Sunday, June 2, 2019

Bar Rescue - Das Brauhaus (New England's Ale House) Update

On this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Palm Harbor, Florida to rescue New England's Ale House.  New England's Ale House is owned by Tara Cook who is recently divorced and is now a single mother.  She hired her friend Doug as a general manager, and he helps her out in both the bar and her personal life, but the bar is failing.  Three Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Beau Allen, Cameron Brate and Ali Marpet are there to help Jon Taffer do recon.  While doing recon, Jon discovers the kitchen has a big problem with cross-contamination.


During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to change the name of New England's Ale House to Das Brauhaus, which is a German-themed bar and restaurant.  The bar decided to keep the name, but Das Brauhaus closed before its episode aired. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Das Brauhaus since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):




Positive Reviews:

  • "When Das Brauhaus showed up on my radar, I thought; Thank Goodness, a replacement for the German restaurant recently closed in Holiday! We visited last night, with hope in our eyes (and stomachs, lol) and, by the first course, I knew my hunger for German food was in pretty good hands.....The staff was friendly and eager to please, the outdoor area is inviting and reminded us of the best of the German Biergarten's, there are outdoor games to play and plenty of tv screens to watch the games. A hearty welcome to Palm Harbor! Prost!"
  • "Really good food and comfortable atmosphere with acoustic live music on a Friday night. Jager Schitzel, braised cabbage, Rouladen and apple strudel all really really tasty and very comfortably priced. Also a good house wine for $5 a glass. The only flaw for me was a side of applesauce was not homemade. But great service friendly staff and everyone was upbeat. Really enjoyed the experience. Will return soon and spread the good word."
  • "Really cool place with a German menu. A sufficient beer selection and the food is just awesome although it's a small menu - the food is awesome. I like it better to have a limited amount of GREAT FOOD than to have a wide selection of mediocre items."
  • "Great place for a nice cold beer and a traditional German meal!! Our first time here and we will definitely be back."
  • "I wasn't too sure about German food ... I haven't been a fan of other German places. But I was pleasantly surprised at Das Brauhaus today. We started with the pretzel and beer cheese and it was fantastic. Then I had the hot dog ... nice foot long dog ... so yummy. My husband had the pork schnitzel and he loved it. The gravy makes it. I tried a bite of it and I'd definitely order it for myself next time. We are looking forward to going back and trying more items. The atmosphere and new decor is wonderful and my husband was very happy to have some German beer!"

Negative Reviews:

  • "Service is still great! I preferred the old menu though. The brat was not memorable and needs to be on a different bun with a crispy crust. The pork also was not memorable and came with an overabundance of bland cabbage. The spaetzle with brown gravy was soupy and bland and the gravy wasn't brown. Won't be back to be honest as the food isn't worth it."
  • "I went to check this place out yesterday.We ordered 2 single shots drinks Belvedere vodka & soda. The music they where playing was elevator music . It was terrible I was expecting someone to ask for the grey Poupon mustard ! Then we hear this hammering going on it was coming from the kitchen. I asked if they were still under construction. The bartender said no that's the chef pounding the meats . We watched the food come out it looked over cooked and not very appetizing. So we decided to get are check and I couldn't believe they charged 23.54 for two drinks. I don't mind paying that much but there was no atmosphere no view nothing but what I described up above. Charging that much for two drinks is ludicrous. We stopped at Hurricane Eddies for the same drinks 14.00 ! Good luck with this place you will need it. Don't waste your time or money."
  • "Very disappointing. Had rouladen , very dry no gray. Potatoes not cooked. Most items on menu had no sides. Only side was a poor example for potato salad."
*Reviews from Yelp


Other News and Links:


  • The Bar Rescue makeover happened in late February/early March 2019, so about 3 months before the episode aired.
  • Here is a five-minute preview video of the episode from the Paramount YouTube page.
  • Here is the Das Brauhaus website and Facebook page.  Here is the New England's Ale House Facebook page.
  • Here is the Facebook page of Tara (owner)
  • Tara posted a lot of live videos on Facebook.
  • In early May, she let everybody know they would be bringing back old menu items on a "secret menu" such as wings. (Link)
  • On May 6th, Tara announced she would be closing the bar on Mother's Day (May 12, 2019).  She talked about how she was going through a divorce, was a single mom, and there wasn't enough time in the day to also be a bar owner/bartender.  The video is below (Link)




  • Tara said she was entertaining offers for the property, such as leases and purchases. (Link)
  • New England's Ale House had a 3-star rating on Yelp, while Das Brauhaus had a 3.5-star rating, so they were slightly improved after the Bar Rescue makeover.
  • According to her Facebook page, Tara started a new job as a real estate associate in May 2019. (Link)
  • In December 2017, Tara was arrested for a DUI after driving on the wrong side of the road. (Link)
  • Jon Taffer's Marriage Rescue (more info on that show) is premiering after this episode of Bar Rescue, so it seems like this episode was chosen as a good lead in to the new show.

Conclusion:

New England's Ale House was renamed to Das Brauhaus by Bar Rescue and the bar did keep the name and German theme.  The reviews for Das Brauhaus were slightly improved from when they were New England's Ale House. However, Das Brauhaus closed in May 2019, which was about three months after the rescue and before their episode even aired on television.  Tara said it was too hard to own a bar and be a single mom, so now she is going to focus on her kids/family.  She is currently working as a real estate agent and is trying to sell the building that Das Brauhaus was in.


*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.

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