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IRVINE: Next on "Restaurant Impossible"...
Food that looks bad and tastes even worse.
[ Spits ]
What is that?
This is a muskrat.
Muskrat? That's roadkill.
PATTY: Muskrat!
No way!
IRVINE: A broken family about to lose it all.
Something there with you and your mom.
There is an animosity, and I can feel it, like it's crazy.
Yes.
If I can't figure it out, they've got no chance.
Were you here? No, you weren't [bleep] were you?
Please don't disrespect your grandmother, not in front of me.
Either put up or shut up. You can walk out.
JOSH: I hate to go, but I think it's better for my family.
NARRATOR: Chef Robert Irvine has 2 days and $10,000
to do the impossible.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
I'm in Smyrna, Delaware --
day one of my mission to save the Wagon Wheel restaurant.
Owner Patty Gallegos is trying to hold on
to her restaurant of 24 years.
I purchased the Wagon Wheel with my husband, Norm.
We're the family, so we all could work together.
My daughter Sheila -- she's a server here.
I've been working here from day one.
I've been a waitress, a cook, I've managed.
A little bit of everything.
My grandson Joshua is a cook here,
and my granddaughter Jessica --
she's in college right now in California.
And anytime she can come home to help me, she does.
IRVINE: After years of running a successful business,
the family suffered a devastating loss.
About six years ago, my grandfather passed away,
and my grandmother was then left to run the place by herself.
My employees wouldn't listen to me.
And I try, but even my family doesn't listen to me.
They come to work when they want, they're late,
and they don't seem to care.
She just wants to close the doors because she has no help,
and she doesn't want to do it by herself anymore.
It's just so frustrating.
My mother makes it so frustrating,
and I think that's why sometimes
I just want to step out of the whole situation.
It's pretty clear that the restaurant is falling apart
and the family is coming apart.
[ Sighs ]
If this place closes, my kids, everybody,
would be out of a job.
If it doesn't change soon,
probably about maybe two months I can stay open yet,
and I would have to close the doors.
IRVINE: And it's my mission to find a way
to get the Wagon Wheel rolling again.
It looks like a trapper's lodge.
Obviously, they're open for breakfast,
'cause I can see maybe 10 or 12 people,
but that's not gonna keep a restaurant from going under.
Patty, Sheila, and Jessica, come on in here.
Good morning.
Good morning, Robert.
First of all, thank you very much
for allowing me to come into your restaurant.
So, who's in charge?
I own the restaurant.
Obviously, this is your mom, and, obviously, that's your mom.
Is that correct? Three generations?
Yes.
So, Sheila, what do you do here?
From day one, I started here with my mom.
I just was a waitress, cook.
I live in California now. I'm there for college.
But prior to that, I grew up here.
How long have you had the restaurant?
24 years, Robert.
24 years. Has it been good to you?
It was, and after my husband passed away, it wasn't.
When did your husband pass away?
In 2007.
Okay. I'm sorry to hear that.
Were you both running your restaurant?
Yes.
After my husband passed away,
we were only open for breakfast and lunch,
because I couldn't handle the nights, you know,
because I have to do everything.
What money did you make last year?
It might have been $90,000 or $80,000.
I can't remember exactly.
But you run the business, right?
Yes, I do, but I have to do everything -- grocery shopping.
When we're out of something,
I have to stop at the stores and pick up things.
So, who's running your kitchen? You do that, too?
Yes.
How much money in the last year have you put into this business?
Every cent that I have.
What about credit cards?
Credit cards is $15,000.
Okay. What about savings? Any savings?
Savings, I had $150,000, and it's all gone.
So $165,000. What about suppliers?
I had to borrow money on my house to pay that off.
How much was that?
$20,000.
So that's $185,000.
Do you put any money in?
Yes, all the time. Sometimes $300, $400 a month.
Is this something you would want to run in your future?
Yes. I actually graduate college in the spring,
and I'm gonna come home for summer to manage this place.
IRVINE: Keeping the restaurant in the family
was what Patty and her husband, Norm, always wanted.
PATTY: My husband was in the Air Force.
Your husband was in the Air Force how long?
23 years.
23 years. Which meant you traveled with him?
Yes.
So thank you for your service, and thank you for his service.
What did he do in the Air Force?
[ Voice breaking ] He worked on the flight line.
He worked on airplanes.
I'm sorry it's upsetting you.
Do you want to sit down?
Yeah.
Sit down.
He did everything here.
Why do you think you're failing?
Well, sometimes the cooks are late.
