The fifth season of the American reality series Bar Rescue aired on Spike on August 7, 2016 and ended on September 17, 2017 with a total of 31 episodes. The first three episodes aired at 9/8c before moving to 10/9c for the remainder of the season.[1]
In May 2015, Taffer confirmed on his Facebook that a fifth season was in the works.[2] On July 27, 2016, Spike greenlit the fifth season along with a late-night talk show pilot from Taffer.[1] Season 5 also featured ten new Back to the Bar episodes with never-before-seen footage of the experts visiting the previously rescued bars in addition to Taffer revisiting past confrontations with the memorable owners he faced during his visit.[1]
A classic dive bar with mob ties in Las Vegas is about to close its doors because of an owner who's busy being a nice guy rather than a wise guy, and allowing his employees to do whatever they want.
Note: This episode features commentary from former Hole-in-the-Wall gang leader Frank Cullotta who occasionally visits the bar. He also appeared during the grand re-opening.
New Name: Champagne's (modernized version of old name)
Celebrities is run by brothers Max and Ryke. Both were contractors working for the Department of Defense and were deployed overseas, with Ryke being severely wounded by a grenade. Max opened the bar, but developed a hostile, antagonistic reputation with the local community over social media due to controversy over a homeless veterans fund he started. Jon sends in a group of patrons who were publicly attacked by Max over social media, and Max's hostile attitude turns the crowd against him, with Max defiantly refusing to acknowledge his mistakes. Jon begins a process of conflict resolution, giving Max the opportunity to apologise to his staff. Community members are then invited the following night, voting to support Max after good service and a positive attitude change. The re-branded and renovated bar opens to a good reception from the locals. Six weeks later, Max organises a grand opening, announcing that he is donating the $20,000 fund money to the Semper Fi Fund for veterans.
A staffing crisis hits a sports pub before the stress test, leaving the owners without any employees. Now Jon must determine if he can salvage the night or make a risky decision.
Note: Due to the need to hire a new staff (the old bartenders were fired and the old chef quit in protest), Jon doesn't hold a stress test but rather an audition to determine who will make up the new staff. Jon calls it their first ever Bartending Audition.
New bar owners accuse their manager (and the bar's former owner) of sabotaging their business to try to steal it back. With no clear proof, Jon uses a stress test to determine who's right and who's wrong.
A military hero on the verge of being redeployed needs his own rescue before he drinks away his profits and angers his girlfriend past the point of no return.
A spoiled owner was gifted a nightclub by his father, but the profits aren't coming in for this mice-infested tourist bar.
Note: Before revealing the re-branded bar, Jon invites one of its bartenders to assist him on a future rescue, commenting that she is one of the most talented individuals he has ever met.
Jon confronts some of the most memorable bar owners in the show's history to find out how they have fared since their rescues. Guests include leopard-print loving sisters Betsy and Stephanie from Handlebar Cafe, plate-throwing Ami from Zanzbar, Gipsy's Janet Jackson-playing bartender Brandon, and The Brixton's combative owner Tim.
A lackluster landlord falls into the sports bar business when a previous tenant refuses to pay rent on a World Series winning Chicago Cubs hangout.
Note: Jon became so disgusted with the owner's bullheaded attitude that he did not hold a grand re-opening for the remodeled bar. No sales figures were available following the rescue. Several bartenders quitted immediately after the owner showed up drunk and uninvited to the unveiling, but two of them subsequently returned. In addition, this is the second Bar Rescue episode that did not debut new cocktails, the first being O’Face Bar from Season 3. In 2021, this episode appeared as part of Bar Rescue: The Dirty Truth with small popups adding commentary on various situations throughout the episode. One such popup reveals that during the rescue, the Bar Rescue production crew pitched in to help clean the bar's disgusting kitchen. Several popups contained quotes from Jon about the events with one explaining that "it was two blocks from Wrigley Field about three weeks before the World Series... the whole city knew I was there so I couldn't walk out." They also stated that Ed kept the Press Box concept because he "didn't want to invest in changing the sign again."
Jon revisits Brick & Barley to confront owner AJ about her blistering attitude and civil strife with her daughters over the bar's uniforms, then revisits Stein Haus Brau & Brats, where owner Ivan comes clean about the failure of his bar after its rescue.
An owner twerks her way to tears when her bar gets out of step.
Note: This is the first episode to feature an expert from a previous rescued bar; Jon recruits bartender Ashley Clark from Roc Nightclub as a mixology expert.
New Name: The Second Line Co. Festival Bar & Grill[Note 2][Note 1]
Jon rescues a successful bar, and the beacon of a community, that was destroyed by a recent catastrophic flood in Denham Springs, Louisiana. Similar to the Bungalow from the 2013 episode "Hurricane Jon vs. Hurricane Sandy" (whose now-successful owners donated $10,000 to aid in the rebuilding), the bar was not a failure prior to rescue.
After suffering a stroke, a bar owner is on the verge of losing his family legacy.
Note: For the recon, Jon brought in the owners from Spirits on Bourbon (formerly Turtle Bay), featured in the third season premiere. Spirits was also used as a training location.
Jon Taffer tries to convince the ultimate maternal figure to make her decisions like a business owner to save her struggling Las Vegas dive bar from closing its doors.
Jon races to rescue a failing bar that's about to collapse further into the ground after the insurance company refused the owner's claim to fix its old structure.
Note: There was no recon in this episode due to the crumbling floor inside that was caused by Hurricane Matthew's destruction. Because of this, the bar went through a major construction while the stress test and off-site training were done at Waterfront and Imperial respectively.
New Name: Rhonda's: A Neighborhood Bar (modernized version of old name)
Jon revisits two bars that have suffered disastrous setbacks since being rescued, The Abbey (season 1; damaged by fire) and The End (season 3; lease not renewed), as well as The Shot Exchange (season 3; thriving under new ownership).
