I love to cook, it's my passion,
but bookkeeping is not my forte.
Sounds to me like you have zero clue.
Well, I'm just seeing if y'all put the food out properly.
I got it.
-You're sure? -I'm sure.
And who's controlling the staff?
-Miss Penny. -That's your job.
She makes the final decision here.
She makes the final decision but you're all bad?
[Robert] The place is a pigsty
and you have allowed it to get to that point.
The food is tasteless.
I ain't gonna listen to his... No more.
This is a wakeup call.
Them tomatoes are your health.
You're gonna lose this restaurant
and you're gonna lose your own life
if you don't do something different.
[Robert] Let's go. Get it open!
[Robert] You cook food like this
in that restaurant I'm making over there,
-nobody can touch you. -Wow.
[Penny shouting] I'm so ready! [chuckling]
Open your eyes.
Oh, my God.
I'm on the outskirts of Auburn, Alabama,
heading to a small town called Opelika.
Beautiful countryside but very rural.
I'm passing a lot of cotton plants, funnily enough,
but not much else.
Look, it's wide open here.
It beckons the question, why am I going out this far?
What is this place?
I'm on my way to meet owners Robert and Penny,
owners of Walters' Gas & Grill.
If in fact this place is a gas station and a restaurant,
it's something we've never done before on Restaurant: Impossible.
So that intrigues me, but it scares me at the same time
because, hello, there's nothing here.
Everything good, guys? Y'all need me anywhere? You good, Brenda?
All right, all right.
I'm Penny Walters.
I'm the owner operator of Walters' Gas & Grill
here in Opelika, Alabama.
We do mainly Southern food like fried chicken.
We do black eyed peas or field potatoes, tomatoes and okra,
just an array of assorted vegetables,
and we make everything from scratch.
We're mainly a restaurant, but we try to meet the community's needs
because we are the only place you can get gas
probably within a 15 mile radius.
We also have our convenience store.
You know, chips and drinks,
and we're pretty much a Jack-of-all-trades
I guess you could say in here. [chuckles]
-Oh, you got some pickles, okay. -Yeah.
Let me see, the chips are...
[Penny] We have a lot of farmers in the area,
so they'll come fuel up their tractors,
and they come in here for their snacks
or sit down and have a meal,
then get back in the field and start harvesting again.
This is the heart of our little community.
Good to see y'all. How are you?
-Doing well. How are you? -Good.
[Penny] My husband and I own it together.
Robert Walters is my rock. He's my soulmate.
I met in Robert in '98.
I lived in Auburn and he was my mailman.
I was a single parent raising my two boys.
One evening,
he asked me to come out and I said, "Okay."
And after that night, you know,
we just were inseparable.
We got married in '99,
and then when he retired from the post office
we moved to the farm.
[Robert W.] When I met Penny,
I had two young kids and she had two young kids,
and then we became a blended family of four.
We live on the farm where I grew up on.
We do grow crops, cotton, corn, peanuts, different vegetables.
I do the growing side. Once it comes out then it's hers.
[Penny] I've always enjoyed cooking.
Growing up, my dad was a farmer
so we grew everything we ate.
Whether shelling peas on the front porch,
or, you know tomato squishing between your toes
in the pasture, you know, picking tomatoes,
it was all about family and food.
So I think when Robert and I got married
we had such a big family I had to start cooking bigger meals,
and I realized, "Gosh, this is my passion. I love it."
It was about two or three years after we got married
is when I had my first restaurant.
I opened in 2004, and it was a dream come true
because not only was I getting to cook but I was meeting people.
And I'm such a people person. That was a big fulfilment.
I hope you have a great day. Thank you so much for coming in.
-You, too. Thank you. -Buh-bye.
We were open...
And... For a few months.
[sighs]
And I lost my oldest son. [sniffles]
My husband and I was out of town,
and I got the call... [sighs]
That...
He was headed to the hospital.
He'd had a really horrible seizure.
He was 18,
and it was devastating for all of us.
That really...
Put me down.
It...
It was hard for me to function after that,
so we ultimately sold the restaurant,
tried to grieve as best as I could.
It's been many years ago but it hurts so bad still. [sniffles]
It was a hard time, very hard time for everybody.
