Is CJ's Patio Grill still open today?
Status: >> OPEN <<
(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 8 | View All Season 8 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: April 9, 2023
The Bar's Original Name Was: CJ's Patio Grill
CJ's Patio Grill Address: 1331 Eagle Dr, Loveland, CO 80537
Episode Recap
CJ’s Patio Grill was a Loveland, Colorado bar that was featured on the third set of Season 8 of Bar Rescue.
Though the CJ’s Patio Grill Bar Rescue episode aired in April 2023, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place around June 2022.
It was Season 8 Episode 30 and the episode name was “Fresh Bread, Rotten Bar”.
In this episode, Jon Taffer and his crew head to CJ’s Patio Grill in Loveland CO.
This marks the third week in a row that Jon Taffer has been in Colorado, and also the second back-to-back episode in Loveland CO (at the time that the episode aired, of course).
The previous episode covered Blue Sports Grille / Colorado Champions in Loveland.
At the time that the episode aired, the CJ’s Patio Grill Bar Rescue episode was Jon Taffer’s 12th visit to Colorado.
This pushed Colorado past Arizona to make it the fifth-most visited state from the show – Arizona only had 11 visits at the time of the episode.
CJ’s Patio Grill is owned by Fadil Astafaj, who purchased the bar in 2019.
However, the CJ’s Patio Grill Loveland CO location has been around for a long time before Fadil made his purchase (since around 2009, I believe), so he was inheriting an existing reputation.
Fadil is a restaurant manager and liquor/wine sales rep, so he has a lot of experience in the industry even if he never owned his own bar before.
At first, the bar did very well and business was good for CJ’s Patio Grill.
However, when Covid-19 hit in 2020, things shifted and the bar has not been able to recover, which is why Fadil needs help from Jon Taffer.
Now, Fadil is trying to wear every hat at the bar, working 16+ hour days 6+ days per week.
Obviously, that’s not sustainable over the long term.
However, the bar does have a General Manager (Jade).
Given that, it seems like Fadil could pull back a bit if he would just be willing to delegate authority at the bar.
There’s also a separate kitchen manager – Dan.
But again, Fadil likes to go back and be hands on in the kitchen.
This can actually drag down productivity.
Sometimes having your boss hovering over everything can actually make things worse.
With that being said, the employees seem to generally like Fadil – they just wish he would let them work more independently.
There aren’t just issues with management at the bar, though.
At the time of the Bar Rescue CJ’s Patio Grill visit, Fadil is supposedly in a massive $500,000 of debt.
He only has a few months left to save the bar before CJ’s Patio Grill will close for good.
Unlike most other bars on the show, Jon Taffer opted to keep the original CJ’s Patio Grill name after the rescue.
It seems like Fadil was really attached to the name and, due to the bar’s long history there, Jon Taffer decided to keep it.
However, he did give CJ’s Patio Grill a brand new logo, so the branding has changed somewhat even if the name is the same.
Beyond the new logo and graphic design work, there were also physical improvements to the bar.
Some of those improvements include new fencing around the patio (wood instead of iron) and some new curtains in the dining area.
CJ’s Patio Grill also got new tables attached to the bar, as well as some new barstools.
Taffer also added paneling to the walls to cover up what used to be plain white walls.
So was Jon Taffer’s rescue of CJ’s Patio Grill a long-term success?
Keep reading to learn what happened next and if it’s still open today.
CJ's Patio Grill Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the CJ’s Patio Grill Bar Rescue episode, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and his crew left Loveland, Colorado.
First off, Fadil and the CJ’s Patio Grill crew seem to have been happy with the Bar Rescue experience.
When the CJ’s Patio Grill episode aired, they hosted a watch party at the bar, which is always a good barometer for judging how they feel about the episode.
Generally, bar owners that didn’t like the rescue and ditched Taffer’s concepts don’t host a watch party.
Let’s get to the biggest question on your mind, though.
Is CJ’s Patio Grill still open after Bar Rescue?
As of my most recent check, CJ’s Patio Grill is still open and serving customers in Loveland, CO.
Reviews for the bar after the visit from Jon Taffer seem to be generally positive, which is great to see.
I’ll share some real examples of reviews below.
The bar does have a Facebook page, but they don’t seem to be very active there as the last post is from 2016.
It seems to be much more active on the CJ’s Patio Grill Instagram page, where it posts about upcoming events and specials.
For more up-to-date details, there’s also an official CJ’s Patio Grill website that posts events and menus.
