Baseline Sports Bar in Tempe Becomes Brick and Barley, Thanks to Bar Rescue

Looks like the George & Dragon wasn’t the only local spot that got the makeover treatment from Bar Rescue recently.

Baseline Sports Bar, a biker-friendly watering hole located in Tempe, was also paid a visit by the Spike TV reality show last month and got a new look and new identity in the process. As a result, it’s now known as Brick and Barley.

According to the Baseline Sports Bar’s Facebook page, which still happens to be online, the team from Bar Rescue (including the show’s ever-irascible host Jon Taffer) transformed the place into Brick and Barley in mid-January, just prior to heading over to the George & Dragon. And they made a lot of changes, many of which we scoped out for ourselves during a recent visit.

What was once a well-worn and darkened drinkery sporting a certain attitude is now more a neighborhood spot with better lighting and updated digs. Baseline Sports Bar was big on bikers and bawdiness, including hosting hawg heads by the dozens and selling t-shirts and other branded swag emblazoned with the slogan “Represent Motherfucker.”

Owner AJ Hunter, who reportedly was a major motorcycle fan herself, tended to keep the lights low and the drink prices reasonably cheap, and she also referred to the bar’s female staff and regulars as “Baseline Babes.”

Most of the establishment’s hallmarks apparently were swept aside in the Bar Rescue makeover. The lighting is brighter, there’s a fresh paint job on the walls in a warmer color scheme, and and there are more wood furnishings and different seating options (such as a few picnic table-like setups) inside. As is the norm for Bar Rescue, Taffer and company also made some changes to its food and drink menus as well.

Oh, and the “Baseline Babes” are now known as “Barley Babes.”

And while we aren’t privy to how difficult the transition process to Brick and Barley might’ve been, given that its Bar Rescue and all, it’s a safe bet there will be some sort of drama or screaming involved. Hunter made a passing reference on B&B's Facebook recently about how Taffer gave the owner and her staff one of his trademark tongue-lashings, specifically noting that he “lopped our heads off.”

Guess will have to wait until the episode airs later this year.

In the meantime, Hunter posted a cute photo of herself and the Bar Rescue host squaring off in a fisticuffs pose, but it was likely done for laughs . . . we think.