I didn't know what to do to help her.
Penny just, you know, she was in a fog for a long time,
and it took ten years to get, I'd say, somewhat back to normal.
When I lost Matt it was a piece of me gone,
but I try with my family, with the things I loved,
to surround myself in those things.
Kind of takes me mind away from that loss. [sniffles]
So I realized I needed to get back to the food.
So Robert and I bought Walters' Gas & Grill in 2014.
The owners had just went out of business,
and we were in a position to where we could open it back up.
Before we bought it, it didn't have a restaurant in it.
But once we bought it, and we got it back running,
and the customers started coming,
we just slowly turned it into, basically, a restaurant that sells gas.
And it makes me proud to say I built this,
but the struggles I have with it I don't know how to fix.
Of all of the little entities of businesses we have here at Walters',
this restaurant is what demands my full attention.
I've put a lot and a lot of money into this place.
Over 250,000, you know, has come out of our pocket.
I am a damn good cook, I know that. [chuckles]
Everything around it, I'm probably not the best at.
As far as managing it, I've very outspoken, very high-strung.
I have a hard time letting people take control
of something that I'm involved with.
When it comes to my restaurant, I want it done my way.
[Vanessa] Miss Penny does do a lot around the restaurant,
and I think it's a lot for her to keep up with.
But at the same time,
there's always a point that too much is too much.
This place has made so many great memories,
but I think the stress is pretty much hindering my health
with my spinal issues, my pinched nerves, and my bulging disc.
And here, a few months ago,
I was having difficult breathing.
They found a blockage in my heart,
and the doctor said, "You have to step back."
And I never really related my health
with me being stressed out here.
[Robert W.] She can't keep going much longer like this.
It's becoming a burden to Penny,
and that's part of what's wrong with her health.
She's in the store, she runs the gas station and the restaurant part.
She's doing too much. He hurts me to see Penny suffer like that.
It kind of makes me mad sometimes
that she don't try to let go of some of it.
Right now, she's having a hard time letting go.
[Penny] They all tell me, "Penny, you have to slow down."
I'm like [grumbles].
I don't know how I can do that.
The one thing I want to see before it's all over with is this place thriving,
because it would feel devastating if I had to close the doors.
No, I don't want that to happen again to me, no.
[voice shaking] It would be another dream that I had that I lost.
[sniffles]
[Robert] So, what am I thinking about this place right now?
Eh, not much.
Okay, let's find out.
As I walk in... [chuckles] Wow.
I feel like I've been transported back into 1930s.
Kind of quaint, kind of a store meets a restaurant.
There's this kind of cool little hutch
with pickles, and tomatoes, chutneys, things like that,
but then I've got these soul-battered shelves with snacks.
Then I've got shelves with nothing.
We have one onion
and [chuckles] one potato.
This is the extent of the fresh produce.
I presume that this is where the restaurant piece starts.
We've got one, two, three, four, five, six tables.
And, I mean, just look at the state of these tables.
There's drips of coffee on the back here.
Then on the back half of here is where you get your beer, your soda, your water.
Look at this.
[scoffs] Lights, some are working, some are not.
This is the kitchen area.
I've got bleach next to bread.
I've got garbage next to cleaning supplies.
The front is what I see as a customer. It looks disgusting.
The back wall is full of dust and break.
Oh, I'm already getting the heebie sceebies.
You know, in a small town I don't mind a restaurant within a gas station.
I've never done one before.
I've been to many, but never anything that looks like this.
This is gonna be interesting.
Robert, Penny, come in this whatever it is.
-Hey, Robert. -[Robert] Good morning.
-Good morning. -Good to have you, Chef.
Please take a seat.
-I don't think you're gonna say that in a minute. -Oh, no.
-[sighs] -[Robert] Wow.
Wow.
So, what is this place?
This is a country store.
Convenience store, liquor store.
[Robert] There's nothing on the shelves.
We're mainly a restaurant,
but we're here, you know, to try to serve other needs.
This is the only place to get gas within 20 miles,
or a pack of chips, or a beer, or a soda.
So was there a restaurant when you opened?
No, we put the restaurant in.
And what type of food do you do?
It's mainly Southern cuisine, fried chicken,
fresh vegetables like peas and okra.
