This week on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Loveland, Colorado to makeover Casa Real. Casa Real is a family-run Mexican restaurant that has been open for six years. Despite being open for six years, owners Ritchie and his mother Alma have not earned any profits. Ritchie has been running virtual kitchens to try to salvage things, but even those are failing. Robert needs to turn the restaurant around in hopes it doesn't end up closing.
As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Casa Real 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):
- "We decided to give it a go after we heard about the Restaurant Impossible re-do and wow..its night and day! From the impeccable waiter to the very tasty food , prices are excellent, decorating is fresh and clean. Very few Mexican Restaurants in Loveland make you feel as if your "going out" but this one gives you that something special vibe. Great Restaurant! Super happy for them!"
- "Have been coming here for years and never had an issue with food or service. I love the entire staff (shoutout to Monico and Leo for always being so nice and social with everyone who comes in)! Restaurant impossible just came in and the restaurant looks amazing, the menu is still their original menu and better than ever. They said they'll be incorporating Robert Irvine's menu item ideas into their menu so people can still try out his items which is great. One of my favorite restaurants in Loveland"
- "I consider myself a foodie and there aren’t many good restaurants in Loveland. I decided to give this place another try after they redid it…. And Oh My God!!! Stop what you’re doing a go here. This is hand down the best Mexican food I’ve probably ever had. Thanks for bringing some great food to Loveland!!"
- "Excellent food, great service. Ordered the fajitas and they were HUGE! Bacon wrapped shrimp was off the hook!!"
- "What a great find! I heard that they recently were renovated by the restaurant impossible TV show. Definitely shows. The food was great in the service was too. I recommend trying it out."
- "By far our favorite Mexican dining choice in Loveland. Love the remodel and the food is great as always. Not happy that you have to pay for chips and salsa now but that won't stop us from coming back."
Negative Reviews:
- "This used to be our go to spot on a regular basis. Had it last week, first time after the 'makeover' and it was so awful! Beans tasted like chemicals, chicken had no taste besides 'boiled'. I was going to get my regular fajitas, but they are $10 more now!!! Ordered the chimichanga from the a la cart menu...$8, if I wanted it with rice and beans $18. $10 for rice and beans??? Come on guys, take it back to before that show ruined you."
- "Restaurant Impossible came over the weekend to "fix" this once great restaurant. Robert Irvine took a perfectly good menu and trimmed it down to less than 10 items. They won't survive long with this ridiculous menu. Please do the right thing and give your loyal, local customers their menu back. Don't fall prey to an idiot who doesn't care about your business and won't come back to help when you are struggling to survive."
- "They have really gone down hill. This was my go to for Mexican food. They now have a sign on the Front door telling you they lost $300,000 last year and there prices have gone up. Well the food has gone down. Very bland... no flavor any more. My burrito was served cold. No Chips and salsa. The portions are smaller but I guess that’s good since the food deteriorated. The waiter was very nice. Will not go back again."
- "not good. Food arrived smashed together and lacking in a lot of real flavor. Queso arrived with out chips. Sides were small and watery- sloppy overall. You gotta care about your business and reputation."
- "Robert Irving should be smacked. He ruined my favorite Mexican restaurant. If I wanted a chili and tater tot burrito I'd go to Sonic! There is no Mexican food on the new menu."
Other News and Links:
- The Restaurant Impossible makeover for Casa Real happened in October 2021.
- Here is the Casa Real website and Facebook page.
- The website Retro1025 had a story about the Restaurant Impossible makeover at Casa Real after it happened. There are some pictures of the interior as well as some signs posted by the restaurant. (Link)
- One sign said, "Yes, we will be going back to our old menu in about 3 weeks, in the meantime we want you to enjoy the delicious menu celebrity Chef Robert Irvine has created. We are taking 3 weeks to properly do a proper menu pricing as we were losing $300,000 per year due to wrong menu pricing. We have been doing the same for 6 years soooo yes, things were not as good as they seemed. We are going back to the same menu you know and love but with proper pricing to keep us in business. Some items may drop and others might raise. BUT only big change will be that we will no longer offer free chips and salsa, we were throwing GALLONS of the salsa."
- Another sign said, " YES, we are back! We learned during the filming of the show that we do have a lot of problems, starting with having a really underpriced menu. We were losing $300,000 per year with our current pricing. That being said, we are not going to use Chef Robert Irvines menu, does it make money, YES! We don't care, we stand with our loyal customers of 6 years and will give them what they known to love, but we need to fix the problem or the ship will continue sinking. We are currently printing an updated menu with correct pricing and yes prices went up significantly. Some people will be fine with our new prices, some people will not, that's ok, we understand. With less business, this will allow us to get back to the basics and focus on QUALITY overall, something that we lost because we were always so busy. For those of you who want to continue to support us, welcome to the updated Casa Real."
- Chips and salsa is on the menu for $1.99.
- Here are the reviews for Casa Real from Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google.
Conclusion:
The review for Casa Real since the Restaurant Impossible makeover are mixed with people liking the food and the makeover. There are some negative reviews from people who did not like the Restaurant Impossible menu and the higher prices. Casa Real posted signs saying they only used the Restaurant Impossible menu for a short period of time despite it being profitable. They went back to their normal menu with the correct pricing suggested by Robert Irvine.
*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
No comments:
Post a Comment