In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Garretts Mill and Brewing Company in Garrettsville, Ohio.
Garretts Mill and Brewing Company is owned by Shelli and Brian.
They have owned the restaurant for two years.
They serve American food, Italian and a bit of everything.
Shelli and Brian bought the restaurant for $500,000.
They put around $100,000 down for the restaurant.
The money came from cashing in Brians 401k.
Shelli says they are ordinary people with a dream.
Right now, they are losing between $1000 to $2000 a month.
They leased the restaurant on a lease to own contract.
If they decide they want to leave the business, they still have to finish paying it off.
Brian went a year without an income and had to go back to truck driving in order to make ends meet.
Shelli says the plan was for Brian to run the business, not her.
She says it’s overwhelming and she gets frustrated with the staff.
She says if she had to close the doors then she would feel like a failure.
Robert says that the drive up to the restaurant is beautiful.
Robert says it’s a bad sign that there are always reservations available.
As he enters the restaurant he loves the ceiling and the bar.
He says all of the woodwork is beautiful.
The inside of the dining room isn’t very good in comparison.
The floors are bad and the table and chairs don’t look good either.
Robert calls Shelli and Brian to the front of the house.
Shelli says the building was built in 1804.
When Shelli and Brian were coming here for dates, she was a nurse and he was a truck driver.
Brian wanted to be in this business because he was desperate to stop driving a truck.
Shelli doesn’t know the books or anything about the finances.
Shelli is still working as a nurse whilst also running the restaurant.
Robert points out how tired Shelli looks and she admits that she is very tired.
Robert says he wants to see the service and has invited locals to come along.
He tells Brian to sit this out since he normally doesn’t work here.
Robert says he wants to focus on Shelli because he thinks she is at her breaking point.
They don’t have enough menus for every customer.
They only have seven of them and they are all with other customers.
The service is a mess and the kitchen is in a mess too.
The customers say they don’t come here because of how bad the food and service is.
The cooks are working on orders that have been waiting for an hour.
Shelli and the head chef get into an argument.
Robert pulls Shelli and Brian aside to talk about the way the service just went.
He reassures them by saying everything will be fine and they will fix it together.
Robert orders a few things off of the menu to try.
The chicken is dry and the mac and cheese has no flavor.
Robert says that saying it was a disappointment would be an understatement.
He tells Shelli and Ruben that he didn’t like anyone here.
Ruben says that Robert could at least be respectful.
Robert tells them that they need to come up with a menu that is unique.
Robert brings in his design team of Taniya and Tom.
Taniya says that this place is beautiful.
Robert tells them about the ghost in the building.
They can’t argue in this building because the ghost will get mad and move things.
The team begin taking everything out of the restaurant.
Shelli says that this is an emotional situation but it’s something they have to do.
In order to fix the restaurant, Robert needs to fix the relationship between Shelli and the staff.
Taniya wants to update the building by making it historically trendy.
Robert found out that the food and labor costs are right where they should be, they just need to bring in more business.
Robert meets with the staff, without Shelli.
He asks them what the problem is with this restaurant.
One of the staff members say that Ruben will ignore the servers.
She says she doesn’t want to talk to Ruben because he doesn’t give her the same respect she gives to him.
Another staff member says that there is no way he doesn’t hear them.
She calls his name and waits to get eye contact to know that he is listening.
The cooks say that the servers only ask about the food when it isn’t ready.
When it is ready, they are nowhere to be found.
There is a serious lack of communication between the teams.
Robert thanks them for their honesty.
Robert says there is no actual leader and they get away with the arguing because of it.
Robert tells one of his crew to get him some things and meet him downstairs.
Robert meets with the staff and asks them to grind flour to make fresh pretzels for tomorrows service.
Robert tells Shelli that her job is to lead during this exercise.
Immediately, Shelli is a bystander and not a leader.
The staff is working well together despite not liking each other.
Robert tells Shelli he wants her to be more assertive.
Shelli doesn’t feel respected by the staff.
Robert wants to ask Shelli something important.
He doesn’t want the cameras close by.
Today is the day Shelli defines who she is.
He asks if she thinks she can manage this and she says that she doesn’t know.
Robert shows Shelli videos from the staff and Brian.
Brian says thank you for everything she has been doing.
Shelli decides that she can do this.
Robert shows the cooks recipes that he believes should be a part of the new menu.
They begin making finishing touches on the restaurant.
Robert shows Brian and Shelli their new restaurant.
They are amazed by how gorgeous it looks.
Brian and Shelli invite the customers inside.
On relaunch, the customers love the new decor and also love the food.
They are pleased with the changes and promise to return to the restaurant.
Robert believes the restaurant will be successful in the long run.
What Happened Next at Garrett's Mill Brewing Company?
Since Robert left, sales are up 20%.
Brian has quit his trucking job to be at the restaurant full time.
The staff continues to get along and work together.
Garrett's Mill Brewing Company is open.
The reviews are mixed after Robert visited.
There are complaints that the owner has returned to his old ways and both leadership and service is poor.
Customers both compliment and complain on the food quality.
Garrett's Mill Brewing Company was Restaurant Impossible season 16 episode 7 and aired on 6th February 2020.
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