Okay.
So there's no cook here to make their food.
And what have you done about that?
I took time away from him, my grandson Josh.
Your grandson.
Your grandson's late, and he's a cook,
and you just take time away from him,
and he's still working here.
That's your son, right?
SHEILA: Yes.
Some of my other cooks are also maybe 15 minutes late.
Every day.
So, what are we doing about that?
It's not just my son.
My husband, when he talked, he meant it.
But when I talk, it doesn't mean anything.
Your husband was a military guy,
so he would have fired everybody, right?
Yes.
Do you think you have support from Sheila?
Sometimes she's late, too, coming to work.
So you're part of the problem, not the solution.
Mm-hmm.
That's not a very good support system for mom, is it?
No.
What about the servers? Anybody else late?
Everybody's always late.
So who are you blaming for that?
My mother.
So she's late?
No. She just doesn't help keep it consistent.
There's no structure in here, and that's just talking to you.
I haven't even looked at the service
or looked at the kitchen yet.
So, here's what I want to do.
I want you to get the kitchen ready
and the staff ready for a service,
and I'm just gonna watch, okay, and see how this business runs.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
IRVINE: There's no structure in the restaurant whatsoever.
I haven't even dug deep into the dynamics of this family yet.
There you go.
Would you like lemon?
I'll try the chicken and dumplings.
This comes with french fries. Is that okay?
Yep.
Yeah, I've seen the horns that are on the roof.
Palm trees.
The design is very, very mismatched.
Do you know how long our food's gonna be?
We've been waiting about 20 minutes.
Oh, we've been waiting about 15 minutes.
MAN: 20 minutes.
20 minutes.
IRVINE: The guests have been waiting far too long for their food.
There's got to be a problem in the kitchen.
JESSICA: Is this ready?
You have a ham steak with chipped beef?
No.
JESSICA: Mom, I don't know where this goes,
because there's no table number or ticket.
French toast goes to the lady on the left.
So, whose ticket was that? Yours?
Mine.
So, why is there no number on it?
We don't have numbers on the tables.
You can't put checks in a kitchen,
then I have somebody that's not you run the food,
and they auction off the food -- "Oh, who gets this?"
I tell them "Put your name on the table in case you're busy."
But they don't do it?
No.
How many times have you told her?
Lots.
Because you don't want to do it.
It's not -- I guess so. Whatever.
You're part of the problem -- "Whatever."
You are the reason.
I am?
You are the reason.
What I've seen this morning, this restaurant is failing.
I'm not picking on you.
I'm telling you a fact, because you're late,
you don't do the things you're supposed to do,
and you've been told a thousand times.
I came here because she needs help.
And if you guys are not here to support her
and do the right things, then don't be here.
'Cause you know what? We can hire people.
IRVINE: What's all this?
This is all food that was wasted
due to confusion from the tickets.
Who are you?
I'm Josh.
You're Patty's grandson.
Yes, sir.
Who are you?
Shawn.
So, what do you do with all this now?
It's got to be thrown away.
So it's all wasted money?
Wasted money.
What is that?
This is the muskrat.
It's what?!
It's muskrat.
Muskrat? That's roadkill.
Muskrat!
No way!
IRVINE: Are you for real?
Why do we serve burgers?
Because people love them and eat them up.
That doesn't look like a burger to me.
So, here's a choice you have.
Either put up or shut up.
You know where the door is. You can walk out.
What is that?
This is the muskrat.
It's what?!
It's muskrat.
Muskrat? That's roadkill.
It is good.
Why do you serve muskrat, and what is it?
I'll show you, Robert. Just hold on.
Oh!
It is so good, though.
Are you for real?
Yes.
It's high in protein. It tastes very good.
People love it. I mean, why do we serve burgers?
Because people love them and eat them up.
That doesn't look like a burger to me.
Who catches these?
There are several trappers in the area.
So in this area, muskrat is in?
Yes, and we serve a lot of this.
It smells horrific.
Oh, it's good!
IRVINE: It's clear the food and the kitchen are problematic,
but the biggest issue here is the family dynamic
and how it affects the management of this restaurant.
Who's in charge of the kitchen?
Josh was here, and I thought Josh would step up to the plate.
But Joshua was late four mornings
when he was supposed to be here at quarter of 7:00,
and he wouldn't get here sometimes till 8:30.
Bull[bleep] Were you here? No, you weren't [bleep] were you?
Hey, you don't have to curse me.
No, no. 'Cause I'm getting tired of that.
