Bar Rescue · S3 E13
Handlebar Cafe
Pawcatuck, Connecticut
It is still up and running.
The short answer
At 210 S Broad St; owner Betsy Mitchell-Cipriano has run it since purchasing in 2001. Actively operating with a July 2026-updated Yelp listing and active Facebook presence (merchandise posts, Bike Night events).
What happened on the show
Two sisters were binge-drinking their way through a Connecticut biker bar, and Taffer's task was to get them sober enough to actually run it. Handlebar Cafe in Pawcatuck needed its partying owners reined in before their own habits finished off a room its regulars still cared about, and the rescue paired that personal intervention with a hard operational reset. Mixologist Russell Davis and chef Brian Duffy came in to rebuild the bar program and the kitchen, giving the sisters a real foundation to work from once they stepped back from the constant partying. Taffer modernized the space and reopened it as Handlebar and Grill, sharpening the concept while keeping the biker identity that made the place worth saving to the crowd that filled it. The bet was that two owners who could be pulled out of their own bad habits, handed a fixed bar and a fixed menu, could keep a genuine local institution running instead of drinking it dry.
After the cameras left
Handlebar Cafe is still running, back under its original name, at 210 South Broad Street. Owner Betsy Mitchell-Cipriano has held it since buying the place in 2001, and the bar keeps an active presence, with a Yelp listing updated into July 2026 and Facebook posts around merchandise and Bike Night events. A FindGLocal directory entry showed 2025-dated activity as well. The sisters' bar kept its footing, landing this one among the survivors at high confidence.
Location
Pawcatuck, Connecticut
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Sources
Confidence: high. Last checked 2026-07-19.