We have a farm, we grow produce,
and I do a lot of canning, preserving food.
We do a lot of catering, try to keep the store running.
Pretty much got my hands full.
[Robert] The canning that you do,
-how much do you make on that? -[Penny] Yeah.
It's according to which product it is.
Brunswick stew, I probably make six to eight dollars.
-How do you know that? -I don't.
-[Robert] What does the batch cost you to make? -50 quartz,
and it costs me [sighs in exasperation],
now, the batch I don't know,
but I broke it down into individual jars
because I make different batches.
-I make, sometimes, small batches. -Okay, but that makes no sense
-I know. -because if you know that you make 60 quartz
-Yeah. -and 60 quartz go into 400 jars,
-I don't know what the number is, right? -I could figure it up, yeah,
as far as a batch cost, from what I pay per jar.
But you don't know what the batch cost you.
Not the last batch, no, because I didn't figure it up.
All right, but you've been doing that for how long?
-Years. -[Robert] For years.
-So, this is mainly your business. -[Penny] Yes.
[Penny] It's pretty much it all falls on my shoulders, all of this.
[Robert] Robert, what do you do?
I'm, pretty much, just farming full time right now.
About 200 acres.
So while she's doing this today, where are you going?
We're picking cotton right now,
and farming is a time-sensitive thing
because we got dry weather and the cotton's ready to pick.
Okay. How long have you had this place?
-Almost nine years. -What did you pay for this?
Well, we paid around 100,000,
but we've put a lot more into it out of our own pockets.
We've put at least another 250,000,
what we were saving for our retirement.
So what did you make nine years ago in revenue?
Nine years ago, I couldn't tell you the exact numbers.
Last year, what did you make in this place?
Last year?
I'll have to look in the books. I don't know.
-But you should know these things. -I should, you're right.
[Robert] How to cost how to put things into point of sale,
all those things that we need to run a business, that's gotta be you.
-Yeah. -Robert, what does it cost you for an acre of corn?
-It's about $500. -Right, and you sell it for what?
So the bushel, last year I averaged about 240 bushels an acre
at about almost $6, $5.50 to $6,
so that's about $1,200 an acre.
[Robert] It's the same thing, right,
whether it's corn, whether it's fuel, whether it's food.
He knows his number and you have no idea.
I love to cook, that's my passion,
but bookkeeping is not my forte at all.
Sounds to me like you have zero clue, and that's the scary thing.
I love to cook, that's my passion,
but bookkeeping is not my forte at all.
Sounds to me like you have zero clue, and that's the scary thing.
-I wish mine was that simple. -[Robert] It is that simple. It's no different.
It don't feel that simple.
[Robert] If you don't know what your revenue is,
how are you ever gonna make money?
What's your background in the restaurant business?
This is my second restaurant I've had.
[Robert] What was the other restaurant?
It's called Henny Penny's and it was a meat and three.
We done diner at night, had steaks, and--
-[Robert] Did you make any money there? -Nope.
-We had a lot of factors that went into us closing. -What do you mean by that?
[sighs]
[smacks lips]
[Robert W.] Her son died
and she went into depression.
I'm sorry to hear that. How did he pass?
-He had a seizure. -[Robert W.] He quit breathing for too long.
He was 18.
So when that happened everything started to slide?
-Okay. -Losing him affected me
-in many ways, you know? -I would imagine so, you're a mom.
-So... -Totally understandable.
-And then, this was to dig you out of that? -[clears throat] Yeah.
Cooking is my passion.
If I couldn't cook I just don't know what I'd do.
-And doing that, it's real healing for me. -[Robert] Okay.
It keeps me busy, it keeps me around people. [sniffles]
-[Robert] This and the food? -Yes.
As much as you love cooking, and you love to be around people,
and it keeps you busy, which I agree it would,
but if it's draining you of money, which obviously this is...
-It's draining my health, too. -What's wrong with your health?
I've had heart problems here recently,
serious spine issues.
I can't lift and I can't work like I used to,
and it frustrates me so bad.
-That's a big problem isn't it? -Yeah.
My husband, he gets pretty upset seeing me like that.
You know, "Why don't you just sell it? Why don't you just quit?"
