated to fourth place (and second place in the USA). Fun fact!
The main Hogwash Saloon owner is Jason Reinke.
He purchased Hogwash Saloon back in February 2023, so only around a year before the episode aired on TV.
At the time that he purchased the bar, it was known as Bruno’s Sports Bar, which seemed to have a pretty passionate crew of regulars.
In fact, Jason had been one of those regulars at Bruno’s for many years, which is why he decided to purchase it.
However, Jason couldn’t afford the bar by himself, so he needed to bring in partners.
His long-term friends Paul and Cathy Cook offered to loan Jason money to help him buy the bar.
Instead of doing a straight loan, Jason asked Paul and Cathy to come in as actual owners on the bar.
Jason would be the managing partner, while Paul and Cathy would be silent partners.
Personally, I would never do something like this, because it really opens up a lot of chances for the friendship to go south.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just a guy who tries to embrace solutions whenever possible.
Unfortunately, Jason doesn’t actually have any experience in running a bar.
He didn’t think that would be a problem when he bought the bar, but it’s quickly becoming a big issue.
For example, there’s no fixed menu for Hogwash Saloon, the bartenders aren’t trained properly, the bar is always running out of stock on important things, and so on…
But instead of actually learning and fixing things, Jason spends a lot of time just hanging out and drinking at the bar (like back when he was a patron).
The bar’s slumping business has also caused stress with Paul and Cathy who are worried about their investment, as well as their friendship with Jason.
Despite investing as silent partners, Paul and Cathy still haven’t seen any proceeds from the bar, which obviously sucks.
At the time of Jon Taffer’s visit, the Hogwash Saloon was supposedly losing $3,000 per month.
Beyond the monetary issues, the friendship between the three is really stressed and in danger of falling apart.
They seem to constantly be bickering and fighting over the bar.
To try to turn things around, they called in Jon Taffer and his experts.
The actual visit from Jon Taffer happened back in late October 2023, so just around 8 months after they purchased the bar in February 2023.
Here’s a post from the bar’s Facebook page of them advertising the Hogwash Saloon stress test back in October 2023:
As part of the rescue, Jon Taffer renamed the bar from Hogwash Saloon to Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge.
Jon Taffer really does love the “ultra” moniker, doesn’t he?
He’s also used this in several other bars, including Dual Ultra Nightclub in NC (Cashmere), Rio Ultra Lounge in NC (360 Lounge Reloaded), La Luz Ultra Lounge in CA (Caribe), and SBLV Ultra Lounge in Las Vegas (Gipsy).
Regardless, the bar looks great after the renovation.
It has plenty of TVs, two pool tables, and much improved seating.
Plus, Jon Taffer threw in a few butt funnels as well, as he’s known to do.
So – was the Hogwash Saloon Bar Rescue episode a long-term success?
Keep reading my update to learn what happened next and if this Fountain Hills AZ bar is still open in 2024.
Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge episode, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left Fountain Hills, Arizona.
I’ll start with a look at the bar’s reaction to Taffer’s visit, and then I’ll get into whether Skybox is still open and how customers are feeling about the changes.
Skybox Ultra Reaction to Bar Rescue episode
Whenever there’s a new episode, I always like to see if the bar is hosting a watch party, as this gives me an idea of whether or not they’re embracing Taffer’s changes.
To celebrate its episode, Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge did indeed host its own watch party.
Here’s a link to one of the Facebook posts announcing it.
I’ve also attached a screenshot below in case the post gets deleted:
Is Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge still open after Bar Rescue?
As of my most recent check, Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge is still open and serving customers in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
The bar is doing so using the new name and concept from Taffer.
The old Hogwash Saloon name seems to be completely gone and the bar has embraced solutions and is going with Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge.
In addition to the Bar Rescue watch party, the bar has a lot of the specials and events that you’d expect.
For example, they hosted a Superbowl event, which you’d expect from any self-respecting sports bar.
They also have regular karaoke nights – here’s an example of a Facebook post for one event:
They’re also planning to start serving food soon, which will give them another opportunity for revenue.
Here’s what the Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge location looks like in the most recent picture from Google Maps street view…
Unfortunately, Google Maps hasn’t updated since 2021, so it still shows Bruno’s Sports Bar.