Please don't disrespect your grandmother, not in front of me.
I was reliable for a long time.
You know, it got old.
The bull[bleep] in here all the time -- it got old.
Is there a leader in the front of house in your opinion?
Not, "Has she designated a leader?"
Is there a leader, somebody with common sense?
No, no.
Sheila used to be the leader.
But she doesn't want to do it anymore.
Nope.
No.
So why do you work here?
Because I love it here.
I was here six, seven days a week. I loved it here.
But my mother puts me down for everything.
I never get a "Thank you."
I never get a "That's a good job."
And I was doing the best that I could for a lot of years.
I always tell you.
You will tell somebody else.
I brag about you.
You tell somebody else "Oh, she did a good job,"
'cause she never directly comes to me and says, "Hey."
I've never really heard that except from
less than a handful of times.
I mean, I do the best I can.
I'm going out.
Where are you going? Where are you going?
Have you had an issue with her?
Yeah.
She doesn't show up for work,
calls another waitress in, 6:00 in the morning,
and asks them to work for her.
If you stay up late at night, "Well, that's not my problem."
You struggle, and you struggle,
and you just feel like, "What the heck?
Why go to work?"
You know, you're just gonna have to put up
with that being put down.
It's a struggle because it's like
you almost really don't even want to be here,
other than for the customers.
IRVINE: Sheila can't keep walking away from the problems.
Come on. This is just a learning experience.
I know.
I've got to let her know I'm here to help.
Something there with you and your mom.
There is an animosity, and I can feel it like it's crazy.
Yes, yes.
I need to fix that first.
I really do, because no matter who you are,
who you dislike during the day,
you'd better say good night and you love them,
because you never know if they're
gonna wake up the next day.
That's right.
Just know that, you know, I'm not here to beat you.
I really am not. And I am actually really nice today.
[ Chuckles ]
And that's because of your mom, you know?
She's had a tough time of it now,
and she needs to have a little easier life.
Okay?
Mm-hmm.
All right, I'm gonna try this food now.
I appreciate it.
Good luck.
Hi there. My name is Gini. I'm gonna be your server today.
Let me try with that meat loaf, chipped beef.
Chipped beef. Top seller.
Yeah. I hate to try it, but I'm gonna try it.
The muskrat.
The muskrat. Let's try the muskrat.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This is the muskrat.
I've eaten bull testicles.
I've eaten rattlesnake.
I've eaten just about everything there is to eat
on the face of the planet,
but I have never had muskrat before.
Very dark in color. It looks like it was fried.
It's got a very strong odor.
No meat on it. How can you eat this?
You have to pick it with your fingers.
Yeah, really.
And then they put the bones in this bowl.
[ Spits ]
Just tastes like old, dead meat
that has been crawling around in a swamp somewhere.
It's almost like swimming roadkill.
It's apparently a delicacy when in season.
Just not for me.
I think this is supposed to be...
[ Sniffs ]
I don't know what it's supposed to be, actually.
Is this supposed to be a Reuben maybe?
Oh, there's the sauerkraut. That would give it away.
Um...
Pretty much something I wouldn't touch.
Shawn, Josh, come in here.
Burgers -- we all like burgers, right?
Do you think this is a little overcooked?
Oh, yeah.
Try it.
Mmm.
I don't like frozen burgers anyway.
No. I wouldn't eat it.
No.
But you served it to me.
You're right.
Oh, here's a better one. Do you like Reubens?
I never had one.
Where did you get the corned beef from?
But it's portioned out already and frozen.
There's too much dressing on it. It's dry and bland.
Would you come in and pay your hard-earned money
for anything on this table?
No.
And I'm agreeing with you.
I wouldn't pay a penny to eat this crap.
What would you suggest?
You wait there.
I'm gonna show you what I suggest, okay?
This is what I suggest. You ready?
I'm gonna start, make a new menu, fresh food, all right?
Yeah. Sounds great.
All right. Glad we're on the same page with that, though.
IRVINE: These guys -- they've never been trained how to cook.
They've never been taught how to put a menu together.
We can work together to fix that.
And I'm off to meet with my designer, Lynn,
to fix the decor.
LYNN: Whoa.
Hey, how are you?
Yippy kay yay, huh?
Well, welcome to the Wagon Wheel.
IRVINE: I see booths that are broken.
The colors of this banquette I don't like.
I like a separation when I walk in
so it makes it a real walkway.
So, you want a nice entrance here when you first come in.
I got that.
That bar -- it looks awful.
Terrible, yes.
