Bar Rescue - Theory A Vintage Parlor Bar (Paladino's) Update

On this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Tarzana, California to rescue Paladino's.  Paladino's is a bar that doubles as a music venue and is owned by two scientists who may be smart, but lack common sense.  They are supposedly over $500,000 in debt and they are having trouble attracting customers and good bands.  Paladino's also doesn't have draft beer in the bar or the ingredients to make a simple cocktail such as a Manhattan.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer changed the name of Paladino's to Theory A Vintage Parlor Bar and the bar has somewhat kept the name.  They use both names interchangeably and use Paladino's more often than Theory.  Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Theory since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):




Positive Reviews:

• "This is an absolutely awesome place to come listen to great bands! Great ambiance, great service, and great bands! Love this place!!"
• "I was visiting LA for the holidays and went here for the latin night on Thursday. The crowd was small. This is mostly like a local place. They place mix music of bachata, salsa. Mostly bachata because it was a bachata night. The songs that they played was pretty ok."
• "This is a great spot for some fun entertainment. The quality of bands that play at this location is fun and exciting to the ears full of true enjoyment. You will not regret giving this place a try. They have good beverages to keep your stomach content."
• "If you are a person who really enjoys live music then you will enjoy Paladino's....After you check in with yelp you get a free beer. I have to say being at numerous music venues on the famous sunset strip. Paladion's you are a winner. A great place to enjoy all kinds of music and dancing."
• "I've been going here for years, and I've always had a great time...Was blown away by a lychee flavored drink that contained the extract of a tropical flower that changed colors from a beautiful periwinkle purple to a fuchsia pink when I squeezed a wedge of lemon into it. I love this bar, and I'll continue to come, drink amazing drinks, eat their delicious new pizza, and enjoy the top notch entertainment they provide for as long as the doors stay open."

Negative Reviews:

• "So Jon Taffer ignore's the women's bathroom. But he's on TV every week talking about bars need women customers. Theory's women's bathroom, soap dispencer on the counter, does not work. No purse hook in the stall. Paper towles on the counter, part wet. Paper towel dispenser empty or broken....Oh and the lights in front of the stage, the one with no gel over it, the bright white one, was angled down, so no no wanted to stand on the side because the light was blinding. You needed a sun visor to have a conversation. Yuck. We all moved to a spot where were didn't have a flood like blinding us in the eye."
• "I really wanted to like this venue. But as a Dominican New Yorker who loves her Bachata and Salsa, I am not fycking with this DJ. Do not play Top 40 Hits or Old School Hits on top of Bachata and Salsa beats. You are cheating those who are learning and are literally pushing out a genuine community that is looking for Salsa and Bachata from the East Coast. You are literally losing thousands of dollars bc of it and so are many other venues"
• "$10 cover charge to spend money at the bar? When I'm not seeing the band play? Seriously? Lady asking for the cover charge was the rudest woman I've ever encountered at a business. Been here many times. Won't be back."
• "Not Paladinos as of 4/2017. $10 cover at 7pm. ??REALLY?? Just wanted a few drinks before going to meet up with some friends. The bands don't even start until later. Bad way to start a new bar. 2 Thumbs Down. Ps I've been going there since it was the Crest. Almost 30 years."

*Reviews from Facebook, Yelp

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue makeover happened in March/April 2017, so about a year before the episode aired.
• Here are two preview videos of the episode from the Paramount YouTube page - Video 1, Video 2
• Here is the Paladino's website which doesn't mention the name Theory at all.
• Here is Paladino's Facebook Page where they use both Theory Parlor Bar and Paladino's in advertisements.  The main name on the page is Paladino's and they seem to use that more, especially as of late.
• Here is a Theory Facebook page which only has 1 post.
• Here is the bar's liquor license which is still active and the owner name is "Purple Cat and Cabbage, LLC."  Jonathan and John are listed as the managing members.
• Paladino's has Latin Nights on Thursday nights.  Jonathan responded to a review about Latin Night and said that it was run and promoted by someone else.
• Jonathan also responded to a review in September 2017 stating, "Ironically, today was the first day we had our draft beer system working again in a long time."  So it appears they had problems with draft beer after well after Bar Rescue did their makeover.

Conclusion:

Paladino's seems to use their old name more than the name Theory A Vintage Parlor Bar given to them by Bar Rescue.  Their website only has the Paladino's name and their Facebook page uses both names, but it definitely uses Paladino's more and all recent posts refer to only Paladino's.  The Bar Rescue makeover happened about a year before the episode aired, so they had plenty of time to get everything updated.  Paladino's also is not advertising their Bar Rescue episode at all on social media and do not have a watch party planned.

The reviews since the makeover are mixed with people liking the live music and new drinks and having complaints about Latin night and the cover charge.  Paladino's had issues with their draft beer being available according to what they said in September 2017 - "today was the first day we had our draft beer system working again in a long time."  So it appears they haven't followed through with a lot of what Bar Rescue suggested and provided.

UPDATE - Paladino's (Theory) closed in July 2018 - More info on closure.

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