A year after ‘Bar Rescue,’ Oaks and Federal stay on path

At this time last year, anticipation was running high for the premiere of the “Bar Rescue” episodes on two Youngstown establishments.

The Spike-TV reality series aired its show on The Royal Oaks on Oct. 18, and The Federal on Oct. 25.

At the one-year anniversary, it’s obvious that the changes made at both bars have proven to be effective.

The expensive physical makeovers that show host Jon Taffer made – not to mention the changes in menu and management mentality – are still on display and in effect.

The new look at the Oaks was the most stark, like night and day. The dark and dingy bar had become a museum of questionable curios, and a lot of them weren’t exactly family-friendly.

The place had tons of character but not enough customers.

Co-owners John and Louie Kennedy had some discussion about bringing back the offbeat memorabilia. But they ultimately decided to keep the bar the way Taffer & Co. left it: brighter and simpler, with its historic charm restored.

The bar’s rear room went from a cluttered clubhouse with a dartboard to a decent place to sit down with the family for a plate of ribs.

“We were always a dive bar with good food,” said John Kennedy. “It wasn’t uncommon for foodies to make the drive from Canfield and Boardman for the food, but the atmosphere wasn’t conducive to family-style eating. The biggest change was cleaning up the back room. Now, you don’t have to look at what’s on the walls and be offended. And I love the fact that people treat us like a restaurant now, and we are getting more and more new faces in here.”

In the first few months after the remake, there were actually customers waiting in line for a table on some nights. That level of interest was mainly due to curiosity, however, and has since died down.

Still, on any given night, it’s not unusual to see parents and their kids – wearing Poland High jackets – at a table for dinner. Believe me, that never used to happen.

The Kennedy brothers (who just celebrated their 15th year of ownership of the East Side watering hole) did change a few things “Bar Rescue” implemented – most notably to the menu.

For the most part, it’s back to the original, with a strong focus on cherry wood-smoked ribs. On any random Tuesday, the Oaks will sell between 30 and 40 full slabs of ribs. Any chain restaurant in Boardman would likely be OK with that number for that night.

Taffer was spot-on about a lot of things. But for food, the Kennedys know what they do best and what their customers want. Drink prices also seem to be back to the working man’s range.

The Oaks retained its core of regulars after “Bar Rescue,” although there have been times when they had to be reminded that they are now in a family place. Anything still goes after, say, 10 p.m., but just not before then.

The Federal, which is in the heart of the downtown nightlife district, had a different set of strengths and weaknesses than the Oaks.

But for the most part, the establishment — which was known as Martini Bros. Burger Bar until Taffer changed it — also kept its “Rescue” improvements.

As the name suggested, burgers were always the focus, and the Martinis, in fact, had won quite a few awards for theirs before “Bar Rescue” came to town. Taffer didn’t mess with burgers as the centerpiece of the menu.

A few new items (turkey burger, portabella mushroom sandwich, pasta dishes, and some appetizers) implemented by Taffer remain. And so does the Build a Burger option.

And while the signature cocktails were the first to go at the Oaks, the five that Taffer & Co. concocted for the Federal are still strong sellers: the Youngstown Mule, Federal Collins, Burger Bomb (which has meat in it, but people love it anyway), the Ice Cap and the Forge.

“We debated whether to change some things back to the way we had it, but it made the most sense to roll with it,” said bar manager Sophia Martini, who is the sister of Dan and Joe Martini, who run the kitchen. Building co-owner Jacob Harver is also part of the Federal team.

Sophia had enough trouble trying to catch up to the re-branding. “He changed our name, and we had to rush to get T-shirts made for servers and print new menus,” she said. The Federal got a very expensive makeover – well into six digits. The addition of costly fog and laser machines over the dance floor only improved the bar’s wild popularity with 20-somethings on weekends.

For Sophia and her brothers, being on the show was surreal.

“I remember when I was 14 sitting in the living room watching ‘Bar Rescue’ and talking with Dan about it,” she said. “He has seen every episode and always loved the show. We would talk about how cool it would be to one day be on it.”

Her only regret was that some of the best footage wound up on the cutting room floor. “We did 13-hour days shooting the episode,” she said, which got reduced to 40 minutes or so of air time. “So many good moments didn’t make it.”

Even after a year, both the Oaks and The Federal continue to get the “Bar Rescue” bounce: customers from across the globe who like to visit the spots they’ve seen on TV. The Oaks recently had visitors from Denmark, while The Federal had diners from Australia.