It looks like it should be in like some island retreat,
bamboo on the wall.
This is exactly what I don't want to see.
The ceiling's driving me crazy.
Well, I've already got a great idea for this.
Paint it.
You know what?
A nice, rich color, but if it was still maybe a little darker,
I think it would actually make the space feel really cozy.
IRVINE: Right now they do breakfast and lunch, but I'm thinking,
you know, are they gonna add dinner,
which would be really cool.
It needs to have breakfast appeal,
but also be cool at night.
Yeah.
Okay.
You got two days, $10,000.
Actually, you've not got two days.
It's already quarter to 3:00.
Okay, then, I got to get going.
All right, so, we're gonna empty it first, so let's go.
Take everything out.
Let's go, guys.
Come on, everybody here, everybody here, let's go!
These monstrosities of tablecloths go in this bag.
I can finally throw them in the trash.
Oh, can I put this in the trash, too, please?
Yes, get them in the trash. All this stuff is garbage.
It's been the way it's been for a long time.
So I'm gonna miss some of it.
This is what they tried to do to hide this.
We're taking down the Christmas tree, Robert.
Without the presents, you just don't know what's underneath it.
Oh, there you go.
This space had so much texture of wood,
it really needed some color.
They serve muskrat, so I wanted to bring in colors from nature,
especially on the ceiling, a nice olive green.
It's gonna really warm the space up.
Now we just need to get it painted.
All right, ladies.
Hi, Robert.
Obviously, we have some major issues.
IRVINE: I've got to figure out a way for Patty to get out of debt
and for the restaurant to start making money.
The meal periods.
You do open for dinner one night, correct?
It's over now. It's Thursday night.
January to March.
Why is that?
For my muskrat.
There's that thing again, that furry creature.
But that night makes me money.
Okay, but why can't any other night make you money?
She doesn't have anyone she can rely on to be here,
and she can't be here at night.
What would it take to open dinner?
How many cooks do you have in the back of the house?
IRVINE: They hired a new cook about a month ago
to cover breakfast and lunch.
So you just hired somebody.
Yes. They call him Chip.
Chip.
IRVINE: He's worked in other restaurants,
but I'm not sure if he's skilled enough to manage a dinner shift.
I already saw what Josh and Shawn can do.
They need a leader, and it has to be somebody
with strong culinary background.
Otherwise, it's never gonna work.
Hey, what's going on?
How are you doing?
What is the overall plan now?
I want it to be a little rustic.
Okay.
Right now these booths, we've taken them apart.
Saving a lot of money.
This is the fabric that will go on the back.
And on the seat, right?
Yeah.
Let's talk about the ceiling.
Even though it looks like we have so much done,
it's just the primer coat.
Okay.
So, I was thinking of something like almost barn-ish,
so actually had Tom build a prototype of a truss
that's gonna go up.
Okay.
This is the actual ceiling color once it's painted.
That goes up on the actual beam, right?
Yeah.
I want to take this from just being a blah
to make it have that old, rustic feel,
like the building's been here forever.
IRVINE: All right, so this ugly bar --
not as ugly now, because we've done something to it.
We ripped all the carpet off the front of it.
That scary carpet is gone, and we put in the beadboard,
so we're gonna frame it out.
And Lynn picked a really bold color.
And a rustic color --
the booths are bringing that same color over here.
All right, good. Keep going. Lots of work.
Okay.
So I'll just work on the bar.
IRVINE: While there's significant progress in the dining room,
back in the kitchen, Sheila's causing a major standstill.
Okay, then, why wasn't I involved
with all that in the back?
Where am I in this?
I am part of this restaurant.
IRVINE: So, what are we talking about?
I am just kind of curious why I wasn't involved
with the conversation that was in the back
if I am a part of this.
If I'm manager and helping out,
I think I need to know everything just as well.
At one point, you said you didn't want to be in it.
You didn't want to manage the restaurant was what you said.
You said out there, right there.
Right.
I'm confused what you want to do anymore,
because you tell me one thing,
and then you're upset, which I can understand
if you want to run the restaurant.
But then out there, you said you didn't want to be there.
You want to just be a waitress.
Because, I mean, I really do want to be the manager
to begin with.
But at the same time, I just want to make sure
that I am not going to have to be pushed back down.
You're dillydallying around.
Do you want to be in this restaurant and be a manager,
or do you want to be a server?
It's confusing. It's hard.
It's hard to deal with sometimes her
when I was put in the manager's position before.
Well, when you go home tonight,
I want you to think about what you really want --
what you really want.
