(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 6 | View All Season 6 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: September 15, 2019
The Bar's Original Name Was: Wildfire Bistro
The Prime Bar Address: 15352 E Ida Dr Aurora, CO 80015
Episode Recap
Wildefire Bistro (also spelled Wildfire Bistro), later renamed to The Prime Bar, was a Denver / Aurora, Colorado bar that was featured on Season 6 of Bar Rescue.
Though the Wildfire Bistro Bar Rescue episode aired in September 2019, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place around four months before that in May.
It was Season 6 Episode 45 and the episode name was “The Sound of Falling Music”.
In this episode, Jon Taffer and his crew head to Wildefire Bistro.
The Wildefire Bistro is located in Centennial / Aurora, CO.
If you’re not familiar with Colorado geography, Aurora is basically part of Denver, so we’re talking a pretty big city here.
The bar is owned by Tony David, who is a singer and lounge performer.
Up until 2018, Tony performed as musician at Bistro Alveno.
After Bistro Alveno shut its doors, the owners sold the bar to Tony.
Since Tony was unfamiliar with managing a business, he focused on his lounge music.
The focus was on the wrong part of the business, and sales declined.
I like music as much as the next guy – but a bar needs to focus on drinks and food first, and then music and other events (at least imo).
Tony’s wife Dani, his son Nick and his daughter Rylie support Tony at the bar.
However, there are also some conflicts between the family because of this dynamic.
He even fired his son because he asked Tony to stop singing.
Their family relationships are in turmoil, mainly because of Wildefire Bistro and stress around the money.
Tony is close to $300,000 in debt and loses more money daily, which is a big part of why the Wildfire Bistro Bar Rescue visit was requested.
Expert mixologist Mia Mastroianni and Chef Michael Ferraro arrive at Wildefire Bistro with Jon Taffer.
Wildefire Bistro is located in an affluent area, and Jon thinks they should be bringing in a lot of money.
The footage shows Tony interacting with the guests, ignoring his family.
Also shown in the footage are Lamar, the cook, John, the bartender, and May, the server.
May is making many mistakes, and Tony is unhelpful in drinking behind the bar.
Ami, who appeared on a previous episode of Bar Rescue, and a friend spy on the bar for Jon.
Side note – Ami is the owner of Zanzibar / Solids and Stripes in Denver, which was featured on Season 3 of Bar Rescue.
When Ami sits at the bar, dirty utensils and glasses are in front of her.
Tony says sorry to Ami and her friend and treats them to a round of shots.
Notice a trend here? Failing bar owners always want to give out free drinks.
A glass shatters over the ice bin, and no one takes care of the hazard.
That’s so risky!
Someone could get glass in their drink.
Ami tells Tony about it before anyone gets hurt.
There is food sitting in the window for a long time because no one knows where it goes.
The wings Ami ordered come with a piece of hair in them.
The experts come in and unplug Tony’s microphone because he is singing. Lol!
They inform him about everything they have witnessed on the footage.
The experts leave and Tony goes outside to look for Jon, but everyone has left.
Jon Taffer comes back the next day and condemns the staff except for Lamar for their behavior the day before.
Lamar was exempted because he was the only one working hard.
Rylie speaks up and tells Jon the constant fighting between her family is causing the bar to fail.
Before Jon promises to fix the bar, he makes Tony call his son and bring him back to the bar.
Tony’s son Nick returns to Wildefire Bistro and begins training for the stress test.
Mia shows the staff how to greet customers, stay classy, and serve tasty drinks.
Michael leads Lamar and the team to a steak dinner dish in the kitchen.
Tony is made to wear a hairnet to avoid any more issues with hair in the food.
For the stress test, Tony will work in the kitchen.
During the stress test, the bar cannot keep up with the orders coming in.
Eventually, the bar gets back on track, but Tony needs a lot of help in the kitchen.
Many customers cancel their orders when they see food being brushed with a plastic curtain as the servers leave the kitchen.
The kitchen is shut down, but the bar stays open and has a successful night, which is pretty rare for a Bar Rescue episode.
Once the stress test is complete, the experts can really get to work on training the WildeFire Bistro staff.
Mia trains the staff on more high-end cocktails.
The team learns how to make a lamb shank dish from Michael in the kitchen.
Tony and Jon talk, and Tony tells Jon he feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
The family is reunited while the team works on the remodel.
The bar’s new name is The Prime Bar, so they sound more upscale.
Lamar is having a great time cooking the food after the renovations and the customers love the fresh food and decor.
Overall, it seems like things are looking up for The Prime Bar.
So was the Wildefire Bistro Bar Rescue visit a success?
Keep reading my update to learn what happened next and if this Aurora, CO bar is still open in 2024.
The Prime Bar Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the The Prime Bar Bar Rescue visit, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and his crew came down from the mountains and left the bar to its own devices.
Things seemed to be looking up for the bar at first.
At the standard six-week check-in with the Bar Rescue producers, we learn that sales at the bar are up 20%.
However, it seems like Tony didn’t want to stick with the bar as he sold it in July 2019.
The sale happened two months before the WildeFire Bistro Bar Rescue episode aired on TV, though two months after the actual visit from Jon Taffer (which happened in May 2019).
