In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Boutte’s Bayou in Lafitte, Louisiana.
Boutte’s Bayou is owned by Nicholas Dinet.
Nick is a businessman and owns six businesses.
He has no restaurant experience.
His wife was the one who really wanted to open a restaurant.
Nick grew up in the area and purchased the restaurant for his wife.
Boutte’s Bayou has been open since 1971.
Nick says the staff realized that he doesn’t know what he’s doing so they don’t respect him.
The staff is on the brink of mutiny.
Nick owes $350,000 for the property and uses the other businesses as collateral.
Robert arrives and thinks that the restaurant doesn’t look that bad.
Robert calls Nick to the front of the house.
Robert asks to sit down for a brief about the restaurant.
Nick has a general manager.
The restaurant makes $28,000 a month but it costs $36,000 to run.
If the restaurant fails, all the other businesses Nick owns will fail too.
Nick says he will learn how to run the restaurant for his wife and his two adopted children.
Robert says he wants to see the service to find out the issues.
Robert says this place has a lot of promise.
During the service, the staff are arguing loudly in front of customers.
Nobody is managing the restaurant and it shows.
They are serving frozen fish in the middle of the bayou.
Nick is standing around waiting for someone to order something.
There is a lot of money being wasted in the freezer.
Robert realizes that there is no real cooking happening in the kitchen.
Robert tells Nick that there is nothing here that is special and Nick is upset.
Robert tries a few dishes from the menu.
The oysters taste good but there is nothing special about the dish.
The shrimp haven’t been cleaned.
Robert says that nothing makes him that excited on the menu.
He asks if they created anything on the menu and they haven’t.
Robert wants the chef to come up with new menu items.
Robert meets with his design team Lynn and Tom to discuss the ideas for the redesign.
They agree that the floors, tables, and chairs are all in good condition.
The staff begins taking everything out of the restaurant.
Nick is emotional by the pictures being taken down.
Nick says he hopes he’s making the right decision by doing this.
Nick tells Robert about how his two sons died at birth, so they adopted.
Robert says he is going to teach Nick how to run the business.
Nick is feeling a lot of pressure both emotionally and financially.
Robert meets with the staff with hopes of uncovering more about the restaurant.
Erica says her and Nick butt heads because he is egotistical.
Nick’s ego gets in the way of being able to take criticism.
Erica says Nick stirs everyone up and likes the drama.
They’ve tried to talk to him about it but he doesn’t care.
The staff is tired of all of the back biting.
Monica thinks that Nick and John don’t know what they are doing.
Nick says that he wants everyone to man up and take responsibility.
Robert says that this is Nick’s fault because he sets the tone.
Nick thought he was being a good leader.
He realizes he needs to work on that and that it’s okay to ask for help.
The cooks present the dish they came up with to Robert.
Robert calls Nick in here and lets him taste it.
He thinks that the dish is delicious.
Robert says that he should empower his staff because they can do great things.
Working together will make the restaurant a success.
Robert wants Nick to figure out how long will be part of the restaurant, considering all of his other businesses.
Robert asks Nick come up with a schedule for the restaurant overnight.
The next day, Nick presents his schedule to Robert.
Robert is going to teach Nick basic costings and how to set prices for the restaurant.
This will help him keep food costs low and make a good profit.
Robert shows Nick recipes he believes will sell well for the new menu.
The recipes cost very little to make and are very delicious.
Nick is hopeful about the future of the restaurant.
He apologizes to his staff for the way he acted before and tell them he appreciates them.
The design team begin making finishing touches on the restaurant.
Robert believes that the restaurant will now stand out.
Nick says his grandfather would be proud of him for shutting up and listening.
He feels like his grandfather is there with him right now.
Nick says this is one of the best businesses that he bought.
He hopes he is making his grandfather proud.
Robert show Nick his new restaurant and he loves it.
Nick goes out and gets his wife and kids.
Robert says that his job is the best job ever because he gets to help families.
Nick’s wife is amazed by how great the restaurant looks.
Robert hangs up a picture of Nick and his family.
Nick says he hopes he can do right for the community and his wife’s family.
Nick invites the customers into his new restaurant.
On relaunch, the customers love the restaurant.
They’re glad to see that they kept the pictures.
The customers love the food.
The service is going well and the servers are doing a great job.
Nick’s wife says this is now their family’s legacy.
What Happened Next at Boutte's Bayou Restaurant?
A few months later, the community rallied behind Nick and his family.
They saw a 10% increase in sales.
John has thrived as general manager.
All restaurant issues pass through John first before getting to Nick.
Nick has hired two new servers, who double as shift managers to help John.
Boutte's Bayou Restaurant is open. /p>
Reviews are mostly positive with praise for the food and new menu.
The negative comments mainly complain about issues with the service.
Boutte's Bayou Restaurant was Restaurant Impossible season 18 episode 2 and aired on 11th March 2021.
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Next episode - Dunbar's Creole Cuisine
Previous episode - Don Luis Restaurant
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