This episode was different from many of the other episodes in two ways - Robert decided the name needed to be completely changed and the kitchen was clean! Edible's Restaurant becomes Hurley's American Grille in this episode of Restaurant Impossible.
Hurley's American Grille| Click here for the restaurant's website
[table]
Problems Robert Had to Address
1. Bland garbage food
2. Boring decor with dirty old carpet
3. The owner is too timid to lead
4. Missing $600,000
[/table]
The Recipes
Cheesesteak | Print the recipe
Robert felt their original cheesesteak was a really poor excuse for one. They are right near Philly, they need to have a good cheesesteak. Robert's recipe is pretty basic. He just need to show them how to cook it properly, so it doesn't come out looking and tasting like shoe leather.
BBQ Glazed Smoked Chicken | Print the recipe
Robert was frustrated that they were not using their high quality equipment. Their smoker was really only uses to make pulled pork, when there are so many more options out there. He showed them how to smoked chicken. The chicken is served with a BBQ sauce consisting of ketcup, white balsamic, stone ground mustard, and horseradish.
Lesson for Home #1 - Use It or Lose It!
Do you have a piece of equipment in your kitchen that doesn't get used much? People often by appliances thinking how cool they are in the store but they don't have any idea of how to use them. Think about what's in your kitchen? Is there anything you don't use. Do some research online. Find out how you can use it. If you aren't going to use, you be better off selling it from up space and getting some money to use towards something more useful.
Lesson for Home #2 - Make Your Own Smoker
Does that smoked meat from this show got your mouth watering? Did you know you can make your very own smoker by just using a grill? I have not tried it yet but I want to know that I have some free cherry wood. If you want to know how take a moment to watch this Alton Brown video before continuing on.
Follow-Up
The fact they have a clean kitchen is going to really help them soak up only positive publicity from the RI experience. The change in decor was so drastic, I think that only will bring people in. I have high hopes for this place as I go into looking at some of the reviews since the makeover. The good thing about a name change for them is their old reviews from the previous name don't follow them over with their new name. It's a fresh start even online. On the website Yelp, the restaurant has been reviewed 14 times, with an average score of 4 stars. Pretty good. Let's take a look at a couple of those comments.
"I had been to the old "Edibles" a year or so ago and saw the transformation on TV.
I cant say enough about the transformation. The decor, menu choices and the general feel for the place has come full circle.
The chicken was awesome as was the Philly Cheese steak,
I will be back!!"
That's good to hear. Robert seems to have had a positive effect on the food. His dishes can be found in their current menu on their website.
We just went for lunch and everything was great! We were greeted by the hostess, Mrs. Hurley, and were quickly seated. The main dining room has been nicely redecorated and the menu provided a wide variety of choices - a good selection of apps, sandwiches, pizza and salads - all of our usual favorites. They still have a well priced kids menu too. The waitress was very friendly and efficient. Our drinks arrived quickly and she followed up several times for refills. The food was hot and very tasty - and best of all still very reasonable. We'll definitely be back. The Hurley family has worked very hard during a tough economy to maintain a good family spot for dining out. Hopefully the publicity from the recent 'makeover' will bring in a steady flow of customers for them.
Good food, good prices, and good for the family. Sounds great!
"No hostess at front. Had to wait for a waitress to seat us. Out of the first soup we picked. Food was ok. One of us had the salmon and he said it was good. Waitress refilled one drink and didn't see that the other was empty too. When she did then it took awhile to "brew" tea. Brought it as we were leaving. There was a child walking around holding spoons so we were wondering about clean silverware. May give it another try hoping this was an off night.Only half the sign was lite too."
This was the worst review I could find and it doesn't sound too bad. Even the reviewer wasn't ready to just write them off.
These are the kinds of restaurants that really need Robert's help. It's good to see a place do so well afterward, especially considering how many places still close after RI (check out my list of closed restaurants). Robert helped breath some new life into this place and as long as we can carefully make sure we aren't missing $600,000 again, then I think there is a long future ahead for Hurley's. Nice story!
Have you been to this restaurant, what did you think?
If you want more Robert Irvine recipes, here are some of his available cookbooks:
This cookbook contains 111 recipes many with complete timelimes and several that are gluten free. An example of the kind of recipes you will find are Lime-Cured Shrimp and Roasted Corn Chowder, Porcini-Dusted Pork Chops with Cremini Mushrooms and Golden Raisins over Horseradish-Scented Potatoes.
In this book Robert shares his personal stories (including cooking for First Lady Laura Bush) and cooking philosophy. There are also recipes to be had like Black Angus Beef Tartare with Toasted Brioche and Fried Quail Egg, Roasted Duck with White Bean Ragout.
Leave a Reply