In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Gigi’s Music Cafe in Sunrise, Florida.
Gigi’s Music Cafe is owned by Gigi Brown.
She bought the place on a whim three years ago after seeing the empty space.
Gigi told her family about buying the restaurant after she had purchased it.
She is an accountant by profession but her passion is food and music.
With this passion, she always wanted to open a music and entertainment restaurant.
Gigi wanted it to be a family restaurant but it has not worked out due to constant squabbles.
Only Gigi and her daughter Semone are left working in the restaurant.
Semone is a trained nurse but gave up her job to help her mother at the restaurant.
She is now manager and runs the day-to-day for her but she is over-worked.
The first year they did not make money and in the following year they broke even.
Despite making no money Gigi expanded the cafe to double the size for the band and extra seating.
The customers come only for the music but do not eat and now the restaurant is losing money.
She has had to use money from her job to prop up the restaurant.
Semone has contacted Robert to help her mother to turn the restaurant around.
Robert arrives and doesn’t think the restaurant is in the best location.
He does not like the decor at all as he finds it bland.
It is a mix of cheap furniture, a baby grand piano and an area with hookahs.
Robert meets the owner Gigi and Semone for a brief on the restaurant.
They know they are losing $16,000 a month but they do not know the basic finances including the food and labour costs.
Gigi still works her day job and is hardly at the café.
Robert is shocked to find out she is an accountant as she is not taking care of the books properly.
He asks about the design and they have a VIP area but no one has used it yet.
She complains about the food and says that the staff do not follow her orders at all.
He is exasperated after talking to them and decides to watch the service.
Customers come in and they complain about the decor being tacky.
The service is not uneventful with server Caesar making mistakes,
They are slow at inputting the orders and it is holding up the service.
Robert reprimands Caesar and questions Semone about him.
She says he is a good server.
Robert catches him putting in four table’s orders at once and in 12 minutes he is not done.
Robert tells him he would have been fired in his own restaurant and not even hired in the first place.
He thinks he is a nice guy but he is slow and bad at his job.
The customers are complaining of the food taking too long as some have been waiting over an hour.
The kitchen have been slammed with orders and are struggling to get the food out.
Robert sees that they microwave all their food, using just one microwave.
Although it has been prepared from fresh, once it has been frozen it is no longer fresh.
He cannot believe how they are still in business as customers have been waiting more than an hour.
Robert tells the customers their food is late because they only have one microwave.
He shuts down service as it was not going to get any better.
Robert meets with his designer Taniya and she calls the whole space a hot mess.
They start emptying the space out with Tom.
Taniya is in the empty retaurant and her plan is to lean into the music theme but do it properly.
Robert meets with the staff and Semone gives them feedback on their work.
She tells them about both their strengths and their weaknesses.
Soon it is obvious that the processes they have in place are a problem.
Robert demonstrates that Caesar’s work strategy is setting up the kitchen to fail and pulling down the restaurant.
Robert tells them Semone and Gigi set them up to fail and they need to do better for the staff.
The next day, Robert arrives and there has been a lot of progress overnight.
The walls and the bar are looking much better.
The boat Robert had requested arrives and Tom helps him out by making holes and putting corks in place.
Once it is done Robert has his staff test it out in shallow water and they remove the corks one by one.
The test run is successful.
Robert meets with Semone and Gigi and they calculate how much Semone is getting paid.
It turns out that she is working more hours for less.
He takes them to his modified boat where the corks are all the mistakes they have been making.
All of those decisions are sinking the boat, just like they are sinking the business.
Semone attempts to plug in the holes but they have taken on too much water and the boat is sinking.
Gigi decides to hire a proper manager and take over the payroll so she can manage the books properly.
Robert takes them to the kitchen to cook some items from their new menu.
He teaches them pork chop and meatloaf recipes.
The staff sample the dishes and love the taste of them.
Robert hopes the taste will discourage them from using the microwave.
The team do the finishing touches along with a new POS system for Gigi to properly manage the business.
Semone is taken to meet her staff.
She gives them a pep talk and introduces the new processes for them.
Gigi and Semone are taken to see the new restaurant.
It is completely different from what it was before and is warm and cosy.
There is a modern, musical theme with records on the walls, drum kit lamp shades and plush purple cushioned chairs.
Tom and Taniya are introduced to the owners.
On relaunch, the eagerly waiting customers are let in.
They all love the new look and point to things that catch their eye as there is so much to look at.
They also love the food that is coming out on time, very little wait time.
The relaunch is a success and the customers promise to return.
What Happened Next at Gigi's Music Cafe?
Three months later, it is revealed that business is up by 40%.
New kitchen staff have been hired but also fired.
Semone has had to stay in the kitchen as they are short staffed.
Gigi's Music Cafe is open.
Reviews are mostly positive.
Gigi's Music Cafe was Restaurant Impossible season 11 episode 6 and aired on 29th April 2015.
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