I also want you to write down all the things
that you think your mother does wrong to you.
I want you to write down the same thing,
the things that Sheila does wrong to you,
because there is something here,
and it's destroying not only your relationship.
It's destroying the business and the trust.
And it's been like this for a long time.
PATTY: The hardest part of today was
for me to hear from my daughter that I don't praise her enough.
I tell my customers how good she is,
but I never really told her how I felt.
But now I know.
SHEILA: Robert asked me to make a decision
on what I'm gonna do here,
and it is gonna be a very difficult choice.
I know I said I just want to go, I just want to quit.
But at the same time, I want to be here,
so it's a tough decision.
Obviously, there's a lot going on here.
My biggest concern, end of day 1 here,
is how do we put them back as a family together?
Who's gonna cook if we open for dinner?
And what is the future of the Wagon Wheel?
'Cause if I can't figure it out, they've got no chance.
It's day 2 of my mission in Smyrna, Delaware,
and I'm on my way back to the Wagon Wheel restaurant.
The restaurant is falling apart, and the family is coming apart.
They come to work when they want,
they're late, and they don't seem to care.
What I saw yesterday
left me confused, frustrated, and totally disgusted.
What is that?
JOSH: This is the muskrat.
It's what?
It's muskrat.
Muskrat? That's roadkill.
Muskrat!
No way!
Today, I still have a lot of questions to answer.
Do they open for dinner? Do they have anyone to cook?
And does that muskrat stay on the menu?
But, most importantly, can I get this family back together?
If not, the Wagon Wheel will roll no more.
Morning.
Good morning, Robert. How are you?
Wow. That's a nice color. I like that.
What have we got going on?
Tom spent all night on the bar, which I thought
when I designed it was gonna be the easiest part.
The hard part was the bar top.
It was a nightmare, because it was like
we literally had to shim it and level it as we went.
Oh, nice.
This color matches the new tabletops
that are brought in, the dark walnut.
I see some remnants of a booth here.
Remember, it had all the tufted buttons,
so we had to fill in every single one of those buttons
to get this nice, smooth finish.
Super. Thanks, guys.
Good morning!
Good morning.
Good morning.
You must be Chip, right?
Yes.
How are you? How's everybody doing?
Fine, thank you.
Where's Josh?
He was supposed to be here at 9:00, and he's not here yet.
He's an hour and a half late?
Yes.
Did he call you?
No.
'Cause this is what's gonna drag your business down.
That's what happened before.
I want you to get your homework
and meet me in that little backroom there.
Is that okay?
Yes, sir.
Josh is not here. That's ridiculous.
Drives me nuts.
All right, so, I did give you homework last night
for you to write down about each other
things that may have led to, you know, this kind of rift,
and now I got to figure out how do we get past that.
So, who wants to go first?
I guess I will.
Okay.
You always say that you never get any help,
but I am always there to help.
But I never, ever get praise for it.
If somebody else was around to help,
they would get a thank you.
I never got that.
[ Voice breaking ] I never get nothing...
I know it's hard.
It is, with not being appreciated
and not giving a little gratitude.
It made me not want to be here.
I got to a point where I didn't care.
I didn't care, but at the same time, I want to care.
IRVINE: Sheila's been taking out her resentment
by calling out of work and showing up late.
In the past, I would make excuses for you --
why you were late and things like this.
I can't make excuses no more
because you tell the employees what you're gonna do that night.
Then, when you don't come in in the morning, they say,
"Well, Sheila's the daughter.
She can get away with it. She can come in when she wants."
Everybody here does that --
all the waitresses, the cooks, whatever.
But we expect more from you, and I'm telling you I do, too,
because you're the family.
Right.
I expect you to go more miles and work harder
and stay longer than anybody else.
You have to find a way to communicate
that you don't feel valued.
You have to be able to sit down like we're doing now.
When was the last time you ever sat down?
Have you ever sat down and talked about this?
No. We never do.
Are you gonna grow up? Are you gonna grow up?
Because if you want to grow up and be a manager, that's fine,
but you have to accept
that the nights out can't impede what you do here,
and you've got to turn around and say to your family,
"You're fired.
You're gone."
Because if you don't...
They're gonna do it again.
They're gonna do it all over again.
As much as you love, love, love your family,
the business has to be the forefront.
I'm gonna get strong. I am. Yes.
Sheila, are you gonna manage?
I'm ready to do it. I'm ready to manage.
I want you to be a manager here.
You've got to allow her to manage and ease on that rein.
