Sullivan's Grill - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

Sullivan's Grill Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Sullivan's Grill in Fruita, Colorado.

Sullivan's Grill is owned by Ginny Sullivan, was a loan officer at a telecom company.

She got bored and wanted to do something more exciting so she bought the restaurant.

The first year of the restaurant was good and she was able to pay her bills and herself a salary.

The business in the second year declined and she now owes $450,000 to various creditors including the banks, vendors and her parents.

Five years ago, her husband sadly passed away and she has had to grieve whilst struggling with the failing restaurant.

She is unable to borrow any more money and she is close to having to close the restaurant.

Robert arrives and finds that the decor is old, outdated and uninviting.

He meets Ginny who tells him that she bought the restaurant four years ago when it was a Mexican restaurant.

They inherited a Mexican menu when they bought the restaurant and kept some of the original menu items, whilst also adding new Irish themed dishes.

She has no experience at all in the restaurant trade and she paid $375,000 for the business.

She took out a second mortgage on the family home for $60,000 and the rest of the money was borrowed from the bank and her parents.

Ginny has two teenagers and she hasn’t been able to pay herself in two and half years.

Since her husband passed away she has been living off of social security benefits.

Robert wants to watch a service to see what the issues are at the restaurant.

He notices that they do have some customers who appear to be regulars but no one is eating anything.

The regular customers only come for coffee and therefore aren’t spending much money at the restaurant.

Those that do order food aren’t impressed, the presentation is poor and so is the taste.

Robert confirms this by trying some of the food that they offer and he is not impressed.

They were famed for their green chili’s but the chili that Robert is served was watery.

He tells Ginny that there is no money to be made if that is the food that they are sending out.

Robert asks to meet the head Chef Rose, who has been at the restaurant for more than 8 years and before Ginny bought the restaurant.

Rose is defensive of the food that was served and says it is because she has no control in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, he sees that there is caked on grease on all the surfaces and the kitchen is filthy.

Robert gives her a new challenge of creating him a dish of anything wants, using her own recipes rather than those she has been given.

But again the food she serves to Robert is poor and this time she blames the lack of ingredients available to her to be able to make something good.

Robert goes into the kitchen and points out many of the ingredients that she could have used to make him a great dish.

He also points out there are a lot of canned or prepared items in the kitchen.

To prove the point he makes a steak and salad and Ginny prefers his to the one Rose made but she still thinks hers was better.

Robert makes it clear to Ginny that Rose needs to step up or she needs to be gone as they will not survive if she does not change.

He lays out to Rose that she needs to step it up if they are to take the restaurant to the next level and stop it from closing.

Robert meets with designer Cheryl and the rest of the design team to discuss ideas on how to transform the restaurant.

He asks the staff to help with moving the furniture out so that they can get to work.

Robert speaks with Ginny and she tells him that she is overwhelmed by the restaurant as she spends 80 hours a week in the restaurant.

She doesn’t get a lot of time to spend with the family due to the amount of time she spends in the restaurant.

Robert asks her to write down what she does at the restaurant everyday so he can find some things that can be cut out so that she can spend more time with her family.

Robert thinks that they need to promote someone to assistant manager to ease some of the stress from Ginny.

He speaks with the staff who want to do whatever it takes to take some stress off her, even if it means extra work and not for extra pay.

Robert asks Ginny to go home for a while to spend some time with her children whilst he works on things at the restaurant.

Shortly after, he received a phone call from Rose to say that she is unwell and unable to work at the restaurant for the service.

The kitchen is closed for the evening, ready to be deep cleaned overnight.

The next morning, Robert arrives and first heads into the kitchen, which has now been cleaned and is sparkling.

Next, he checks in with the design team who had made great progress overnight and he pushes them to continue to be finished for the relaunch.

Rose arrives at the restaurant but to tell him that she will not be well enough to work on the relaunch evening.

Although she doesn’t elaborate on her illness Robert doesn’t want anyone to put their health on the line, it is more important to be in good health.

Robert thinks this is a disaster as they have a kitchen but no menu or chef until Ginny reveals that one of the remaining staff is a qualified chef.

Scott graduated from a top culinary school and is happy to take over in the kitchen from Rose.

Robert works with Scott to teach him the new Southern menu with new dishes including a Braised Pork Green Chili and Seared Rib Eye with Tomato Pan Sauce.

After learning the new menu, he teaches the other two members of the kitchen staff and Robert is confident he can lead the kitchen.

Robert checks in with the design team for the last time and it is nearly finished.

Scott begins the prep for the evening service and Robert reveals the newly transformed decor to Ginny and her children.

The dining room has been given a huge makeover that included knocking down a wall to open up the space and Ginny is overwhelmed by the changes.

On relaunch night, customers love the new menu and love the improvements to the food.

The customers promise to return to the restaurant.



What Happened Next at Sullivan's Grill?


With the loss of her husband and the improvement in business, Ginny decided it was a good time to sell the business.

Sullivan's Grill closed in January 2012.

Ginny is currently a Vendor Manager at Comcast.


Sullivan's Grill was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 17 and aired on January 04 2012.

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Heritage Room / Wild Cat Cafe - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

Wild Cat Cafe Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible, Robert Irvine visits Heritage Room Restaurant in Canton, Ohio.

Heritage Room Restaurant is run by Chef Tom Blake and is a training kitchen for high school students wanting to pursue a culinary career or to step outside of the normal classroom environment.

Tom has been running the restaurant within the High School for the past 18years.

The restaurant is open for three days a week and whilst it is supported by the school it also needs support from the public.

The cooking program is open to three groups od students, those who struggle academically, those who have discipline problems and those who are passionate about cooking.

The cost of running this is high as the equipment is expensive, needs maintenance and is costly to repair when it breaks down.

They are currently in need of two new ovens, a gas range and more and whilst the Canton School funding has maintained the restaurant they are now struggling.

The poverty rate in the area is 51% so it is important to keep it open to help provide training for and to provide job opportunities.

Robert arrives and notices that the dining room needs a lot of work. The carpets are bad, the walls need repainting and the tables and chairs are battered.

Roberts meets with Nicky Howard, director of secondary program and Tom Blake, the culinary instructor.

Heritage Room Restaurant is supposed to be a culinary program where the students learn the three areas of the industry - cooking, service and business.

The culinary program is popular with both students and teachers using the restaurant. It currently makes around $500 revenue per week but there is zero profit.

The dining area is looking so terrible because there is no money to put back to it.

Tom confesses that the students seem to begin the programme invigorated but the energy and enthusiasm levels drop later in the programme.

Nicky believes that the restaurant would offer more opportunities to more students if it generated more money.

Robert commits to them both to create a new modern restaurant and wants to meet the students.

Chef Robert met with six students; Trevor, Dakota, Robert, Leila Nicole and Michael.

They all give different reasons why they want to be a chef and explain their passion for cooking.

Robert decides to test the students skills and asks them to julienne a carrot and to properly cut an onion.

After many tears from the onion there was little in the way of knife skills shown by the students.

Robert enforces strictly that he wants to teach them technical skills so that they can be responsible for themselves in the kitchen.

He asks them to fry eggs and again the students are disappointed In how their eggs turned out.

Robert teaches them the basics of how to fry an egg but Robert notices that they need a professional gas range in the kitchen to be able to learn how to fry food.

Robert meets with his designer Taniya to discuss the renovation. He wants her to replace the carpets, tables and chairs and repaint the walls but with only $5000.

