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| Photo - Del's |
"We can't make it anymore. We're losing money. This city is growing young and trendy, and we're kind of old-fashioned.”
Marianne also credits the Restaurant Impossible makeover for keeping them in business a few years longer, but they couldn't change the image people had in their minds of Del's. The building has been sold to a real estate firm who plans to get another restaurant to occupy that space.
The reviews on Yelp haven't been too great for Del's and owner Marianne responds to some of the negative reviews saying they should have brought it to their attention rather than posting on social media. She also blames the negative reviews for hurting small businesses.
The Del's Facebook page has a lot of comments of support and people that are sad to see the restaurant close after all of these years.
Del's will be the ninth restaurant from season 3 (2012) of Restaurant Impossible to close and on May 2nd, the status of the Restaurant Impossible Updates Page will be changed to 'Closed'.
Took a look at the reviews. They are mostly pretty brutal.
ReplyDeleteI never watched this episode, so I don't get something....
ReplyDeleteMarianne responded to one of the customer reviews by saying that her customers had been happy with Del's selections for 65 years. If that's the case then I'm assuming they applied to be on the show mainly for a free remodel and publicity?
Also, seems to me that if Marianne acknowledged that the city was getting younger and trendier, then surely she should have realized that the restaurant was eventually going to fail no matter what Robert did. I know it's easier said than done to change with the times, but at the very least they should have given it a shot.
I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. While it's a shame, after that many years, one could not help but see the writing on the wall. They didn't want to evolve, and coupled with all the negative reviews, it was bound to happen. I was wondering when I would read this on here.
ReplyDeleteAgreed...and if she knew it was only a matter of time before the restaurant closed, then why bother responding to negative reviews at this point? It's like closing the barn door after the horse got out....
ReplyDelete"Our city around us is ever-growing, a sign for our "Mom and Pop" to be going." This is line is from their site and this just pisses me off. I'm sorry but do something to keep yourselves relevant, unless they don't have anymore money or they want to retire, they shouldn't give up the fight. Also, you should take negative reviews with a grain of salt, unless those reviews are really telling you that you need to fix your place THEN listen to them! I feel like they just gave up and have this notion that negative reviews are to blame. No, the owners are to blame when they don't keep up with the times nor listen to their customers when there is an issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Albuquerque has a large number of "Mom and Pop" restaurants that are doing just fine. Some have learned and changed as people's tastes change and some haven't. I imagine that when the ones that haven't begin to lose their loyal customers due to age, illness or moving, they too, will join Del's in the list of closed restaurants.
ReplyDeleteRestaurants have to change to stay relevant and keep their customer base. Also once you respond negatively to negative reviews, you're toast. It's a huge mistake.
Um. Posting the reviews on social media IS a way of bringing it to their attention. It may not be their preferred method, but it is viable. But with this attitude of "Oh, well the city is changing and we don't want to" it seems like bringing it to their direct attention would have been pointless.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures posted on Yelp show that the food looks bad. Things like ravioli with clearly watery sauce just dumped on top with no garnish and a dirty plate rim.
ReplyDelete