Is Rob Ben's Restaurant & Lounge Still Open? Bar Rescue Update

Rob Ben's Restaurant & Lounge is a Southern-food restaurant and bar in Emeryville, California, co-owned by former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and the E'ville Eye. Bar Rescue featured the business in the Season 7 episode "Beast Rescue," aired 2020-04-26, a title referencing Lynch's "Beast Mode" nickname. According to a recap by RealityTVUpdates, Jon Taffer told Lynch the business was on pace to lose more than a quarter-million dollars a year, citing slow drink service, inconsistent food, and unprofessional staff conduct; RealityTVUpdates reported that a Partender liquor-tracking report showed the bar losing $16,000 a month to overpouring, and that food costs ran about 46 percent of sales against a 30 percent target.

Taffer's crew worked with Lynch on staff management, and RealityTVUpdates reported that sales rose and overpouring losses fell in the show's standard six-week follow-up. The restaurant kept its name after the rescue. Google Places lists Rob Ben's Restaurant & Lounge as operating at 3627 San Pablo Ave, Emeryville, CA 94608, with an "operational" status. A site check on 2026-09-08 found robbensrestaurant.com online, titled "Must-Visit Southern Restaurant in Emeryville | Rob Ben's," listing breakfast hours (Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m.) and mentioning catering and event bookings, with an active online ordering widget, though the page did not display a copyright year or other explicit 2026-dated text beyond the live ordering and hours listings.

RealityTVUpdates reported separately that the restaurant remained open and serving customers as recently as 2023, consistent with the operational listing and active site found in this search. No source reviewed here indicates a change in ownership, name, or location since the 2020 episode aired. Rob Ben's blends breakfast and Southern-style lunch service with a full bar, a combination its current menu and hours reflect, and the restaurant sits in the Oakland-Emeryville dining corridor near the Bay Bridge approach that RealityTVUpdates described in its recap of the episode.