(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 4 | View All Season 4 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: November 1, 2015
The Bar's Original Name Was: Ripper's Rock House
Tim Owens' Traveler's Tavern Address: 2727 Manchester Rd Akron, OH 44319
Episode Recap
Ripper’s Rock House, later renamed to Tim Owens’ Traveler’s Tavern, was an Akron, Ohio bar that was featured on Season 4 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Tim Owens Bar Rescue episode aired in November 2015, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place a few months before that.
It was Season 4 Episode 36 and the episode name was “Ripper’s Rookie House”.
Ripper’s Rock House is located in Akron, Ohio.
Tim “Ripper” Owens has owned the bar since 2013.
Ripper was the lead singer for the band Judas Priest in the 1990s and 2000s, so he’s had a pretty successful musical career.
He’s also worked with a bunch of other bands including Spirits of Fire, Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force, and lots of others.
You can learn more on Tim’s Wikipedia page.
He opened the bar with Micah Posten in 2012, so the two are co-owners who’ve had the bar for about three years at the time of the Ripper’s Bar Rescue episode.
Micah is not in the music business, though – he owns a landscaping company.
When the bar first opened, it was very successful.
Soon they stopped focusing on providing exemplary service.
Tim doesn’t want his name associated with a failing bar, and Micah is on the verge of losing his money.
Jon Taffer meets with Tim out in the SUV.
Alex, a bartender who left two months ago due to not being paid her salary, spies on the bar.
The spies order a Bloody Mary and food from Danielle, the bartender.
Jon Taffer and Tim enter the bar and talk to Micah. Micah says no one likes his ideas.
Jon Taffer reminds them that the bar is losing money every day, and they are in trouble.
Expert mixologist Phil Wills joins Chef Pink to recon the bar.
Phil looks over the menu and doesn’t like that they have no specialty items.
The kitchen is filled with health hazards.
The pots and pans are caked with old, moldy food.
The kitchen and bar have to be cleaned before Jon can help them.
To prep for the stress test, Chef Pink trains the staff to make a simple wing dish with a delicious sauce.
The bartenders serve Phil drinks with too much sugar.
He teaches them the proper way to make them for the stress test.
Phil leaves out buckets to pour drinks in that the bar makes terrible.
During the stress test, the customers like the wings but are left waiting a long time for their drinks.
The bar has many unattended tickets, and soon they run out of glassware.
Jon Taffer shuts the bar down and gathers the staff for feedback.
Jon tells them they need to charge the total price for every item on the menu as they are losing money.
Phil trains the staff by teaching them a martini with a twist.
Chef Pink leads the team on how to make boneless wings.
After two days, the bar is renovated, and Jon gets the staff and owners together to show them the bar.
As part of the changes, the bar is renamed from Ripper’s Rock House to Tim Owens’ Traveler’s Tavern.
Tim is happy with the new name and likes having his name on the bar.
The bar looks upscale inside but with a rock and roll stage.
Jon has provided two new POS machines.
The bar staff does excellent during the relaunch.
They show confidence while interacting with customers.
So was the Ripper’s Rock House Bar Rescue episode a success? Keep reading our update to learn what happened to the bar after the cameras finished filming.
Tim Owens' Traveler's Tavern Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Tim Owens Bar Rescue episode, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left Akron, Ohio.
Things seemed to start off well for the bar after the rebranding.
At the normal six-week check-in with the Bar Rescue producers, we learn that the bar has grossed over $110,000 in the 1.5 months since Taffer’s visit.
Is Tim Owens’ Traveler’s Tavern from Bar Rescue still open?
Tim Owens’ Traveler’s Tavern for good in September, 2016, around one year after the original Ripper’s Rock House Bar Rescue visit.
At the time of its closure, it had a solid 3.5 star rating on Yelp.
Here’s a sampling of a few of the reviews that were written after the visit from Jon Taffer…
5 star review from September 2015:
My first Bar Rescue bar!
Now Tim Owens’ Travelers’ Tavern.
The food was awesome and the new drinks were good.
The staff was awesome, especially Diane thank you for taking such good care of us!
2 star review from January 2016:
Not sure of the Bar Rescue remodel.
Wings were mediocre at best and the bartender was ok.
It was inconvenience to get an itemized receipt.