I can't.
I've put so much of my life into this place
and I need something to keep me going.
[Robert] Wow. Okay, a lot of work to do here.
All right, here's what I'm gonna do.
There's some people outside, I'm gonna bring them in.
Don't do anything different than you wouldn't normally do.
When you're ready let me know, okay?
-Thanks. -Thank you.
Tomato pies in.
It's okay, I love you. Don't worry about me. I'm good.
[Penny] I got to get through this.
This place is part of me,
and to hear someone talk about it like he did, it hurts.
But it's either shut the doors or I've got to figure out what's going wrong.
Vanessa, we have a line of people out
so we might need to drop some more chicken.
-He wants to see how we do under pressure. -Yeah.
Hi, guys. Welcome to Walters'. So good to have you guys. Y'all come on in.
Here's your menu. You get one meat, two sides.
And just we'll hand you your plate right down here,
and find a seat anywhere you'd like.
[Vanessa] Hey, what can I get for you today?
-[man] I want to get fried chicken. -Absolutely.
Would you like a piece of corn bread to go with that?
[man] Yes, please.
-How are y'all? -[woman] Good.
-You're good? -[woman] Yeah.
[Robert] Penny starts service off well,
touching tables and greeting guests.
-Yeah, we farm ourselves, actually. -Oh, do you?
Yeah, my husband just left to go pick cotton.
-You got chicken dropped? -I'm dropping chicken, ma'am.
-What are you looking for? -Our sales for lunch today.
Can I get it to you in a minute
because I'm really busy right now.
I'd really rather it be earlier.
-I have other stuff to do at the same time though. -I don't...
[Vanessa] Miss Penny likes for everything to be her way.
Sometimes that leads to a little conflict in the restaurant.
We know the eggs don't go on the top shelf, don't we?
But they're on the top shelf.
[Robert] But only seconds later,
I see Penny bickering with her staff
and creating distractions just as service hits full swing.
I'm just seeing if y'all put the food out properly.
Well, you probably need to go out there
and let the girls handle it.
-I expect for you to handle it, okay? -I know. We got it, I got it.
-You sure. -I'm sure.
[Robert] While Penny continues to micromanage her staff,
she's getting everyone lost in the wrong details
while they completely ignore the most important one.
So, what is the temperature of food supposed to be served at?
At least 135 or higher.
Temperature of the food. Not even hot on the steam table.
That means this chicken's cold
and potentially unsafe to eat.
Potentially, every one of these people that are eating right now
could be sick.
[Robert] Let me ask you a question.
When you go to a restaurant what do you look for?
-Cleanliness. -[Robert] Okay.
[customers] No, no, no!
No!
-[Robert] What else? -[man] Fries.
-They were cold. -[Robert] They were cold?
They almost looked old.
The food you got was 130 degrees,
was a danger zone for chicken.
Not one of those dishes in that cabinet
was to the right temperature.
I don't want to be here.
It's humiliating.
You know, the way he's handling it, in my opinion, is degrading.
-Is anybody from here? -I live up the road but I've never been here.
-Would you come back? -No.
I'm sick of hearing this. I ain't gonna listen to his... No more.
[Vanessa] Penny.
-Is anybody from here? -I live up the road but I've never been here.
-Would you come back? -No.
I'm sick of hearing this. I ain't gonna listen to his... No more.
[Vanessa] Penny.
Okay, folks, thank you very much for your information
and we'll see you tomorrow.
[Robert] Where is she?
I only have two days to turn this place around.
Penny needs a wakeup call now
so she can begin coming to terms with
how many things she needs to change.
So, what are you doing out here?
I've come out here so I wouldn't hear you.
Why?
-Because I've heard enough. -Because I want you
-to understand... -I do understand now.
what your customers think.
-They're your customers. They're not mine. -No.
Nobody's attacking you.
-You are. -You think so?
You are. I feel like you are.
I came here to help you, not to criticize you.
Although it's easy to criticize
because you don't do anything right in there right now.
The place is a pigsty and you have allowed it to get to that point.
I talked to, I don't know her name, about the temperatures.
She's just said, "Oh, yeah, whatever" and kept serving.
That's your job.
You set the expectations as the leader
and you hold them accountable.
