In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits McLanks restaurant in Colombia, Missouri.
McLanks restaurant is owned by Sheila Lankford.
She is a single mother and her five kids work at the restaurant.
They need to start working as a team if they want to turn this restaurant around.
They serve comfort food including fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.
The family is constantly bickering and arguing.
Sheila says she does not recommend working with your kids.
In the beginning, Sheila didn’t have much knowledge of the restaurant business.
Her kids motivated her to open the restaurant.
When they opened up, nobody was getting a paycheck.
Nowadays, nobody has motivation and the restaurant is suffering.
Jeff says that they grew up close but now they don’t want to be around each other anymore.
They are currently losing $4000 a month.
Jeff has invested around $20,000 and Sheila has invested around $13,000.
If nothing changes, they will close next month.
Robert arrives and says that the restaurant looks like it is closed.
The chairs are beat up and there is a vape charging.
Robert wouldn’t guess what type of food this place serves based off the decor.
Robert sits down with Sheila for a brief about the restaurant.
She used the childrens college money for the restaurant.
Sheila says her kids don’t do as much work as she would like them to do.
Jeff is supposed to be the general manager.
Josh is the cook and a dishwasher and Ashley is a server but she can cook as well.
Matthew and Wayan are twins and they also cook.
None of the kids get paid and Sheila doesn’t get paid either.
They all have other full-time jobs to stay afloat.
She says if they weren’t her kids, she would fire them.
Sheila just wanted their family to have something.
Robert is going to bring people in for a service.
Sheila is arguing with her kids and she says that Jeff doesn’t pay attention.
Ashley is on her phone and says she is doing good where she is right now.
Robert thinks that with some help and direction, Jeff could be a good manager.
The customers have been waiting too long for food.
The customers don’t like the food that they eventually receive.
The ribeye is very dry and the gravy isn’t fresh.
The customers wouldn’t come to the restaurant again.
They run out of steaks and Josh walks out.
Sheila asks the customers to leave so she can get this in order.
Robert wants to try the food for himself to see if it is as bad as the customers say.
They use lunchmeat for their sandwiches and the gravy tastes like wallpaper paste.
The rib is overcooked and overall, he thinks all of the food is poor.
They are also undercharging for their meals, which is why they are losing money.
Robert will have to teach them how to manage food costs.
Robert meets with his design team Lynn and Tom to discuss the concept for the remodel.
The staff and the volunteers begin taking everything out of the restaurant.
Robert wants to better understand their family dynamic.
Jeff says that he has lost the motivation to run the restaurant.
He sees that everyone else has stopped caring, so why should he care?
The staff feels like it isn’t worth it.
Robert asks them who the weakest link is and Jeff says Ashley.
Ashley admits that she has lost motivation in the restaurant.
Sheila says that she feels like they aren’t close at all anymore.
Robert tells them to clean up out back and the family works together well.
Lynn wants to turn the restaurant into a comfort food based family style restaurant.
Sheila says that she has been trying to make the kids clean the back patio for a long time.
Robert is going to surprise them with a family meal.
Jeff says they haven’t eaten a dinner like this in a while and they all say that they miss this.
Ashley isn’t there and Robert says that this is an issue for him as it shows a lack of commitment .
Jeff is going to be the new kitchen manager but admits he can’t focus on running everything.
Sheila will be general manager for the front of the house.
Robert is going to check the numbers and discovers that it costs them $198,000 to run the restaurant.
They lost $74,000 and most of this came from food costs and labor.
They also made no money on their top selling item due to underpricing the dish.
Ashley shows up two hours late, which isn’t acceptable.
Sheila talks to the staff to tell them new procedures and Ashley gets upset and walks away.
Sheila says that she is done and Ashley makes excuses as to why she was late.
Robert says that she could’ve at least called.
Sheila talks to Ashley and it seems as if she will be able to handle it now.
Robert shows them dishes he thinks should be on the menu and they love them.
The dishes are ravioli, ribs and a brisket sandwich.
These dishes will be good for keeping the food costs under control.
They are making finishing touches on the restaurant and the tables are being set.
Robert shows Sheila and Jeff their new restaurant.
He shows the rest of the family the restaurant.
They installed a wall of lights to cover up the front counter.
This will keep customers from seeing any potential mistakes from front of house staff.
They painted the logo on the wall with a mustard yellow background.
Sheila invites the customers into the restaurant.
On relaunch, Sheila and Ashley are controlling the front of the house well.
The kitchen is under control and the customers like the food.
Sheila tells the staff that they are doing a good job.
Sheila says that she is in love with this restaurant.
They are now a united family.
Robert says that the sky is the limit at this restaurant.
What Happened Next at McLanks Family Restaurant?
Since Robert’s visit, sales have gone up more than 200%.
Sheila and her kids are back to having family dinners but they miss Robert’s cooking.
McLanks Family Restaurant closed in June 2021.
They closed as Sheila wanted to focus on the family.
The restaurant had mixed reviews prior to closure.
Yelp reviews were mostly negative with complaints on the food quality and Trip Advisor and Google reviews are mostly positive.
According to the FB page, Jeff started working at local restaurant Munchi’s Fish & Chicc’n.
McLanks Family Restaurant was Restaurant Impossible season 15 episode 3 and aired on 27th July 2019.
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