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| Photo - Food Network |
Positive Reviews:
- "The menu is much smaller now but the new items are very good. Presentation is very nice and the new atmosphere is enjoyable."
- "Stopped here last night and I have to say it was a pretty great place..... All in all it was a great find and we will give it a try again."
- "We sampled each of the entrees and it was delicious. It's not fancy but the food is fresh and it taste great. The menu didn't have a big selection and is simple so it is not overwhelming. I will be back again."
- "Went for dinner last night, everything was delish. I loved the attention to detail.... So happy good fresh food is available, too many places in this area depend on their freezers and their microwaves. And great selection of beers. "
- "We ate at "Edibles" once before, and the service, food, and ambiance were all lacking. We hadn't been back in years, until now. Robert Irvine and his Restaurant Impossible crew came through and revamped the place (decor, menu, etc) earlier in May and I have to say the owners and staff are doing a really good job at applying the restaurant's new identity as Hurley's American Grill.....We will definitely be going back"
- "I've been there since the makeover. Only 2 things were changed, the decor and the menu. The service had always been good...... The 6 page menu was reduced to 1 page. I assume to cut down food costs. Now that the staff has been trained in the new menu, the menu was recently expanded to 4 pages with more selections. The food has always been good there and the prices comparable to other places that serve the same so I don't understand the lack of business."
Negative Reviews:
- "We have been longtime lunch customers of Edibles...Recently it has been given a makeover by a "reality" show. The interior is very trendy now and the main room, strangely, feels smaller...The menu is also much smaller, now.....I don't know if I'd go back. I understand they were losing money, but to me they had a good thing going and I'm not sure this will help (it was busy at the time we were there, but I suspect many people are curious about the changes.)"
- "Went there not realizing it wasnt edibles any longer. really miss the homey feel of the old place. now, it has alot of trendy look to it, and seriously looks smaller inside. plus, the menu-not as appealing. miss the variety...had to wait longer for food. didnt like the fries. dont like the high tops in the middle of the restaurant, and miss the tv's"
Conclusion:
During the Restaurant Impossible makeover, it was decided to rename the restaurant from Edible's to Hurley's American Grille, so I bet this episode will focus a lot on the family. The reviews for Hurley's American Grille are overwhelmingly positive and it seems they are sticking with Robert's changes, such as the smaller menu. The few negative reviews had comments that the place looked smaller after the changes, and someone missed the TV's that used to be there. From reading the comments on local newspaper articles about the makeover, the community is definitely supportive of the restaurant and the family that owns it. The restaurant does keep an up to date Facebook page and has a new restaurant website. It sounds like they are having a lot of success since the Restaurant Impossible makeover.
UPDATE 7/30/2013 - The General Manager, Steven Hurley, of Hurley's said that during the filming Robert Irvine teared up and had the cameras turned off, but it didn't make the episode (Link).
Also, from another article, Steven said they went from 14 employees to between 24 and 26 employees and that the restaurant is very busy. During the episode, Robert suggested that John Sr. work less hours, but due to the restaurant being more busy, he is actually working more hours now.
Despite Robert changing the name of the restaurant, they left the sign in the strip mall as Edible's. So the strip mall sign has Edible's, but the restaurant sign has Hurley's American Grille. Also, employees are still wearing Edible's shirts.
UPDATE 12/2014 - Hurley's American Grill has closed. More information on the closing.
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"I understand they were losing money but they had a good thing going." Sounds a little contradictory to me.
ReplyDeleteObviously they had a good thing going... because that commenter went there and loved the place! It never ceases to amaze me how many people complain when the quality of the food improves.
ReplyDeleteOn the promo, Robert said he's never renamed a restaurant. I guess he must have forgotten about Flood Tide.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but... if the restaurant is dirty and dark, as the people Robert brought in were saying, then what kind of atmosphere is it?
ReplyDeleteYeah, they changed the name there, but not as drastic of a name change. I wonder if everyone forgot about that.
ReplyDeleteOverall I thought the remodel was nice...except for that blue color. I like modern design, but the paint color just seemed so loud. It just seems to me that so many of the designers want to go with the brightest paint color as possible. Maybe because they have to use those HGTV paints?
ReplyDeleteI think it was a great idea to change the name and make family about them Robert did the right thing.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think that some of these customers go there only to watch tv!!
ReplyDeleteI'm seriously curious as to why they were losing so much money. No matter what you do, if you don't stop the cash drain, you're done. I wish it had been addressed because the amount was shocking.
ReplyDeleteI always cringe when places they make over talk about bringing parts of the old menu back, especially when the food was not great to begin with.. If it didn't work before what makes them think it will work now?
ReplyDeleteI immediately reacted as you to to Irvine's comment. I remember Flood Tide well, and it not only got a new name, it got a massive sign out front—much fancier than the Hurley's signage.
