Flood Tide restaurant in Mystic, Connecticut, which was featured on the first season of Restaurant Impossible has closed. The restaurant was apart of the Inn at Mystic, and the property was recently sold, and the sale included the restaurant. The restaurant closed in November of 2013 while the property was still listed for sale.The Inn at Mystic was listed for $8.5 million dollars, and was bought for $5.35 million dollars in March of 2014. The new owners are currently renovating the property with over $1 million dollars worth of improvements, and the Flood Tide restaurant was redesigned and rebranded. The new restaurant recently opened and is now called the Harbor House Restaurant.
You may remember Jody Dwyer, the owner from Restaurant Impossible, was not happy with the red, white, and blue paint over her mahogany paneling in the restaurant. She also stated that looking back, she wouldn't have done the show.
This is the third restaurant from season 1 of Restaurant Impossible that has closed, and the Restaurant Impossible Update Page has been updated with this change.
The article you linked to is quite interesting. I didn't realize the decor was planned for and supplies shipped ahead of time. That makes the show even phonier than I thought so I'm glad I stopped watching it a couple years ago.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that there are any 'real' reality shows. They all have some sort of gimmick or thing they're holding back from the viewers.
ReplyDeleteAs to this restaurant, I did think painting the paneling was not a good choice, but overall I thought they did a good job with the interior redesign. I think sometimes the situation is way too far gone when RI arrives and no matter what, the restaurant may not be saved.
Painting over that wood was just criminal. As the owner...no way would I have let that tacky and busy décor stay. Of all the RI re-dos....this one stood out in my mind all of this time as the worst.
ReplyDeleteYou notice how RI often complains about "dust magnets" but then they install stuff you know down the road will also end up being dust magnets.
ReplyDeleteIrvine has let it be known in many R:I episodes he hates paneling. Add to it 60's era looks and he goes apoplectic.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance to bad greasy food. Stella's was an embarrassment to CT neighborhood Italian Red Sauce restaurants. Irvine didn't make the food any better, it was as if the wall of lemons was a rating for the bad food.
ReplyDeleteNow for the good news. I was dining Thursday night at Franco Gianni's in Trumbull (very good neighborhood Red-Sauce Italian and pizza for many years...The waitress was new, having come from Stella's. She let slip that when permits and changes are in Stella's will reopen as a new restaurant under the same ownership/management as Franco Gianni's (she has been asked to work in both locations). This is great news for those closer to Stella's, and those who often can't get a table at Franco Gianni's, who's expansion plans have been held up by Trumbull Town Governement.
They do, but at least it's far, far fewer so it should be easier to keep clean; something that many of the restaurants on this show seem to have difficulty doing.
ReplyDeleteWhen he painted that hideous pattern over the gorgeous mahogany paneling, I almost cried.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever watch Storage Wars: Texas, Mo used to try to buy lockers with nice wood furniture out from under Jenny because he iknew Jenny would paint the wood, and he considered that criminal.
ReplyDeleteThe original owner, she was a real pain in the ass, no wonder why her business failed.
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