Restaurant: Impossible has had a very interesting journey. Originally debuting on the Food Network in 2011, the show aired until 2016. After three years of being off the air, the show returned in 2019. The show’s premise is both heartwarming and entertaining. During each episode, the show’s host, Robert Irvine, attempts to revive failing restaurants on a budget of $10,000. Not only is the goal to improve the restaurant’s look and overall functionally, but Irvine also aims to make the restaurant profitable. With his expertise and the help of experienced designers, Irvine and his crew get to work. As you can imagine, accomplishing those things on such a small budget isn’t easy. While the results are usually impressive, they’re also usually hard to believe. After all, if it only took $10,000 and some export opinions to save a restaurant, it seems like a lot more of them would be saved. However, there’s more to the show than many viewers realize. So, is Restaurant: Impossible fake? Keep reading to find out.
How Does The Network Choose Restaurants For The Show?
Have you ever wondered how restaurants end up on Restaurant: Impossible? Apparently, the process is pretty straight forward. There is a casting page for the show where people who are interested can fill out a form to be considered for the show. In addition to filling out the questionnaire, applicants must also upload photos and/or videos of the restaurant and its food. The page doesn’t give any details on the decision making process. But my guess would be that locations are picked based on how badly they need a makeover. Even though everyone on the show is a willing participant, sometimes the owners are reluctant to take the team’s suggestions.
Sarah Hummell, who appeared on the show, said, “I feel like we won the restaurant lottery. At the same time, it was like the most overwhelming experience I’ve ever had. My only way of describing it is: imagine 130 people descending on your home, taking everything you own and within 15 minutes completely clearing your whole place out and then stuffing it in this storage pod. You know that everything is going to be for the better, but then not being allowed to go into your own place until it’s over.
Is The Show Actually Successful?
One of the reasons why people think the show is fake is that they assume most of the restaurants become successful. However, the truth is that the majority of restaurants featured in the show end up failing. By 2018, 100 of the 140 restaurants that were featured had gone out of business. Unfortunately, this means that if you’re really looking to save your restaurant, going on Restaurant: Impossible probably won’t do you any good. There are lots of reasons why restaurants fail, and unfortunately, some of them are impossible to fix.
According to Mashed, the ‘fix’ isn’t the show’s focus in the first place. Instead, Restaurant: Impossible aims to focus on the people and their stories. Sarah Hummell said, “I knew that our dynamic they might find entertaining, but no, I didn’t expect that in-depth emphasis. I thought more emphasis would be on the ridiculously small kitchen that we have versus our relationship, but I see why they did that.”
All Signs Point To The Show Being Real
The bad news is that it looks like the goal of the show really is impossible. The good news is that Restaurant: Impossible seems to be as real as it gets. People with behind the scenes experience on the show say everything is real. Marc Summers, who was originally involved with Restaurant: Impossible, said “I like to think of RI as the only true reality show on TV. Nothing was contrived. What you saw is what you got.” Even though the show has some shortcomings, at least now you can rest assured that it’s real.
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