Caseyville Cafe - Restaurant Impossible Update

Photo - Food Network

Tonight on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine is going to the Caseyville Cafe in Caseyville, Illinois to provide help to a failing restaurant.  The owners, Diane and Robin have been overrun by the kitchen and servers, which is costing them thousands of dollars.  Robert gives the staff an ultimatum to decide who is in and who is out at the restaurant.  As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about the Caseyville Cafe to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews and comments are post Restaurant: Impossible):




There were not too many reviews, but here were the few that were out there since Restaurant Impossible visited:

Good Reviews:

• "Try their new strip steaks they're great"
• "We love eating breakfast here every weekend."
• "Much better since the front has been redone."

Bad Reviews:

• "I've eaten at this restaurant a several times and the food has always been cold, the waitresses not friendly.  I have tried to give the restaurant a chance but it seems that they can't keep a consistency on the food.....I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. "
• "We ate there a few times after the makeover and the food was terrible.  Service was even worse. The server was very unfriendly...almost hostile. Will not be going back."
• "We had been there before the makeover and then stopped in again after.  Both times the food was less than stellar, the soup was cold & tasted sour, the server was very rude & the restroom was in need of a good cleaning. I think that TV show wasted their time trying to help this café, they surely didn’t do much accept make it look different."
• "I still will not eat at the place."
• "We used to go once or twice a month.  We've only been once since the makeover.  Liked the food better before the makeover.  I got the chili for lunch.  It was hot and cold.  It was tasty but one bite hot and the next cold.  Hope they work out their quality control problems."

Other Details:

According to this article: 

• "Three cooks quit over disagreements in the kitchen -- two during filming and one a day later. Servers endured criticism for not being friendly or efficient enough and wearing jackets on duty."
• "Robert arranged for installation of a $5,000 commercial gas range in the kitchen, over and above the $10,000 budget."  So they actually spent $15,000 on this restaurant.
• The restaurant owners claim they always have had a reputation for good food, but bad service. 
• "The "Restaurant: Impossible" buzz seemed to boost business at Caseyville Cafe for a few weeks, but January and February were slow. "

People on a forum stated:

• "A lot of people quit going there because Len Black and Bob Romanick hang out with Van Looser there. Most people do not like this bunch. When they get a good cook, they change their scheduled hours and then they leave. Really like Cathy, Michele and Candy!But the Happy Cow does have better food in a timely manner."
• "Couldn't agree with you more. A lot of people in town wont go in there because of brad and his goons. That's why their business is so bad. The cow is always packed. That should tell ya right there."

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/03/10/2525228/tune-in-to-caseyville-cafes-tv.html#storylink=cpy

Reviews from Google, Yelp, Foursquare, and bnd

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/03/10/2525228/tune-in-to-caseyville-cafes-tv.html#storylink=cpy

Conclusion:

Sounds like there are more bad things to say than there are good things regarding the Caseyville Cafe.  The complaints seem to be the service, food, and the customers who visit the establishment.  It also seems like the employees have taken advantage of the owners, and that may end up being one of the big issues.  Many reviews said they would rather go to the Happy Cow, which is also a restaurant in Caseyville.  The owners do seem appreciative from all the help they received from Restaurant Impossible and have said they would do it again.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/03/10/2525228/tune-in-to-caseyville-cafes-tv.html#storylink=cpy

Also, there is one more episode left of the 5th season of Restaurant Impossible.  I plan to have an update of which restaurants are still open and which are closed (and why) from ALL seasons after this season is complete, so look out for that. UPDATE- Here is the update of ALL restaurants from the show.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/03/10/2525228/tune-in-to-caseyville-cafes-tv.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/03/10/2525228/tune-in-to-caseyville-cafes-tv.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE 2/2014 - Caseyville Cafe has closed.  More information on the closing.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/03/10/2525228/tune-in-to-caseyville-cafes-tv.html#storylink=cpy