TV Restaurants

Is The Wheel House Bar Still Open? Bar Rescue Update (Hemet, CA)

Open reported

As of September 2026, The Wheel House Bar is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
derbyshemet.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Yelp's listing for Derby's Bar & Grill, updated June 2026, shows 75 reviews and no closure notice, and the bar's own website lists current hours, menu, and entertainment schedule.

  • Season / episode Season 5, Episode 2
  • Original air date
  • Address 2860 W Florida Ave, Hemet, CA 92545
  • Current name Derby's Bar & Grill

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What happened after Bar Rescue?

The Wheel House Bar in Hemet, California, appeared on "Bar Rescue" in the episode "Wheels of Misfortune," which examined a bar struggling with an unfocused identity, inconsistent drink and food offerings, and staff who needed retraining to keep up with a venue built around live entertainment. Jon Taffer's team rebuilt the drink and food menus around a simpler, cheaper bar-food concept, including sandwiches, flatbreads, and shareable snacks, paired it with a curated beer and cocktail list, and renamed the business Derby's Bar & Grill to signal the reset. The bar's own account of the makeover describes it being revamped in 36 hours before reopening under the new name on April 26, 2016, with new bartenders trained by a mixologist brought in for the relaunch.

Rather than positioning Derby's purely as a sports bar or a straightforward restaurant, the rebuild leaned into nightly entertainment, including comedy, karaoke, DJ nights, and live bands, as the bar's main draw, a format the business has kept in place ever since.

A decade on, Derby's Bar & Grill continues to operate at the same Hemet address under the post-rescue name. Its Yelp listing, last updated in June 2026, showed 75 reviews and no closure notice, and the bar's own website, derbyshemet.com, lists current hours, a live entertainment calendar, and delivery partnerships with Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub. That same website's current entertainment lineup includes a monthly jazz jam, weekly karaoke, and recurring stand-up comedy nights, extending the entertainment-forward format Taffer's team installed in 2016. Recent customer feedback compiled alongside the Yelp listing described the live-entertainment nights positively while noting occasional service strain on busier nights, a routine operational note rather than any sign of closure. Between the active Yelp presence and the functioning business website, Derby's Bar & Grill appears to remain a going concern under the name "Bar Rescue" gave it in 2016, with no sourced indication it has ever reverted to its original Wheel House name.

Featured on Bar Rescue

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 2
Original air date
Episode title
Wheels of Misfortune
What was featured
A live-entertainment bar's menu overhaul and rename to Derby's
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
The Wheel House Bar

Frequently asked questions

Is The Wheel House Bar still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, The Wheel House Bar is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

What happened to The Wheel House Bar after Bar Rescue?

The Wheel House Bar in Hemet, California, appeared on "Bar Rescue" in the episode "Wheels of Misfortune," which examined a bar struggling with an unfocused identity, inconsistent drink and food offerings, and staff who needed retraining to keep up with a venue built around live entertainment. As of September 2026, The Wheel House Bar is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

What is The Wheel House Bar called now?

Now: Derby's Bar & Grill (formerly The Wheel House Bar). As of September 2026, The Wheel House Bar is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

Where is The Wheel House Bar located?

2860 W Florida Ave, Hemet, CA 92545. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Bar Rescue featured The Wheel House Bar?

Season 5, Episode 2 of Bar Rescue, first aired August 14, 2016. The episode is titled “Wheels of Misfortune”.

Did the makeover last at The Wheel House Bar?

The episode first aired August 14, 2016. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 10 years later —: As of September 2026, The Wheel House Bar is listed open on Yelp, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.

What do reviews say since Bar Rescue?

Its Yelp listing, last updated in June 2026, showed 75 reviews and no closure notice, and the bar's own website, derbyshemet.com, lists current hours, a live entertainment calendar, and delivery partnerships with Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is The Wheel House Bar still using the Bar Rescue menu or branding?

Jon Taffer's team rebuilt the drink and food menus around a simpler, cheaper bar-food concept, including sandwiches, flatbreads, and shareable snacks, paired it with a curated beer and cocktail list, and renamed the business Derby's Bar & Grill to signal the reset. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
2860 W Florida Ave, Hemet, CA 92545
Venue type
bar
Official website
derbyshemet.com

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