Restaurant Impossible - Fork Diner Update

Photo - Food Network

The ninth season of Restaurant: Impossible begins tonight, just about a month after the eighth season ended.  Tonight, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Calhoun, Georgia to makeover the Fork Diner.  The diner is three-years-old, and it has been struggling ever since it opened.  Because of the restaurant's struggles, the friendship of owners Gray, Diana, and Michael is also suffering.  The problems that Robert needs to address include: "boring food, lack of cleanliness, disinterested staff and an owner with one foot out the door."  As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Fork Diner to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant Impossible):


Positive Reviews:

• "We were just passing through, and were lucky enough to pick this place for dinner. Everything is homemade and delicious. The staff was very nice and helpful. If we ever find ourself back in this town we will defiantly stop in again."
• "Yes the menu only had 10 or 15 items and a lot of people probably have never heard of several but everything we ordered was delicious!..The service was amazing our waitress was super friendly... They were a bit pricey for a small diner but the food was worth it, expect to pay 10-15$ a person which isn't bad...Atmosphere: it had recently been redone, and was adorable and modern"

Negative Reviews:

• "Could not wait to try this out after the remodel by the food network. We had eaten here before the remodel once. The server was nice ordered some chili cheese fries and was told they were out of chili. I got barbeque and fries, fries were way under cooked and greasy. Got a new order of fries and the same thing. My wife went to the restroom and could see into the kitchen and saw a bunch of horseplay happening. Paid my bill, never to return."
• "The restaurant only had one group in the back and 2 single people seated at noon hopefully, they will change their menu and/or prices. I understand that the food network visited and tried to help with increasing their business - don't think this is the way to go for lunch in the Calhoun area."
• "I have never gone in to a restaurant and walked out before ordering. I did today. The menu has like ten choices and most of the items consisted of things that I've never heard of. Then, the one thing I thought I might like- Pot Roast was $17! I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous."
• "They need to adjust the overly priced food in my opinion, its too expensive for something that you can find for the fraction of the cost elsewhere. ANOTHER dilemma, is location, the area that this restaurant is located at, has poor demographics."

*Reviews from Yelp, Tripadvisor, Facebook

Other News and Links:

• Here is the Fork Diner Facebook page.
• In a local article during the makeover Robert Irvine says, "They’ve never made money and they have $375,000 in the restaurant and are losing $12,000 a month. They’re in debt with the IRS to the tune of about $18,000. (They owe) $10,000 to suppliers and the staff hasn’t been paid since January. So you can imagine a little animosity. There are three owners and each has put a certain amount in … and there is a lot of stress. I think something is going to blow up."
• Just 5 days ago, (about a week before the Restaurant Impossible air date), Fork Diner created a GoFundMe fundraiser in hopes of raising $25,000.  In the fundraiser it says:

"We have never taken home a paycheck ourselves, have depleted of all our personal savings & are still massively in debt. We owe back taxes, venders, & most importantly, back-wages to our hard-working & wonderful employees...Although we are now following Chef Irvine's menu & guidelines, and although we have brought in a new General Manager & Partner, and some of the original partners are leaving, we are finding it impossible to catch up on the back taxes & wages. We do NOT want to claim bankruptcy--we want to pay what we owe! Your donations would be so very much appreciated. Thank you, Gray Bridges, Co-Owner, The Fork"

• On the Fork Diner Facebook page, under the post advertising their GoFundMe, campaign, the Fork Diner says, "RI gave us a new menu & kitchen procedures & of course remodeled the front of the house, but 2 issues...lotta debt left over from before they came & then summer hit in Calhoun--and ya know what that means...slow slow slow for restaurants & retail. I expect we're gonna get busier after the show airs, but the past debt is still overwhelming....Yeah, location is a problem. If we can turn this thing around we'd love to move to 53!! Note RI gave us those prices & they're comparable to other "casual fine dining" restaurants in Calhoun & Dalton"

Conclusion:

The reviews since Restaurant Impossible visited are mixed and people do not seem to like the small menu and high prices, while some people complement the food and service.  The reviews before the makeover were not too bad and people also seemed to like the food and service.

The fact that they started a GoFundMe fundraiser hoping to raise $25,000 for unpaid debts doesn't seem too promising for the restaurant.  It also doesn't seem too ethical for a business to do that.  They are basically saying they want free money to help pay their bills.  And this is after receiving a free $10,000 makeover along with national exposure for their restaurant.  Also, the fundraiser description is all about paying debts, and says nothing about wanting to keep the restaurant open.  It seems like it is more about avoiding bankruptcy than saving the restaurant.

This may be a restaurant that doesn't stay open too much longer, and it will be interesting to see if people actually donate to their fund.

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