In looking at the upcoming events, they seem to have live music going on multiple times per week.
This includes both artists performing original music and covers.
Here’s a screenshot of the upcoming events from around the time of the CJ’s Patio Grill Bar Rescue episode.
And then here’s a screenshot of the food menu to give you an idea of the pricing:
I’m not sure if this menu has been updated since the Bar Rescue visit, though.
In addition to the bar, CJ’s Patio Grill also offers catering services for events and weddings.
Here’s what the CJ’s Patio Grill Loveland CO location looks like in the most recent picture from Google Maps street view.
Unfortunately, the picture hasn’t been updated since 2018, but I’ve embedded the interactive Google Maps street view so that you can explore the location around the bar.
It’s the end cap on a large strip mall complex.
CJ’s Patio Grill reviews after Bar Rescue
Next, let’s look at some CJ’s Patio Grill reviews from after Bar Rescue.
Overall, the bar has a 3.5 star rating on Yelp, a 4 star rating on TripAdvisor, and a 4.4 star rating on Google.
Those ratings include reviews from before before and after Jon Taffer’s visit.
In reading the reviews that specifically came after Jon Taffer’s visit, they seem to generally be positive.
People really seem to praise the friendliness of the staff and the “homey” feeling at the bar.
The food also seems to generally get positive reviews, though there are a few negative reviews mixed in.
Here’s a sampling of a few positive and negative CJ’s Patio Grill reviews from after the visit from Jon Taffer in ~June 2022…
5 star Yelp review from July 2022:
The signature BLT was great and the side of coleslaw was some of the best I’ve ever had.
Staff was friendly and very accommodating.
We ordered lemonade and it was so good!
We asked what kind it was and were told it was homemade!
The server then offered to go cups and topped them off so we could bring some home with us.
This was the best meal of our vacation so far.
Great job CJ’s.
5 star Yelp review from July 2022:
This is a family run business that really makes a great effort to make sure every customer feels appreciated.
Staff is amazing!
Food is incredible.
Well done CJ’s
4 star Yelp review from March 2023:
The food was delicious and the staff were really friendly.
Nice casual dining spot.
The TVs are a nice addition.
4 star Google review from September 2022:
The redo is great and the food is wonderful as always
5 star Google Review from March 2023:
We come back here always because there’s never a disappointment.
CJ’s gets better all the time, always pretty packed and great atmosphere.
This weekend’s visit was our first in a while and the burger was out of this world, fries well-done and very tasty wings.
My only suggestion is to bring back Mahi tacos in a big way.
However, there are also some negative reviews for CJ’s Patio Grill…
2 star Yelp review from August 2022:
Decided to visit this restaurant since it was on Bar Rescue I have ate there pre Covid.
Needless to say I was not impressed post Covid and post Bar Rescue.
The prices are ok ordered a appetizer of fried pickle think we got one pickle sliced up for 10 dollars.
The wait staff took our drink order and forgot.
Then asked for refills and guess what forgot the food was ok nothing great
1 star Yelp review from January 2023:
I had the pork burrito yesterday.
I love mexican food, and I’ve had some there before that was good.
However yesterday the burrito was filled with bbq’d pork, then had green chili on top.
The green chili was ok, but who puts bbq’d pork in a burrito?
The CJ’s Patio Grill owner also seems to respond to all the reviews on Google reviews.
Here’s an example:
Final thoughts on CJ’s Patio Grill
Overall, CJ’s Patio Grill seems to be doing pretty well since the Bar Rescue visit.
While the CJ’s Patio Grill reviews aren’t perfect, they generally seem to be more positive than negative.
The bar seems to have a solid core of regulars and it also gets some traffic from tourists and first-timers.
Fadil seems like a nice guy and his employees seem to like him, so I hope that CJ’s Patio Grill is able to achieve long-term success.
If you want to see another Bar Rescue Loveland CO episode, you can check out my update for Colorado Champions Sports Cafe / Blue Sports Grille, which was the episode that aired one week before.
For some other nearby Colorado Bar Rescue episodes, you can also check out my updates for Rockabillies / Bar Retro in Arvada, The Kasbah in Aurora, and Zanzibar / Solids and Stripes in Denver proper.
Or, you can read my full list of all 12+ Bar Rescue episodes in Colorado as of 2024.
And if you want to share your thoughts on CJ’s Patio Grill or the episode, you can do so using the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/cjs-patio-grill-loveland
https://m.facebook.com/people/CJs-Patio-Grill/100069557328039/
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Last updated: 2024-03-09 05:38
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