Bar Rescue star Jon Taffer traveled to Sunnyside Queens, New York in 2013 to check out Jack’s Ale House which is owned by three firefighter brothers who inherited the place from their late father Jack McGowan. Back in the day, their father was doing $8,000 to $10,000 a week. But when the brothers took over they shut down the bar in 2011 to renovate the dive bar. But when the construction started “everything went wrong.” They were closed for a year and a half. When they finally reopened the neighborhood had changed from working class to young and wealthy who prefer trendier bars. Jack’s Ale House lost customers and faced $400,000 in debt when Taffer came along and rebranded the place as Jack’s Fire Dept.
Jack’s Fire Dept. is still alive and kicking and serving Spike Seltzer (100 calories, 5% ABV) in five different flavors: Black Cherry, Cranberry, Grapefruit, Lime and Sicilian Blood Orange. Bar Rescue episodes air Sundays at 9pm and 10pm on Spike.
