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| Photo - Lyonsrx.com |
As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Lyon's Pharmacy to get an idea of how the restaurant/pharmacy is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant: Impossible):
Reviews:
A lunch counter in a pharmacy didn't have any reviews before the makeover, and there were 2 filtered Yelp reviews post-makeover, which are below
- "Have been having lunch at the diner type setting in Lyon's Pharmacy for about 8 months, on and off. The cook, waitress and cashier are the nicest people you would ever want to meet. The owner, Mary Beth, on the other hand is another story. Never says "hi" and actually can ignore you if she feel like being in that "mood"....Good luck with the new menu because you will NEVER see me patronize this business again. Hope it was worth it for the owner!"
- "It was pretty busy in there for 11am and it was pretty obvious that the staff had their hands full. They were also training a new girl, which didn't help matters much. It was pretty obvious that these guys had bitten off a little more than they could chew. They had a difficult time keeping up with all the orders......Overall we enjoyed our meal. We weren't in a rush, so the slow service didn't really upset us and we didn't have to send anything back, which is always a good sign in my book. The new menu looked pretty good and their prices seemed to not be too back (both of our entree's were $7.50...a little high for the club but definitely fair for the Patty Melt). If you're looking for some place different for lunch and aren't in a rush, give them a shot."
Other News and Links:
- The Restaurant Impossible makeover happened in February of 2015.
- Here is the Lyon's Pharmacy Facebook Page.
- Here is the Lyon's Pharmacy website, and the small luncheonette menu. They advertise a few other menu items on their Facebook page, so their website may not be up-to-date.
- A local article about the makeover said there was a mock meeting at town hall for the episode and that the mayor was at a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the restaurant. A new sign with Tony's image on it was created during the makeover.
- Due to the makeover being in a pharmacy, doctor's offices were notified of the pharmacy closing for 48 hours to allow for patients in need of prescriptions. There was also additional law enforcement present during the renovations. (Link)
- Here is a 2011 article stating a lot of regulars came in to eat lunch and to socialize with Tony.
- This is pretty random, but Wheel of Fortune's Pat Sajak was on set for this makeover. (Link)
Conclusion:
In keeping with this season's theme, Restaurant Impossible is rescuing a unique place which may be a stretch to call a restaurant. There weren't enough reviews to get a feel for how they are doing, but it appears that the locals as well as the town officials seem to be supportive of the makeover. Lyon's has been supported by the community for years, and for Lyon's to continue to succeed they will need the local support to continue without Tony around.
*Visit Our Restaurant Impossible Update Page to see all Restaurant: Impossible updates, and which restaurants are open, closed, or have been sold. Also Like Us on Facebook and Follow Us on Twitter
Remember when RR and Giada were on Iron Chef? Neither can hold up next to a real chef. I find Anne grating and RR annoying. It's not even a fair fight. They needed to get a real chef to go up against Anne. Why not stick with Tyler?
ReplyDeleteEnough with the travel shows, they have run out of restaurants to visit.
ReplyDeletePennington annoys me...
ReplyDeleteNah Anne is a total biatch that oversalts everything.
ReplyDeleteI got the impression that Tyler didn't care for Anne much. Maybe I'm wrong, but I got that feeling.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Unless I'm wrong, the FN will see soon that they've about exhausted this type of show. Hopefully they won't pull in the viewers and they might start to explore their original roots more.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I'd like to eat a sandwich just inches away from hemorrhoid cream behind me.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the deal with the first reviewer? Who would go somewhere "for
ReplyDeleteabout 8 months, on and off" and then suddenly swear off the place altogether because of Marybeth? Why would this person continue to go for that long if this is true?
No kidding! These new ones sound duller than the current offerings.
ReplyDeleteI like Michael Symon, but I have no interest whatsoever in seeing any of the travel shows - ESPECIALLY not one with the Deen duo. Camp Cutthroat sounds like Extreme Chef, and I couldn't stand that show.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in Worst Cooks In America: Celebrity Edition if it weren't for Anne Burrell and Rachael Ray hosting it. I guess it depends which celebrities they get as to whether I'll watch it.