Robert wants to use the remaining $5000 of the budget to replace equipment in the kitchen.

Chef Robert asks the students to help clear out the restaurant and Robert is made the leader of the student team.

Together they come up with a new name for the restaurant and rename it to the Wild Cat Café.

The previous menu served just soup and sandwiches but Robert teaches them a new menu with the star dish of a Coriander and Mustard Seed Crusted Salmon

Next, Robert moves on to teaching the students sauces and they learn to make a crab macaroni cheese with Michael chopping herbs and Taylor making the bechamel sauce.

Robert checks in with Taniya and Tom and they are trying to be creative with the limited budget.

Robert gives the students a pep talk and cautions them that they must show passion, concentration and prove they are for the change by thinking overnight if they want to be a part of it.

The next day all six students show up, renewing their commitment to the restaurant.

Robert wants to create a buzz about the new restaurant and along with the school band they are go to the local farmers market to help promote the restaurant.

Before they leave Robert checks in with the designers and is concerned that he can’t yet see the progress and pushes them to have some progress by the time he returns.

The students promote the restaurant with T-shirts promoting the new restaurant complete with the phone number to make bookings.

From the market Robert purchases fresh corn, cabbages, peppers and tomatoes.

Robert has bought several items of equipment and they are revealed to the students when the return from the market.

The new equipment for the kitchen includes a six range gas burner, a spice grinder, a crepe machine, stick blenders, toasters, industrial mixers and commercial food processors.

The renovation in the dining room is beginning to come together and there is a beautifully handcrafted sign of "WILDCAT CAFÉ "on plywood that cost $40.

They used everyday kitchen items to transform the wall into a beautiful work of art and took out windows to create a chef's viewing area, bringing the kitchen into the dining room.

They take artistic photographs for the walls and use scraps of materials to create custom artwork.

In the kitchen Chef Robert discusses the duties for each student.

He puts Dakota on the appetizers, Trevor on the boiler and Taylor to make Sautee. Michael will assist Nicole on grill and Robert will lead the kitchen.

Whilst they are putting together the finishing touches, people are already starting to line up outside and the students back in the kitchen confess to being nervous and excited.

Eyes closed, Chef Robert gently led all staff to see the new Wild Cat Café. They were all amazed when they opened up their eyes.

Chef Robert presented each student with a chef knife as a gift and introduced Tom and Taniya to the staff.

On relaunch night, the customers were amazed at the renovation and have much praise for the new design.

The orders come fast into the kitchen and the students have a hard time keeping up.

As they start to get overwhelmed Chef Robert steps in to help and gives them a pep talk so they get back on track and the relaunch is a success.



What Happened Next at Heritage Room / Wild Cat Cafe?


They have continued with the improvements that Robert had set in place and have kept his menu.

Wild Cat Cafe is still open for lunch 3 times a week and have a special themed dinner once a month.

This episode was episode 16 of season 2 and was aired on December 07 2011

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St James Soup Kitchen - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

St James Soup Kitchen Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits St James soup kitchen in Newark, New Jersey.

St. James Soup Kitchen is an arm of the St. James' social service corps, an Outreach Ministry ran by executive director Vesta Godwin Clark.

The soup kitchen is one of the largest providers of food in the city and the surrounding community.

The soup kitchen serves around 150 people daily, who are mostly homeless but no one is turned away.

Six months ago, a fire caused significant damage to the building.

Most of the kitchen equipment was damaged and as a result they struggled to keep up with demand.

The dining area needs a facelift, new stoves are needed to replace the old ones and refrigerators are required to store produce.

Robert arrives and meets Vesta to talk about the building and the fire damage.

He asked if there are other soup kitchens elsewhere and Vesta tells him that most have closed down due to a lack of funding.

Georgianna Loney-Wilson, the 80 year old volunteer chef who runs the kitchen, volunteers five days a week at the soup kitchen.

She was so excited to meet Chef Robert, who also thinks she must be a miracle worker continuing to volunteer at that age.

Chef Robert noticed Georgianna plastered left arm, an injury sustained while working.

She slipped and hurt her arm whilst trying to stop herself from falling and Robert was stunned that she continues to volunteer despite the injury.

Georgianna has been with St. James soup kitchen since the beginning. Her goal is to treat every client as though they are dining with family and offer a homely and balanced meal and are treated with dignity and respect.

The clients keep coming in as long as they notice Georgianna's car is parked out the front. She keeps doing it day in and day out because she feels God has led her to do so.

St James kitchen has one small Fryer, two ovens including one that is damaged and other outdated equipment.

The lack of functioning equipment is making things ten times harder from them to prepare meals.

Georgianna needs a kitchen that she can use to feed people quickly and efficiently, which Chef Roberts promises he will get for her.

In years of fixing failing restaurants, Robert confesses he hasn't walked into this kind of situation and hasn't tackled a more deserving location.

Robert's first task to help revamp the soup kitchen was meet with designer Nicole Facciuto and show her the dining room.

Tom and Nicole meet with Robert, who wants to spend $7,000 of the budget on the kitchen.

They all agree it is a going to be a challenging task but Robert believes it's achievable in time and on budget.

Tom tells Robert that he knows a kitchen equipment guy in town who they could talk to for a good deal in replacing the kitchen equipment.

They both meet Bob Finkelstein at BFA Designs and he gives them great discounts on kitchen equipment for the soup kitchen. He also gives them a fryer for free.

The kitchen equipment arrives and is offloaded from the company's truck. However Tom notices that the oven wouldn't fit through the doors to the soup kitchen.

Roberts picks up a long sledgehammer and breaks through the door.

The equipment is taken into the dining room whilst Tom works on replacing the damaged floor in the kitchen.

It's going to be a long night as the fire upstairs has caused a lot of water downstairs, which has ruined all the plywood and badly damaged the kitchen floor.

Nicole is taking some photographs of staff for frames that will go on the wall.

Renovating the kitchen is a vast project which would usually take months of planning and organizing. But they get the kitchen organized and fitted in just one day.

False ceilings were fitted to hide the remnants of fire damage and this is worked on.

The next day Robert meets Tom and Nicole and sees the work they have completed so far. The dining room has been repainted, the kitchen floor fixed and equipment has been installed.

Robert cleans the equipment and Vesta reveals a surprise. Newark’s Mayor Cory A. Booker comes the soup kitchen to meet Robert and Vesta.

He is given a tour of the soup kitchen and is stunned by what they have done in such a short time.

In the spirit of thanksgiving, Cory presented Chef Robert with a new challenge to serve an additional 150 people from a local community centre.

The kitchen is complete and Vesta and Ms. Georgianna were led with their eyes closed to the kitchen.

They are astounded by the makeover and the new equipment in the kitchen. The Kitchen now boasts a boiler, a double fryer, a 5-foot freezer, two refrigerators and a large storage area.

Vesta and Georgianna were given a day off for their hard work while two of Robert's friends stepped in to help with the makeover.

George Galati and Lee Lucier help Robert to prepare for feeding the community.

At 12: 05 pm, Robert and George dash down to the community food bank while Lee stayed behind to start prepping.

They visit a community food back but are limited to how much food they are able to take. Robert calls Lee to get other items from a nearby grocery store.

With all hands on deck they are able to cook and package 150 individual meals to take to the Community Centre.

They race to finish the dining room ready for seating and feeding 150 people at the soup kitchen.

They rush to set the tables and Vests and Georgianna believe the dining room looks beautiful.

As the budget was just $3000, they have recycling second hand chairs with a new paint job. There are staff photos on the wall.

