TV Restaurants

Is Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill Still Open? Update (Denham Springs, LA)

Open reported

As of September 2026, Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

Primary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Yelp's listing for Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill, updated August 2026, shows current reviews and posted hours, and the business's own website remains active with working menu, ordering, and reservation pages for the same Aspen Square address.

  • Season / episode Season 5, Episode 19
  • Original air date
  • Address 123 Aspen Sq, Denham Springs, LA 70726

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What happened after Bar Rescue?

Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill in Denham Springs, Louisiana was the subject of the March 2017 episode "Bar Over Troubled Water," which addressed a very different kind of crisis than the show's usual mismanagement stories. On August 12, 2016, historic flooding hit the Baton Rouge region, with rainfall far exceeding what Hurricane Katrina brought to the area; the flood destroyed thousands of homes and caused billions of dollars in damage across the region. Big Mike's took on roughly six feet of floodwater, and owner Mike O'Neal lost not only the business but his home as well. His wife, Jocelyn, described watching water rise around their house while Mike was at work, and the family was ultimately evacuated by boat. A member of the kitchen staff, known as Mookie, was scheduled to attend her son's wedding on the day the flood hit.

Because the flooding had destroyed fixtures, equipment, and structural elements rather than simply leaving the bar outdated, Jon Taffer and his crew rebuilt the location essentially from the studs rather than performing a typical cosmetic renovation; the rebuild was said to cost about $750,000. Unlike many Bar Rescue subjects, Big Mike's was not held up as an example of an owner's poor decisions -- the bar's own account of the episode frames it as a rescue made necessary by the flood rather than by any shortcoming in how the business had been run.

Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill has continued operating at the same Aspen Square location since the rebuild. The business's own website remains active with a current menu, online ordering, catering and event-booking pages, and links to its Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp profiles. Yelp's listing for the bar, updated as of August 2026, shows ongoing customer reviews and posted operating hours consistent with a business currently open to the public. No evidence of a subsequent closure, rename, or change in ownership was found in the years since the 2016 flood and the Bar Rescue rebuild, and the bar continues to use the same name it operated under before the show's visit.

Featured on Bar Rescue

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 19
Original air date
Episode title
Bar Over Troubled Water
What was featured
Bar rebuilt from the ground up after catastrophic 2016 flood damage
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill

Frequently asked questions

Is Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

What happened to Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill after Bar Rescue?

Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill in Denham Springs, Louisiana was the subject of the March 2017 episode "Bar Over Troubled Water," which addressed a very different kind of crisis than the show's usual mismanagement stories. As of September 2026, Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

Where is Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill located?

123 Aspen Sq, Denham Springs, LA 70726. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Bar Rescue featured Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill?

Season 5, Episode 19 of Bar Rescue, first aired March 26, 2017. The episode is titled “Bar Over Troubled Water”.

Did the makeover last at Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill?

The episode first aired March 26, 2017. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 9 years later —: As of September 2026, Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

What do reviews say since Bar Rescue?

Yelp's listing for the bar, updated as of August 2026, shows ongoing customer reviews and posted operating hours consistent with a business currently open to the public. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is Big Mike's Sports Bar & Grill still using the Bar Rescue menu or branding?

The business's own website remains active with a current menu, online ordering, catering and event-booking pages, and links to its Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp profiles. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
123 Aspen Sq, Denham Springs, LA 70726
Venue type
bar

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/big-mikes-sports-bar-and-grill-denham-springs
  • bigmikessportsbarandgrill.com — https://bigmikessportsbarandgrill.com/denham-springs-big-mike-s-sports-bar-and-grill-bar-rescue
  • theadvocate.com — https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_2e9c19cc-0e67-11e7-96d7-d75dc4c4eb57.html

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Record br-128 · last verified .