Mystic Treats - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Mystic treats in Ashland, Oregon.

Mystic treats is owned by Erika Lowe and Mike Lowe.

They have owned Mystic Treats for three years.

Her and Mike have been together since high school.

They have been married for 18 years and have an 8 year old daughter.

Before getting into the restaurant business, they both worked with computers.

Mike says that they were sick of their jobs.

Erika says it was their dream to go into something that was more grounded.

This was why they decided to buy the restaurant.

Erika has worked in restaurants in the past so she thought she could run a restaurant.

Mike also has experience in making pizzas.

Erika and Mike have tried many things to bring in business but nothing has worked.

They started as a vegetarian/vegan restaurant but added more and more to the menu.

Erika says that if something doesn’t change soon then they are going to close in four weeks.

Erika and Mike both spend around 80 hours a week in the restaurant.

They don’t spend much time with their daughter and she spends a lot of time at the restaurant.

Robert arrives at Mystic Treats.

He thinks that the decor of the restaurant is bland and all over the place.

Everything is mismatched and they can’t seem to pick an aesthetic.

Robert calls Erika and Mike out to the floor.

Erika tells Robert how this restaurant used to be a Mexican restaurant before they took over.

They tell him that they aren’t up to date on taxes.

Robert tells them to get themselves ready for a service.

He will watch this and then they will go from there.

The customers arrive and say that the restaurant isn’t comfortable.

The menu is overwhelming with so many options on offer.

They aren’t sure what type of restaurant this is due to the range of items on offer.

The customers don’t like the food that they receive.

In the kitchen there is food debris everywhere and flies.

Since they make everything from scratch, they say they don’t have the time for cleaning.

Robert orders some of the items on the menu.

The mac and cheese is good but the pizza is very bland and he thinks that the burger sucks.

Mike admits that if he had the help then they could do better.

Erika feels bad for Mike after hearing Robert’s criticism.

Erika is taking it personally so Robert explains that he is doing this for their wellbeing.

Robert brings in his design expert Taniya and they discuss plans for the restaurant.

Robert calls the staff to help take out everything out of the restaurant.

Robert gets to work on the structure with a sledgehammer.

Robert wants to figure out what the locals want from the restaurant.

They go to a local school to have a meeting with the community.

He asks them questions about what they would want to eat.

Robert brings out Erika and Mike and he asks the community what they want.

One person wants a smaller menu and another wants something that is different than everything else in this town.

They don’t mind a little quirkiness but they don’t need all of it to be different.

Robert tells Taniya and Tom what he discovered and how they can use this info in the design.

Robert meets with Erika and Mike.

Erika says she doesn’t know what they are even doing here.

Mike feels like this is going well.

Robert says he wants to feel passion from Mike.

Robert tells Erika he wants her to do some homework overnight.

He wants to know five things she hates that she and Mike do in the restaurant.

He also says that tomorrow, he wants to see their passion back.

Mike says he isn’t married to anything else in this restaurant besides his wife.

The next day, Robert arrives and checks in with Tom and Taniya.

They have made good progress overnight.

Something has come up and Taniya has had to leave.

Tom will have to do extra to make up for this.

Robert meets with Mike and Erika.

Mike says that Erika doesn’t want to be the bad guy, which is why the restaurant is dirty.

The staff know that she won’t say anything about it so they think it’s okay to slack off.

Mike thinks they both need to take a day off together to focus on their family.

Erika says she would like to not be yelled at in front of the staff.

Mike apologizes and admits that he needs to work on that.

Taniya is back and is creating a trombone light fixture.

Robert hands mike all the props from their attempts at bringing in business.

He emphasizes how much time and money they are spending on making everything on their huge menu from scratch.

Robert shows them the proper ways to make the foods he tried yesterday.

He also suggests some quicker items that are tasty and can also be made from scratch.

He likes the idea of Mike’s pizza theme.

The construction crew is making finishing touches to the restaurant.

Robert says that his team has created a beautiful space and that Erika and Mike are in for a real treat.

Erika says that the last three years owning this restaurant have been very hard.

Mike says the hardest part has been keeping Erika going.

Erika says this restaurant has taken a lot of time and energy, along with time away from her daughter.

Mike says the past two days have been crazy but he thinks it was a positive experience.

Robert tells Erika and Mike to close their eyes before showing them their new restaurant.

Mike says that it looks beautiful in there.

Erika loves the light fixtures and the floors.

She says that Taniya really outdid herself on the design.

Their daughter loves the new restaurant.

On relaunch, customers are loving the new restaurant.

They say it looks very classy and sophisticated.

The lighting is soft and nice and a big difference from the day before.

Some customers don’t even recognize the place.

The new menu is way simpler and there are more items than just pizza.

The customers are very pleased with the food.

They think that the food is cooked beautifully and promise to return.

What Happened Next at Mystic Treats?

Mystic Treats closed in December 2014.

They closesd just a month after Robert visited.

This was due to a rent increase and dispute with their landlord.

The restaurant was listed up for lease shortly after closing and for a much higher price.

Reviews after the show were either very positive or very negative on the food.

Mystic Treats was Restaurant Impossible season 10 episode 5 and aired on 28th January 2015.

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