Sunday, October 5, 2014

Bar Rescue - P's and Q's Auto Body (Artful Dodger/Radio) Update

On tonight's episode of Bar Rescue, the season 4 premiere, Jon Taffer and crew are in Huntington, New York to try to rescue the Artful Dodger.  The Artful Dodger is also known as Radio and has an 18 and over night at the bar to try to draw a bigger crowd.  The bar also has an infestation of mosquitoes and fruit flies, which have also made their way into the bar's liquor bottles.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Artful Dodger/Radio was renamed to P's and Q's Auto Body, and it appears they have stuck with that name.  Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for P's and Q's Auto Body since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar:


Reviews:
  • "Great atmosphere, great drinks, fabulous service. In love with the new and improved P's and Q's auto-body. Went here on a Friday night at around midnight. Was shocked to see the drastic improvement to the place."
  • "The pros: Bartender was nice and willing to discuss the upcoming Bar Rescue episode (airs October 5th). ....the interior and decor were fantastic.
    The cons: Music was way too loud for the upscale vibe they are looking to project. Also, the bartender poured himself a Sidecar when I ordered one and had a sip while we were there."
  • "Very cool vibe- great place to sit and have a great time with friends listening to music. Not to mention the bartenders are super nice and the cocktails have a nice kick! Huntington needed a place like this! Definitely will be returning!"
  • "Stopped by at 6 pm yesterday for a drink,and it was closed.   If these guys just changed the name and plan on keeping the same hours as Radio, I give it six months."

 *Reviews from Yelp

Other News and Links:
  •  Here are two preview clips for the episode (one and two); however you can watch the full episode with the Spike TV app before it airs.
  • The bar has a few too many Facebook pages. Here is the P's and Q's Auto Body Facebook page. Here is the Artful Dodger Facebook Page, a Radio Huntington Facebook page, and a Huntington Speakeasy Facebook page,
  • Here is the P's and Q's Auto Body website, and the signature cocktails are $12.25.
  • The Artful Dodger also had another location in Smithtown, NY, which they closed abruptly in August of 2013.  Despite being closed, they still have their Facebook page active and are promoting P's and Q's, so add another Facebook page to the list.
  • From a 2011 article about Artful Dodger, "the Artful Dodger is 23+ guys, 21+ girls; but you can get away with 21+ guys as long as you have some hot chicks with you."  So, they went from not allowing 21 and 22 year-old guys to an 18 and over nightclub with Radio.
  • Here are the Facebook pages of Brian (owner/promoter), Mike (bartender), Jen (bartender), and Brittany (bartender).
  • Looking at Brian's Facebook page, his last post about P's and Q's Auto Body was on August 16th, and he has recently been posting about another bar name Aura, so it appears he may no longer be involved with P's and Q's Auto Body.
  • After watching this episode, it looks like Bar Rescue is now allowing the employees of the bar to change outfits from day-to-day, which doesn't allow the show to edit the show however they please.
  • For this episode the bar didn't serve any food, but they still had two experts, a bartender and a service expert.
  • Jon Taffer will be live tweeting during the episode using the hashtag #TafferTalk if you are interested in following (Link).
  • Here were the reviews of the Artful Dodger before the makeover, and they are pretty bad.
  • The update at the end of the show said sales increased around 30% six weeks after the re-launch.

Conclusion:

Since the Bar Rescue makeover in July, it seems that P's and Q's Auto Body has had mostly positive reviews.  They have also stuck with the name change and the speakeasy concept installed by Jon Taffer.  It appears that Brian is no longer promoting P's and Q's, but that is not confirmed yet.  The bar may also want to cut down on the amount of Facebook pages that they have.

UPDATE - In March 2015, there was a fire at a nearby laundromat, which caused extensive damage to P's and Q's Autobody.  The bar said they were renovating and fixing the damage on their Facebook page, and were updating customers on the progress.  Then the Facebook page was taken down and it appears they are closed for good.

UPDATE - P's and Q's reopened around May 2016 and their Facebook page is back up and active.

UPDATE - P's and Q's Autobody closed in October 2018 - More information on the closure.


*To see how all of the bars from Bar Rescue are doing, go to the Bar Rescue Update page, and also Like us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter to stay up to date with all things involving Bar Rescue.


32 comments:

  1. For Whom The Bell TollsOctober 5, 2014 at 10:00 PM

    Not a fan of the name.

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  2. Love the show and Jon Taffer is the reason this show is a hit,.. I'm hooked Line and sinker .wish they were around when I failed at my bar/restaurant ...
    Was worries we wouldn't see Jon rescue anymore but hear they have 30 in the tank just gets me excited for Sunday nights ..
    New app is great and a few other shows look interesting ..
    Ink master right up there ...

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  3. Why not a fan???
    What are you watching ? Real housewives ? Yuck.
    Man up !

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  4. Who names a bar p&q auto body ! Horrible concept ! Good luck but don't expect this place to be around long

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  5. Howcan I get Mr Taffer to rescue my bar?

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  6. Thought the guys were sleaze, went to their fb pages and saw their promo fliers. Proof in the pudding. Taffer upscaled the slime and they didn't deserve it. Good luck swimming on your publicity, you'll sink soon....

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  7. Taffer does it again. The bar is amazing and the concept is cool as Hell. Only thing I am wondering about is the fire exits!

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  8. Have to laugh at the haters....the concept is great and guaranteed to get people talking. "Where id you go last night?" "The autobody shop." "What??"

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  9. I love it. Taffer pulls up with his crew and instantly starts making fun of the fact that the place looks like an auto body shop. To fix things, he also changes the name to auto body shop.