We probably won’t go back.
The prices were pretty good for the amount of food received.
Unfortunately, they were serving the beer in plastic cups.
4 star review from December 2015:
Girls point of view:
First of all it’s now called Tim Owens Travelers Tavern.
We stopped in for a beer and some live music.
Walking up to the building I was a little concerned and ready to leave if it was a total dive.
Wow! Nice surprise on the inside.
Comfortable and tasteful.
I am a food person and not a drinker, but my boyfriend likes his beer.
o he was pretty pleased -ten tap handles and several signature drinks.
I liked the wing selection called the “world tour of wings” With 36 sauces from tradition hot, mango habanero, to Bloody Mary and gonzos baked cheese.
We ordered the Kentucky Jack burn: cooked crispy and the sauce was light but flavorful.
Definitely coming back for more!
Another nice tidbit about this bar is that it was featured on Bar Rescue and one of the owners is Tim Owens the lead singer of Judas Priest.
Probably why they have live bands several times a week.
Ps: everyone made us feel welcome!
Ps ladies: potty is clean 🙂
Why did Tim Owens’ Traveler’s Tavern close?
Tim and Micah said they closed the bar because of other commitments – Tim’s music schedule and Micah’s landscaping business.
Because neither of them could put enough focus on the bar, they chose to close it.
Here’s part of Tim’s statement about the closure:
It is a tremendous commitment of time and resources to maintain a restaurant and music venue and unfortunately, we are not able to commit the time and energy to this business that it deserves.
We have had to make the difficult decision to commit our time and resources to our main careers.
They sold the bar to another person who wanted to create a restaurant, though the new owner was open to still having live music some times.
As of 2023, the old Tim Owens’ Akron, Ohio location is occupied by a new bar/restaurant named Magic City Brewing Company, or MCBC for short.
Reviews for the new place seem quite good as it has a 4.5 star rating on its Yelp page.
Here’s what the old Rippers Rock House Akron location looks like in the most recent Google Maps street view update:
What happened to Tim Ripper Owens after Bar Rescue?
Tim still has a successful music career. He was announced as the frontman for the band KK’s Priest in 2020, which features former Judas Priest members.
Tim is still touring and performing with KK Priest as of 2023, as far as I can tell.
The band also recently released a new album in 2021.
He’s also released other recent albums with bands such as The Three Tremors and Spirits of Fire.
You can learn more on the official Tim Ripper Owens website, which includes his tour dates.
Tim also seems to be on a bit of a health kick.
In a January 2023 Instagram post, Tim shared that he’s lost over 50 pounds and he looks super lean now.
Congrats to him!
Overall, it seems like he was being honest about needing to close the bar because of his other commitments.
That means that the Tim Owens Travelers Tavern Bar Rescue changes could’ve been successful if Tim had time to dedicate to the bar.
If you want to see some other Ohio Bar Rescue episodes, you can check out these posts:
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/tim-owens-travelers-tavern-akronWhat did you think about the episode? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
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And don't forget to check out all of the other Bar Rescue updates.
Last updated: 2023-03-07 06:37
Bar Rescue is a joke. Almost 70% of the renovations are now closed. . The thing that Taffer forgets is that the people who ran this bar into the ground in the first place, they are still the same people that will run his new creation into the ground!! This show is so fake.
It’s more like 50/50 – it’s not quite as bad as 70%. You can see the full Bar Rescue success rate and stats at this page:
https://realitytvupdates.com/bar-rescue-updates/
Cris if a dog had three legs and lived in deplorable conditions you fix his living conditions and groom him he still has one leg and let’s go off everything and lives in trash again was that fake and wasn’t it the dogs fault not Jhon’s and doses that make it fake get a life
Are you 22 or 24 beers in right now?
I’m thinking if the place was making money, it would have stayed open, they could have hired a manager or perhaps leased the place to someone else and took a % of sales.
My guess wasn’t doing so well which is too bad.
Sherlock Holmes here. But seriously, no profitable business ever just closes down, I’m always surprised by this sites admin selling stuff like “due to personal reasons” or “to seek other opportunities” when everyone knows they swan dived into an empty pool from the high platform. They get almost defensive about Taffers success record. Either related or creepy level fan of show, drinking down deep the Taffer kool aid and actually believing it. To each his own.
