ST. CLAIR — Bar Rescue is looking at Brothers on Main, a locally-owned American restaurant, for its latest restaurant makeover.
Bar Rescue is a reality television series hosted by entrepreneur Jon Taffer, which helps struggling businesses increase their profits. In a typical episode, Taffer’s team uses hidden cameras and undercover customers to identify a bar or restaurant’s weak spots. He then meets with the business owners and staff to present plans on how to improves operations.
Staff undergo training, the menu gets rewritten and construction crews redesign the bar or restaurant. The final product is revealed only days later at a grand re-opening where patrons are served at the new and improved business.
St. Clair city administrator John Lippert confirmed that Brothers on Main is Bar Rescue's targeted restaurant and said the city along Route 66 is excited to be showcased. The restaurant's big reveal will take place Friday and is open to the public.
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“Any community would be happy about exposure,” Lippert said. He said a facelift to Brothers on Main is welcomed as the city hopes to revitalize its historic main street.
Karen Dover, owner of Karen’s Corner Closet, which is a few doors down from Brothers on Main, said the restaurant “definitely needs a makeover,” even though the food is delicious.
“It’s just a really old building,” Dover said. “After the first time, I just haven’t gone back to eat because it’s depressing.”
Brothers on Main is located at 25 South Main Street in St. Clair. Its menu consists of sandwiches, wraps, steak, fish, meatloaf, salads and more.
This isn't the first time Bar Rescue has featured bars or restaurant in the St. Louis area.
Recently, the Bar Rescue crew took on Slotzy’s, a gaming bar and grill, in Worden, Illinois. Now named Vitale’s Hideaway, the bar and kitchen held its grand reopening in June.
Manager Melody Haller said business has been great and the business is now a place families come to eat.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” she said. “It was a great business move.”
Tower Grove East's Crafted (previously Van Goghz Martini Bar and Bistro) was revamped by Taffer in a 2016 episode.
The show has also featured O’Kelley’s Irish Pub (renamed Pastimes on 4th) in the city's downtown neighborhood and City Bistro (renamed The Beechwood) in Benton Park West. Both have since closed.
New episodes of Bar Rescue air on Sundays at 9 p.m. St. Louis time on Paramount Network. It can be months between filming an episode and it airing.
View life in St. Louis through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.