Bar Rescue chaser: The Federal gets the limelight

YOUNGSTOWN — Part 2 of the Youngstown stretch of “Bar Rescue” will air Sunday night, when the Spike reality show features The Federal.

The downtown bar formerly was known as Martini Bros. Burger Bar, but was given a name change by the show.

Last Sunday, the Royal Oaks bar on the East Side was the focus of “Bar Rescue,” and it was a raucous episode.

The Oaks will be a hard act to follow, but The Federal is a different kind of place.

As a linchpin of the rebirth of downtown into an arts and entertainment district, it has a short but lively history. For that reason, it should offer plenty of story lines for Jon Taffer to create some high drama.

A bar management expert and star of the show, Taffer sizes up struggling bars each week and gives them physical makeovers while setting management on the right path to profitability.

The Federal has had a handful of names and managers over the past decade, and the renovation it received from “Bar Rescue” when the show came there in August wiped away the remnants of each past life by creating a completely new look.

For the complete story, read Friday's Vindicator and Vindy.com