I will.
And when she does something wrong,
you're gonna bring her in here,
grab a cup of coffee the next day,
and you'll discuss it.
This is the first time I've actually seen --
It's almost like a light go on here with you,
and I've actually just saw a whole change in your demeanor.
Do me a favor.
When you go in the kitchen,
grab Jessica and see if Josh is here yet.
IRVINE: Sheila's renewed her commitment to her mum and the restaurant.
Now I have to see if Josh is also willing to step up.
Good morning. How are you?
Good morning.
Well, it was when I got here. Where have you been?
At home.
What time are you supposed to be here?
I'm not sure. 9:00, 10:00, 11:00?
9:00 you're supposed to be here.
Joshua, the next time you are late --
If you got to be here at 6:45 and you're not here till 7:00,
you're fired, and I mean it this time.
Family has not been treated like staff.
They've been treated like family.
That's why you're still here.
SHEILA: And if family is gonna work here,
we have to be like a family and make it work for her.
If we don't want to be here, we don't have to be here.
So, here's the choice you have --
either put up or shut up.
The next time you don't come in, she's not gonna let you in.
It's not personal to you. She runs a business.
Right now I have too much mixed feelings about this place.
You know where the door is. You can walk out.
Do what you got to do.
JOSH: I hate to go, but I think it's better
for the restaurant and my family.
I really have lost a lot of my ambition, I guess,
for this place, and I'm getting to the point
to where I don't want to try anymore.
IRVINE: With Josh out, the kitchen is down a cook.
Now I've got to see if I can make this work.
And now it's time for Trivia Impossible.
The answer after the break.
IRVINE: The answer is...
My biggest concern now is if Chip can lead this kitchen.
My assessment of this place is if we had dinner,
we could make a lot more revenue.
So, here's what I'm gonna do. I don't know you.
I don't know what your cooking's like.
But I'd like to see you cook.
You create me a dish,
one plate of the most amazing food that you can make
with whatever you can find.
30 minutes, and I'll come back and taste it.
Great.
Off you go.
All right, thanks.
CHIP: I think I'm gonna do a pan-seared salmon
with a tequila cream sauce, lemon nutty rice,
and crispy carrot garnish.
Okay, time's up.
Yesterday, there was nobody in this kitchen that could cook.
I've been watching Chip.
I loved his knife skills, but I have not tried his food.
We're gonna do that together.
PATTY: Very good.
If you add a little bit more salt to that
and less pepper, that wouldn't be a bad dish.
Leaps and bounds above what it was yesterday.
With Chip leading the kitchen,
I feel confident that Patty can add a regular dinner service.
Very good.
Good.
I'm gonna teach you a few things for this new menu for tonight,
so we can get prepping and get ready to go, okay?
I'm gonna check in with the design team first.
Five minutes, I'll be back. See you in a bit.
Okay, thank you very much.
[ Whistles ]
Look what's going in here.
We're painting the back, doing the skirting,
painting the front of the bar, painting the trusses.
There's lights going up.
Lynn is still working on the booths.
Hey, people, it's 2:45!
I want this restaurant back by about 3:30!
You better start picking it up!
Back in the kitchen, I'm gonna share
a couple of simple recipes that will go a long way.
So, your menu yesterday, Patty,
it was a big [Mimics buzzer] zero when I tried it.
The Reuben was absolutely awful.
It was wet and it was soggy.
It didn't have any taste whatsoever.
What I thought was we'd take that corned beef
and we'd use it in two different ways.
I'm gonna show you how to make a Reuben,
and I'm gonna show you how to use the same ingredients
and make a dinner.
Cuts down our expense and our freezers.
Here's what we're gonna do.
We have taken corned beef
and braised it in stock with cabbage in the same pan.
You can just see how soft that is.
Slice it through nicely like so.
Softened butter. I want to put this on the outside.
We're using rye.
You can use whole wheat, pumpernickel.
You can use whatever you like.
Thousand Island Dressing, corned beef.
Fresh cabbage.
Silly me.
I almost forgot our cheese, didn't I?
Over to a nice, hot place.
Nice.
A couple of minutes.
CHIP: Perfect Reuben.
It's nice and crispy when I first bite into it,
and then the cheese and the Thousand Island
sort of works its way in there, and it's really flavorful.
Very good. [ Laughs ]
Delicious.
IRVINE: Next, I'll show them my version of corned beef and cabbage.
Take our corned beef.
I'm gonna take some of this stock, back into the pan.
Put our cabbage in. Cover that over.
