TV Restaurants

What Happened to Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill After Bar Rescue?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, January 2023.

Primary source
realitytvupdates.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Owner Joe Scott's October 2019 Facebook post, cited by Reality TV Updates, confirms the bar changed hands and closed under his ownership; a Yelp listing for the address updated August 2026 still shows it under the Iron Horse name and marks it closed.

  • Season / episode Season 6, Episode 5
  • Original air date
  • Address 6541 Hwy 51 N, Horn Lake, MS 38637

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What happened after Bar Rescue?

Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill was opened in Horn Lake by Navy veteran Joe Scott in 2015 without a liquor license in place, and by the time Bar Rescue's "Mississippi Rears" episode aired in April 2018, Joe had promoted a former dishwasher, Mike, to manager despite no leadership experience. Hidden-camera footage showed flat beer, a bartender improvising a Bloody Mary out of view of customers, and a cook, nicknamed Dirty Red, cross-contaminating food while working the kitchen alone. Jon Taffer's team stepped in to stop customers from eating food prepared under those conditions.

Mixologist Sean Ford and chef Michael Ferraro retrained the bar on a consistent Bloody Mary recipe and elevated two existing menu items, while Taffer split the bar into two teams for a stress test led separately by Joe and Mike to evaluate each man's ability to run service. As part of the renovation, the bar was renamed The Iron Horse, with new equipment installed throughout, and Dirty Red was given a chef's coat marking his progress in the kitchen. Dirty Red became a minor fan favorite after the episode aired and posted a brief video referencing the show on social media in the following weeks, though he has not been publicly linked to the bar's later ownership changes.

The Iron Horse initially held a four-star Yelp rating on a small number of reviews, and the relaunch appeared to stabilize the business for a period. In October 2019, Joe Scott posted on Facebook thanking supporters and staff and stating that two new operators, Kelly and Nancy, would take over and keep the bar's employees working, effectively confirming the business had changed hands and that Joe's ownership had ended. The property briefly continued as a bar called the Lazy Lizard, which, according to Reality TV Updates, also closed in February 2020. According to Reality TV Updates, the building was later occupied by an unrelated restaurant, Flights Fish and Wings, as of 2023. A Yelp listing for the address at 6541 U.S. Highway 51, updated as recently as August 2026, still shows the location under the Iron Horse name and marks it closed, consistent with no bar currently operating there under any of its post-Bar Rescue names.

Featured on Bar Rescue

Season / episode
Season 6, Episode 5
Original air date
Episode title
Mississippi Rears
What was featured
untrained management and kitchen cross-contamination, rescue rebrand to The Iron Horse
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill

Frequently asked questions

Is Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, January 2023.

What happened to Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill after Bar Rescue?

Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill was opened in Horn Lake by Navy veteran Joe Scott in 2015 without a liquor license in place, and by the time Bar Rescue's "Mississippi Rears" episode aired in April 2018, Joe had promoted a former dishwasher, Mike, to manager despite no leadership experience. As of September 2026, Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, January 2023.

Is Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, January 2023. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill located?

6541 Hwy 51 N, Horn Lake, MS 38637. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Bar Rescue featured Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill?

Season 6, Episode 5 of Bar Rescue, first aired April 8, 2018. The episode is titled “Mississippi Rears”.

Did the makeover last at Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill?

The episode first aired April 8, 2018. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 8 years later —: As of September 2026, Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, January 2023.

What do reviews say since Bar Rescue?

The Iron Horse initially held a four-star Yelp rating on a small number of reviews, and the relaunch appeared to stabilize the business for a period. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is Joe's Thirsty Lizard Bar & Grill still using the Bar Rescue menu or branding?

Mixologist Sean Ford and chef Michael Ferraro retrained the bar on a consistent Bloody Mary recipe and elevated two existing menu items, while Taffer split the bar into two teams for a stress test led separately by Joe and Mike to evaluate each man's ability to run service. 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
6541 Hwy 51 N, Horn Lake, MS 38637
Venue type
bar
Official website
None found

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Sources

  • realitytvupdates.com — https://realitytvupdates.com/bar-rescue/the-iron-horse-joes-thirsty-lizard/
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/iron-horse-horn-lake

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