Why Reddit Thinks Some Restaurant: Impossible Locations Don't Deserve Help
Since its television debut in 2011, "Restaurant: Impossible" has entertained Food Network viewers with exciting restaurant makeovers. In each episode, celebrity chef Robert Irvine visits a restaurant badly in need of improvements, lending his expertise to the owners to help them turn their fledgling business into a successful, well-run eatery, per his website. While this is an honorable mission, not every "Restaurant: Impossible" fan thinks every business is worthy of Irvine's assistance. In fact, some viewers feel that restaurants unable to maintain basic levels of cleanliness and hygiene shouldn't get the chance to appear on the show.
One fan recently took to Reddit to express their frustration with some of the dirtier spaces that have been featured on "Restaurant: Impossible," asking if anyone else feels "like restaurants with disgusting kitchens and moldy/expired food don't deserve help from Restaurant Impossible?" U/ChancesAreNoneNow went on, "It's one thing to help owners who have difficulties due to things like lack of experience of running a business or poor management skills. But why help people who are just too lazy to clean their kitchens?"
Some viewers feel that other restaurants are more deserving of help
In their "Restaurant: Impossible" Reddit post, u/ChancesAreNoneNow said they "wouldn't trust" restaurants with prior hygiene issues to keep their businesses clean after appearing on the show. Based on the comments on the post, they're far from alone in their opinion. "I do think you make a point that restaurant owners that fail to show integrity towards their business practices and/or respect for their customers might not deserve the financial assistance and national platform in which to advertise their restaurant. I would much rather see restaurants hit hard by the pandemic, natural disasters, or even personal hardships helped out," u/Sea-Ad-7285 replied. Another user wondered how some of these unclean restaurants have managed to avoid being shut down by health inspectors.
Others have a theory about why the show might feature these "disgusting" restaurants, saying that the worst-in-shape businesses likely attract the most attention. "I think the real reason is because it's a TV show, and the more sensational/gross/extreme the better to get people to watch," one user guessed. Whether or not viewers find this kind of content more entertaining, it seems like most of them have their minds made up about unsanitary establishments featured on the show. As one commenter put it, "If I were to see a restaurant that has horrible mold and expired food issues on tv, I would never go there at all. I don't care if Robert or Gordon went there."