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Chef Robert Irvine heads to Harrisburg, PA in an effort to try and save Dodge City USA from closing its doors after 30 years of service. He will have to find a way to tackle a Wild West theme that has run its course for decades. From the deer heads on the to the porcelain pigs behind the counter, this cowboy's dream has become a nightmare for its owners because they refuse to modernize their restaurant and leave their time warp. Will the owners listen to Robert and be able to step out of the past and make the best of these changes? Or will this prove to be a Restaurant: Impossible?
At La Stanza, in Philadelphia, PA, Robert finds an old-world Italian restaurant being ruined by the owner's young daughter. 24-year-old Lucia has no restaurant experience and she's running the dark, funeral parlor-looking place right into the ground. Robert has his hands full on this mission teaching her everything there is to know about managing a restaurant, updating the menu, brightening up the décor and getting the word out about the restaurant on live TV. With countless ups and downs and a design that may prove too challenging to get finished, this mission could very well be... impossible.
Chef Robert Irvine's mission takes him to Chapin, SC where a little restaurant by the name of Sweet Tea is being run into the ground by its new owners. Robert is under enormous pressure of helping this restaurant succeed because a father's life savings and future retirement hangs in the balance. Christine and Jeffrey Spencer have been running this restaurant for less than a year and, at this rate, may not make it another year. Christine's father bought it for her in hopes that Sweet Tea would be the break she needed to be able to take care of her family. Instead, Christine and Jeffery are just weeks away from losing their jobs, their restaurant, and nearly every penny from her father's retirement fund. This small town restaurant has really made Robert question if he can truly overcome a Restaurant: Impossible!
Chef Robert Irvine pulls a sneak attack on County Fare, a neighborhood diner in Stafford, VA, only to find this place is no picnic. The downtrodden diner has been in existence for 5 years and is now on the verge of bankruptcy due to mismanagement, a lack of identity and an overall cleanliness issue. The owner, a former Marine, has sunk his lifesavings into the restaurant and is now in jeopardy of losing everything. Robert, a military man himself, will do whatever he can in 2 days and with $10,000 to make sure this place doesn't go down without a fight. But he quickly discovers that this will be more difficult than he imagined... the kitchen is repulsive, the food is inedible and the décor needs a serious overhaul. They are in desperate need of a high quality signature dish to draw in customers but the staff lacks the basic cooking skills needed.
Robert is racing to Indianapolis, IN to help Snooty Fox, a struggling English pub-style restaurant. It's been a mainstay in the city for 28-years but because of their aging clientele, it likely won't last another 8-months. Robert is underwhelmed by the British-influence and overwhelmed by grime and food safety issues. The first thing he does is close the kitchen down. But there are bigger fish (and chips) to fry when the head chef quits with no notice. With two days to get this place back on its feet, Robert kicks into high gear - interviewing new chefs, overhauling the décor and updating the menu. With time quickly running out, trouble with the design keeps everyone wondering if the Snooty Fox is ever going to run again.
Robert Irvine takes his skills and knowledge to the Nutmeg State of Connecticut where he faces his most arduous mission to date, to save not only a restaurant on the verge of collapse but a family in disrepair. Pastori's has been owned by Bill and Georgia Savvidis for more than two-decades. After many successful years, the Italian restaurant has fallen on hard times and is now only 4 to 6 months from closing forever. Adding to the difficulties, Bill recently fired his head cook, who happens to be his oldest son. Customers are now complaining about a noticeable decline in the food quality. If bad food and family feuds are not enough trouble, Robert is also confronted with an interior design that is about as fun as a waiting room. Robert has two-days and $10,000 to save this restaurant and this family... could this mission truly be impossible?
Chef Robert Irvine travels to Scrimmages restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware and quickly learns that the phrase 'there is no I in team' truly applies here. Scrimmages has been owned for five years by four equal partners: brothers Brian and Jerry, their childhood friend Mike and Brian's former boss Leon. As the revenues have disintegrated so has the partnership. Robert has two-days and $10,000 to turn around a sub-par restaurant and also mend fences among battling partners.
