When Chef Robert Irvine gets to Moss' Prime Rib and Spaghetti House in Elyria, Ohio, he soon realizes that the problems of this restaurant go beyond the subpar food. Owners Robert and Sandi are bullish and stubborn, refusing to accept the help that their struggling business needs. Can Robert and his team rebuild this struggling restaurant and the family behind it in two days?
Chef Robert Irvine often sees restaurant owners with little experience and lofty ideas of how to run a restaurant, but Lynn, the owner of Chatterbox in Windham, New Hampshire, takes the cake. A former stay-at-home mom, she used her late husband's life insurance policy to open up a restaurant, hoping to provide for her five children. Robert has just two days to give the well-intentioned but naive family the tools and skills to run a successful family business.
Chef Robert Irvine has seen many dirty and neglected restaurants, but none have made him physically ill like Anna Maria's in Dunmore, Pa. The Italian eatery's glory days, and last apparent cleaning, were 25 years ago, and owners Jack and Mary, with their son Tucker, are in over their head trying to keep the doors open. Chef Robert Irvine's biggest challenge will be getting the kitchen up to code with only $10,000 and two days.
When Chef Robert Irvine visits Del's in Pittsburgh, Pa., it's clear that the biggest issue with this failing 62-year-old icon is not the food or decor, but owner Marianne. Under the stress of losing the family heirloom, Marianne lashes out at her staff, driving away customers and earning a terrible reputation in the neighborhood. Can Robert save Marianne from herself and the restaurant from its imminent closing?
Chef Robert Irvine heads to Memphis to save a failing barbecue restaurant that's experiencing growing pains after upgrading from a takeout operation to a giant eat-in restaurant only four months earlier. Chef Robert may have met his match in stubborn owner Tarrance, who is clinging onto his cherished family barbecue recipe and refusing to see how cutting corners and failing to adapt to the challenges of a large restaurant is causing his business to fail. Can Robert get through to Tarrance and help turn around this family business before it all goes up in smoke?