Island Lounge

The episode

Key dates

1. March 2018Closed. — before the episode aired
2. August 26, 2018Bar Rescue episode “There Will Be Family Blood” airs — Jon Taffer's rescue of Island Bar & Grill, relaunched as Island Lounge, filmed earlier.

The rescue

Jon Taffer relaunched Island Bar & Grill as Island Lounge.

Island Lounge closed in March 2018 after its business license was suspended following a shooting involving the bar's bouncers. City officials viewed the bar as unsafe, with more than 190 police calls in five years.

What happened next

At the six-week check-in, sales were up by more than 10 percent, and Adam was grateful for Taffer's help. He never fully adopted the new name, and the bar used 'Island Lounge' and 'Island Sports Bar and Grill' interchangeably. Taffer had visited in late 2016. In March 2018, after an argument inside the bar, an ejected patron fired shots and the bar's bouncers, who were not properly licensed, fired back, hitting the woman driving the departing car. The bar's business license was suspended on March 31, 2018, and it never reopened. Police had been called to the bar more than 190 times in the previous five years, though owner Adam Shorter attributed the closure to racism. The site was later occupied by City Limits Kitchen and Bar.