Pigs and chickens and goats? Oh my! This Restaurant Impossible takes chef Robert Irvine to rural Pipersville, Pa., and Mamma D's, a place that is part restaurant, part vineyard and mostly petting zoo. Owners Luigi and Liz Desiato are all over the place with ideas - they have a vineyard, a farm stand, a wine store, a petting zoo and, of course, the restaurant. Robert is confused by what he sees and can't get over the smell, the animals and the clutter everywhere. Could this mission prove to be too much for Robert?
This mission takes Robert to Cerritos, a small town in sunny Southern California. But what he finds is the Off Street Café, a gloomy restaurant co-owned by the ex-mother and daughter-in-law team of Robin and Rose. Will Robert be able to mend extended family fences get the Off Street Café back on track?
Robert hits the trail to San Diego, CA where he finds The Trails Eatery. An adorable little café owned and run by a young, energetic woman named Stacey. While, the surface here looks great, underneath the nicely painted exterior, is a business spiraling into bankruptcy. Will Stacey take Robert's advice or will it be the end of the line for The Trails?
Chef Robert Irvine finds himself walking into a salty sea dog's worst nightmare on this mission to Port Charlotte, Florida... home of the run-down, overly cluttered, kitschy and disgusting Cap'n and the Cowboy restaurant.
Chef Robert Irvine finds himself in a prickly situation as he travels to Strongsville, OH. Here, he comes face-to-face with the Mad Cactus restaurant and he immediately sees why the cactus is so mad. This dark, dirty and disgusting Tex-Mex themed restaurant, along with its lackadaisical owner, upsets Robert to no end, but it's when he finds out that they're not even cooking 'real' food that things really get heated.
Chef Robert Irvine's visit to McShane's Restaurant in East Syracuse, NY proves to be the most horrendous place he has faced to date. Inside there is dirt upon dirt upon dirt all the way to the soda tubing at the bar. Can Robert help the owner, Cindy bring the place back from the brink of bankruptcy?
When Chef Robert Irvine comes to Coffee's Boiling Pot in Madison, Louisiana the odds are stacked against him. Not only have the owners, Tim and Allene Oalmann, neglected the former landmark restaurant, but they have been divorced for three years and are barely able to speak to each other. Can Chef Robert and his team restore the restaurant to its former splendor and get the feuding exes on speaking terms again in only two days and with $10,000?
Chef Robert Irvine's overhaul of The St. James Soup Kitchen in Newark, NJ is his biggest challenge to date. Can he and his team renovate a dilapidated, fire-ravaged kitchen and dining room for $10,000 in only two days? 31,000 hungry people are counting on him.
It's back to school for Chef Robert Irvine as he travels to Canton South High School in Canton, OH to help the students of its culinary arts program that is struggling to survive due to state budget cuts. Canton South boasts the Wildcat Cafe, a working for profit restaurant located in the school which too is struggling with outdated, broken equipment in the kitchen and a dilapidated dining room. Can Robert help turn around the cafeteria as well as change the lives of some of the students?
Chef Robert Irvine's expertise at saving failing restaurants is put to the test at Sullivan's in Fruita, CO. The restaurant is on the verge of bankruptcy and owner Ginny is on the verge of a breakdown. Neglected and dirty, Sullivan's needs chef Robert and his team to give it a new identity in the kitchen and in the dining room. Will the tight deadline and $10,000 budget be too much to save this failing pub?
Chef Robert Irvine's intervention of Hoffman's Bistro and Patisserie in Santa Cruz, Calif., couldn't come soon enough. The 10-year-old venture is more than $2 million in debt, and the stress on the family-run business has resulted in a tense and uncomfortable environment for employees and customers alike. Chef Robert's drastic plan to completely overhaul the restaurant is needed to save the business, but with only two days and $10,000, will they be able to reopen without alienating customers and tearing the family apart?