Is The Prime Bar from Bar Rescue still open?
The Prime Bar closed some time in 2021, though the owners didn’t share any announcement so it’s hard to see an exact date.
Multiple reviews indicate that the closure happened as early as May 2021.
At that time, the bar was already under new ownership as the original WildeFire Bistro owner sold the bar shortly after the Bar Rescue episode.
As of 2024 (my most recent check), the old Wildfire Bistro Aurora CO location is occupied by a business named Events @ PineyCreek.
It seems to have a variety of live events, including music, comedy, weddings, and corporate bookings.
Here’s a Google Maps street view shot that shows the old The Prime Bar Aurora CO location:
The Prime Bar reviews after Bar Rescue
Before its closure, reviews for The Prime Bar already seemed pretty mediocre as it has a 3 star rating on Yelp and a 3.9 star rating on Google Reviews.
With that being said, reviews that were written after the Bar Rescue visit were generally a bit more positive than those written before, so it does seem like the bar was doing a bit better.
In general, people seemed to be very positive towards the live music, but very negative towards the service quality.
Here’s a sampling of reviews that were written after the The Prime Bar Bar Rescue visit…
4 star review from 2020:
Went there for the very first time.
The band, the service, and the whole atmosphere was great.
I liked that there was a mixture of younger as well as older people there.
We will definitely go there again.
5 star review from 2020:
The live music will get you on the dance floor.
A hidden jewel.
A must see when you are in the neighborhood.
1 star review from 2020:
The Music is fabulous.
The Service is HORRIBLE EVERYTIME I COME.
I LOVE THE LIVE MUSIC.
4 star review from 2020:
Very nice neighborhood bar.
Great live band the night we were there.
Friendly service although they had a couple larger parties, they seemed a bit understaffed.
Wait staff was running around like crazy and took some time to get drinks / appetizers.
Would definitely visit again.
1 star review from 2020:
We were excited to see one of our favorite bands at Prime friday night.
We arrived early however, all the tables were reserved and most were still empty and the few that weren’t reserved were already taken.
Lots of space but no chairs and no wait staff to at least order a drink until the band got started.
Disappointed we left before the band went on.
Didn’t seem much different from before Bar Rescue.
Disappointing don’t plan on returning.
1 star review from 2020:
If there was a negative star to award this place, I would have selected that!
Tonight was there with 5 friends, and placed 3 orders with 3 different people, and in over 1.25 hrs.
Not a drink.
Not even water that was asked for.
This place is a joke!
Please pass on this spot, and move on to any other place.
I guarantee the service is better anywhere else.
Miss managed and no servers, and to boot, we were told they ran out of of glasses?
This place will not last!
Bar rescue would be ashamed to had even been associated with this place if they could see it now!
What happened to Tony David from Wildfire Bistro?
Tony seems to still be performing a lot of music under the name Tony David & WildeFire.
If you check out his Facebook page, you’ll see him posting a lot about upcoming gigs.
Here’s an example of a gig:
Even when I’m updating this post again in 2024, Tony still seems to be playing lots of gigs.
For example, here’s a post from March 2024 about Tony performing at a casino, which seems like a fun gig for a lounge singer.
I’m glad Tony is able to still do what he loves, even if the bar is closed.
Honestly, I think it’s probably better that Tony can just focus on singing, rather than trying to run a succesful bar business.
I wish him the best.
Final thoughts on The Prime Bar
Overall, The Prime Bar was not a long-term success because it closed just a couple of years after the Bar Rescue visit (Covid probably didn’t help, as the closure was in 2021).
However, Tony seems to still be making a succesful career as a lounge singer, which I think is nice to see.
That wraps up my thoughts on this episode.
If you want to see some other updates for Bar Rescue Denver episodes, check out these posts:
- Zanzibar / Solids and Stripes update
- The Kasbah update
- Summit House update
- Malloy’s / GI Jodi’s update
- Bar Retro / Rockabillies update
And if you want to share your thoughts on the episode, you can use the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-prime-bar-centennialhttps://www.yelp.com/biz/wildefire-bistro-aurora
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Last updated: 2024-03-27 06:26
This guy out fake-acted even better than Jon T himself. He had the crew convinced he wanted to succeed in the business of his own bar, then sold the renovation right after Jon left! I wonder where the rest of the family, who worked in the family bar, ended up working so that Tony could be a lounge singer somewhere else?
That’s is crazy. He used the Bar Rescue upgrades to sell the bar for a higher price. It was never about “fixing my family”. It was all about getting a higher market value.
It just seems like a lot of these owners bail once the make over is done. Seems like women owners that stick with the plan become the most successful.
Just hope the family stayed together, but with Tony’s ego I doubt it. This place should have been a go-to place. Most stayed away, shameful on Tony’s part!
my wife was the one that cancelled her food. Went back and spoke with Rylie. New owners changed everything, and most of the staff was let go.
That’s cool! What was it like going to a Bar Rescue taping?
Anyone who lets John Taffer come in and make a failing bar successful and then bails…. Is a loser a$$ hole!
Represent Piney Creek!!!!
Wish was more vetting of owners, landlords, check criminal and civil issues, pending violations ect.. shame, another con artist scams bar rescue