What Happened to The Blue Frog 22 After Bar Rescue? (Chicago, IL)

Blue Frog 22 had been open in downtown Chicago for about a year and a half before Bar Rescue's crew arrived, run by a mother-and-son team, Mimi and John Reed. The bar's decor leaned heavily on toys and carnival-style knickknacks, which a Bar Rescue-recruited interior designer said made it one of the more visually chaotic bars she had seen; recon visits described frozen centers in appetizers and a general sense that the space had outgrown its original concept as trendier competitors opened nearby. Behind the scenes, Mimi and John were in open conflict over how to run the business, staff described not knowing who was actually in charge, and Mimi was seen drinking at the bar during business hours.

The rescue's fixes covered both people and product: Jon Taffer had the childish decor stripped out and asked Mimi to step back from day-to-day operations so John could run the floor without her overseeing every decision. A chef brought in locally sourced ingredients for a reworked menu, a beverage expert corrected the tap and pour setup, and the business was renamed The Local as part of a broader repositioning toward a more grown-up, neighborhood-bar identity. In the weeks after the episode aired, food sales rose by about fifty percent according to figures Reality TV Updates attributes to the show's post-rescue check-in, and higher menu prices -- a $15 burger and $8 beer, up from a $6 combo beforehand, according to co-owner John Reed -- held up with customers.

Rather than fully adopt the new name, the owners settled on a hybrid, calling the business Blue Frog's Local 22. Construction at a neighboring property later blocked the bar's summer patio and cost the business more than $120,000 in lost revenue, according to the bar's own account. The business continued operating for about seven years before closing in May 2018; its own Facebook page announced the closure, saying the owners were retiring after "8 wonderful and crazy years." John Reed and manager Kelly went on to open an unrelated restaurant, Jokers Cajun Smokehouse, in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.