What Happened to Russell City Grill & Sports Bar After Bar Rescue?

Russell City Grill & Sports Bar in Hayward, California, was the subject of the "Bar Rescue" episode "Win, Lose or Brawl," which aired in October 2016. The episode focused on a sports bar dealing with disorganized food and drink service, tired branding, and staff who were not equipped to handle a busy game-day crowd. Jon Taffer's team retooled the menu and bar program and renamed the business Fogline Bar & Grill, giving it a new identity distinct from the Russell City name it had carried before the show arrived.

The changes produced a modest, documented bump at the standard six-week follow-up: sales at Fogline were reported up about 15% over pre-rescue levels, a smaller gain than some of the show's more dramatic turnarounds but still a sign the retooled menu and service changes were being felt. Fogline continued operating under its new name for roughly six years after the televised rescue, considerably longer than many of the bars the show tries to save. Its eventual closure, however, had nothing to do with the original operational problems the episode addressed.

According to SFist (March 8, 2022), Fogline's owner, Lemack "Lee" Bellot, was convicted that month on federal charges connected to smuggling cocaine through San Francisco International Airport, a case that had originated from a 2019 indictment. Bar Rescue Updates reported that Fogline Bar & Grill closed in March 2022 as a direct result of the case against its owner. The Hayward location has remained closed since. Yelp's listing for Fogline Bar & Grill at 25037 Clawiter Road, last updated in June 2026, still shows the bar marked closed, with 117 accumulated reviews and no indication a new tenant has taken over the space. Combined with the SFist reporting on the federal case and the multi-year gap since the 2022 closure, the Hayward address that once housed Russell City Grill & Sports Bar and then Fogline Bar & Grill appears to have remained out of operation for several years, unrelated to whatever service issues the original 2016 episode had set out to fix.