This week on "Bar Rescue" we continue with season 4 of the reality show with an episode titled, "Paradise Lost." Owner Howard Edelman, majority owner and father to Scott Edelman, a minority owner, and Gonen Minuskin, a partner and majority owner, are the focus of this episode. Scott’s wife, Stephanie, also helps run the bar, Dale 1881. Howard and Gonen not only own the bar, they also own and run the adjacent movie theater, Villagio Cinemas. Howard and Gonen have invested over $400,000 in the business and gave Scott the opportunity to invest $80,000 to manage the bar.
A lack of identity concerns Taffer
With $50,000 in back taxes owed, and Dale 1881 losing over $5,000 a month, the complete and utter lack of a brand identity has Taffer very concerned. Jon calls in two experts for this rescue, Daniel Ponsky, a mixologist and BBQ master Kevin Bludso for the kitchen. When Jon Taffer sends in two spies they meet Burt the bartender, who over pours an unbalanced drink and the spies are not impressed. When the spies order a burger, and pay for it, moments later free hotdogs and hamburgers are offered to the rest of the bar crowd. Taffer then witnesses the owners sit down and fight in the bar in front of customers, much to his dismay, so he steps in and finds out what the deal is.
Howard says that if it wasn’t his son he’d fire Scott, who is in control of the finances. Howard and Gonen are majority owners in control but they've allowed Scott to drive the business into the ground. Taffer suspects some funny business with the cash funds from the bar are the cause of the money troubles.
No one is accountable for the money
Taffer figures things out quickly and sees that Scott is taking money from the business. When Jon looks at the bank statement he sees all sorts of personal golf expenditures and car rentals so he rips into Scott and grills him about the fact he's taking money for personal expenses. Scott defends himself by saying neither he, nor his wife Stephanie, get a regular paycheck.
Although the words embezzlement and fraud are mentioned, a second chance is given to Scott so he can turn the business around. Jon says it’s the most incriminating evidence against a manager he’s ever seen on the reality show and says that Scott needs to humble up.
The stress test leads to change
While some things go well during the stress test, it exposes the lack of preparedness and inability to handle large crowds efficiently. The only glimmer of hope is that Scott steps up to the plate and takes on some of the responsibilities he needs to face as a partner. Scott decides to hand over the finances to Howard and Gonen and promises not to take any more money from the bar. Scott earns back a key to the bar after being locked out by the majority owners.
Jon makes changes to the bar to turn it into a theme bar that focus on the tropical roots of the region and focuses mostly on rum-based drinks and a new food menu that capitalizes on the previously unused kitchen. The bar is officially transformed from Dale 1881 into Cayman Cove, and Taffer once again saves the day for a struggling operation. Six weeks after Taffer's intervention we're told that sales are up over 15% and the bar is now able to pay the rent without assistance of movie theater proceeds.