That's how this works.
But you let them get away with it.
[Penny] Telling the customers. "The place looks hideous, you shouldn't eat this food",
I wasn't prepared for that.
It's horrible. It feels hopeless.
[Robert] Leadership is nowhere to be found at Walters',
and by trying to control everything,
Penny has ended up controlling nothing.
All right.
I want one of everything.
-[woman] One of everything. -[Robert] Yeah.
[Robert] If food is really her passion,
maybe I can find a silver lining on her menu.
And this time, I've instructed her staff to reheat the food
at the proper temperature.
-Okay. -Cool, thank you.
Come and join me.
Let's try the field peas first.
No flavor. Collard greens.
I see the ham hock there, that's a good sign, but no flavor.
Interesting sauce on the side of this burger.
Yep.
Cabbage, I love cabbage. Can't beat cabbage.
Except this cabbage.
It tastes very sweet. I don't know why it tastes so sweet.
Chicken livers. I love chicken liver.
Look at that, look at how dry that is.
-It's so dry I can't even eat it, right? -Overcooked, yeah.
Fried chicken's supposed to be really crunchy
-and seasoned well. -Yeah.
That has the most potential, the chicken,
-but it's not seasoned enough for me. -Okay.
Right, I do want to just look at this Brunswick stew.
Traditionally, a Southern dish with chicken, corn, tomatoes, onions.
Kind of interesting,
but there's no distinct flavor to it.
So, right now you feel I'm being tough on you. I know you do.
Well, there's a difference between tough and just humiliation.
-I'm not here to humiliate you. -Okay.
Okay? I'm here to help you.
And helping you is to show you
-what you're doing wrong. -Right.
What I care about is when I leave tomorrow night
you are fully ready to go into the next three weeks,
next three years.
That's my job.
That's something I promised to do for you
when I walked through that door this morning,
because if you're in denial at what you're doing now
I can't help you move forward, right?
-Right. Yeah. -That's the truth.
The restaurant is dirty, the food is not what I expect.
Everything here is tasteless.
-Tasteless? -Tasteless.
The positive thing, for me, is that you're doing this, okay?
-I don't think you're doing it in the right way... -So you like it?
-I like the concept of it. -Oh, okay.
I do. It's just classic Southern dish, right?
-But using this as a base, think of what you could do. -Yeah.
Which, to me, is more exciting than anything else on this table.
You said to me that you have a passion for cooking, right?
And yet, you didn't cook any of this, right?
I started out cooking it all,
-but, no. -Right, and then you hire people
-and then this is what we get, right? -[sighing] Yes.
That's where you, that has the passion...
Right? Has to come in.
I'm not asking you to cook everyday.
I'm asking you to hold them accountable for the food that they cook
that comes under your name.
Do you have an assistant manager?
-Do you have a... -Yeah, I have a manager.
-A manager? -Mmm-hmm.
-Who was that? -Vanessa.
That's the one I told about the temperature.
-So she's your manager? -Mmm-hmm.
She's new. She hasn't been here long.
If you're not gonna be here because you're in pain,
then Vanessa should be able to do the same thing as you can.
That's what I want. That's my goal.
Well then, we have to train her.
-It's about setting the expectations. -Yeah.
I want the best for you.
But you've got to work harder than I've got to work,
because you have to understand what it takes to be successful.
-So I'm gonna push you, okay? -Okay.
It's really hard hearing some of the things that he's saying
because I want to see
this little small family-owned business prosper.
That's the bottom line here.
If I had to close the doors it would devastate me bad.
All right, appreciate you.
-Go and get a cup of coffee, relax for a second. -Thank you. [sniffs]
[sighs wearily]
[Robert] I'm at Walters' Gas & Grill in Opelika, Alabama,
where owner Penny has struggled to keep the doors open.
The trauma of losing her son and the realities of her failing health
have left her depleted,
but a gas station turned restaurant also needs major work,
so next I'm meeting with Lynn and Tom to come up with a plan.
Oh, look, Tom. you can fill your truck up while you're here.
-It's a gas station, though. -[chuckles]
This isn't the restaurant, right?
[Lynn] And a grocery store.
-[Robert] Ah! -Hey.
