Hundreds turn up for 'Bar Rescue' reality TV shoot at Goodells establishment

You couldn’t miss the crowd that has amassed outside Club 21 near Goodells Wednesday night and formed a long line down the roadway.

There were a couple hundred of them there — some with lawn chairs and in groups with friends and family who’d parked their cars roadside nearby an hour or two before. The reason? To get a glimpse of filming for a reality show that was reportedly scheduled at the establishment, 8385 Lapeer Road.

For many, it was an outing to an old haunt driven by curiosity.

“We’ve been coming here a long time,” said Jessica Hord, of Emmett. Nearby, friend and Capac resident Tina Bowen chimed in.

“We grew up in Emmett, so we came here when it was fish fries on Fridays and nachos,” she said.

A day before, flyers spread quickly on local Facebook pages, advertising a “popular bar reality show” filming a “stress test” and asking those interested over age 21 to turn out wearing no jerseys or logos.

Most of those posts were anonymous, though at least one came from an out-of-state individual who’d only joined the group days prior and was listed as a television producer. The adjoining statement to the flyer promoted the filming for the show “Bar Rescue.”

“We do frequent this place often. We frequented it with the old owner and with the new owner, and we were surprised Bar Rescue was coming out,” said Riley Township resident Kathy Kulka.

Dave Rix, who’s owned other establishments in the area, including Rix’s Rooftop in the old Fogcutter building in downtown Port Huron, is the current owner of Club 21.

Like others, Kulka arrived outside the establishment early on Wednesday with friend Lisa Ingles and her son-in-law Bill Houssari. They got there at 5 p.m., they said, finding them near the front of the long line an hour later.

With moving trucks and production tents perched to the side of the restaurant, a large assembly of cars had parked along Lapeer, prompting a slow-down in passing traffic.

Production staff on site prevented passers-by from taking photos and referred the Times Herald to Nicole Platt, a director of communications at MTV Entertainment Group, for comment. One staff member on site said Rix wouldn’t be able to comment until after the episode being filmed had aired, which would be three to six months.

Platt also didn’t return a message seeking comment. Rix couldn’t be immediately reached.

Airing on the Paramount Network, “Bar Rescue” stars Jon Taffer, a food and beverage consultant the show promotes as the “Gordon Ramsay of the bar and nightclub business.”

Kulka said they thought it would be fun to be part of the episode, as regulars.

“We think he’s done a lot of good work with it. Let’s see what Jon Taffer (can do), see what he can improve of it,” she said. “The waitresses are very nice here. We do come here after tractor events and 4-H events.”

Several residents waiting outside Club 21 said they’d been told that only 60 would get in.

Houssari, who was familiar with the realty TV program but had never been to Club 21 himself before, said they hoped to be part of the “stress test,” particularly, as advertised in the Facebook flyer with a 7:45 p.m. start time.

“He has a lot of people come in at once to see how they handle the pressure,” he said.

Although not everyone on Facebook was as kind about Rix or Club 21, Kulka’s group was more positive.

They said they liked the nachos, and the tater-tots sometimes smothered in corn beef, sauerkraut, or pulled pork.

“We’re hoping it all works out for him,” Kulka said. “We’d like to keep him in the community.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.  

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Hundreds turn up for 'Bar Rescue' reality TV shoot at Goodells establishment