Sunday, July 28, 2019

Bar Rescue - JB Taco (Harbor Point Club & Grill) Update

On this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Richardson, Texas to rescue Harbor Point Club and Grill. Harbor Point Club & Grill is co-owned by John Willis and Bert Novey who have no prior bar experience.  The owners are drinking in their bar and during recon, Bar Rescue pretends they are not making over the bar to see the reaction of John and Bert.  Jon Taffer sees they are genuinely upset and decides to go through with the makeover.


During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to change the name of Harbor Point Club & Grill to JB Taco.  The bar did not keep the name and currently goes by the name Rocket's Sports Bar & Grill.  Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for JB Taco/Rocket's Sports Bar & Grill since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):




Positive Reviews:

  • "Here with friends for karaoke night and having fun as always. But just have to give them 5 stars for the best Chef Salad I’ve ever had. Hands up to John (owner) for making sure it had everything but the kitchen sink in it!!!"
  • "Friendly people and great atmosphere"
  • "Jay Smith's karaoke night was AWESOME!! We had a great time!!"
  • "Under new ownership "rockets" Is a awesome place to stop in a grab a quick drink or bite to eat. The staff is friendly the food is scrumptious and they have plenty of great entertainment. From the best shuffle board tables I've seen to billards , darts, even unique games like chess they have it all. They lots of great music karaoke several nights a week and live music. 9 big screen TVs have all the sports on as well.Great fun environment."
  • "Since the new owners have taken over (thank God). The place has changed immensely. People are friendly, smiling and sociable. Karaoke with Jay rocks. The owners are always present making sure everything is great. It's a real fun place now."
  • "I visited this establishment on a random whim with 2 guy friends I had just met. Needless to say the staff was friendly, it wasn't hot and overcrowded like some club and grills can be. Drinks were amazing and you can play a great game of pool. Its a hidden gem. I would highly recommend this establishment."

Negative Reviews:


  • "We went after bar rescue came and it was supposed to be JB taco with the largest taco menu in Texas. They didn't have anything prepped to make any of the 51 tacos on the menu... So she gave us a menu with four choices including, cheeseburger, hot dog, grilled cheese, and chicken wings... With potato chips. We liked the old menu, but they hardly had anything prepped before either."
  • "This is a local dive bar in a strip mall with many loyal customers, billiards, and table shuffleboard. The bar was recently upgraded with a new menu that has 50 tacos on it. The tacos are okay but slow, and they did not keep the specialty cocktails created during the makeover. Despite the upgrades, the crowd is small on a Friday. The name is now JB Taco which is confusing because this is clearly still a bar and not really a restaurant. I probably won't return."


*Reviews from Google, plus a review from email


Other News and Links:

  • The Bar Rescue makeover for Harbor Point Club & Grill happened in late March 2019.
  • Here is a 6-minute preview video of the episode from the Paramount YouTube page.
  • Here is a Harbor Point Club & Grill website, which has a header that will make you dizzy.
  • Here are the Facebook pages of John (owner), Bert (owner)
  • The bar changed their name from JB Taco to Rocket's Sports Bar & Grill in May 2019, so about a month after the makeover.
  • Here is the Rocket's Sports Bar & Grill Facebook page.  Bert is listed as the page administrator and John is tagged in a lot of the posts.
  • Many of the reviews refer to new owners, so I called the bar and confirmed that John and Bert were still the owners. 
  • Rocket's Sports Bar & Grill seem to be pushing their karaoke night a lot on their Facebook page.
  • Here is Bert's LinkedIn page that lists him as the owner of Rocket's Sports Bar (also misspelled as Rockers).
  • Texas allows you to see bar receipts for bars.  Harbor Point had about $49,000 in April and $48,000 in May 2019.  Before Bar Rescue came, they had months in the $50k+ range such as $59,000 in December 2018, but May 2018 was $42,000. (Link - Use ID "N 1012560" as filter)


Conclusion:

During the Bar Rescue makeover Harbor Point Club & Grill was renamed to JB Taco.  The bar did not keep the name of JB Taco or the taco concept and currently goes by the name Rocket's Sports Bar & Grill.  Despite many reviews saying there is new ownership, it seems that Bert and John still own the bar.  Bert still runs the Facebook page for Rocket's and he is listed as the owner on his LinkedIn page.  The reviews for the bar have been somewhat positive with people complimenting the food, atmosphere and karaoke night. 


UPDATE - JB Taco/Rocket's/Harbor Point closed in early 2020 - More information on the 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.

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