-[Robert] Welcome. -Where have you brought us this time?
-Fuel station with a retail space -[Lynn chuckles]
and a restaurant.
Oh, that's the restaurant back there.
-[Lynn] Oh, there you go. -[Tom] That's the restaurant.
So, this is the first piece the guest sees, obviously, right?
-[Lynn] Oh, this is the kitchen? -[Robert] This is the kitchen.
It looks awful. The countertop is awful.
-It's worn off so bad. -The rust front,
-I mean, we've done rust fronts. -[Lynn] Yeah.
It just doesn't look like a front.
-[Lynn] It doesn't even, yeah. -[Robert] Yeah.
[Lynn] The middle's nice.
It just needs some more color to it.
Then, you know, a 1964 quasi retail store,
and then the restaurant.
So what I'm thinking, we have to, kind of, reverse this.
The restaurant piece has to be first
and all the retail is back there.
-[Robert] So... -Which makes sense so much.
Maybe we can even do some kind of visual separation between the two.
Well, that's what it needs, something to say, well, this is where this starts
-and this is where this ends. -[Tom] Yeah.
[Robert] Floor, I'm all right with the floor.
-I kind of dig it, to be honest with you. -Yeah, if the floor's too nice
the rest is gonna not look good.
[Robert] I would love new tables, chairs.
You know, the lighting's gonna be a problem
-because lighting for a restaurant -[Lynn] Yeah.
and lighting for a store
-are two complete different things. -Absolutely.
-So we have to find something that works in the middle -And...
-For both, yeah. -for both.
[Robert] The banquettes,
if you want to reuse 'em and paint them
I'm okay with that.
-If not, I'm okay with that, too. -[Lynn] Get rid of 'em? Okay.
Well, you know, we usually get rid of those because the place doesn't fit,
but maybe this time if we keep that Southern charm we could actually reuse them.
There's nothing Southern charm
-about this place. -Yeah, but when we're done
-there will be. [chuckles] -Yeah, there's gonna be.
After you put your spin on everything.
All right,
[shouting] Penny, bring in your staff, please.
Let's go.
Quick, quick, quick, come up here.
Nobody touch this corner. We're gonna leave this corner.
Start with these three rows first.
Everything out of this kitchen on that side has to go.
Whoa, I have never seen anything like this in my life.
This is a dying breed, a place like this.
This is gonna be a huge challenge.
The shelves are empty, the floor's filthy,
the furniture's residential.
There's really not much to work with,
so we're gonna get it out and see what we have left.
-You're a doll. -Yeah, no worries.
Thank you so much.
[Penny] It's very frightening.
This has been here since the restaurant's been here,
and it's all disappearing, you know?
It sounds like they're tearing my place apart.
I don't even want to look behind me.
Move.
[Robert] Move out the way.
Got it.
[Robert] All right, everybody out.
Everybody out except the owner.
That's your life, nine years of your life in here.
Just went poof.
And now it's in other people's control now, not mine, so...
-Now you're trusting me -Right.
and I'm gonna give you the knowledge you need.
I can only teach you so much.
-Then it's got to come from here, right? -Right.
You talked to me about food
but I didn't see any passion there.
I need that passion from you
because that's what's gonna make this special.
What do you have at home? Do you have food at home?
-You have a farm, right? -Yeah.
This is what we need to do.
Go home and make me something and I'll come over.
[laughs]
-Now? -Yeah.
-Okay, just anything? -But I want something with passion.
-Well, yeah. -I want something that makes me go,
"Oh, my God."
Off you go home and I'll see you in an hour.
-An hour? -Yeah.
[sighing] Bye.
I'll see you shortly.
[Penny] Chef Irvine just put me on the spot,
and I have, you know, probably one of the best chefs in America
coming to my house and wanting me to feed him,
so I'm very nervous.
I got to get some fresh greens out of the garden
and see what else I have.
Okay.
Well, I need to get out of here.
[Robert] I'm visiting Walters' Gas & Grill in Opelika, Alabama.
Owner Penny says that she has a passion for food
but it's nowhere to be found in her restaurant.
So I've sent her home to make me a dish
that helps her rediscover the joy she once had for cooking.
Making a little cornbread.