I think it has been pretty well established that a lot of these owners just want to cut their losses and sell the bar, but they know they it won’t sell in its current condition. They want it renovated so it will bring a better price. That’s why so many of them close after the rescue — they never intended to slowly work off their huge debt — they always intended to sell it and recoup some of their losses.
Bingo. Yet you oughta see the outrage on here about that. The “betrayal” of Taffers beneficent generosity and victimizing his noble cause. The gullibility is off the charts, the true carnivorous nature of a reality tv production co, utterly devoid of honesty or ethics, trust me, I know. Yet people wanna believe the formulaic narrative and manufactured drama and “breakthrough epiphanies” that have enemies hugging for the cameras and soooo many fans say “Ohhh look Taffer Dr Phil” and the actually BELIEVE it. It kinda scares me for
This country.
Too easy for weasel politician to exploit the outrage feedback loop of social media algo’s and divide and conquer with conspiracy crap and culture wars based on mainly lies. The smokescreen that has us fighting each other hides the real greed and corruption, yet we’re arguing about masks.
A 22 yr GOP congressman, lifelong family friend, told me the BS social/culture wars are total “distraction by design” and none of them believe it, but it “keeps them re-elected and people not focusing on the fact they go to DC w 3-400k in retirement accts and leave DC worth 10,15,20 million dollars. From “serving” the public. Yep, that’s why gop and dem spoon feed you outrage to hate the other side, so u never focus on the true crimes. How Dems sold out the working man and got in bed s Silicon Valley, a d how gop sold its soul to corp and Wall Street long ago. Big money runs this country, citizens are an afterthought. You don’t benefit from 200m a day for 20 yrs spent in Afghan, 40% of that money was fraud and theft. Gov report proved it. Your congressman BIL made 20 m selling 10x overpriced nuts and bolts to the military . All debt. Sidetracked here but my point it, reality tv conning people is a symptom of a bigger problem in this country. And it’s only accelerating.
Rock stars, like pro athletes, way too easy for asset managers to separate them from their money. Like most of the country, they stay comfortably deluded in their ignorance and believe fairy tales that help them sleep better at night. They’re fine believing “it’s all too complicated and surely far above my intellectual capacity to learn or understand.” Some of my dumbest friend are successful Wall Street types, it’s not that complicated, read a freaking book or remain an easy mark for life. Ripper Owens was completely clueless, which is okay, but, not learning,
not gaining that knowledge and expertise, after years, that’s not ok. No excuse for that kinda slow mo failure, all completely voluntary. He already conned the poor guy into 200k debt while he out in ZERO dollars. He was the singer for JP for 5 min, 20 yrs ago!!!! He shoulda been partner that invested too. Milking the rockstar thing is just lame. “I had a movie made about me in 1996” it’s like the HS QB who peaked in 1989’and still reminds you he woulda taken state if coach put him in the game. That he can throw the ball over the mountain, or peg you in the talkhole with a ribeye steak as you ride by on a bicycle. Yep, Ripper has surrendered
To Uncle Rico syndrome and we need to stage an intervention, STAT. Meet me at HQ, we haven’t a second to spare.
I feel bad for Ripper, he was just diagnosed with ESS. Empty sack syndrome. To hear Taffer talk about rippers “brand” and vilify the other guy who put up every penny and Ripper zero money. Yeah,’not Taffers finest analysis or assessment. I have no patience for the empty headed “celebrity” and he probably spends about ten minutes per year in that place then shows up w suggestions. To hear him repeatedly say he’s being taken advantage of, delusional
That place was a dump before and after the rehab. The same lowest common denominator crowd went there both before and after. Biker hangout type places keep customers away because they are so mentally unstable and of such a criminal mentality it isn’t safe to be where they gather. There was more drugs sold there than booze just about every night. I don’t go to bars so I never went in there, but I live near there and often drove past to see the line of bikes parked there and people urinating in the parking lots. When you cater to animals, animals will attend. Neither of those owners had any clue how to run a bar. After the show, things picked up at first because of the curiosity seekers, but it lasted a year after that because everything they did new went out the window and they were back to being just another neighborhood bar. What’s the big deal about having Tim’s name on the building? He was never there. Do you think when you go to KFC you are going to see Colonel Sanders?