TV Restaurants

What Happened to Fort One Bar & Lounge After Bar Rescue?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Fort One Bar & Lounge has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
barrescueupdates.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Yelp's business page for Fort One Bar & Lounge displays a closed status in its August 2026 update, and Bar Rescue Updates reported in April 2021 that the post-rescue Roc Bar & Nightclub had closed.

  • Season / episode Season 5, Episode 11
  • Original air date
  • Address 2801 Leavenworth St, San Francisco, CA 94133

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What happened after Bar Rescue?

Fort One Bar & Lounge occupied a corner space in San Francisco's Russian Hill area when Jon Taffer and his team arrived for the November 2016 episode "Ice, Mice, Baby." Owner Jason Wanigatunga had taken over the bar from his father in 2014 and, according to the episode, drew heavily on the business's profits while employees earned little. Undercover footage and inspections turned up unclean ice buckets, dead rodents and fruit flies in a storage area, and mold growing inside the ice machine's filtration system, the discoveries that gave the episode its title. The kitchen and bar operations were shown to be poorly organized, with staff citing low pay relative to the owner's own habits.

During the rescue, Taffer's team retrained the bar staff on service standards, reworked the drink menu, and renovated the physical space, including new refrigeration and ice-handling equipment meant to prevent a repeat of the sanitation problems documented before the visit. One bartender, Ashley, stood out during the process; Taffer was impressed enough by her skills that he hired her onto his own consulting team by the end of the episode. As part of the overhaul, the bar was relaunched under a new name and concept, The Roc Bar & Nightclub, aimed at a nightlife-focused crowd rather than the previous lounge format.

The relaunch did not sustain the business long-term. Bar Rescue Updates reported in April 2021 that The Roc Bar & Nightclub had closed, with tracker coverage placing the actual closure around 2019, a few years after the televised visit. Yelp's business listing for the location, updated as of August 2026, continues to display a closed status, consistent with those earlier reports. No government or licensing record was located to pin down an exact closure date, so the 2019 timeframe cited by trackers and the ongoing closed listing on Yelp are treated here as the best available evidence for this record.

Some secondary tracker commentary from 2023 suggested a different bar had since moved into the storefront, but that claim could not be independently confirmed through a business website, news coverage, or a maps listing during this research pass, so it is not reflected in the recorded status. As of the most recent check, there is no indication that a business is currently operating at 2801 Leavenworth Street under either the Fort One or Roc Bar name, and the location is treated here as closed rather than under new ownership.

Featured on Bar Rescue

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 11
Original air date
Episode title
Ice, Mice, Baby
What was featured
Owner draining profits; mold, mice, and unsanitary storage found on inspection
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Fort One Bar & Lounge

Frequently asked questions

Is Fort One Bar & Lounge still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Fort One Bar & Lounge has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026.

What happened to Fort One Bar & Lounge after Bar Rescue?

Fort One Bar & Lounge occupied a corner space in San Francisco's Russian Hill area when Jon Taffer and his team arrived for the November 2016 episode "Ice, Mice, Baby." Owner Jason Wanigatunga had taken over the bar from his father in 2014 and, according to the episode, drew heavily on the business's profits while employees earned little. As of September 2026, Fort One Bar & Lounge has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026.

Is Fort One Bar & Lounge permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Fort One Bar & Lounge has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Fort One Bar & Lounge located?

2801 Leavenworth St, San Francisco, CA 94133. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Bar Rescue featured Fort One Bar & Lounge?

Season 5, Episode 11 of Bar Rescue, first aired November 6, 2016. The episode is titled “Ice, Mice, Baby”.

Did the makeover last at Fort One Bar & Lounge?

The episode first aired November 6, 2016. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 10 years later —: As of September 2026, Fort One Bar & Lounge has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026.

Is Fort One Bar & Lounge still using the Bar Rescue menu or branding?

During the rescue, Taffer's team retrained the bar staff on service standards, reworked the drink menu, and renovated the physical space, including new refrigeration and ice-handling equipment meant to prevent a repeat of the sanitation problems documented before the visit. 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
2801 Leavenworth St, San Francisco, CA 94133
Venue type
bar
Official website
None found

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/fort-one-bar-and-lounge-san-francisco
  • barrescueupdates.com — https://www.barrescueupdates.com/2021/04/the-roc-bar-nightclub-from-bar-rescue.html
  • realitytvupdates.com — https://realitytvupdates.com/bar-rescue/the-roc-bar-nightclub-fort-one/
  • imdb.com — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6200268/

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