We like to cook farm to table.
Here at the house,
I preserve it, you know, in jars and freezers,
and most every night that's how we eat.
So, what I'm making for Robert is lamb chops.
He's eating peas, collard greens from our farm, some jasmine rice,
and a little bit of pan fried cornbread.
I'm just gonna do what I love to do.
He'll walk away with a smile, hopefully.
[Robert] Penny hired Vanessa to manage her restaurant,
but so far I haven't seen Vanessa do anything
except serve cold food.
So I'm sitting down to hear more about her side of her story.
-Hey, Vanessa, do you have a second? -[Vanessa] Hey, yeah.
Take a seat.
Penny said to me that you were the manager,
and yet I feel that there's no leadership,
-Mmm-hmm. -there's no accountability.
The fans were dirty, the walls are dirty, the floors are dirty.
-And I told you this morning, nothing was in temperature. -Mmm-hmm.
I didn't see them taking a thermometer
-and doing anything like that this morning. -Mmm-hmm.
-Do you know what I mean? -I understand.
-Who's controlling the staff? -Miss Penny.
-That's your job. -Right, but at the same time,
if I was to say something to the staff
she's gonna come over and overmind me, per say.
-She makes the final decision here. -Okay.
She makes the final decision, but they're all bad.
What do you know about the restaurant business?
I'm trying to figure out,
because by the time I leave here tomorrow night,
-you need to know everything. -Right, right.
On the money part, um, I do have experience
talking with different vendors.
Coming up with the best prices for--
Explain that. Explain that to me, what do you mean by that?
You know, Miss Penny is very stuck on one vendor.
There's several vendors in our area that,
you know, if you would do your research,
she might get the best cost
from several different vendors.
But she's stubborn like that.
With Miss Penny being so in control,
it's hard to implement any kind of new changes.
[Robert] I'm gonna give you this homework.
Okay.
Pick a couple of items
that you've priced out with different vendors...
Mmm-hmm.
...then tomorrow you can pitch to Penny...
-Okay. Okay. -...so I can hear and see what she does.
I'm up for the challenge.
I genuinely feel like Robert was listening.
That means that he's open for ideas.
So he can help maybe take my ideas
and implement them with Miss Penny.
I know I can lead.
I have the leadership skills that it takes,
and I hope that Miss Penny allows me to do that.
-All right. Thank you very much. -All right. Thank you.
Hey guys.
[Lynn] Hey. Oh, God, he's here.
Wow. A little different.
Yeah, it looks like we blew it up, basically.
-It's a mess. -We did blow it up.
When we came in this morning there was three of these,
elongated. I can see they're a little shorter.
And there's only two.
Because they didn't have enough merchandise for three.
-Yeah. -So...
And we're gonna shift it to the back like you recommended
so we get the grocery back there,
-dining in the front. -Okay.
So what about breaking the space up?
Yeah. And we've actually talked about that. We have a plan.
The good old gas and grill is a disappearing American icon
so I'm glad we're here to save this place.
The first thing I'm gonna do is create a new layout
by moving the grocery to the back
and moving the dining room to the front.
To create seating pods, I'm building new columns
inspired by hay feeders
and adding barn lights above.
We're in cotton country here,
so this place would not be complete
without a hand-painted cotton mural,
and some green just like the farmland to the walls.
All new lighting above.
New farmhouse tables and chairs
will really round out the space.
When we're done, Walters' Gas and Grill
is gonna be an icon ready for the next generation.
You can see how great the wood looks
-next to that green now. -Yeah.
So when we get that around the whole space...
-Yeah. -...it's gonna add a warmth to it.
All right. Appreciate it.
Thanks. Have a good night.
[Robert] Tom and Lynn have an awful lot of work to do.
But my focus now turns back to Penny.
I gave her a mission to go home and cook
something with real passion.
So I'm on my way to her house now
to try her food,
but also to talk to her about her future
and the future of her restaurant.
Come in, Chef.
Welcome to my home.
I wish your restaurant was as nice as this.
-I do, too. -Oh, my God.
-Welcome. -So, what did you make me?
I made you lamb chops,
um, peas from my farm,
collard greens from my farm,
fried corn bread and jasmine rice.