And Chopped Impossible?! Please! This is Beat Bobby Flay but with Robert Irvine. Not interested.
I am semi-intrigued by the crazy restaurants special, and I want to see Spring Baking Championship.
It's good to know I'm not going crazy and I actually did see Pat Sajak.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think Mary Beth would've changed the pictures on her website.
ReplyDeletePlaces like this no longer exist for a reason.
ReplyDeletePeople come to drugstores when they are sick, I don't want ill people waiting for medication hacking up a lung next to me while I eat. I don't want to eat in a drugstore next to feminine hygiene products. Little kids will be fooling around with the merchandise, etc, shoplifting would be easy.
Nobody wants to come into the local gossip hole to buy stuff for a yeast infection or get their herpes medication.....
Nobody wants to buy it with some dude eating breakfast watches them either.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Elkton years ago, .and have family that still lives there. Lyon's was and still is a staple in the community. I am glad they got the make over, and I hope they stay in the community for a long time.
ReplyDeleteWould agree with you...
ReplyDeleteOverall a nice feel-good episode. Having worked in a town in Northern Virginia that only has two small restaurants (one really being a diner) and is even smaller in size than Elkton, I can say that community support is definitely vital to the success of places like this.
Second episode in a row where Robert wasn't screaming his brains out; maybe this is becoming a trend, lol?!
This seemed like really nice folks and I wish them well.However I don't want to eat while I'm surrounded by people buying Fleet single use enemas or mouthwash. I prefer peace and quiet and privacy (along with good food) when I eat. The locals might support it for a while but the newness will wear off and they'll all go to pharamcies (Like Costco and Walmart) where they can get their meds for 50% less than this drugstore is charging. It's admirable they want to help the town,but in the end this is 2015 and no longer 1958. The only thing we are guaranteed is change. Why was Pat Sajak there ?
ReplyDeletePat lives in that part of the woods and owns media outlets here.
ReplyDeleteYou are obviously too young to remember, but back in the day almost all drugstores had soda fountains or lunch counters. I remember going to the local pharmacy regularly to get cherry Cokes.
ReplyDeleteTyler wasn't that good as a teacher. I'd get Michael Symon to go up against Anne.
ReplyDeletehemorrhoid cream is supposed to be "behind" you!
ReplyDeleteAfter this lame line-up, I would welcome a Chuck Wagon show from the Lenny-meister.
ReplyDeleteHow about this for a show.....Ex wives and Girlfriends BEAT Bobby Flay!
ReplyDeleteI agree. The first posted review is especially fishy. By the way, what do they mean by "filtered" reviews?
ReplyDeleteThere's another review, added today, I noticed:
"My co-workers and I walk down to Lyons just about once a week for lunch.
It is quick, local, & reasonable prices. I love the new setting of
the place. I love the antique look. I do miss the old booths they had in
the lunchonette area. The new ones are wooden and not that comfortable.
The food is wonderful. The burgers have improved and I really love the
chicken salad. I am not too fond of the chicken avocado sandwich as the
bread was completely soggy once I received it and fell apart. It has
been pretty busy during lunch time hours, so you may want to reserve a
table in advance if you are on a time limit. I do miss the simplied
menu. My favorite was the grilled cheese with bacon and their chicken
quesadillas, which neither are no longer on the menu. I think they
should expand the menu just a little more and can leave behind some of
the fancy items such as the bologna melt and burger with tomato relish.
Other than that, I am a huge fan of Lyons."
"Fleet single use enemas"
ReplyDeleteWow, you really know your enemas! ;)
Yeah, I was happy to see it. A nice reminder of yesteryear. However, BlueDesert is correct, and it can be a tough business model nowadays. (young people can stare at their phones anywhere, so why stare at them in a pharmacy?) I hope they can make a good go of it!
