Where Is Characters Quarters Now? Bar Rescue Update (Garner, NC)

Characters Quarters operated in Garner, North Carolina without a clear business identity or trained leadership by the time Bar Rescue arrived, according to the episode. Jon Taffer's team found weak guest service and a bar and kitchen not equipped to consistently serve customers well. Mixologist Russell Davis and chef Brian Duffy worked with staff on drink and food fundamentals built around a moonshine and Prohibition-era concept the show introduced. Physical renovations gave the space a new look built around that theme, and Taffer renamed the bar from Characters Quarters to MoonRunners Saloon.

The new concept and branding stuck. According to the bar's own website, Bar Rescue returned to feature MoonRunners Saloon in two additional 'Back to the Bar' revisit episodes in later seasons, and outside press, including the Triangle Business Journal and the Raleigh News & Observer, covered the bar's post-renovation run. The business grew beyond its original footprint: MoonRunners Saloon's website describes a Garner, NC location at 21 Technology Drive as a newer address distinct from where the bar operated when it was originally featured, and the company has since expanded to a second location in Dunn, NC.

As of this record's research date, the Garner location remains open, with the business's own website carrying blog posts and event promotion dated as recently as September 2026 describing its food menu, catering, and food-truck services. MoonRunners Saloon continues to reference its Bar Rescue history directly on its site as part of its brand story. Because the bar's current address differs from the one associated with the original 2013 episode, this record treats the business as relocated rather than simply reopened at the same site; the original street address, cited by fan site Reality TV Updates but not independently confirmed here, was reported as 1506 US Hwy 70 W in Garner. The bar's continued operation more than a decade after the original episode stands out among Season 3 rescues, many of which did not survive past their first few years.