On tonight’s episode of Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer’s team touch down in the Chicago suburb of Blue Island, Illinois to try and save Island Bar & Grill. While the rescue took place almost two years ago in September 2016, the Island Bar & Grill is no longer in business.
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Opened by Adam Shorter (Facebook Page) in 2012, and staffed almost entirely by family members, Shorter established the Island Bar & Grill so his mother Linda Brown (Facebook Page) could run it to help pay for her daughter’s care after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Shorter says he was initially met with some resistance by residents in the predominately white and Hispanic Chicago suburb.
City Shuts Down Island Bar & Grill After Shooting
In March 2018, after a shooting outside his restaurant involving a bouncer, Blue Island city officials shut him down. Shorter told CBS Chicago that he believed racism played a role in the city’s decision to revoke his business license, but according to documents obtained by local media, city officials described the Island Bar as a “nuisance and unsafe business.” Later in June, city officials voted 10-3 to uphold Mayor Domingo Vargas’s revocation of the business license for Island Sports Bar & Grill.
A Closer Look
- Take note that Shorter rebranded the Island Bar & Grill’s social media platforms to promote his entertainment and marketing company. Here’s the Island Bar & Grill website, Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, and Adam’s entertainment and marketing company Pure Timeless.
Taffer Misses His First Ever Recon
On Sunday’s new episode of @BarRescue, I’m going to miss my FIRST EVER recon. I sent in two of my most trusted experts, @oh_lisamarie & @ChefMcCargo, to help out. I know they’ll be able to pull it off, even though I hate not doing it myself. pic.twitter.com/ZC1lGJquxU
— Jon Taffer (@jontaffer) August 24, 2018
The Island Bar & Grill via Google Stretview
Episode Promo Video
Images – Screengrab/YouTube