ReplyDeleteThe setup was a bit long, but overall, a very good episode, I thought. Nice, deserving family. Another job well done on the design, Lynn. No dinginess now and some nice touches of the past added. That basement looked like a picker's dream!
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time I've seen a random celebrity cameo. (first was pro wrestler Victoria/Tara)
Yeah, that was one of those 'hey, wait a minute...' *rewind* moments. :)
ReplyDeleteFleet makes a single use mouthwash too??? Is that for people that talk #@&$?????
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the enemas the place is too small. is there no other dining option???
ReplyDeleteI totally agree!!! this can no longer work in this day and age
ReplyDeleteI realized my poor unfortunate choice of words after I posted. You can't edit these posts.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! The whole thing just doesn't work!!!
ReplyDelete" can leave behind some of the fancy items such as the bologna melt and burger with tomato relish."
ReplyDelete__________
Those do sound Fancy
jerry2286 • 3 hours ago
ReplyDeleteThe problem with McDonald's isn't the food, or the design of the restaurants, or the economy. The problem with McDonald's is that they have spent the better part of the last decade primarily marketing their food to African Americans. Practically every commercial shows African Americans enjoying their sodium soaked food. It has worked so well that most people view the chain as ghetto. The only way they will get white sheeple back into the chains is by trying to attract hipsters. They are gullible, and malleable, and will fall for any advertising that they think makes them look cooler, and if advertisers can fool these fools into drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, they can fool them into putting the junk this chain calls food into their bodies.
_________________
Go away racist Jerry back to the Fox boards!
Yes you can. You should see and Edit link under your post.
ReplyDeletelike with a bat or something?
ReplyDelete^^^ Another great MittZombie post.
ReplyDeleteI made me smile too I love Alton Brown
ReplyDeleteGlad I could add a smile to your day! I've loved Alton Brown since his first show, but really wish he didn't do Cutthroat Kitchen. It seems very cheesy for him, but I guess it pays the bills.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!
ReplyDeleteI thought the signs with a pic of Marybeth's dad were particularly nice touches. I agree with you about the dinginess of the place, and I'm not sure I would have gone in there to eat lunch prior to the redo. However, post-remodel, I would feel comfortable stopping in for a bite to eat. I do have to say the wooden benches and table chairs didn't look like they'd be comfortable to sit on though.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from a local MeChelle, thank you!
ReplyDeleteYelp will hide reviews from people who seem like they only came to Yelp to promote a business or to trash one. If the user reviews more businesses, his or her initial review will appear.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just young people who stare at their phones. I see more and more elderly people glued to their phones too.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Tyler just seemed to get mad at people when they didn't cook things the way he would.
ReplyDeleteHer screaming and her blatant preference for "girl chefs" on Chef Wanted made me pretty sick of her.
ReplyDeleteActually I'm 70 and fondly remember soda fountains and lunch counters in drug stores (and even in 5 and 10 cent stores). My favorite was banana ice cream at Isaly's in Pittsburgh.That was the entire point of my comment. What worked perfectly in 1950 no longer works 65 years later.
ReplyDeleteThings change. That doesn't mean I don't hope this place will be successful- I do. But I give it 6 months before they close it down due to lack of revenue.
YES...!!! I totally rewound about 5 times during the first scene where you can see him.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Another set of owners who actually deserve a chance to get things back on track. I really like the idea of the lunch counter in the drug store. Very old-timey. And who knows...??? Maybe that business model actually can work in a small town like Elkton that still has a old-timey main street. I wish them well.
ReplyDeleteYou can only edit if you're a registered user logged into your account. Greyed out names are guest postings.
ReplyDeleteI used to like these lunch counters, I don't see them much anymore. I hope he didn't screw it up, tty to make it high class. They're not suppose to be.
