Tropica Bar Rescue Update (Confetti’s Bar) – Still Open in 2023?

Episode Recap

Confetti’s Bar and Grill, later renamed to Tropica Bar and Cafe, was a Norcross, Georgia bar that was featured on the second half of Season 8 of Bar Rescue. Another name for the location is Peachtree Corners, GA.

Though the Tropica Bar Rescue episode aired in April 2022, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.

It was Season 8 Episode 17 and the episode name was “Shutting Down the Confetti Party”.

In this episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer visits Confetti’s Bar and Grill in Norcross, GA.

More specifically, the bar is located in an area called Peachtree Corners, GA.

The actual address says Norcross, but the bar advertises itself as being in Peachtree Corners, so I’m not sure which is right.

Norcross is located just a bit northeast of Atlanta and it is included in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Jon Taffer owns one of his own bars in Atlanta (Taffer’s Tavern), so he seems to be doing a good number of Atlanta Bar Rescue episodes in Season 8, including the Gilly’s / Stadium Club bar in Dunwoody that he visited a few episodes earlier.

Confetti’s is owned by Scott Cohen, a likeable fellow who struggles with an autoimmune disorder.

It sounds pretty horrible, as Scott was essentially bed-ridden for a decade.

He’s still struggling, but he’s much better now, which is how he’s able to run the bar.

Scott bought the bar in 2018, which means he’s owned it for about four years at the time of the Confetti’s Bar Rescue visit.

You can see the Facebook post from the original Confetti’s owners that indicates the sale.

However, Scott has no business experience, nor does he have any experience in the bar or hospitality industry.

Because of Scott’s autoimmune disorder, he lacked the savings to purchase the bar himself, so his father helped him invest in the bar.

Sadly, Scott’s father has since passed away.

So beyond the financial reasons for pushing for the bar’s success, Scott also wants to do his father’s legacy proud.

Scott seemed to be doing a really good job.

If you look at the Confetti’s Yelp reviews from before Bar Rescue, they actually seem pretty good (unlike a lot of the disasters that appear on Bar Rescue).

Scott calls it “the best and worst dive bar in Peachtree Corners”.

The theme is “do whatever you want”. The bar has pool tables, darts, karaoke, arcade games, poker, and more.

Honestly, it sounds pretty fun and like the type of place I’d hang out.

However, Melissa and Bianca, two managers at the bar, say that Scott isn’t good at the business part of the bar (as he’d rather focus on the social parts).

They both call Scott an “absentee owner”.

Helen, one of the Confetti’s bartenders, echoes the thoughts of Melissa and Bianca.

Monster, a security guard at the bar, says that Scott “lets these girls run over him”.

Yes – his name is actually Monster. Isn’t that the absolute best name for a bar bouncer?

As a result, things at Confetti’s have been sliding down hill, which is why the Confetti’s Bar Rescue episode exists in the first place.

After all, Jon Taffer doesn’t normally visit successful bars.

There are a lot of broken things at the bar, such as a broken beer cooler, problems with the stove, broken stools, and so on.

To make matters worse, the bar is losing over $4,000 per month.

Despite that, the current debt at the bar is only around $75,000.

While that’s not chump change, this is actually pretty low debt load for a bar that appears on Bar Rescue.

You’ll see a lot of bars that are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt by the time Jon Taffer gets there, so $75,000 isn’t insurmountable.

Still, Scott says the bar only has six months to turn things around before he’ll have to shut it down.

Overall, it seems like a cool concept and aesthetic for a bar, but one that needs business experience to be successful.

Thankfully, business experience and processes are Jon Taffer’s specialty, so I think Confetti’s has pretty good chances of surviving if Jon Taffer can get everyone trained up.

As part of Jon Taffer’s changes, Jon changed the name of the bar from Confetti’s Bar and Grill to Tropica Bar and Cafe.

The bar still has the pool tables, poker, and karaoke, but it’s got a great new theme and looks much better inside.

He also comes up with a new farm-to-table menu for the bar.

So was the Confetti Bar Rescue visit a long-term success? Keep reading to learn what happened next and if it’s still open in 2024.