In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Edibles Restaurant & Pub in Horsham, Pennsylvania.
Edibles is owned by John and Butzy Hurley.
John and his wife have worked at the restaurant for the last 26 years.
They made good money for several years until the last five or six years.
The couple used to enjoy going to the restaurant but business has declined dramatically.
Now they find going to the restaurant overwhelming and they are working without a break.
John has reached a point that he thinks that he wants to do something else with his life besides working in the restaurant.
He works between 60-70 hours a week starting in the early morning.
He does everything he can including picking up cigarette butts in the parking lot.
John is always walking through the front door with the aim of getting something done.
Butzy hopes that Robert because she wants a better life than she has currently and wants to be happy again.
Robert arrives at the restaurant and doesn’t think the signage for the restaurant is inviting and doesn’t make him want to eat there.
The restaurant has an attached bar next door but he can see that this is in good shape.
He decides to only focus on the restaurant.
As he enters the restaurant he notices that the walls are dirty as are the fans and the tiles.
There is also a stuffed animals claw machine and an ice cream freezer.
He also notices that the restaurant is carpeted, something that Robert hates in a restaurant.
The table and chairs have also seen better days and the restaurant is generally bland and boring.
Robert meets the owners to talk about the restaurant and the issues.
They tell Robert that many other family members also work in the restaurant.
John’s son John Jnr is a cook in the back, their daughter Jennifer is a waitress and his nephew works as a server.
When business was booming they were taking $1,300,000 a month.
The business started to decline in 2008 and they dropped to $1,000,000 a month.
John Snr oversees the restaurant all day and after the day he is exhausted.
He is exhausted when he wakes up and goes to bed exhausted.
Butzy waits tables and takes care of the bar during the day as she has a five year old to look after.
She looks after her grandson who was in prison for drug offences.
John Jnr is working 50-60 hours a week and isn’t getting paid as they can’t afford to pay him.
Jenny is a full time teacher and works in the restaurant two to three times a week to help out.
John Snr loves his family but he is always working so he isn’t able to spend time with the family.
Jennifer thinks they are failing as there is no leader and the staff are all family.
Robert wants to observe a dinner service so that he can see the restaurant in action.
Robert thinks that the kitchen is very clean and one of the cleanest he has seen so far on the show.
They also have a great set of equipment that is also clean so he can’t see yet why the restaurant is failing.
Robert orders some items from the menu but he is disappointed.
Both the appearance and the taste of the food is very poor.
Robert goes into the kitchen to meet the chef because the food was so poor.
John Jnr says that since he has returned from prison a few months ago he has tried to make changes but his father doesn’t let him.
Robert meets with his designers Lynn and Tom and they discuss ideas for the restaurant.
He describes the restaurant to Lynn as a vanilla box with tables and chairs in.
He tells Lynn that the hates the carpet and that you can see the cleaning materials.
The staff help them to empty the restaurant ready for the design team to get to work.
Robert calls the staff together for a meeting so that they can get all of the issues out in the air.
The first issue raised is John Snr’s lack of leadership as he says he will tackle issues but doesn’t.
A lot of the time when he speaks the staff don’t listen to him.
Robert tells him that if he is going to run the restaurant he will need to take charge and let the staff do their jobs.
They also need to be able to respect him and the fact that they don’t pay John Jnr is seen as an issue.
Robert tells John Snr that he needs to figure out a plan because he needs a front of house manager and someone to manage the kitchen.
He is asked to sit down and sort out who is going to fill each role and what their responsibilities are going to be.
Robert doesn’t really like the name of the restaurant so he goes to meet locals to how they feel about the name.
He records the interactions with the locals with the plan to play it back to the owners later.
At the end of the day Robert checks in with the design team and is impressed with their progress.
Lynn has a rustic theme planned with plastic panels that look like metal and they have put flooring on the walls.
This will be the back for a room long banquet along one wall.
He talks to them to tell them that they may need to lose $1,300 of the design budget to change the restaurant name, if he can get the owners on board.
The next day, Robert arrives and checks in with the design team and is impressed of the progress they made overnight.
Robert goes into the kitchen to show the owners the new menu that they will be serving.
The kitchen staff taste the food and think that it is fantastic.
Robert speaks with the accountant who handles the books for the restaurant and confirms that them finances are a mess.
Robert calls the staff together to tell them about the finances.
He discovered that the restaurant should have taken $1.3million last year but due to John’s mismanagement they only took $701,000.
Robert doesn’t know where the missing money is.
He thinks either someone could be stealing, they could be overserving portions or they are undercharging for the food.
Robert suggests that they need a POS system to be able to keep a better track of the money.
John Snr is reluctant to use one because of his lack of computer knowledge.
Robert thinks that other staff members need to step up and will give them roles with more responsibility.
This will allow John Snr to be able to take time off from the restaurant.
One of the biggest changes is the restaurants name and he has added new signage to the restaurant.
Robert reveals the new name to the owners, Hurley’s American Grille.
Robert is ready to reveal the restaurant to the owners and they love the new charming look to the restaurant.
They love the walls and think it looks incredible with many tears and happy smiles.
The relaunch is a new start for them and he is confident they can succeed.
On relaunch night, the customers love the new food and decor and promise to return.
What Happened Next at Edibles Restaurant & Pub / Hurley's American Grille?
A few months later, John Snr reported that the first two weeks were great.
They have more expenses as they have had to hire more staff.
The new name has been popular and the new food and decor is a hit with diners.
Some regulars miss some of the old menu and he plans to bring back updated versions of the dishes.
The smoker is being used regularly for pulled pork and chicken.
Edibles / Hurley's American Grille closed in December 2014.
They announced the closure on Facebook.
The site was purchased with the intention of building a new shopping centre in it's place.
Reviews after the show were mostly positive with praise for both the food and service.
Edibles Restaurant & Pub was Restaurant Impossible season 6 episode 11 and aired on 21st July 2013.
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