barBar Rescue · Season 9, Episode 2 · Aired March 3, 2024
Wildkat Records Bar & Grill
Jacksonville, Florida
Open. The rescue stuck and it continues to operate.
What happened after
LaVilla neighborhood pool-and-live-music bar.
What happened on the show
Wildkat Records Bar and Grill in Jacksonville came in for Taffer's standard intervention, with DJ Tracey McKay and Kevin Bodie brought in for the recon. The LaVilla neighborhood pool-and-live-music bar went through the show's arc of scrutiny, confrontation and renovation, and the episode carried a poignant coda, closing with a dedication to the late Jared March, a producer of MTV's The Challenge, and a link to his foundation. Taffer proposed reopening the venue as Bay Street Sports Grill, a rebrand meant to sharpen the concept, betting that a clearer identity and a disciplined operation could steady a struggling Jacksonville music bar, with the usual open question of whether the changes would hold once the cameras left Florida. A LaVilla pool-and-live-music room, it carried the neighborhood's musical character, and the rescue aimed to give that identity a disciplined business to stand on before the cameras left Florida.
After the cameras left
Wildkat Records Bar and Grill appears to still be operating, with a caveat. The LaVilla pool-and-live-music bar at 119 East Bay Street in Jacksonville shows as active on listings, which supports an open status, but one account notes the owner relocated out of state after the rescue, adding uncertainty about the current day-to-day management. That mixed picture holds the open call at medium confidence. The Jacksonville music bar appears to have kept its doors open, though the owner's move out of state leaves a question mark over how the room is now run.
Sources
Confidence: medium. Last checked 2026-07-19.
What is there now
Street imagery via Google Maps. Location approximate.