Who doesn't like French fries?
Instead of using soft, boiled potatoes,
I like them crispy for a great contrasting texture
with the meat.
A corned beef that's been nicely warmed. Dig in.
Take potato, a little cabbage.
I like that the potato didn't get lost
and didn't just fall apart in my mouth.
It was crispy. The corned beef is phenomenal.
It's got really nice flavor.
Yeah, it's delicious -- a perfect mixture.
I loved it all, especially the corned beef.
That was phenomenal.
Okay, so, there's nothing difficult here,
right, that we cannot do.
Not at all.
Patty, we have something we have to discuss,
and that would be muskrat.
I want you to go into the office,
make a list of why you think
that we should keep it on the menu.
I'll make a list myself,
and we will discuss the fate of the muskrat, all right?
You do that now, and I will check in.
Guys, get cleaned up. Come and find you.
Okay, thank you, Chef.
IRVINE: It's already 5:00.
We're still trying to put the finishing touches
on the restaurant.
There's no tables in here yet.
We've got to set them, bring the chairs in,
trying to set the bar up.
They had these horns all over the restaurant.
They were so tacky. But we made it look cool.
We put it right in the entryway.
[ Sighs ]
So, you got your list?
Yes, I do, Chef.
Come on. Let's go.
Okay.
All right, do we keep the muskrat on the menu?
You know, there's a few kind of things we need to discuss here.
So, I wrote down some cons --
why I think it shouldn't be on the menu --
and you wrote down some pros -- why it should be on the menu.
So, I think I should go first.
Okay.
And I'm gonna say why it shouldn't
is because it has "rat" in its name.
Okay.
How many people do you know like to eat rats?
This has been going on for about 50 years, okay?
Restaurant staple.
I think, with all the bones,
it's a choking hazard to your guests.
I never had anybody choke on them.
And our locals around the area -- It's a draw.
My problem is that it's seasonal.
My profits on that is $12.25 a dish.
Which is pretty high, right?
Yes.
My thing is it's a deterrent for people coming in.
It's a rat by name. It's got lots of bones in it.
It's seasonal, and that might turn off
a lot of people coming to your restaurant.
This is your restaurant.
What I'm gonna say is if you want to keep this on,
that's your prerogative, but what I'm gonna tell you,
you have to get this thing from a valid supplier...
I have that.
...somebody that you trust to give you safe product,
not some fly-by-night.
It has to be taken from a valid supplier, okay?
Sure will.
IRVINE: I'm not going to include muskrat on tonight's menu,
because I want to show Patty
that she doesn't need it to have a successful night.
Well, you made your argument. I've made mine.
I'm gonna leave mine there.
So, I've got to go back into the restaurant
and get it finished, okay?
Okay.
All right, thanks.
Thank you, Chef.
Robert brought up a lot of valid points,
but I held my own because we've been doing it here for so long
that I really hate to get rid of it.
So I will more than likely keep it on the menu.
Split up half and half. Let's clean.
We got to clean, clean, clean.
All right, I want all these wiping down, wiping down,
wiping down, wiping down.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
All right, we got to set these tables up!
Let's go!
PATTY: Me, too.
JESSICA: I can't wait.
I can't wait. Jump up and down.
This is my last chance, and if this don't work,
I will have to shut the front doors.
SHEILA: As difficult as the last few years have been,
I love the Wagon Wheel.
This is my home, and I'm hoping that we make this work,
as a team, together.
JESSICA: This has been an emotional experience,
a lot more than what I thought it was going to be.
Hopefully, everyone can communicate
and stay on the same page and work together as a team,
and the Wagon will be a success.
PATTY: I love this place that my husband I built together,
and I don't want to let him down.
It's been a tough day for Patty, Sheila, and Jessica,
and I hope things will turn around
when they see the new Wagon Wheel.
[ Gasps ]
How are you?
We're good, excited.
Ready to see your restaurant?
Yes, I am.
I want you to close your eyes. Okay, walk.
JESSICA: Oh, my God.
Are you ready to see the new Wagon Wheel?
Yes, we are.
I'm so excited. Oh, my gosh.
Open your eyes.
Are you ready to see the new Wagon Wheel?
Yes, we are.
I'm so excited. Oh, my gosh.
Open your eyes.
Oh, my God!
[ Laughing ] This looks so cool.
Everything looks so cool.
Oh, my goodness.
IRVINE: Well, have a look. Go ahead.
Oh, my God.
It is beautiful, even with the bull horns.