The hungry diners are let into the soup kitchen and are overwhelmed with the new dining room and are all fed a hot meal.



What Happened Next at St James Soup Kitchen?


Thanksgiving dinner was served to the homeless and the homeless continue to be fed at the soup kitchen.

The soup kitchen was renamed to the The Soulfood Cafe Soup Kitchen.

Georgianna Loney-Wilson sadly passed away in March 2018.

Please consider donating to the soup kitchen here so they can continue helping the homeless.

St James Soup Kitchen was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 15 and aired on November 23 2011.

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Coffee's Boilin' Pot - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

Coffee's Boilin' Pot Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Coffee's Boilin’ Point in Madisonville, Louisiana.

Coffee's Boilin' Pot is owned by Tim Oalmann and Allene Bouey who bought the restaurant six years ago.

Tim has been working with the restaurant for the past 30 years since he was 14 years old.

It's always been his dream to work there and one day he hoped to own the restaurant.

Alleen started working there when she was twelve.

Her mom was a waitress while she was bussing tables.

After several years of working together, Tim and Allene fell in love and got married.

They had a daughter called Olivia and continued to work at the restaurant.

Six years ago, the former owner wanted to sell the restaurant and Tim bought it.

The couple figured out that they knew what to do since they have been working at the restaurant.

Tim and Allene bought the restaurant from the previous owner for $250,000.

The first year of business was good but after this it started to decline.

They have been losing money every month for the past four years.

They are sinking deeper into debt and owe over $220,000 against their homes.

The stress of keeping the business afloat took its toll on the couple.

The plan was for Allene to work with her husband the first year and after this she would stay home and hire a front-of-the-house manager.

Alleen has two kids and she became burnt out so she decided she wanted a divorce.

They have been divorced now for three years.

Tim takes care of the back of the house while Allene takes care of the front of the house.

Running the restaurant as a divorced couple is complex and currently, the relationship between the two is only for the restaurant.

The restaurant has reached a boiling point and they need Robert’s help.

Robert arrives at the restaurant and there is no flooring and a fishy smell.

The restaurant is old and outdated, everything looks old and dirty.

Robert is sure that there are a number of health violations and he decides that he won’t eat there.

Robert wants to meet the owners for a brief and to hear more about the restaurant.

Allene has been trying to protect the restaurant and it has only resulted in pain and no profit.

Robert thinks a couple that divided running a restaurant is a recipe for disaster.

They haven't taken a salary from the business but survive on money from other jobs.

Tim is a technician and Allene also has another job.

They have left the restaurant to run by itself because Tim isn't there enough.

They are losing $6,000 each month.

Allene thinks they are losing money because they don’t have an attraction.

Tim wants their daughter to be proud and doesn't want to see people unemployed.

He puts himself further in debt to help them out.

Allene still works there but waiting to be able to take her name off the signpost, menus, and everything.

They tell him that Tim can't afford to buy Allene out of the restaurant.

She feels like she is trapped at the restaurant instead of wanting to be there.

Robert asked to see the restaurant's food service in five minutes.

For a famous place for its delicious plates of seafood, Robert saw nothing but greasy fried food coming out of Tim's kitchen.

The rest of the menu is even more of a disaster.

Tim has been cooking without salt and seasoning.

As a result the food that comes out of the restaurant is bland and tasteless.

Robert feels he might be the cause of the failure in the restaurant so he moves Tim out of the kitchen.

Robert has seen enough of the service and food sohe decides to check the kitchen.

The kitchen is appalling. It is dirty, disgusting and caked in grease.

He meets Tim's brother Mickey who is also a chef.

There are holes in the wall that could become infested by vermin and Mickey is defensive of Robert's criticism.

The staff haven’t cleaned the kitchen in years and Robert orders them to start cleaning straight away.

Robert calls the staff together to discuss his plans for the restaurant and afterwards the staff get to work cleaning.

Robert meets with his designers Taniya and Tom and they discuss the best way to move forward with the renovation.

Robert asks the staff to start moving the furniture out of the dining area so that the design team can get to work.

While the staff are cleaning the kitchen they aren’t able to get rid of all of the grease.

The only option that they have is to burn the grease off of the equipment.

Despite the burning there is still a lot of work to do in both the kitchen and dining room.

Tim still thinks that his food is excellent and Robert needs him to see that his food is not good.

Robert goes into the town with a video camera to hear what they say about the restaurant.

The customers believe the boil is awful, the food is bland and declined after the first year.

Robert shows the footage to Tim who says that he spends little time at the restaurant because he cares for his daughter.

His next job is to work with Tim in the kitchen.

Robert shows Tim a method of boiling that saves time as it can be pre-prepared and has more flavour.

Robert checks in with the design team and is impressed with the progress.

His next task is to work with Tim and Allene.

Robert tells Allene that Tim will never be able to buy him out.

He thinks that it will take five years just to get above water.

Robert tells them to both go home and decide what they want to do.

They need to work together or one needs to walk away.

The next day, Robert met with Taniya and the design team to see the progress and is impressed with what they have done so far.

Robert meets with the owners to discuss what he had asked of them.

Allene reveals that she is going to walk away from the restaurant after three weeks without buying bought out so they can get on with their lives.

She says it is because it is Tim’s dream and what is best for their daughter.

Robert thinks that they need a new menu for the relaunch.

Robert shows Tim and Mickey new dishes they are to add to the menu including a crawfish and pork belly spring roll and a revamped catfish dish.

They all enjoyed the session and came out better for it and ready for the new challenges ahead.

Robert speaks to Tim about his concerns about Allene's role as front of house for the next three weeks.

He wants her out of that role for the relaunch.

Tim decides to keep her as front of house due to what she has put into the business over the years.

Robert and the team go to a community market with some free samples.

They plan to entice diners to the restaurant and introvert Tim shines speaking to the customers.

The newly decorated dining room is revealed to Tim, Allene and their daughter Olivia and they love the new laid back, relaxing decor.

On relaunch night, customers love the new welcoming decor.

Tim is loving being busy in the kitchen and customers love the new food and vow to return.



What Happened Next at Coffee's Boilin' Pot?


Coffee's Boilin' Pot closed in July 2012.

Reviews were mixed prior to their closure.

The restaurant was ravaged by Hurricane Isaac after being sold in August 2012.

Another seafood restaurant named Crabby Shack was opened in it's space in February 2013 following a vast revamp.

Coffee's Boilin' Pot was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 14 and aired on November 16 2011.

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McShane's - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

McShane's Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits McShane's in East Syracuse, New York.

McShane's is owned by Cindy Baker and is known for a signature chicken dish.

Cindy had always wanted to own a restaurant and her brother Kenny runs a successful restaurant so she asked him to help her.

She struggled to finance the restaurant as she was a single mother so she asked her brother to invest.

Kenny invested $100,000 and Cindy invested $150,000 in opening McShane's restaurant.

When they first opened business was excellent but five years ago the business saw a downturn of around 30%.

The local economy saw a decline and manufacturing jobs were lost and the contractors made up 30% of their business.

The loss of customers saw them cutting corners with food quality and the decor fell into disrepair.

To keep the restaurant open Cindy refinanced her home, cashed in her life insurance policy and borrowed further money from her brother.

Robert arrives at the restaurant and the first thing he notices is the smell at the restaurant.

He also sees that it is dirty and unwelcoming and he thinks the smell is the dirty carpet.

The dining area is also unwelcome and wonders how any customers could relax in there.

