Is O Face Bar still open today?
Status: >> OPEN <<
(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 3 | View All Season 3 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: March 23, 2014
The Bar's Original Name Was: O Face Bar
O Face Bar Address: 2400 9th Ave Council Bluffs, IA 51501
Episode Recap
O’Face Bar is a Council Bluffs, Iowa bar featured on Season 3 of Bar Rescue.
Though the O Face Bar Rescue episode aired in March 2014, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 3 Episode 33 and the episode name was “Punch-Drunk & Trailer-Trashed” .
Located in Council Bluff’s, Iowa, O’Face Bar is owned by Karen Overmyer and Matthew Overmyer, a husband and wife duo.
In 2011 they cashed in their retirement funds to fulfill their dream of owning a bar.
O’Face Bar was successful at first, but they have started to decline due to poor management.
Now they are over $250,000.00 in debt and definitely need a helping hand from Jon Taffer and the Bar Rescue team.
To help, Jon brings in Russel Davis, a mixologist.
The two joke about how O’Face means org*sm face.
The exterior is hideous, and Jon says it might be the ugliest bar he has ever seen.
Two locals help Jon and go undercover to recon the bar.
They order two beers and two org*sm shots.
What a weird name, right?
When the recon team drinks the shots, they notice that the shots taste premade.
The restaurant uses washed plastic containers for shots which is unsafe.
The bartender Dave, is serving the flaming drinks wrong, which is dangerous.
The owner and their friends always get free drinks.
A customer is seen making their drink at one point because there is no one behind the bar.
Bartenders Cerissa and Amanda get into a physical altercation.
Jon and Russel break up the fight.
Amanda is rude to Jon, and he gets fed up.
Jon gives Matt an ultimatum, Amanda goes, and he will stay to assist them.
Matt wants her to go, but Karen wants to provide her with one more chance, so they fire Cerissa instead.
Jon is mad the next day when he returns to the bar and sees Amanda.
Jon wants Matt to admit that the bar’s failings are Karen’s fault as he is seen appeasing his wife.
Amanda is fired, and Jon brings back Cerissa and has the owners apologize for unfairly firing her.
Russel is at the bar watching the bartenders make drinks and evaluating them, but he has to keep dumping the poorly made drinks down the drain.
The stress test begins, and Matt starts cooking the pizzas.
The pizzas taste awful, and the drinks can’t be made properly. Jon shuts down the stress test.
The next day at training, the bartenders are not taking the bar rescue seriously.
Jon hates the name of the bar and wants it to be changed.
The owners are found gossiping the back by a security guard, Syck.
Another argument ensues. Jon is fed up and does a business background check.
Russel trains the bartenders, but they can’t keep up. Russel doesn’t think that they will be able to handle a full bar.
As Jon looks at the background checks, he notices many criminal offenses have occurred on the bar premises.
There is even a video of Matt assaulting an employee.
Jon questions why he is there and leaves the bar. He does not rescue it.
It was the first time that Jon Taffer ever left a bar without rescuing it.
So would O Face be successful even without Jon Taffer’s help? Let’s find out!
O Face Bar Update - What Happened Next?
Because the O Face Bar Rescue episode ended with Jon leaving, you might expect that things were a little chaotic after the episode.
Syck, the security guard, is fired for supporting Jon.
All of the staff still drinks at the bar.
O Face bar loses its liquor license in 2014 (temporarily)
Due to the show, the bar lost its liquor license in 2014 after the Council Bluffs City Council voted to reject its renewal in a 3-2 vote.
The three city council members who voted against the bar cited its Bar Rescue appearance as a reason for the rejection.
The mayor also said that he’s received emails from around the country calling O Face bar an embarrassment to Council Bluffs.
Here’s a quote from the mayor:
I understand this is a reality show, but the depiction of this inaccuracy has caused irreparable harm to the city
And here’s a quote from a city council member:
I had concerns from what I witnessed.
It showed the public put at risk.
I have to err on the side of public safety.
Matthew Overmyer, the O Face bar owner, responded that he hadn’t had any public safety issues at that time.
You can learn more about the rejection in this local news article (12ft ladder can help you bypass the paywall).
Eventually, though, Matthew was able to get the liquor license reinstated after an appeal.
You can see the full appeal document here, but he makes a bunch of different points.
O Face Bar Rescue Back to the Bar in Season 4
Even though Jon Taffer opted not to rescue O Face bar in the original Season 3 episode, he did do a Back to the Back episode in Season 4 that included O Face bar.
He sends in a recon team again to see how things are doing.
Jon says that things are better than they were on the show (not a huge accomplishment), but he will never return.
You can see the Back to the Bar recon in this YouTube – it also includes the part where Matthew says he fired Syck:
Is O Face bar still open?
As of 2023, O Face bar is still open and serving customers in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
However, the bar doesn’t really have an online presence.
The closest thing to social media that I can find is the O Face Bar Instagram page, which hasn’t been updated in years.
There’s also an O Face Bar website that also hasn’t been updates since 2019, as well as a private Team Oface Facebook group.
Interestingly, the website says that O Face bar is “ran solely by Karen Overmyer”, so I guess Matt is no longer a part of the bar.
More on why that might be a little later in this post –spoiler alert!
If you’re wondering what the O Face Bar Council Bluffs Iowa location looks like now, here’s what it looks like in the most recent Google Maps street view picture.
This picture was taken in November 2022…
At times, the bar has been marked as closed on Yelp.
However, this is basically just digital “vandalism” from Bar Rescue fans who mark the bar as closed even though it’s still open.
Because the bar is so controversial, it’s hard to find any legitimate reviews about the bar.
As you’d expect, the reviews that exist are pretty bleak, though many of the people leaving the reviews haven’t actually visited the bar.
For example, consider this review from a person who admits they haven’t been there:
Other issues for O Face bar and owner
Beyond the bar’s situation, Matthew Overmyer had some legal issues after the show, with an arrest for some pretty serious charges.
And by serious…I mean serious.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in jail for each charge.
You can read about the charges in this article.
Beyond Matthew’s issues with the law, there have also been some general problems at the O Face Bar Council Bluffs location.
More specifically, there was also a shooting at O’Face Bar in February 2021.
The police responded to the bar around 1 am and found a wounded victim.
Allegedly, someone walked into the bar and shot the victim before fleeing.
From the news article that I read, it seemed like a targeted attack.
You can learn more in this news article.
Here’s a video of the O Face Bar shooting aftermath, where you can see the police on scene at the bar:
Despite these many issues, O’Face Bar is still open as of early 2023.
Honestly, I have no idea how the bar is still open…but it is.
Interestingly, O Face bar is not the only bar that Jon Taffer walked out on (though he’s threatened to do it many times).
If you want to see another example of Jon Taffer ditching the rescue, you can check out my update for Black Light District in Long Beach, CA.
In terms of nearby bars from the show, it’s a bit slim pickings.
As far as I’m aware, O Face bar was the only Iowa Bar Rescue episode.
However, Jon Taffer also rescued two Nebraska bars that were just across the river from O Face.
If you want to see those updates, check out my updates for Sorties tavern / O’Banion’s bar in Bellevue NE and Oasis Hookah Bar / Taza Nightclub in Omaha NE.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/o-face-bar-council-bluffs
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Last updated: 2023-02-03 05:47
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