I’m mainly including it so that you can explore the area around the bar.
Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge Reviews After Bar Rescue
At this point, I normally try to take a look at what customers are saying about Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge after Taffer’s visit.
However, there don’t seem to be a lot of customer reviews to pull from here.
First off, I can’t find any Skybox Ultra Yelp page (nor can I find a Yelp page for the Hogwash Saloon).
There are a few Google reviews for Skybox, but not that many.
Overall, the bar has a 4.1 star rating on 28+ Google reviews, which includes reviews from both before and after Taffer’s visit.
There have only been two reviews after Taffer’s visit, neither of which gives much information on how the bar is doing.
Basically, I have no idea whether or not Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge has improved since Taffer’s rescue.
Sorry about that!
Once the bar gets more reviews, I will try to update this section with more information.
Final thoughts on Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge
Overall, I’m not too sure about Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge is doing because I can’t find a ton of information about the bar.
The bar is open and using Taffer’s concept, so that’s one good sign.
However, I can’t really find many customer reviews, so I’m not sure whether people like the changes or not.
If you’re a local and live in the area, I would love if you could share some insider information in the comments section below.
That wraps up my Skybox Bar Rescue update.
If you want to see some other nearby Arizona Bar Rescue episodes, you also might be interested in my updates for Havana Cabana / Rocky Point Cantina in Tempe, Brenda’s Inferno / Armadillo Grill in Phoenix, Natalie’s / Skip and Jan’s in Gilbert, and Brick and Barley / Baseline Sports Bar in Tempe.
I also have a page that lists all of the Arizona Bar Rescue episodes as of 2024.
And if you want to share your thoughts on Skybox Ultra Sports Lounge or the episode, you can do so using the comments section below.
As always – thank you for reading!
More Information
https://www.facebook.com/Hogwash2022/
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And don't forget to check out all of the other Bar Rescue updates.
Last updated: 2024-03-09 05:11
Im impressed at how fast you update this website still. This bar is near me and didnt realize bar rescue was still going. Skybox had their viewing party tonight, and would have gone if i had known. But im impressed that you updated this website this early. Keep doing the lords work
I usually try to post the update a day or two before the episode airs. And then I update it after the episode airs as needed.
If you go check it out in person, please share your experience in the comments here. Thanks!
I was in Brunos 4-5 times when the bowling alley was open. It was a classic dive bar with regular alcoholics from just outside of Fountain Hills. Only time I saw any locals was when they crossed the halfway from the bowling alley like I did. The owner was a really nice guy who never drank at the bar.
It was later sold after the alley closed to
a woman and it went downhill very fast. Heard a lot of nasty things about her, but all third hand as I didn’t know anyone from FH who went there. A murder occurred in the parking lot & even the out of towners went away.
Saw the Hogwash Saloon sign go up, but again never heard of any locals going there. So the Bar Rescue episode was quite a surprise for me. Still didn’t see any locals in the episode.
There is another dive bar in town where locals do go to – you’ll find plumbers, electricians, mechanics, millionaires out for a ride on their Harleys 😁, etc. My guess is that place which has been around many years before Bruno’s opened in 2006 is getting all of the local business. Also, there is a non-dive sports bar down the same street that has been open for 25+ years which is always packed year round.
So keep your eye on this place to see if they stay open.
Thanks for sharing the inside scoop! I always like when locals contribute. It doesn’t seem very optimistic for the bar’s future based on what you said.
Big reveal at the end was that the bartender was named John Rambo like Stallone’s character.
Seems like another place where someone bought a bar just to drink.
Analogous rescues–Mary’s in Texas and O’Banion’s in Nebraska. Neither had the infrastructure for food and just kinda went through the motions. Similar, Handle Bar in Connecticut and Whiskey Girl in Texas, but those were never going to try to have food after filming.
Maybe they can flip the property for a profit to make up for some of their losses when they fail and need to sell.
What happened to Jason?
Perm
Closed!, like most of Taffer’s Bar Rescue bars, they never survive long term
Where do you see that? I just checked and they’re still posting events on the Skybox FB page.