Robert speaks with Cindy about the restaurant and discovered that she was manager of a travel agency before owning the restaurant.

She bought the business for $250,000 and the business makes $36,000 a month and she pays herself just $100 a week.

Robert is surprised they are struggling as he thinks they have a great location with roughly 25 hotels in the area.

Robert wants to observe a service and invites a number of local hotel concierges and managers.

The service does not go well and none of them say that they would recommend the place to guests staying at their hotels.

Cindy introduces Robert to her mother Helga, who tells him that her daughter needs help.

Robert samples the half chicken and actually likes it and thinks the flavour is excellent.

He isn’t impressed with Cindy tells him that she hasn’t asked her both for help from her brother despite his success with his restaurant.

Robert sees this as a potential red flag that Cindy may not have asked for help due to being too proud.

He gives her the advice not to be too stubborn and ask for help if she needs it, especially asking her brother.

Robert goes into the kitchen and it is disgusting. There is dirt and grime everywhere.

The equipment was covered in old food and the deep fryer was disgusting.

There is uncovered chicken, mold on containers of food and produce stored at the incorrect temperature.

Every health violation you can think of was present in the kitchen and if they got inspected they would have been shut down on the spot.

Robert says that any chef willing to cook in that kitchen has got no respect for their craft or their employer.

He calls the chef and the kitchen staff together to discuss his plans and he decides to call in a professional cleaning team.

Until then he sets up a mobile kitchen in the parking lot whilst the kitchen is unavailable.

Robert meets with his designer Yvette, who tells him that she would need $100,000 to renovate the dining room.

He tells her that she has just $8000 as he has to take $2000 out of the budget for professional cleaning.

The staff help the design team to empty the dining room ready for the renovation.

In the kitchen Robert discovers that the refrigerator condenser isn’t fitted correctly.

There is stagnant water pooling where it isn’t draining correctly.

Cindy is embarrassed and needs some positive reinforcement.

Robert asks some guests to sample her half chicken against his chicken recipe and they love her chicken.

Robert checks in with the design team and is pleased with the progress that Yvette has made so far.

He meets with Cindy as the cleaners continue in the kitchen and she is overwhelmed and realizes that she needs to change.

Cindy has placed an advert for experienced chefs for the relaunch as the kitchen needs a head chef and has had a number of responses.

Robert asks her to get the cooks in for first thing the next day.

The next day, Robert checks in with the design team and they have made much progress overnight.

The walls have been repainted, half of the flooring laid and they were working on the booths.

Robert goes into the kitchen and is shocked at the transformation after it has been professionally cleaned.

He now feels that they can prepare food in there safely but there is a hitch.

A gas leak was revealed, the gas has had to be shut off and a contractor has been called to fix it.

Two applicants for the head chef position have come in and will be interviewed for the position.

Greg has been loyal to Cindy so she feels that he deserves a shot at becoming the head chef and will audition alongside the other two.

Arthur, David and Greg are put though an interview followed by a cooking test.

They are given an hour to work on a new dish that would be added to the menu.

Robert and Cindy leave to do marketing of the restaurant at the New York State Fair.

They hand out free samples of the fried chicken, which the customers love and promise to attend the reopening.

They return to the restaurant to sample their dishes and Arthur is chosen to be the Executive Chef.

She also encourages Greg to learn from him to improve his own skills in the kitchen.

Robert senses Greg is a little disappointed and gives him a pep talk to give him a boost.

He congratulates Arthur and shows him a dish that he has created for the new menu.

The new menu will have dishes including a Pork Osso Bucco and Buffalo Chicken Wings.

Arthur is happy to learn the new recipes and promises to be ready for when the restaurant opens.

The design team has finished in the dining room and the family and staff are led in to see the new look.

They are overwhelmed by the new rustic look of the restaurant and are shocked at what they achieved in just 48 hours.

On relaunch nights, the guests love the new refreshing decor and enjoy the new dishes on the menu.



What Happened Next at McShane's?


Robert revisits and the McShane's restaurant is doing well.

Cindy has kept the menu items that Robert added and the Half Chicken is still the signature dish and their top seller.

McShane's closed in May 2013 with Cindy posting the below on Facebook -

"I would like to personally thank all our loyal customers for supporting us throughout the years! I will be closing McShane's this Friday...

I am moving on to a new adventure... Watch for the Chicken Bandit!!! The new Food Truck in town... Coming Soon... Catering still available. Call us at 315-278-3536. Thank you! Cindy xo"

Cindy opened a food truck called The Chicken Bandit.

It appears from their Facebook page that they were unhappy with the location of the restaurant and didn't want to be tied to a single location.

They still serve their signature dishes including their 1/2 chicken and appear to be very successful as reviews are excellent.


McShane's was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 13 and aired on November 09 2011.

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The Mad Cactus - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

The Mad Cactus Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits The Mad Cactus in Strongsville, Ohio.

The Mad Cactus is a Mexican themed restaurant that is owned by Tom Krukemeyer Sr.

Tom has owned the restaurant for over 25 years after becoming a partner at the restaurant when he was 22 years old.

The previous owner had asked him to come on as a partner and it became a great success.

Due to the success of the restaurant Tom decided to buy the restaurant.

The restaurant continued to be a great success for many years after he bought the restaurant.

They were a success because there was little competition in the town.

When they first opened there was just four restaurants in the area and there are now close to seventy.

They are failing to compete with other restaurants and the restaurant hasn’t made a profit in three years.

Every month the restaurant loses thousands of dollars and they are now close to closing.

Robert arrives at the restaurant and immediately notices the tacky decorations and that the carpet smells disgusting.

He meets with Tom to discuss the restaurant and he thinks that the issue is himself suffering from owners disease and getting complacent about the business.

They were successful for the first four years but he thinks that running the restaurant for more than 25 years has taken its toll on him.

His food costs are out of control and he has no reason why the costs are so high or what is causing it.

The restaurant had a general manager for twenty years but she was offered another position and decided to move on.

As the restaurant was struggling financially he could not afford to hire another general manager.

Robert wants to see a service at the restaurant so that he can see what the issues are at the restaurant.

Customers aren’t impressed with the food and the service needs improvements too.

Robert wants to sample the food to see any issues and he wasn’t impressed with the food at all.

Tom is reluctant for Robert to speak to the staff but he calls a staff meeting.

He discovers that the food quality is different in the day to the evening and there is a lack of management.

Robert sets a plan of action to work on Tom's management skills, a fresh new menu and decor and to introduce a general manager.

Robert meets with designer Yvette and the rest of the design team with discussions on making the space warm and inviting.

Robert asks Tom and the staff to help remove the furniture out of the dining room so that they can start the transformation.

He goes into the kitchen as she wants to address the cooks on why they are putting out different foods.

Robert was told by the staff that the food Steven produces in the evening service is different to the food that Michelle produces during the day service.

Robert asks them both to prepare the same dish and neither makes the dish from scratch.

They both serve the same food from the hot plate.

This explains the issue as the food is made during the day and put on the hot plate to keep hot for the evening service.

The food is better during the day as it is served fresh and by the evening service it will have been sitting there for six to seven hours.

This is the biggest issue at the restaurant as by the time it is reheated it has lost all of its flavour and for some dishes it will have dried out.

Robert needs to make sure that they can actually cook before he introduces a new menu.

He asks Tom and the chefs to create a dish from scratch, with no prepped food to be used.

Whilst they are working on that he checks in with the design team and he is pleased with their plans and progress so far.

