Spike TV gives Fairfield bar makeover

FAIRFIELD — The Win Place or Show sports bar and grill on Dixie Highway has won a new identity, lost its old name and will show up on a reality TV program later this year.

After a few days’ worth of taping “Bar Rescue” this week, the establishment is slated to reopen tonight with a new name and a new attitude, said Amber Glacken, who co-owns the bar, previously known as Charlie’s Throttle Stop, with Barry Rogers.

The bar’s sign on Thursday was covered with a makeshift sign that said simply, “Coming Soon.” Glacken would not say what the bar’s new name will be, but the look, the food and some of the drinks will be new, too.

“We’re obviously going to change the decor. We’ll have authentic barbecue from Kansas City, Memphis and North Carolina. It’s going to be fresh, and it tastes amazing,” Glacken promised.

Over the past year or so, the bar and its business affairs had fallen into disarray. It had once been affiliated with a bar also called Win Place or Show in West Chester Twp., but that was no longer the case, Glacken said. She and Rogers have owned the bar since December 2010.

“We wanted to have our own identify and get our own niche. We wanted to stop being Charlie’s old bar or the other Win Place or Show,” she said.

So Rogers applied to be on the Spike network show “Bar Rescue,” hoping for a shot at a makeover. His bar won, out of 1,000 applications, said Jon Taffer, teh host and executive producer of “Bar Rescue.”

When Taffer first saw Win Place or Show, “I didn’t find anything good, to be honest. They were losing $8,000 a month, and it was an operational mess. Barry was working 90 hours a week and feeling defeated,” Taffer said.

However, Taffer liked Rogers and his story, especially his Navy background.

“He’s a good, all-American guy. We found him to be a good, equitable man who was in trouble,” he said.

Also as part of the makeover, the band stage has been improved with upgraded equipment. The group Halestorm is due to appear tonight.

Glacken said of the experience, “It’s been emotionally draining and physically demanding, but we’re all very excited about what we’re about to step into.”

Taffer said the Fairfield bar’s appearance on the show will probably be late summer or early fall. It will be the sixth episode of the second season.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5073 or eric.robinette@coxinc.com.

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