Smithton Station (CJ's Pub) - Bar Rescue Update

In this week's episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer and crew are in Smithton, Illinois to rescue Smithton Station Bar.  The owners are married, and one is working two jobs to support them while the other is mismanaging the bar.  During recon, the bartenders are muddling drinks with a shot glass and going to a walk-in cooler to pour pre-made drinks.  The walk-in cooler is also filled with black mold. The kitchen is also disorganized and needs two cooks because there is a pizza making station in a separate part of the bar.

During the Bar Rescue makeover, Jon Taffer decided to change the name of CJ's Pub to Smithton Station Classic Kitchen & Cocktails, but the bar switched back to its original name and closed before the episode aired. Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Smithton Station since Bar Rescue came and made all of the changes to the bar (All reviews are post-Bar Rescue):

Positive Reviews:

• "Bartender Joselynn was very polite. Food was a great price and really clean atmosphere."

Negative Reviews:

• "The meat was extremely tough and chewy, service was fairly hard to get at times despite being empty, and the sandwiches were verrrry small compared to what you'd get across the street for the same price. The restroom stalls were also extremely dark and the toilet paper was just placed on the floor(no holder). Maybe I came on a bad day, but I don't think I'll be back.... At least for a while."

*Reviews from  Google

Other News and Links:

• The Bar Rescue for Smithton Station Classic Kitchen & Cocktails happened in June 2024, so about a year before the episode aired.
• Here is a preview video of the episode from the Bar Rescue YouTube page
• The episode is titled, "On the 3:10 to Failure."
• Here is the CJ's Pub Facebook page. 
• The bar used the name Smithton Station for only about a few weeks, then all of the advertisements started using CJ's Pub again.
• In early September, the bar posted on Facebook, "As many of you have heard…there will be new ownership taking over 9/16.  Our last official day will be 9/15.  We will be having amazing food and drink specials starting this weekend to clear out inventory…..We hope to get a chance to see everyone!!!"
• On September 15th, the bar posted, "It’s our last day and we would love to see each of you before our departure. There will be live music on the patio and great food!  We open at 12pm…See you soon."
• New owners bought the location and a bar is now operating there called The Roost.
• Here are the reviews for CJ's Pub from Yelp and Google.

Conclusion:

Jon Taffer decided to change the name of CJ's Pub to Smithton Station Classic Kitchen & Cocktails, but the bar switched back to the name of CJ's pub quickly after.  The Bar Rescue makeover was done in late June, and about 2 months after the makeover in early September, CJ's Pub announced it was closing.  A new owner and bar are now operating in the same location. As the bar was only open for a few months after the Bar Rescue makeover, there weren't too many reviews. CJ's Pub/Smithton Station Classic Kitchen & Cocktails is marked as 'Closed' on the Bar Rescue Updates page.

*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.