Back in the kitchen the two chefs have made dishes from scratch but Tom has used some prepped ingredients to make his.

He was impressed with the two dishes that the chefs prepared from scratch for him to sample.

Before the end of the day Robert asks to speak to Tom and tells him that he needs to hire a new General Manager as he is not fit for the task.

Robert calls the staff for a meeting and reveals a surprise guest, their old general manager Christy.

She won’t be returning to work at the restaurant but she will be helping to choose a new general manager from their existing pool of managers.

The next day, Robert checks in with the design team and isn’t impressed with their progress as the floor has not yet been completed.

He encourages them to speed up to be finished in time for the relaunch night.

In the kitchen, Robert reveals to the chefs that they will be cooking fresh for both the day and evening services.

He shows them how to prepare fresh foods that are fast to prepare on the line during the service.

Both chefs feel refreshed and confident for the relaunch after their session with Robert.

Robert returns to check with Yvette, who is working on a mosaic wall for the buffet area.

After speaking with Christy, he decides to proceed with interviewing the three candidates that she has suggested.

Tom and Christy discuss the pros and cons of each candidate and come to a surprising decision.

They didn’t feel that any of the candidates could be effective as they had been friends for so long so Tom would take on this role.

Tom feels it is time to reveal the new general manager but Robert doesn’t agree with their decision.

Finally Robert tells Tom that he has printed his sales records and his system has been failing and he is selling at a loss.

To fix the problems he has created a new menu with a 33% profit margin after labour, food and overhead costs.

The design team have finished and the transformation is revealed to the new owners, who are overwhelmed by the changes.

There is new wooden flooring, a new hostess stand and a salsa bar is also added.

The relaunch is a success and the customers love the decor, the new food cooked fresh to order and promise to return.



What Happened Next at The Mad Cactus?


After Robert visited, Tom claims that Robert was constantly losing his temper at him, his staff and the production team throughout and branded him a hot head.

He claimed that some scenes shown in the episode were set up and from online reviews it appears the Donkey was retrieved from the trash after Robert threw it out.

Business was initially up 20% and the new interior including the salsa bar has gone down well with the customers.

It appears that they went back to their old menu bringing back the lunch time buffet and the steak, taco and wing offers but kept the puffy tacos.

Both Yelp and Trip Advisor reviews after Robert visited are mostly poor with complaints of poor food standards.

The Mad Cactus closed on 21 July 2013 as a number of chain restaurants were due to move into the immediate area.


The Mad Cactus was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 12 and aired on November 02 2011.

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Cap’n and the Cowboy - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

Cap’n And The Cowboy Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Cap'n and the Cowboy in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Cap’n and the Cowboy is a steak and seafood restaurant owned by Nick Scaringella.

Nick has a long history of working at the restaurant as he started working there at the age of 13.

He started as a dish washer and by the time he was 17 he was running the kitchen.

Four years ago, the former owner Rob wanted to sell the restaurant.

Nick wanted to buy the restaurant as he had put a lot of sweat into running the kitchen and felt invested in the business.

The asking price was $225,000 and he put down $20,000, borrowed $50,000 and the remaining he pays in rent payments to cover the mortgage.

Nick is supported in the kitchen by his girlfriend Tamar, who has also worked there for 15 years.

She also worked up through the restaurant, she started as a server and is currently the restaurant manager.

After Nick took over the business he noticed that business was starting to decline due to the struggling local economy.

The restaurant is currently losing $25,000 a month and he can only stay open for another two weeks.

Since owning the restaurant Nick hasn’t been able to pay himself from the business.

Tamar says that it is hard to see Nick suffering. He is constantly depressed, lacking energy and having trouble sleeping.

Robert arrives and isn’t impressed with the decor and thinks that it screams that no one cares about it.

He asks to meet the owners and they discuss the issues at the restaurant.

Nick and Tamar tell him that Nick bought the restaurant four years ago.

He put the cash into buying the business as he had worked there so long.

Robert discovers that he doesn’t own the building, he rents it and only owns the equipment.

He is behind on the rent that covers the mortgage payments of the restaurant.

Nick has maxed out all his credit cards and is on the verge of bankruptcy.

He is currently living with a friend as he can’t afford to have a house anymore.

In the first year of business they broke even but he stopped managing the figures and doesn’t know the figures for after this.

Nick isn’t able to tell Robert the food and labour costs and neither him or Tamar have been paid in a long time.

Robert wants to see a service so that he can see what the issues of the restaurant are.

He immediately notices that only out of seven tables have a menu on their table.

When the diners are eventually able to see the menu and order what they want many of the dishes are unavailable as they don’t have them in.

Nick doesn't keep track of his inventory so he runs out of items regularly and customers are unable to order dishes on the menu.

When they do receive the food they are able to order it isn’t right and doesn’t taste that good.

Robert samples the food, he can tell that Nick is cutting corners and this is clear in the crab cakes with no white crab meat.

Robert finds out that Nick’s brother Michael helps out in the kitchen to help them with keeping staff costs low.

Nick thinks the food is excellent and Robert tries to show him that it’s not good.

Robert leaves the kitchen to meet with designer Krista and the rest of the design team.

He asks Krista for help with the decor and accidentally breaks a cactus. Both are unimpressed with the current tacky cowboy theme.

Robert asks the staff to help the design team to remove the furniture and items from the dining room.

Next, he meets with the staff to tell them his plans for the restaurant.

The first thing he does it that he takes the staff to nearby Laishly Crab House to show them how a restaurant should be run.

This restaurant is similar to their restaurant in what it offers and he hopes it can help for the owners and staff to improve based on seeing the competition.

It is a Tuesday afternoon and the competition restaurant was packed.

They meet with the owners who reveal that they are on top of their records and inventory so they are able to adapt to the business needs.

They sample the food and think that it is high quality and delicious, especially in comparison to their own restaurant.

Robert and the staff return to the restaurant and checks in with the design team.

He isn’t impressed with their progress so far and encourages them to speed up to be finished in time for relaunch.

Before the end of the day he meets with the owners again to let them know that tomorrow will be a tough day and they need to be able to handle the pressure.

The next day, Robert has the biggest tasks to tackle ready for the restaurant to be able to relaunch.

He plans to teach Nick how to run the kitchen and back of house operations and will show Tamar how to run the front of house.

First, he checks in with the design team who are even further behind on the transformation of the restaurant.

Robert checks in with Nick and he tells him that Tamar hasn’t shown up to the restaurant yet so he would be unable to show her the front of house until she arrives.

Due to this he starts with Nick first and trains him in the kitchen on how to prepare new dishes that will be added to the menu including a new corn chowder.

They also learn updated recipes of existing dishes including Crab Cakes and Coconut Shrimp with Mango Horseradish.

Nick enjoyed the session with Robert and feels confident ready for the relaunch that evening.

Tamar arrives at the restaurant and Robert gives her a pep talk and encourages her.

She feels better after their chat and ready for the front of house training he is to give her.

Tamar responds well to the training and feels more confident in her ability to run the front of house.

Back in the kitchen Nick is getting to work on prepping for the evening service so that they can speed up service rather than starting from scratch at opening.

Robert shows the servers the new menu so that they can learn it for the relaunch service.

With not long to go until the doors open, the design team have finished in the dining room and it is time to reveal it to the owners.

Robert reveals the new restaurant and they have replaced the dark decor with a bright decor.

There is a new bar made from an old boat and a new hostess stand.

On relaunch night, the customers love the new bright, modern decor and the new food.



