Tonight on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and
his crew are in Port Hadlock, Washington to makeover Zoog's Caveman Cookin'.
The restaurant may be one of the dirtiest Robert has seen and the owner has lost his passion for the restaurant, leaving his daughter to run it for him. While Robert is there, the government shows up threatening to close the doors of the restaurant. As I normally do
with
Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and
reviews about Zoog's Caveman Cookin' 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:
- "It is nice to have a place in Port Hadlock to get a good meal. My teenagers already like this place, so they will be excited to see it now....We live in Port Townsend, about 15 minutes away, so we will definitely be back."
- "We had our first meal here since the renovation and it was wonderful. The meat is always good, here, but the vegetables were beyond outstanding.... Our server was a delight - she kept a good on us since we were a party of 12."
- "Locals love this BBQ; it is good food and you seem to get plenty of anything you order. They were just visited by "Restaurant Impossible" so the decor has been upgraded and the menu reworked. Business had increased significantly and the show hasn't even aired yet. If you like BBQ and sports it is a great place to do both."
Negative Reviews:
- "Went there last Saturday night at 6:00. The place was almost empty. They were out of ribs, brisket, pulled pork and mac and cheese. How can you be out of all those things and still call yourself a bbq place. I had been there the week before and they were out of pulled pork and chicken. Won't be going back. I don't care what they look like on TV."
- "First time customers. My husband was a volunteer for the restaurant impossible show. I was not impressed. The place had no personality. There was an old smoke smell in there. It was not pleasant. Waitress was eating at bar. Roof was leaking. I do not see success for this place."
- "One major flaw was that the food was between warm and cold when it needed to be temperature hot. Not fun eating French fries or mac and cheese cold and the brisket was a little on the dry side(also not hot enough) but had good flavor. The spicy bbq burger had more bun than burger but the burger itself was good. We will give it one more try mid-week. Here's hoping they are successful. Had to ask for spoons and cream (coffee). Coffee tasted as if it had been sitting a very long time."
- "Decided to give the "new" Zoogs a try tonight. We both ordered burgers as his burgers used to be the best around...Used to be is the key word....Final score- previous Cave Burger a 9 out of 10. Current burger a 3. Very disappointed after all of the hype around Restaurant: Impossible- this place used to be a great place to eat (even with it's "cosmetic blemishes"
- "On a Friday night they ran out of French fries. Sad since the menu is extremely small. A table of 4 got up and left. Service was horrible. No water came until the third request. Couldn't get the checks, and when they came they were wrong. Good luck, Zoog."
Other News and Links:
- The Restaurant Impossible makeover happened in mid-November 2014.
- Here is the Zoog's Caveman Cookin' Facebook page, and here is their website.
- Their Facebook page posts make it seem that Zoog's is more of a bar than a restaurant.
- During the makeover, Robert Irvine posted on Twitter, "Day two of my mission in WA, Zoogs Caveman cookin . To date the worst I have ever ever seen . Seriously wait till you see this one"
- Owner Bret "Zoog" Forsberg is a poker player who has competed in the World Series of Poker and the episode is titled "Betting the House."
- On the Zoog's website, there is a video that is described as a "sizzler" designed to get the attention of someone at the Food Channel, with the idea of producing a weekly series." So, it looks like Zoog has tried to get on the Food Network in the past.
- Zoog apparently wrote a book called Driftin', which is available on Amazon and advertised on his site.
Conclusion:
There have been more negative reviews than positive reviews of Zoog's Caveman Cookin' since the Restaurant Impossible visit and most of the negative reviews are about the food. There are complaints about cold food, bad food, and the restaurant running out of menu items. The few positive reviews seem to complement the new interior.
It seems like Zoog is an interesting character, which may be the reason the restaurant was chosen for the show. Instead of getting a weekly series as he may have hoped for, he is on the Food Network due to a failing restaurant.
UPDATE - Here is a very long post-makeover article about the restaurant and the episode. Zoog says business is up 20% and they are happy with the experience. The restaurant passed a restaurant inspection less than 2 weeks before the Restaurant Impossible visit, and Zoog said the restaurant was "as clean as it had ever been." The part where Zoog's family approached Robert in the production tent to ask for help about his drinking was staged by the TV producers, although their concern was real.
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