Rosie's Cafe - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Rosie’s Cafe in Escondido, California.

Rosie’s Cafe is owned by Kaitlyn Pittsburg.

She has owned the diner for over two years.

Kaitlyn has worked in the industry all her life and didn’t want to work for someone else.

They only serve breakfast and lunch.

Since owning the place she has not made any money or paid herself.

Kaitlyn is currently in $30,000 of debt.

She struggles to pay the staff and her mum is supporting her financially.

Robert arrives at the diner and takes a look around.

He feels like he has gone back in time and not in a good way.

The carpets are filthy, the furniture is mismatched and the walls look awful.

He meets Kaitlyn and learns about the dynamics of her cafe.

It is named after her grand mother and she has the support of her family.

She has invested her own money and has taken out several loans to the tune of $25,000.

Despite this, she has not been able to pay herself a salary.

Her boyfriend is the head cook even though he is not qualified.

He is actually a trained stone mason and has no restaurant experience.

Neither him or Kaitlyn know the food costs.

Robert wants them do a service with some people he has invited.

He quickly sees Kaitlyn gets confused about what is going on.

She is dashing about but not really achieving anything.

Jason is rushing to prep food as the orders come in.

v Kaitlyn takes orders and then cooks the dishes.

She tries to serve some bad food but Robert stops it leaving the kitchen.

There is only one ticket printed and the kitchen prepares it.

The servers have no idea where the food is going to and repeatedly take the food to the wrong table.

A number of other customers are left without any food at all.

Robert has seen enough and tells Kaitlyn that she is trying to do too much.

He asks the customers to give her direct feedback.

No one said they would come back to the restaurant.

Most did not get their food and no one that did liked their food.

After the customers leave, Kaitlyn cooks for Robert so he can try the food for himself.

The breakfast dishes are not nice as all he tastes is grease.

There is no consistency, some is undercooked and some is over cooked.

The lunch items he tried aren’t any better.

Kaitlyn reluctantly agrees that it could be better and Robert cannot find anything positive to say.

Robert brings in his design team, Tom and Taniya and they discuss ideas for the restaurant.

He wants to use her grandmother Rosie as an inspiration for the new design.

Volunteers empty out the restaurant and Kaitlyn is appreciative of all the extra help.

Robert takes a hammer and rips up a countertop.

Tom and Taniya are not happy about this as they planned on reusing it.

Robert looks at the books and breaks down Kaitlyn’s finances.

They show that her business is bleeding money and the restaurant is failing.

Robert requests that Jason makes some dishes in order to demonstrate food costs and portion sizes.

Kaitlyn does not want to accept she is in the hole, which frustrates Robert.

Their burger costs $7 to make and sells for $10 so they are barely making any money.

Some of the other dishes are losing them money.

He points out they need to measure the ingredients they use and reduce portion sizes to be profitable.

The next day, Robert goes to see Kaitlyn to have a difficult conversation.

He thinks that she may have to choose between her relationship with Jason and the success of her business.

Robert checks in with the design team.

They have made great progress overnight.

The floor has been started, the ceiling and lighting almost done and there is a mural of Rosie on a wall.

Robert goes to the kitchen to take Jason through some tests and also take him through some cooking skills.

He has to give Jason lots of direction, which stresses him out.

However, it pays off as they make some great dishes.

Robert is impressed with him and gives him the stamp of approval, calling him the head chef.

In the dining room, they are still bogged down by the final details and painting.

Robert takes the couple through a new simplified menu.

He demonstrates making a simple flavourful burger sandwich, a French dip, a cheese steak roll and a BLT.

With an hour to go, the design is still working on final details.

Jason is prepping for the relaunch unlike the day before.

Robert takes in Kaitlyn first to see the new restaurant.

It is brighter with pops of colour that make it look more fun.

Kaitlyn is moved to tears seeing it all especially her grandmother on the wall with her favourite quote.

Kaitlyn’s mother is brought in and she also cries as well.

Tom and Taniya are introduced to the family and they thank them for the homage to Rosie.

Kaitlyn finally lets in customers who are astonished at the changes and complement it.

On relaunch, orders come in quickly.

Jason is nervous as he is on his own with the kitchen staff.

They send food out quickly that is good quality.

The customers love the food all saying they would come back.

What Happened Next at Rosie's Cafe?

Two months later, Rosie’s monthly sales have doubled.

They have hired 8 new employees.

Kaitlyn is now paying herself a salary.

Kaitlyn was involved in a motorcycle accident shortly after the rescue.

They kept most of the changes and reintroduced some old menu items.

Rosie's Cafe closed in June 2020.

They closed after being unable to recover after closing during the pandemic.

They had mostly positive reviews after their appearance on the show.

Rosie's Cafe was Restaurant Impossible season 14 episode 1 and aired on 20th April 2019.

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