What Happened Next at Cap’n and the Cowboy?


Cap’n and the Cowboy closed in August 2012 despite being successful after their relaunch.

It appears that they had problems with the landlord and Nick was offered a job opportunity.

In 2013, Nick was a chef at newly opened Tortuga's restaurant which specialises in seafood.


Cap’n and the Cowboy was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 11 and was aired on September 28 2011.

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The Trails Eatery - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

The Trails Eatery Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits The Trails Eatery in San Diego, California.

The Trails Eatery is owned by a father and daughter team Stacey Poon-Kinney and her father Larry and run by Stacey.

Four years ago, Stacey and her dad Larry decided to get into the restaurant business.

She decided to buy a restaurant because she was looking for a change after working with a corporate restaurant for about eight years.

She thought buying it would be an excellent thing for the family and she could also have more time with her children.

Her dad tried to talk her out of buying the restaurant but Stacey went ahead with the purchase.

Larry was left without any choice other than to join her daughter.

Initially $235,000 was put into the business by Larry and they were doing well and decided to expand the restaurant.

To cover the expansion cost, her dad took out a second mortgage on his home for about $275,000.

The expansion has put them into serious debt as Stacey is behind on the rent and other bills.

The worst thing for her is not knowing when she will be able to repay her father so that he can retire.

Larry currently helps out in the restaurant to help Stacey out.

Robert arrives and notices that the restaurant is pretty clean.

He thinks the restaurant is going to be a unique challenge as at first glance he can’t see anything wrong with the restaurant.

He meets with Stacey to hear more about the restaurant.

Stacey tells Robert that she bought the restaurant four years ago for $225,000.

This shocks Robert as he can’t see how the value of the restaurant is more than around $25,000.

They also don’t own the building so they don’t have that security for the business.

When they first opened they have just 38 seats available for diners but after the expansion they could serve up to 83 diners.

In total, they have invested around $600,000 in the restaurant and are currently losing $5000 a month.

Stacey is under a lot of pressure as the funds for the restaurant are coming from her fathers retirement fund and she is eager to pay him back.

The restaurant is currently only open for breakfast and lunch.

They tried to start a dinner service but after nine months they decided it wasn’t viable to continue.

Robert wants to observe a service and is surprised by some things he sees.

He notices that the prices are priced far too low and they are making no profit or more likely they could be making a loss on some dishes.

Robert orders some dishes and looks out the back of the restaurant and sees the servers running from one end of the room to the other.

The kitchen is also set up incorrectly so the cooks aren’t able to cook efficiently.

Roberts food arrives and he actually enjoys the food and doesn’t think he needs to do much in this area.

He feels the issue is that the revenue generated from the food he ate would not cover the cost of the ingredients.

Robert speaks with Stacey about this as a concern and she admits it is challenging as she is not able to pay herself a wage.

The restaurant likely has just one more month before it would be forced to close.

Robert doesn’t feel that the restaurant can survive on just a breakfast and lunch service and wants to also open for dinner.

He wants the Lisa and the kitchen staff to handle the dinner service and meets with the staff to lay out his plans.

Robert meets with Taniya and the design team to come up with a plan for the restaurant.

The staff help empty the restaurant so that the transformation can get underway.

Robert meets with the kitchen to try and create a dinner menu for Lisa with some suggestions for new dishes that will go on it.

Lisa enjoyed the session and felt like she has learnt a lot from Robert.

Robert meets with Stacey to discuss some of the financials.

He tells her that by changing the recipes they can make $36,000 from their top four selling items.

As Robert goes to leave for the day he is ambushed by Stacey and Lisa.

They tell Robert that they don’t want to open for dinner as they have tried and failed at it before.

The pair also want to be able to have the time to spend with their families away from the restaurant.

Robert listens to their concerns and gives them homework to go home and think about their decision.

The next day, Robert arrives at the restaurant and checks in with the design team.

He is impressed with how much they have done so far and encourages them to keep up the good work to be finished in time for the relaunch.

Robert meets up with Stacey to discuss their reluctance to restart the dinner service at the restaurant.

As a compromise Robert suggests that they start the dinner service on two evenings a week rather than every day of the week.

She agrees to this and Robert has made some calls to the local radio stations to get the word out to locals.

Robert also pitches the idea of two evening services a week to Lisa and she also agrees to this.

Robert leaves to head to a local radio station to put the word out about the dinner service planned for the restaurant.

When he returns he rearranges the kitchen so that food can be prepared more efficiently.

He also meets with the staff and briefly trains them in just 20 minutes before the service is due to get underway.

The restaurant is revealed to the owners but the transformation isn’t a big one, there is a fresh coat of paint and other subtle changes.

The relaunch night is a success with customers enjoying the new atmosphere and the new food on offer.

They also promoted the restaurant on a local radio station.



What Happened Next at The Trails Eatery?


Shortly after the show aired they reported that business was up 80% and there is often a queue at breakfast.

Their revenue has tripled over the last 5 years.

They continue to get customers come to the restaurant who have seen the episode on reruns.

In 2017, they were forced to discontinue the dinner service as they were only breaking even.

This was due to increased staffing costs following a raise in minimum wage in the state.

Yelp and Trip Advisor reviews are mostly good since Robert visited.

Some of the decor had to be changed following a flood in the restaurant.

Owner Stacey Poon-Kinney appeared on Food Network show "Next Food Network Star" finishing in fourth place.


The Trails 2019 Revisited episode

In 2019, Robert Irvine revisited The Trails.

He visited owner Stacy back in 2011 for season 2.

They were losing around $3,000 to $5,000 a month.

Robert is heading back to the Trails Eatery for the first time in eight years.

Robert wonders if Stacy was able to pay Pops back and if he was able to retire.

It’s Father’s day, so Robert will see the service right away.

The place is busy but Pops is still working at the restaurant.

Robert says this isn’t a good sign and he is very concerned.

The only thing different so far is that this restaurant is busy.

There is no dinner section on the menu, which isn’t a good sign.

The food is coming out fast and looks great.

Robert sits down with Stacy.

She tells Robert how they are very busy, even during the week.

She tells him how they were doing a dinner service for six years.

However, the costs were too high so they stopped doing it.

Lisa left shortly after the show aired.

Her replacement has been there for nine years.

Pop still comes in and helps out.

Robert tells her that it’s not a good sign that Pops is still working there.

She tells him that he was able to retire but now he helps out for fun.

She says most of the debt has been paid off.

She says they probably have a quarter of the debt left to pay off.

They’re on track to make $1.4 million this year.

Robert says that this was a success.

Stacy makes food for Robert to try.

Robert likes it but shows her another way you can make it.

The customers are happy.

Robert says it seems like Stacy is on the right track.

The Trails Eatery was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 10 and was aired on September 211 2011.

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Off Street Cafe - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

Off Street Cafe Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Off Street Cafe in Cerritos, California.

Off Street Cafe is owned by an ex mother in law Rose and daughter in law Robin who struggle to run the restaurant together.

Rose purchased the restaurant after being approached by the previous owner to buy it.

She asked hairdresser Robin to become her partner in the restaurant when she was married to her son but they later divorced.

When the restaurant first opened, they were very successful and takings were good, so they were able to pay back the $400,000 loan on the restaurant.

Rose had an accident and Robin was left to run the restaurant whilst raising two young children.

As the income declined the debts crept back up and they are now in debt to the sum of the $100,000.

Robert arrives and isn’t impressed with the outdated dining room decorated with christmas lights.

