Shibō Is Now Yumbootik International… — What Happened After Bar Rescue?

Shibo was a Latin-Asian fusion restaurant and bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, opened in 2016 by siblings Jonathan and Gabriella Cruz, with Jonathan running the kitchen. Business was strong in its first year, but Hurricane Maria's landfall in September 2017 devastated the surrounding area and forced an extended closure; the "The Lights Came Back in Puerto Rico" episode, filmed in April 2018 and broadcast March 3, 2019, found the building largely undamaged but the owners unable to afford reopening costs after roughly seven months shut down, carrying close to $150,000 in debt that included a bank loan held in the name of Gabriella's husband. During the visit, the rescue team sampled the full existing menu, praising a sangria and a sushi course, before touring the space and finding spoiled, insect-infested food left in the kitchen from before the storm.

Staff training focused on speeding cocktail production, with one bartender singled out for making drinks one at a time rather than batching, and on having the kitchen manager delegate tasks so he could spend more time with guests during service. A stress test surfaced continued slow bar service, and renovation work was briefly interrupted by a five-hour power outage; the show provided the business with a backup generator afterward. Because the restaurant had a track record of success before the storm, its original name was kept through the relaunch, which unveiled a renovated interior and drew a positive response from customers during opening service.

At the standard six-week follow-up, the restaurant was reported to be building its business back, though not yet matching pre-hurricane sales levels. The restaurant later became known as Yumbootik International Cuisine, a rebrand announced on the business's Facebook page in September 2022; owner and chef Jonathan Cruz continued running the kitchen under the new name, and the restaurant's own website described the new concept as "formerly known as SHIBO." Customer reviews through 2022 and into 2024 continued describing a busy, reservation-required dining room at the Calle Loiza address. More recent online discussion, however, has raised questions about whether a different business now occupies the same storefront, with some 2025 and 2026 map listings showing other restaurant names at that location; no independently confirmed, dated source was found to settle whether the restaurant is still operating there as of 2026.