A Yonkers, New York sports bar that was featured on Spike TV’s Bar Rescue back in 2014 has be put up for sale by the bar’s owners.
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The owners of the Soyo Craft Bar thought a makeover led by Jon Taffer would be their salvation, but due to less-than-expected results, the pair has been forced to sell the bar, according to The Journal News.
Co-owners Brian O’Shea and Miguel Torres originally opened the bar back in 2010 as the Undisputed Sports Bar & Grill. During filming for an episode of Bar Rescue titled Thugs with Mugs, the establishment was rebranded and renamed the Soyo Craft Bar, by show host Jon Taffer.
Due to the owner’s inexperience, the bar attracted the wrong crowd, which led to fights and issues with local law enforcement. Those same issues appear to be a problem post-Bar Rescue.
Torres told The Journal News that due to the many problems at the bar, Yonkers officials were going to shut them down unless they cleaned up their act. The bar was doomed without Taffer’s intervention.
Shooting at SOYO in Yonkers on August 2, 2015
Stabbing in Yonkers in front of SOYO on February 28, 2016
Bar fight at SOYO on August 23, 2015
SOYO Bar/Lounge: Report of a male with a gun outside on July 12, 2015
The problems led Torres’ wife to put in a call to Bar Rescue for help. The owners accepted.
Fast forward 2 years, and after a $100,000 makeover by Bar Rescue, the bar is for sale for $150,000 – which represents the total amount of money the partners initially invested to open the bar in 2010.
Immediately after the makeover the bar was doing well, but a month later, sales dropped by more than 60 percent, Torres told The Journal News.
Observations
Judging by what appears to be ongoing problems at the Soyo bar, as depicted in a few of the videos above, and fully documented in The Journal News item, it would be unfair to suggest Jon Taffer and the Bar Rescue crew wear any responsibility whatsoever for the failure of Soyo’s owners to run a successful bar operation.
- 65 visits by police to the bar for various reasons between July 2015 and April, which police consider excessive.
- During that period there were 17 arrests, six of them felonies.
- On March 12, the Fire Department inspected the bar and found 110 people inside when the legal capacity is 49.