I discovered and ate at a lot of small town lunch counters the years I was on the road both in bands and driving truck. When I was playing, the first full day in town was wandering around what downtown there was looking for music stores and whatever else was there. Practically every one of these towns had a small Woolworth's, Ben Franklin or other such department store, most of them had lunch counters. Small Mom and Pop pharmacies too. Always liked the food and the service. Plus, after playing for a couple of days, we were recognized as playing at the local bars. I had a lot of lunches bought for me because of that at those counters. It's fun being a celeb...even if it was in a small town for a few days!
Kind of disturbing, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteClick on this guys pic. He is advertising all over the internet. Get him outta here!
ReplyDeleteMy issue with Yelp is the averaging. Whether a restaurant either improves or goes downhill, all its scores are averaged, so it's nearly impossible to get a true picture of the place's quality. A popular pub in our area changed hands, and the new owners more or less destroyed it. However, but the time it closed for good, it was showing average to above-average ratings based on factoring in how it was in its heyday.
ReplyDeleteVery low tolerance. And didn't seem to get that he was working with people who couldn't cook coming in and who needed much closer guidance and monitoring.
ReplyDeleteThe new schedule seems to be a combination of travelogues, spinoffs of existing shows, imitations of shows from other networks, and old shows with new titles. Not one concept strikes me as original.
ReplyDeleteThe participation of the communities intrigues me a bit. I wonder whether the RI at Lyon's was some kind of pilot for the concept.
ReplyDeleteThe crazy restaurants idea was already a show on FYI, except that it was worldwide rather than just American. It didn't last long.
ReplyDeleteVery low tolerance indeed! He is sorely lacking in the people skills department. I have a hard time watching him in anything he is very pretentious.
ReplyDeleteWow,that really is a lot of travelogues. I can't imagine all of them making the cut. Unless they plan on taking off the constant flow of DDD repeats.....if that's the case I'm all for the new ones.
ReplyDeleteHi, Shannon! Haven't seen a posting from you in a while!
ReplyDeleteGood observation. It will be interesting to see if you're right.
ReplyDeleteThere are are number of places in Maryland—Elkton among them—that haven't felt pressured to run headlong into a more technologically driven lifestyle. Elkton is, in fact, super modern compared with Kent Island and Smith Island.
ReplyDeleteThanks, a.d. Sounds like maybe it's best to focus on the most recent reviews and pay less attention to older ones.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. Reminds me of a ridiculous incident I was part of last year. Some middle-aged idiot stopped in the middle of a 4-way intersection to stare at her phone. She was looking at it at the stop sign, then pulled ahead 10 feet, came to a dead stop and started looking at it again. I honked and she had the audacity to wave me around! So there I am driving into the wrong lane to go around her! I'm not a cell phone user, but you can bet I would've been pulling over to give the police all the details if I had've been that day. ;) (maybe I should've written down her license number and phoned them later anyway, if only to give her a good scare and maybe smarten her up a bit)
ReplyDeleteThe restaurant part is iffy, but maybe if that doesn't work, they could have it strictly as a pharmacy. It would be nice if they could stick around in some capacity.
ReplyDeleteHeh, police would have done absolutely nothing except accuse you of road rage.
ReplyDeleteYelp is totally fake. There is one local seafood place that has terrible, terrible old fish and gets nothing but great Yelp reviews. Whenever myself or one of my friends tried to leave a negative review it either was "filtered" or our accounts got banned. The Positive reviews were from all around the country, somehow this strip mall seafood shop in a small suburb has dozens of rave reviews from all corners of the country.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like this one is going to be a special, verses a regular series. That interests me more.
ReplyDeleteSometimes..... this show really stretches reality for the sake of drama.
ReplyDelete1. Would a lunch counter really have 190 item menu? I've never seen one that served more than sandwiches, soups and burgers.
2. $16 for a single crab cake? Come on. Is Elkton a resort area on the French Riveria, or some small town struggling in a declining economy?
