BFE Bar and Grill / Pointers Grill - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits BFE Bar and Grill in Augusta, Georgia.

BFE Bar and Grill is owned by Mike and Megan Vandenbulcke.

The show was contacted by Megan to help the restaurant out on behalf of her and her husband.

They bought the restaurant 7 years ago and the first few years were successful.

It started to go downhill and now the restaurant is only open for the dinner service, from 4pm.

The couple have invested $400,000 into the restaurant and are currently $100,000 in debt.

They are not sure what they can do to turn the restaurant around and this is why she has called Robert to help.

Megan thinks that Mike is too proud to ask for help even though he knows he needs help.

BFE is located in the middle of nowhere and they struggle to keep staff.

Mike had three cooks working for him but he has fired them all.

Robert arrives at the restaurant, having driven for over 45 minutes to find it.

He feels that to drive that far for a meal, it will have to be spectacular.

Mike actually isn’t too surprised when Robert arrives.

He meets with Mike to sit down for a brief about the restaurant.

Mike tells him that the restaurant cost him $700,000 to build.

Before buying the restaurant Mike had no experience in the restaurant industry.

He decided to build the restaurant in the middle of nowhere due to a local factory.

The site had 5 to 7,000 employees so he felt like there was a customer base for it.

Robert asks Mike to show him around the restaurant and Megan joins them.

The couple have been married for 8 years and have three growing boys.

Megan has front of house experience after working as a front of house manager.

She thinks that the failure is due to a lack of passion and that her husband is defeated.

They currently have a tax bill of $77,000 that is still outstanding.

Mike seems like he doesn’t care and his attitude is effecting both the restaurant and his relationship.

Megan feels like she is the one who is fighting to keep their head above water.

Roberts first impressing is that he doesn’t like the name of the restaurant.

He feels like this needs to be changed, alongside working on changing Mike.

Robert asks to watch a service to see the issues at the restaurant.

He feels like it is more of a bar crowd, more interested in drinking than eating.

Robert wants to sample the food so he orders the five best selling items on the menu.

The food takes a long time to come out and he isn’t impressed with the food.

Mike doesn’t give any direction to the staff in the kitchen.

Robert asks him to have a think that night and decide what he wants.

He can see that the restaurant needs a lot of work but so does their marriage.

Mike is a builder and he isn’t a chef.

Robert thinks it would be best to get someone else into the kitchen to cook.

Robert meets with the design team, Lynn and Tom to discuss ideas for the restaurant.

They have two days and $10,000 to renovate the restaurant.

Robert meets with the couple and tells them that they need to face the challenges.

The staff get to work emptying the restaurant, ready for the design team to get to work.

Robert approaches the producers to see if they are able to change the name of the restaurant.

They tell Robert that the restaurant doesn’t have the money to do this so they will have to cover it.

They only have $1900 in the bank and they need $3500 to get their liquor license back.

They don’t have anything they can sell to raise funds so the producers decide to give them an extra $1600.

This will allow them to make the money back over the next few days from liquor sales.

Mike and Megan are on the computer trying to pay for the license to be reinstated.

Robert discovers that the fryer in the kitchen has stopped working since yesterday.

The rebrand is the most important thing so Robert orders new signage for the restaurant.

Robert feels like it is all falling apart around him.

They’ve had to use the shows money to pay the taxes in order to keep the restaurant open.

The tax office have called and they have missed two payments.

They will need to cover an additional $3000 before their licence is returned.

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

He is impressed with the progress the design team has made overnight.

Mike and Megan are still trying to raise money to get the license back for the relaunch.

Mike has agreed to let Megan take over management of the restaurant.

Robert wants to revamp the menu and shows them some new dishes.

The new dishes use low cost ingredients so there is great profit to be made.

Robert meets with the staff to reveal that Megan will be running the restaurant,

Mike will be in the kitchen until they are able to find a new cook.

At the last minute Mike’s friend loans them the money for the tax debt.

They pay the debt but they aren’t able to get the license on time.

The restaurant can still open but they can’t serve strong alcohol.

The new restaurant is revealed to them all and they love all of the changes the team has made.

On relaunch, the customers are let in and they also love the new look.

They enjoy the food and service and promise to return to the restaurant.

They were excited and couldn't wish for more.

The couple later met Roberts' crew and enjoyed the rest of the evening together.

What Happened Next at BFE Bar and Grill?

BFE Bar and Grill / Pointers Grill is open.

Reviews declined in 2020 and more recent are more mixed.

Some negative reviews seem to highlight poor service and some food quality issues.

Management responses to some of the negative reviews are rather rude and have asked customers not to return.

BFE Bar and Grill was Restaurant Impossible season 13 episode 3 and aired on 23rd March 2016.

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