Jorge Castellanos – He Makes You Laugh & Gets You Drunk

By Ned Kelly, October 24, 2023

When Cuban-American Jorge Castellanos was in university, he grew to love both comedy and education. Unable to choose between them, he did both, running Shanghai play-based early education center Awesome Kids by day, and touring the country as a standup comedian by night.

Enough feathers for one fella's cap, surely? Wrong! He's now gone in on friendly neighborhood bar BnC. We caught up with the busiest man in Shanghai to find out how he fits it all in...

How did joining the bar come about?
Candy and Chris (aka Taishan) have been friends for years and their son – the famous Jack – is with Awesome Kids, so it was a perfect fit.

They were renovating the bar and looking for help to keep the legacy of BnC going. Fifteen years strong and hoping for another killer 15 years.

Candy and Taishan are the best, and it has been a blast being able to work more closely with them.

Do you have any previous experience owning a bar?
In Shanghai, no, but my family has been in F&B all of my life.

When my parents moved from Cuba to the USA, they didn’t speak English, but they spoke the universal language of food and booze – so they opened up a small Cuban restaurant and worked their way up to owning popular Cuban spots across Houston.

I worked with them from the age of six (probably illegal) and loved it – from washing dishes to learning how to cook to serving drinks.

I’ve wanted to get in there and get my hands dirty in the Shanghai scene for years, but as anyone in the industry I’m sure could tell you, it’s a tough beast.

What are your top three do's to running a bar?
Have a friendly, quirky fun staff that hang out with you and chat with you – the reason I would come in to BnC so often was because of Candy and Dragon behind the bar.

Create a community that wants to support you and be a part of your growth.

And, of course, be a good place to hang (don’t overdo it on gimmicks, screaming loud music, lights so dark you can’t read the menu). Just be fun.

And your top three dont's?
Uncomfortable chairs! I hate a bar that has chairs that make it seem like they want you to come in and out. Give me a nice chair to sink into and I’ll be there for hours.
Similarly, a stool where you make my legs dangle like a toddler annoys me. I have a lot of chair related things, I guess haha.

Taishan had some really great ones, too. Don’t rely on your circle of friends for your bar to be successful.

And, most importantly, DO NOT annoy the neighbors. Some great bars and restaurants have been taken out by neighbor complaints.

You are a well-known comedian and MC around town – did that inform your decision to take over the bar? Any comedy nights lined up?
We’ve had the comedians over a bunch and have had some of the bigger names in Chinese comedy come through and hang out often, which is always a good time.

If you give me enough cocktails, I’ll do some street jokes for you anytime. We might do a few live event nights here and there, so keep an eye out for it!

What can people expect on a night out at BnC?
Our intention with the renovation is to have BnC be your neighborhood bar. Shanghai is full of bars where you have to put on your coolest clothes and show off, but at BnC, we’re all about hanging out, watching the game, getting to know everyone, having a good drink and some good food.

Think Cheers, but instead of Sam Malone, it’s Candy – and she’s going to give you a hug. I guess that makes me Carla... No, I want to be Frasier.

We’re tucked away in the park on the corner of Xikang Lu and Changping Lu, so it’s a cozy, relaxed space with a great view of the trees

A zen, quiet spot for meditation where you can get hammered and play some pool. Just like intended.

You’re looking great! How on EARTH did you manage to take over a bar and lose so much weight? Surely those two things are mutually exclusive…
Haha, thank you! I’ve lost 100 lbs (45 kg) in the last year. It’s 100% the BnC diet. If you eat BnC every day, you will also lose 45 kg… kidding!

It’s the age old 'eat less, workout more, and on the weekends, have too many picklebacks, craft beers and sandwiches at BnC, then workout even more the following week to make up for it.'

Repeat until you can fit in to clothes in stores in China.

You also run Awesome Kids. So, who causes more trouble – the kids, or your bar patrons?
Haha! At first sight, they seem like businesses on the opposite ends of the spectrum, but they seem about the same to me.

They both have trouble walking or speaking full sentences, but if you hand them some LEGOs, they’ll keep busy for hours.

It’s always a bit more awkward when you try to kiss the booboos of a guy who just fell over after a few too many, though...

Any exciting events coming up?
We’re always up to something. We’ve got a killer happy hour every night from 5pm-8pm, RMB10 sliders on Fridays, plus darts and pool tournaments throughout the week and weekends.