He asks the pair to sit down and talk about the problems at the restaurant.

They talk about how they came to run the restaurant and that they are behind with the payroll.

Rose tells him that she had a boating accident and requires regular surgery that sees her out of action for six months at a time.

Robin was then forced to take over and she doesn’t know about running a restaurant.

She admits that her and her husband have invested their retirement income and have not been paying themselves.

Robert wants to sample the food and asks for a menu. He orders a shrimp dish and watches the service carefully around him.

The service is poor with unhappy looking servers who ignore the customers needs.

One customer is waiting to pay and wants the cheque but their hand is ignored.

One server is rude to a customer and Robert says he would fire a member of staff if they acted like that in his restaurant.

Robert asks them to staff and calls over the servers after seeing them all stood together by the service window.

Robert tells one that he thought they were rude and had an attitude.

He tells them that one guest who was trying to pay with a credit card was totally ignored.

Robert can tell that Robin’s heart isn’t in being a manager and tells her she either wants it or doesn’t.

Robin admits that due to the repetitive nature she turned off. She also hates having to repeat herself to staff who don’t listen to her.

Robert says it sounds like they have all given up on each other and that needs to end today.

Robert thinks that there is nothing appealing about the food from what he has seen with the pasta, open beef sandwich, liver and the fried chicken salad.

Some of the food is also burnt and they have attempted to hide it by covering it in sauce and the portion sizes are huge.

They are clearly losing money on the dishes as the portions are so large and customers are likely to ask to take leftovers home.

Robert meets Alex in the kitchen who admits that they don’t sell much off the vast menu but they keep buying the produce and keep a large inventory at all times.

They are wasting thousands of dollars on produce that ends up going to waste as the dishes don’t sell.

Robert feels that he needs to tackle the lack of leadership, adjust the attitudes and lastly a menu that makes them money.

The pricing needs adjusting and the decor needs updating.

Robert meets with designer Taniya and he tells her that he doesn’t like the booths, the colour, the lighting, carpet or the chairs.

He wants her to change everything about the restaurant, he wants a $100,000 renovation done for just $10,000.

They empty out the restaurant to be able to start getting to work on the renovations.

The renovation has hiccups as they need to hire a machine to take up the carpet.

Robert asks them to put a flag next to the top five selling items on the menu and they only get two out of five correct.

They have no idea what is selling and this is why their freezers are full of produce that isn’t selling.

Robert plans to create a menu of their best selling items and a number of new dishes that he will add.

He explains that they can purchase local, fresh fish for less than frozen fish.

It can be made into two dishes – California Fish and Chips and Fish Tacos with Corn Salsa.

Robert checks in with Taniya, who had delays as it took 4 hours to lift the carpet and explains they don’t have the money to recarpet so she is going to paint the floor.

She wants to do a French country, shabby chic style decor for the dining room.

The next day, Robert arrives and the team have been working all night on the decor.

He wants to work on Robin’s management skills and the attitude of staff.

Overnight, Robert had researched the restaurant and found a number of negative reviews online about the service in the restaurant.

Customers claimed to be ignored and saw the waitresses chatting to another rather than serving them.

They all blame each other for being rude and food is left in the window.

Robert tells them that they all need to step up and work together or the restaurant will close.

He suggests that they write down what has gone wrong and have a meeting each week to discuss them.

Robert asks the staff to learn the new menu so that they can work on improving their service skills during a mock service.

Next, he checks in with Taniya and the progress of the renovations.

They have spray painted the chairs and reupholstered the booth.

Tom tells him that the bar is finished and just needs a repaint and he is working on paneling for the walls.

Robert is going to test their service skills but what he hasn’t told them is that one of the tables had the author of one of the poor reviews he read out earlier.

The service is much better and Robert asks them to return for the relaunch and to give them a second chance.

At 4.30, the floor still isn’t dry so they can’t bring the furniture back into the restaurant.

Robert is in the kitchen whilst the staff practice the new menu.

After a small delay the restaurant is finished and the new look is revealed to Rose and Robin.

They are over the moon with the newly designed restaurant and a revamped hostess trolley.

On relaunch night, the customers love the new decor and the new fish dishes are a big hit with the customers.



What Happened Next at Off Street Cafe?


Off Street Cafe is open.

They appear to have kept most of Roberts menu changes but in June 2014, they changed the decor.

Both Yelp reviews and Trip Advisor reviews are very good with compliments to both the service and the food.

Off Street Cafe 2019 Revisited episode

In 2019, Robert Irvine revisited Off Street Cafe.

He visited owners Rose and Robin back in 2011 for season 2.

Back in 2011, Rose was ready to retire.

Robin says that the last time she watched the episode was eight years ago.

Robert heads back to the restaurant.

He wonders if Rose was able to retire.

On arrival, the decor looks the same and the restaurant is busy.

Robert says that Robin looks much more confident.

Rose isn’t working there anymore and has retired.

Rose says that back then that they were two months away from closing.

They paid the $400,000 debt off in two years.

In 2013, their revenue was around $1million.

In 2016, their revenue was around $2million.

They have made $2.6million so far this year.

Robin says that the staff became closer after Robert left.

The reviews are much better now.

Robert wants to try the food so they make Robert chicken and waffles and he loves it.

Robert surprises the restaurant with a full restaurant of customers.

Robert asks the customers what they think of the place.

They think the food is much better than it was eight years ago.

They also love how the place looks.

The servers are much more friendly.

Robin introduces Robert to her daughter Maddie.

Maddie says that everyone here is like one big family.

She says Robin has a lot more confidence now.

Their plans are to do more catering and maybe start a food truck.

Robert says he is blown away by Robin’s confidence and leadership.


Off Street Cafe was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 9 and aired on September 14 2011.

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Mamma D's - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

Mamma D's Restaurant Impossible

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Mamma D's in Pikeville, Pennsylvania.

Mamma D’s is owned by Luigi Desiato, who bought the restaurant 15years ago.

It was initially a sports bar but about 8 years later they changed it to an Italian restaurant because that was what they had always wanted to do.

The restaurant is losing several thousand a week and as the restaurant declined Luigi tried to make it an attraction.

He added a vineyard, beer store and a farm, investing $1 million in the property.

The farm has two donkeys, pigs, couple of sheep and lots of chickens.

Business has been up and down and the farm and vineyard was not as popular as he had hoped.

If anything it put off more people as they didn’t like the idea of seeing farm animals whilst they were eating in the restaurant.

They are currently losing $10,000 a month and Luigi is at risk at losing everything.

Robert arrives and immediately notices the smell of farm animals and describes it as the most bizarre first impression of a restaurant.

The place is cluttered, there are chickens flying about, the bar is dirty and the pigs are smelly.

Robert questions why you would rear pigs and donkeys right next to a restaurant.

Robert speaks with Luigi as he is tending to his goats and he explains it was his dream to have both a farm and a restaurant so why not combine the two.

His dream came from his travels in Europe where he visited a farm that also fed people and he liked the atmosphere of chickens under the table and animals around.

Robert meets with the rest of the family, his wife Liz and their son Nick.

Nick has been to culinary school and has stepped in to help in the kitchen.

The restaurant suffers from poor sales during the week and Liz thinks people don’t realize that it is a restaurant, winery or a farm.

Robert knows that he has a lot on his plate here and needs to see a service so he invites some guests to see the restaurant in action.

The restaurant has two kitchens and Robert asks Luigi to run the front kitchen and Nick will man the back kitchen.