    The speakeasy concept is pretty cool, but there are 2 problems:


    First, they need someone manning the secret door. The cool part of the concept is being allowed back in the "secret" bar. If the big door is just open all night, that coolness is gone.



    Second, this place will rely 100% on word of mouth. It takes a pretty damned special experience to have people telling all their friends about it.



    As a season premier episode, this was a little lame. Did Bar Rescue's budget get cut? If it didn't, I worry for them if the best they could come up with was the typical loser owner doesn't give a damn and the staff follows suit.



    It did amuse me that Taffer didn't proudly roll out his paperwork for the owner and pat himself on the back as he explained the coming renovation - he was just like, "The guy's too stupid to understand what I'm planning, so what's the point?"

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  10. I used to go to the Dodger a lot back in the day (mid-to-late 90s). Back then, it was a typical bar/pub with a mostly college-age crowd (I'd say about 21 to 27). Nothing special, but a fun way to kill a Friday or Saturday night. I honestly thought it had closed years ago. I was stunned to see that it turned into an 18-and-over joint. Wasn't overly impressed with the makeover, but then again, I'm a single dad in my 40s - I highly doubt that I'm the target audience. I wish them luck, though.


    There also used to be this awesome wing place a few doors down. I wish Taffer had rescued THAT.

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  11. If I were to open a string of metal like clubs across the nation, Jon would make some VERY nice money.

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  12. There's a awesome wing place on green street called Ideal Wings! Best Wings in town!

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  13. It didn't look like the budget got cut to me, some of that furniture in the bar looked pretty damn expensive.

    The episode was OK, but I have a feeling there's better ones waiting in the wings.

    I did find it ironic that Taffer made the bar look like a garage when he criticized one bar in season 1(Angry Ham's) for looking too much like a real garage, I got what he was going for, but it was still interesting.

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  14. Don't really see what the hell you're talking about with the whole changing outfits thing, i've seen that happen a lot in previous shows.

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  15. My question about the budget cut wasn't because they bought $80 bar stools instead of $200 bar stools. It was because this was a season premier (one of 2 episodes every show on TV tries to really make an impact with).

    From the direction things were headed last season, I expected this season's premier to have an owner who runs a stable of midget prostitutes out of the bar. I expected to see Taffer tackled and beaten in the parking lot by half a dozen tiny wrestlers. I expected... something.

    What we actually got was an episode that would get lost in the mid-season: lazy, useless owner? check. Dirty bar? check. Slow bartenders? check. Par for the course.

    Hell, we didn't even get the trademark Taffer speech: "When I came in here and humiliated you in front of 200 people and a TV audience of millions by calling your mother a whore and making you tell me I was right, you didn't like me much, did you? Now, after dropping $90k on your renovation, I can honestly say you're glad I spent that money on your bar. Give me a hug!"

    The only 2 possible explanations I can see for such a weak season premier are budget cuts (so they didn't have personnel to scout for interesting situations) or production riding past momentum to collect checks until someone decides to cancel the show. That's why I said if they didn't get a budget cut, I'm worried for them (meaning for the show).

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  16. Ooh! Thanks for the recommendation, Mike! I just moved not far from Huntington Village a few weeks ago and I'm still feeling my way around. It's changed a lot since I used to frequent it regularly 20 years ago...

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  17. The black girl that they have help train the servers is incredibly beautiful. I hope she's in more episodes in the future. She's amazing.

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  18. Your post makes no sense, the budget is lower because Taffer didn't give a speech? He doesn't give them out in every episode, I think you're reading WAY too much into things.

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  19. No, I suspected the budget was lower because they put out a lame, forgettable episode for a season premier.

    Mentioning his not giving a speech was just pointing out that he forgot to put his trademark stamp on the end of the episode.

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  20. He said the name, not the show. :P

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  21. amazing concept!!!! Speakeasies often had a front business like an auto body shop or funeral parlor.

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  22. I thought the same thing. I first thought of how Taffer ripped Angry Hams garage for not having a bar identity. He's done this throughout the series, but when he comes up with a misleading name for a concept it's okay.

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  23. If Angry Ham's had been a Speakeasy concept, you'd have a point.......

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  24. Just a note: P's and Q's was originally a reference to the letters being placed in a printing press....they were placed backwards and it was easy to mix up P's and Q's. I never heard of the pints and quarts reference but that might be a later flip on the original meaning.

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  25. Is it bad luck to buy a bar and change the name?

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  26. Jon Taffer's Butt FunnelDecember 29, 2014 at 3:35 AM

    I went to a bar called Joe's Auto Parts or something in Toronto like five years ago lol

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  27. Jon Taffer's Butt FunnelDecember 29, 2014 at 3:37 AM

    They had that drunk girl trying to fight the camera man... that was pretty ridiculous even for this disingenuous show...

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  28. Unfortunately the place is closed down. The building, which includes a few adjacent businesses, was condemned by the town on Huntington on March 17. I don't know the particulars. Having grown up near Huntington and being back to visit family, I had to stop by. Alas, I was greeted by locked doors and a sign stating it was condemned. :( No signage on the window from the bar about its future.

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  29. There was a fire at a nearby laundromat and they are in the process of getting things back to normal after some water/smoke damage. I will do an update soon

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  30. "Starving Artist"? Yeah, it's pretty lame! lol!

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  31. RealNameNoGimmicksJuly 12, 2015 at 10:26 PM

    This bar is closed. The interior is gutted and all signage (except the outline of the wings) is gone.

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