TV Restaurants

What Happened to Island Bar & Grill After Bar Rescue? (Blue Island, IL)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Island Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via cbsnews.com, June 13, 2018.

Primary source
cbsnews.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: CBS News Chicago reported that Blue Island city officials revoked the bar's business license after a March 2018 shooting outside the venue, with the closure pending an appeal at the time of the report; a Yelp listing for the address updated in May 2026 continues to show the business as closed.

  • Season / episode Season 6, Episode 24
  • Original air date
  • Address 13414 Olde Western Ave, Blue Island, IL 60406

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What happened after Bar Rescue?

Island Bar & Grill was a family-run sports bar in Blue Island, Illinois, purchased by Adam Shorter in 2012 to help support his sister's family after his niece was severely injured in a car accident. Shorter staffed the bar almost entirely with relatives, including his mother, uncle, cousins, and sisters, and the resulting management structure was the focus of the "There Will Be Family Blood" episode, filmed in late 2016 and broadcast August 26, 2018. Recon visits documented inconsistent drink recipes, oversized pours, and slow food service; a manager was observed playing pool during business hours, and hidden-camera footage from the kitchen showed sanitation lapses that led one dish to be sent back. When the returned order reached the kitchen, the cook left his station rather than remedy it.

During the rescue, the owner dismissed two staff members after being confronted with the recon findings, and the remaining team received training on standardized drink recipes and portioning. The bar's exterior and interior received cosmetic updates, and the business relaunched under a slightly altered name, Island Lounge, timed to coincide with the birthday of the owner's niece. A new cucumber-vodka cocktail and an elevated shrimp-and-grits dish were introduced as menu additions coming out of the relaunch.

Six weeks after the visit, producers reported sales at the bar were up more than 10%, and the business continued to operate under both the Island Lounge and Island Sports Bar and Grill names interchangeably on its social media profiles. In March 2018, before the episode had aired, a shooting took place outside the bar involving one of its bouncers; according to CBS News Chicago (June 2018), city officials in Blue Island revoked the bar's business license following the incident, citing it as a nuisance and unsafe business, with the closure pending an appeal hearing before the city council at the time of that report. Owner Adam Shorter told CBS News Chicago that he believed the closure was driven by the racial makeup of his customer base rather than the incident itself, a characterization city officials did not comment on. The bar's business license had also been briefly suspended once before, in 2014, following an earlier altercation. There is no indication in available reporting that the license was reinstated, and current directory and review listings show no active business operating under either the Island Lounge or Island Bar and Grill name at the Olde Western Avenue address.

Featured on Bar Rescue

Season / episode
Season 6, Episode 24
Original air date
Episode title
There Will Be Family Blood
What was featured
family-staffed sports bar's management conflicts and mounting debt
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Island Bar & Grill

Frequently asked questions

Is Island Bar & Grill still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Island Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via cbsnews.com, June 13, 2018.

What happened to Island Bar & Grill after Bar Rescue?

Island Bar & Grill was a family-run sports bar in Blue Island, Illinois, purchased by Adam Shorter in 2012 to help support his sister's family after his niece was severely injured in a car accident. As of September 2026, Island Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via cbsnews.com, June 13, 2018.

Is Island Bar & Grill permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Island Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via cbsnews.com, June 13, 2018. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Island Bar & Grill located?

13414 Olde Western Ave, Blue Island, IL 60406. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Bar Rescue featured Island Bar & Grill?

Season 6, Episode 24 of Bar Rescue, first aired August 26, 2018. The episode is titled “There Will Be Family Blood”.

Did the makeover last at Island Bar & Grill?

The episode first aired August 26, 2018. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 8 years later —: As of September 2026, Island Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via cbsnews.com, June 13, 2018.

What do reviews say since Bar Rescue?

There is no indication in available reporting that the license was reinstated, and current directory and review listings show no active business operating under either the Island Lounge or Island Bar and Grill name at the Olde Western Avenue address. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is Island Bar & Grill still using the Bar Rescue menu or branding?

A new cucumber-vodka cocktail and an elevated shrimp-and-grits dish were introduced as menu additions coming out of the relaunch. 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
13414 Olde Western Ave, Blue Island, IL 60406
Venue type
bar
Official website
None found

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