Robert orders dishes that need to come from both kitchens and they struggle to get the dishes to leave together from the kitchens and diners are left waiting for food.

One customers hot peppers are swimming in a bowl of oil, anothers clams are sloppy and another says she would not come back.

Robert orders food from both kitchens and the difference in taste is very noticeable.

Nicks food overall could be much better and the seafood pasta from Luigi’s kitchen was greasy. Some of the seafood and the gnocchi was also raw.

Robert tells Luigi that he needs to decide between being a restaurant or having animals, both together do not work and he can’t help whilst there are both.

Luigi tells Nick to cut corners and forget everything he's learnt in school but Robert feels this has stunted his growth and ability to push out food.

Robert meets with designer Cheryl and tells her that there needs to a wine shop and a new decor with a changed ceiling, chairs and the stained carpet needs to be changed.

She feels that this is going to be an expensive makeover but she will save money where she can and the dining room is emptied.

Cheryl and Tom reveal that they will be taking some of the available materials such as barrels and repurposing these.

Next, Robert wanted to test Luigi and Nick’s kitchen skills including knife skills and some basic cookery techniques.

Nick shines and impresses Robert whereas Luigi is struggling with the basics. Robert wants Luigi to see how capable that Nick is in the kitchen.

Robert checks in with Cheryl and Tom and is impressed with their progress and suggested a few ideas.

Robert returns to Luigi and tells him that animals and restaurants don’t mix due to the risk of spreading disease.

He tells Luigi to consider having professional handlers removing the animals by 8am the next morning.

Luigi tried to extend this deadline to 3pm but Robert declines and walks away for the evening.

Robert returns to Mamma D's the next day and on the drive over he considers what to do about marketing the restaurant.

When he arrives he notes that the animals are gone. In the dining room progress on the redesign is slow and Robert is unsure they will be finished on time.

Luigi reveals that the previous night they had moved the animals to his home in a new area he has created with an electric fence to keep the animals on their land.

Despite the animals being moved off site the smell from the animals remains.

Robert dons some protective clothing and sprays lime on the area to get rid of the smell.

Robert works with Luigi to help him make better use of his time.

He was spending nearly a hundred hours a week working on site with little time dedicated to the restaurant.

He needs to choose his focus and as a result he tells him he can no longer be a chef and Nick will run the restaurant.

Robert tells Luigi to start delegating duties and he could focus on marketing the business with more time on his hangs.

Robert asks Nick to prepare him a dish from scratch in 30 minutes and Robert thinks that it was delicious and he is worthy of being made the Executive Chef.

Instead of working alongside Luigi he will now be reporting to him as the boss and they begin to prepare for the evening relaunch.

Robert takes Luigi out to promote the restaurant and he shines in his role of marketing and advertising the restaurant to potential customers.

There is a rush at the last minute to make the 6pm deadline and with 5 minutes to go the new restaurant is revealed to the family.

They are amazed by the new look to the restaurant with the bright colours and the new wine store and Chef’s table.

The old, dark dining room has a new modern Italian feel and most importantly all the clutter is gone.

On relaunch night, the customers love the newly updated decor and feel it is warm, welcoming and bright and they praise the food.

Nick needed a little encouragement from Robert but soon steps up communicating with the staff and sending food out quickly.



What Happened Next at Mamma D's?


Reviews after Robert visited were mostly good.

He didn't keep Roberts menu and reverted to a menu using fresh ingredients from the family's farm.

A year on and business was better than it was but still a struggle due to the economy of the area.

Mamma D's closed in October 2013.

Mamma D's was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 8 and aired on September 7 2011.

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Scrimmages - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

Scrimmages Restaurant Impossible

In this restaurant impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Scrimmages in Wilmington, Delaware.

Scrimmages is a sports bar run by four friends Leon, Brian, Mike and Jerry.

They formed a partnership and bought the restaurant nd have been running the restaurant for 5 years.

The money for buying the restaurant came from the mortgage of the houses of the owners.

Initially the sales were good during the first year but afterwards the sales significantly dropped.

As a result there was friction between the four and tensions arose, causing the owners to fall out.

The average daily sales for Scrimmages is around $3500 whereas the expenses are $3600 for day.

They are losing $10,000 a month and are on the verge of losing their homes as well as the restaurant.

On arrival, Robert met the restaurant owners and asks them to describe the place and what is wrong with it.

The three owners are blaming Leon for the downfall.

Robert gets to know that Leon runs the restaurant and Mike looks after the accounts.

There is strong disagreement among Leon and rest of the owners.

He sees some serious issues among the owners that is leading to the decline of the business.

Robert observes the full day service of the restaurant to find out what is wrong with the place.

He discovers that the service is quite slow as Mike, Brain and Jerry are not there most of the time.

The kitchen is a disaster, instead of cooking multiple orders the cooks are preparing just one order at a time.

This means that the food is taking a long time before being ready to be taken out of the kitchen and served to the customers.

Roberts interacts with the customers as to what they think of the food.

Most of the customers seems dissatisfied as the service is slow and food being served is cold.

The quality and taste of the food is also not good and most customers are reluctant to come back again.

Robert checks out the sales report to find what menu item is being sold the most.

The report reveals that the restaurant is giving away $30,000 a year, which was surprise for the owners as well.

An estimate of $680 is being lost on every lunch service from Monday to Friday.

Upon tasting the food himself, Robert is disappointed as food is dry, overcooked and not seasoned well.

Robert confronts Leon but he is in denial and thinks that the food is good.

Afterwards Robert points out the things that needs to be fixed to improve the restaurant.

Firstly, he asks the owners to act as a team and give their collective input into running the restaurant.

Secondly, Robert points out that the menu needs to be upgraded as the food he was served was way below standard.

Thirdly, the service needs to improve and food out of the kitchen much more quickly.

Fourth, he needs to identify what the restaurant specializes in and find the theme for the restaurant.

Lastly, the decor needs an overhaul and a completly new look.

Robert confronts all the partners and asks them if they are willing to cooperate.

The partners decide to work together as group and go forward in the right direction.

All of the partners show willingness to act together and contribute equally to the restaurant.

Afterwards, along with Leon and Chef Jimmy, Robert prepares a new menu.

Chef Robert shows them some dishes that are cheap and simple including Re-Stuffed Potato Skins and Dessert Nachos.

Robert with the help of designer changes the decor and interior of the restaurant to give it the look of a vintage sports bar.

The walls were painted and a new bar was setup.

A wall was created that is made of old baseball bats to improve the spacing of the restaurant.

Carpets are removed and a wooden floor is laid.

The tables and chairs are painted and given a sporty look to go with the bar.

Vintage sports items are used as decoration to compliment the sports theme.

Upon the relaunch of Scrimmages, the owners are shown the new decor of the restaurant.

They are surprised and at the same time excited with the new look of the restaurant.

The restaurant will relaunch at lunch with with the new, improved menu.

The customers were happy with the new decor and were having positive vibes.

The service improved greatly and food was comes out of the kitchen at a good pace.

Robert speaks with the customers, they seem satisfied with the food and service and would like to visit the restaurant again.

The relaunch of Scrimmages was a success.



What Happened Next at Scrimmages?


Reviews after Robert visited were mostly negative on Yelp.

Reviews were average on Trip Advisor, it appears they went back to their old ways serving poor food and providing poor service.

Scrimmages closed in November 2013, as the restaurant was sold and it became Catch 202.


Scrimmages was Restaurant Impossible season 2 episode 7 of and aired on August 31 2011.

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