ReplyDeleteI think they said that lack of monitoring and management resulted in employees eating food from the kitchen and even taking some home without paying. There was also a question as to whether employees were pocketing money, but since the bookkeeping was so haphazard, there was no way to properly account for the losses.
ReplyDeleteAlso, one correction to the blog above: The one thing Irvine didn't find was a dirty kitchen. In fact, he said it was one of the cleanest kitchens he'd ever been in.
I took the part about the dirty kitchen out. On the Food Network episode description, it said there was a dirty kitchen, so that is why it was there.
ReplyDeleteThanks. In that case I'll edit my comment.
ReplyDeleteChef Robert said several times he's never renamed a restaurant. I guess he's forgotten about Flood Tide.
ReplyDeleteAs I remember, the there was an additional name added, like "The Wood Grille At Flood Tide" That may be enough of a technicality to not have to call it a rename. Still, RI isn't like Bar Rescue where one in three or four is "rethemed."
ReplyDeleteIf you think most restaurant owners featured on the show don't understand how to run a business, just imagine how little an average person with no experience running a business understands it...
ReplyDeleteIf a small business is losing money consistently, the only two options are a) change, or b) close. A lot of people don't get that.
Robert Irvine isn't the God of menuing, he's a TV celebrity who's tasked with remaking an entire restaurant in 2 days. No doubt his menus are only as simple as they are because that's all they have time to train the staff to make. I doubt even he thinks they will stick with a single page menu forever. I don't know any successful restaurants that have so few items unless they're run by 3 Michelin star chefs. Food trucks, but not restaurants. I also doubt that every item on the original menu was the root of all evil.
ReplyDeleteMissed the TVs? Ugh, I don't want to live in this world.
ReplyDeleteAmazing to me how anyone could 'miss' the 'decor' of a shoebox with tables and outdated TVs.
ReplyDeleteYour reply has nothing to do with my statement except to show your own ill informed opinion, but ok i'll bite.... MOST successful restaurants only have a 2 page menu because they know the more menu items the more ingredients, and the more food you have lying around = bigger chance you have of taking losses when people don't order 3/4 the stuff on the menu. I'd trust a professional chef's opinion when he says the food is garbage and tosses it all on the floor, as well as when they say you have too much on the menu... The whole point of him going to any of these businesses is to help them make money when they didn't before. If you're throwing too much inventory out when it goes bad or not bringing in new and repeat customers because the food's not good then it absolutely is the root of all evil...
ReplyDeleteIt is my opinion that the name "Edibles" is more catchy than the new name. "American Grille" has been over used by many restaurants all over the world. You need to keep the name of your product or business easy to remember.
ReplyDeleteExactly. I hate that some will never be satisfied.
ReplyDeleteI know Right. I almost fell out of my chair 600,000 Dollars lol. I know the owner said some minor money problems. Robert said I don't consider 600,000 dollars
ReplyDeleteMinor. No Kidding Robert said they need to put a stop to it. I just don't get
how you can run a Restaurant with some bad book keeping. It not all that
hard to put controls in place and do inventory so you know what is sold
and what was not sold and how much it should be there. It a simple thing
that could have avoided that money loss.
I'm sorry but Hurley's is a way worse name than Edible's. I would rather eat food that is just edible than eat food that makes you vomit.
ReplyDeleteMarc, I totally respect your opinion, but I think both you and Jeff can be "right" on several points, such as;
ReplyDeleteMenu size/content: It depends on several factors whether a one page or a twenty page menu will be both good and profitable. A lot depends on theme, location, day part and volume. Case in point: Several successful chains; particularly Cheesecake Factory.
Robert Irvine: Although he may do his "homework" about the location, region, etc... sometimes a menu item simply doesn't work (his or someone else's). Robert Irvine tends to dwell on very specific ingredients and preparations regardless of the location or theme. He introduces good ideas and if you apply them to any menu item, you can make it better and more profitable. A vast majority of the time it's easier to significantly reduce a menu rather than take more time and be more thoughtful.
Quality: It's been proven several times on this site that Robert Irvine's opinion is one of many. I think that in reality his diatribe about awful food makes for "good TV" versus a personal conviction. His "palate" may be significantly more attuned than "Joe Average"?
In this particular case though, menu size was a problem not a help. And of course a professional chef with a reality show is going to play things up to a certain point... But he's also first to say some simple changes can change the food into something 5 star.. You don't have to be a food critic to tell burger a doesn't taste as good as burger b....
ReplyDeleteI think they should have tried putting a handful of healthy options on the menu. Restaurant Impossible didn't help with that at all!
ReplyDeleteThe makeover only changed the restaurant side--and didn't change the food at all!
ReplyDeleteThis place closed for business yesterday, Sunday December 21, 2014
ReplyDelete