[ Laughs ]
Yes, that's what I always thought I would miss.
Oh, my God.
This looks so good.
Oh, my God, it's so beautiful.
Oh, God, it's so pretty.
Wow. Amazing.
Oh, my God, beautiful.
IRVINE: So, a host stand.
Yes, I never had one.
These are your original booths.
Isn't that beautiful?
These are some of the tables.
Oh, my gosh.
Wow.
Obviously you liked them, so we kept them.
So, this is actually a full working bar.
We've got bar shelves.
No more cabinet.
Oh, look at my poles.
IRVINE: No more Christmas tree lights.
No, no more artificial stuff.
No tinsel.
Brand-new countertops, brand-new bar facing, brand-new chairs.
This is a restaurant that you can put
anywhere in the United States of America,
and you will make a lot of money.
If I have my family to help me, and they will now.
We are.
Thanks to you.
[ Voice breaking ] Norm would be so happy if he could see this.
[ Sniffles ] He would be proud of me
for what I've been through without him,
seeing me still here, having the Wagon Wheel.
It's given me a lot of opening up with my mother.
We can communicate a lot better.
It's just a whole new beginning.
I couldn't do this alone.
I have two amazing people who I push tremendously --
my designer, Lynn, and my builder, Tom.
Come on in, guys.
Hey.
Yay!
How are you?
Thank you so much.
Oh, you're so welcome.
Thank you so much.
Are you happy?
Oh, it is beautiful.
So, we have a new relationship.
A whole new place.
We have hope, we have future, and I want you, Miss Sheila --
I want you to stand up and be a manager, 'cause it's your job.
If she doesn't do her job, what happens?
Out the door she goes.
[ Laughter ]
She got the words down pat from me.
Thank you very much.
ALL: Are y'all ready to see the new Wagon Wheel?
[ Cheering ]
Come on in!
Have a seat.
That table right against the wall.
PATTY: Okay, I'll take them back.
It looks beautiful in here.
Isn't it?
Excited when we walked in.
Oh, my God, yeah. I never expected this.
It is great.
I never saw my place as full as this before.
It is just amazing.
I love all the new colors and the paint,
and I love the new hostess stand.
It just feels more like a restaurant.
I've lived in Smyrna my whole life,
and I have been a frequent visitor here for a long time.
The new booths are so nice.
The new tables are just -- It really looks wonderful.
We've always considered this to be a counter, not a bar.
Now it looks like a bar.
It needed it, and now it has it,
and let's hope that we all patronize it some more.
I will.
The new menu is great.
Hi. Welcome to the Wagon Wheel.
Shrimp dumplings.
Shrimp dumplings.
Okay.
SHEILA: My name is on the check.
So, one of the biggest problems
when I arrived here yesterday was, you know,
nobody knew where the food was going
because the checks had no names, no table numbers, no nothing.
Now it has a name, table number,
and coincides with a floor chart.
Really good, right?
You guys ready?
I need a shrimp appetizer.
I need one crab cake. Two crab cakes.
Grilled salmon. Meatloaf. Chicken sandwich.
So, obviously, the first seating is in,
and we have Mr. Chip there calling the orders out.
The orders are going out nice. It's going out fast.
And the people are loving it.
I'm having a good time. A little hectic.
Food's looking good, so I'm happy with that.
Even in all the chaos, as long as the food's going out right,
everybody will be happy out there.
I ordered the corned beef and cabbage.
It's great. The flavors are great. They're balanced.
It's just perfect. I'm really pleased with it.
WOMAN: This is my first time at the Wagon Wheel.
I like the meatloaf sandwich a lot.
The gravy's really good.
SHEILA: How was it?
Good. Real good.
Really excited that they're gonna be serving dinner now.
Gives us a new place to go.
SHEILA: It's very exciting.
I've decided to step up and be the manager.
She's awesome. She's gonna stand up and be my manager now.
And she's gonna do fine, just great.
It's gonna be difficult, gonna be a lot of hours.
I'm willing to just do whatever she needs me to do.
JESSICA: I feel more relieved.
To leave for two months and then come back,
I feel like my mom is able to take control
and manage this place.
This is definitely a new beginning, a new life.
It's exciting.
I want to see it busy like this every day.
I haven't seen the Wagon Wheel this packed
in a really long time, and it's really great.
I never expected this. It is just awesome.
Well, I got to tell you, this has been one for the books.
I have never eaten muskrat before
or had a family member quit on me.
But in the end, it all works out,
and I hope things will keep rolling along
for the new Wagon Wheel.