3. A Pharmacist who says she knows her business, but only nets $14,000 a year on sales of $2.8 million? For the record, Walmart is currently paying Pharmacists around $80,000 a year, right out of school.
there's more to this than the lunch counter. She had sales that just about equaled her overhead. I think there was something failing in the whole business model
ReplyDeleteI told my wife that was Pat Sajak. I remember the lunch counter and soda fountain at our drug store growing up.
ReplyDeleteHi Mo, good to ( I would say see ) "read" you again. Away from the FN boards as nothing much really tickled my fancy. I must say I did enjoy All Star Academy & I am looking forward to Spring Baking champ. I hope its as good as the Christmas themed show.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they make up things to add drama to the situation. One of my family members was on a real estate "reality" show. The producers made up all types of stuff to create "drama" for the show, including inventng friction between a young woman and her mother and making up a fake name for a neighborhood. I would not put it past FN to hype up the woes on this show, even if the businesses featured are actually struggling.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Pat Sajak was there to buy Fleet enemas or hemmorhoid cream?
ReplyDeleteOh boy...after reading about this list of shows all I can say is that whatever creativity the Food Network had left has now dried up completely. Thank god the only show they haven't messed around with is a show I actually now watch on the FN is called The Kitchen. Yes, it's their version of The Chew, but at least I've gotten some good recipes and general food/kitchen tips from it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, next thing you know, there'll be Chopped: Evilicious, lol! Do you watch Chopped: Canada?
ReplyDeleteProvided you can put up with Katie Lee and Geoffrey Zakarian. I personally find the two of them too hard to take.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, they really don't bother me nearly as much as a couple of other over the top "personalities" (Guy Fieri for one) do!
ReplyDeleteWhat scene is Pat Sajak in? I can't find his cameo anywhere.
ReplyDeleteJust found him......three times.
ReplyDeleteI find the FN site frustrating. Some shows have message boards while others don't, and the so-called blogs mostly aren't. I much prefer being here and love the way Matt runs this place.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I need to go back and watch it now.
ReplyDeleteThats your post Jerry, you racist POS!
ReplyDeleteSo Cake Wars is just a rebranding of Cupcake Wars?
ReplyDeleteNah. Barely even watched Iron Chef America. (maybe if the original had never existed...)
ReplyDeleteMade me want to go right on over to Lyon's Pharmacy and buy a vowel!!!
ReplyDeleteWould that mean you need something for a good vowel movement?
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see Worst Cooks in America with Anne and Raechel. Maybe the next series, we will see Anne go up against Giada!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of Chopped: Impossible where people go up against Robert Irvine. I would like to suggest more Chopped series. How about Chopped: Cutthroat Edition where past winners of Cutthroat Kitchen turn on Alton and go up against him. Or even have a Chopped where people can really have a chance to bear Bobby Flay.
Agreed! I would love to see Michael Symon go up against Anne. That would make for some great conversations on The Chew.
ReplyDeleteMichael Symon has proven himself as a teacher, and I really believe he and Anne would complement one another as friendly competitors.
ReplyDeleteThat video needs to end with an alien popping up and saying "ayy lmao"
ReplyDelete______________________
That is racist Jerry's post about a 2 year old Mexican-American boy getting his skull crushed by a falling tree.
jerry2286 • 10 hours ago
ReplyDeleteThat video needs to end with an alien popping up and saying "ayy lmao"
You made me laugh with that one -- thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see a real family go through the trials of both parents working, putting dinner on the table, juggling kids activities, parents having a meaningful relationship, meeting mother in law needs (she is live in), and do it all again successfully the next day and day after day. We did it and it takes creativity, love, a sense of well being and a sense of humor to do it well. That is real life!
ReplyDeleteThere actually is another version of Chopped that the FN airs...it's called Chopped:Canada. I do watch Chopped occasionally, but my opinion is that once you start having too many iterations of the same show it can get rather stale.
ReplyDelete