Second Base Bar & Grill, a bikini bar in Orange, is feeling the glare of the reality TV spotlight after Spike TV’s “Bar Rescue” made a repeat visit to the establishment – the first in the show’s history – then walked away from the attempted second rescue.

The show’s formula is that bar consultant and host Jon Taffer goes to a struggling bar and tries to whip the staff and management into shape to improve business, suggesting changes in decor and service, doling out loud, and often bleeped, critiques in the process.

The bar on West Chapman Avenue went through that process in 2012, when Taffer implemented a new menu, put the servers in uniforms and changed the name from Extremes to Second Base.

The bar’s revenue initially soared after the makeover, but Taffer and his “Bar Rescue” crew returned to Second Base in December (whether the encore visit was initiated by the bar or the show is disputed by the two sides). The episode, which first aired Feb. 8, depicted the bar as falling back on hard times after abandoning many of the improvements the show had put in place.

“These people made a lot of bad decisions that got me there,” Taffer said in a recent interview. “It’s really hard to change human behavior. I can fix just about any bar. It’s fixing the people that’s difficult.”

But Second Base’s owner Terry Bryant and manager Gary Salazar say the bar is doing just fine, bringing in regulars on weekdays with the bikini-clad servers and college kids on weekends with DJs.

“‘Bar Rescue’ makes it seem like we’re not doing fine, we’re incompetent, which is completely not true,” Bryant said last week.

“We’re obviously doing something right, unlike what ‘Bar Rescue’ (has said),” he added.

In the recent episode, the bar’s managers said Second Base had been hurt by increased competition from sports bars that opened nearby since its first appearance on the show. At one point, Taffer tells Bryant that the bar reaped the benefits of being on the show but that he didn’t reinvest in the business.

“You jumped on the coattails of the honeymoon I created (for) you,” Taffer says on the show. “You suck it dry then call me to come back a second time and bail you out! You’re delusional!”

Taffer also called out the bar staff for not cleaning the establishment adequately.

“I’m not the first person to tell him that his bar was dirty, or that his bar doesn’t look good,” Taffer said. “He’s heard these things from other people. And he’s chosen not to do it. I say it louder. I say it more aggressively.”

But Bryant said “Bar Rescue” came to him for the second episode, not the other way around. “They contacted us, clearly.”

One day last week, a good-size crowd, entirely men except for a couple of servers in bikinis, filled out the bar and several tables. On weekdays, Second Base brings in a regular crowd, from construction workers to lawyers, said manager Gary Salazar. Weekends now draw a college crowd for DJs and dancing.

“The sports bar that they tried to make it, it was a good idea,” Salazar said about the first time “Bar Rescue” came to Bryant’s bar. “There wasn’t many sports bars back then.”

On the other hand, he said, making the place into a sports bar specifically would have meant that business would drop off once televised games were over for the night and people left for other late-night activities such as clubbing.

Bryant and Salazar pointed to the competition that has grown up around them, such as Buffalo Wild Wings at the Outlets at Orange, which opened in March 2012, and the Tilted Kilt, which opened in December 2012. The first “Bar Rescue” episode at Second Base was filmed in May 2012 and aired in October 2012, Salazar said.

Second Base could have dealt with the competition with promotions, marketing, parties and discounts, Taffer said. “They did none of that. … They just let the new competitor take it away from them.”

The bar’s recent appearance on “Bar Rescue” has drawn some pretty harsh reviews online – on Yelp from those who sought out Second Base after seeing it on the TV show and on Second Base’s Facebook page from those who write about the TV appearances rather than visits to the bar.

Some of the criticism is coming from people who have never been to Second Base, Salazar said, and it’s dragging down the place’s ratings.

The recent episode ended in disagreement after Taffer said the show would put about $100,000 into Second Base if Bryant came up with $30,000. Bryant said he didn’t have the money.

“I created a bar that increased his revenues by 400 percent,” Taffer said of the show’s first visit to Bryant’s bar. “If he wasn’t going to put some money up and put some sweat in the game, as they say, then I wasn’t going to, either.”

“If I had $30,000, why would I need to go on ‘Bar Rescue’?” Bryant said. In the first “Bar Rescue,” Bryant had said the place was $180,000 in debt, which he said he since has paid off.

Taffer said his success rate in improving bars or helping them stay open when they were likely to close is over 70 percent, according to unaffiliated site barrescueupdates.com.

Salazar said Second Base is bringing in about 200 people on weekend nights with DJs and dancing. A Valentine’s Day party last weekend advertised dance and Top 40 music, a costume contest, a raffle and bottle service.

Despite the change to uniforms at Taffer’s direction, Second Base eventually went back to bikinis. Yes, the uniforms made some nighttime customers (women) more comfortable, but it hurt the daytime crowds, Salazar said.

There are three other bikini bars nearby – the Pump Room across the street and Salty Dawg Tavern and Blondie’s Saloon within a few miles – so with servers at Second Base showing less skin, patrons will head to those spots, he said.

Customers at Second Base last week said they felt the bar had been misrepresented on the show. Online, regulars say they like the friendly and attractive servers and big, cheap, cold beers.

“I have actually been here and go here somewhat often,” said Paul G. of Orange on Yelp. “It’s a dive and it is what it is. They have good-looking bartenders, huge beers, pool tables and darts. If you want a fancy cocktail, go elsewhere.”

Contact the writer: aboessenkool@ocregister.com