-Let's do it. I'm in. -Okay.
-I'm not eating alone, I hope. -I'll eat with you.
Food is very much, um...
what I consider hope.
Yeah.
-It is. -It is, it really is.
-That's a good way to put it. -It starts conversations.
[Penny] So true.
This is my safe place here.
I'm still nervous,
but I'm hoping Chef Irvine's gonna love it.
So, what do you say?
[Robert] Well, I have to tell you, the end result...
Peas are from here, right?
-You grew them here? -Yes, we grew them here.
We grew the collards here. So basically
everything here is locally raised except for the rice.
-Okay. -Uh, so...
[Robert] Well, first of all...
I have flavor.
The food is really good.
I can see the passion for cooking.
How come these collard greens are different
from the collard greens in the restaurant?
'Cause I cooked them.
It's a challenge, you know?
Just not being there every day.
None of your food had flavor this morning.
-Yeah. -Not anything.
-Grab a chair, let's have a little chat. -Okay.
[Robert sighs]
You have a dilemma.
If you cook, the food is good.
If you don't cook, the food is not good.
-I've been told that. -Right?
So I'm the cook, right? I cook. I'm the same as you.
But I still have four chefs
-that I have to trust. -Mmm.
Do I have to taste everything? Absolutely.
That's my job, that's my reputation.
But I still have to trust them.
I have been there every day for so many years.
Way before Vanessa ever got there.
How I can I trust somebody
that can't even look at something and tell me,
"This grease ain't even 300 degrees in this fire"?
Systems.
There has to be a system for everything we do.
But if you don't trust her enough to make those mistakes,
she'll never learn.
-You're right. You're right. -Right?
And that's what is holding you back.
I have a bad, um, habit of...
just pushing people out of the way and doing it myself.
All right, I'm gonna show you a little exercise outside.
When you see what I'm gonna do you'll understand.
So, uh, follow me.
Now I need to show Penny
that doing everything herself is bad for her health,
and bad for the restaurant.
So, let's just kind of...
do this...
for a second. You like tomatoes?
-I love 'em. -Yeah.
All right.
Ah.
So, what do you do in a day?
-What do I do, an average day? -Yeah, yeah.
Uh...
How many hours in the restaurant do you do?
Roughly.
Um, I don't know. 10 to 20. 20.
-All right. -20.
[bricks slam]
[Robert] What else do you do?
I can a lot.
-You can a lot. -How many hours?
[Penny] Uh, in season I can maybe 10 hours a day.
[Robert] What else?
-Um, I cater a lot. -Cater.
[brick slams]
What else do you do?
I have to take care of my family somewhere in there.
[Robert] How many hours do you take care of your family?
-Oh, not near enough. -What else do you do?
[chuckles nervously] Uh...
[Robert] Take care of the convenience store?
Yeah, we have to make sure the gas reports are done.
-[Robert] Oh, the gas reports? -Yeah.
[Robert] Prepare meals?
Yeah, we do prepare meals at the store when I have time.
[Robert] You garden too, right?
-Garden, yeah, yeah. -Oh.
[brick slams]
Those are really getting squished under there.
[Robert removing bricks]
[Robert] Talked about your health.
Them tomatoes are your health.
You're squeezing the life...
[Penny] Yeah.
[Robert] ...out of yourself.
-Your heart. -[Penny sighs]
-That's your back. -[chuckles softly]
-It's what it feels like right now. -Right.
All these jobs that you have...
that nobody else can do
but they have to learn how to do it,
and you have to learn how to delegate it.
Yeah. [chuckles] Oh, I can't imagine doing that.
[Robert] But then you have to start, because otherwise,
you're gonna kill yourself.
You're literally killing yourself.
[Penny] Yeah, I feel it.
[exhales] Wow.
-You all right? -Yeah.
You know that?
I haven't had anybody put it to me just that direct. Yeah.
Listen to what I'm gonna tell you right now.
You're gonna lose this restaurant,
and you're gonna lose your own life
if you don't do something different.
-This is a wake-up call. -[Penny sighs]
-You've gotta start to let go. -Okay.
And that's the biggest change you're gonna have to face.
Oh, it's gonna be hard.
Now it's time to change.
-It is. I'm ready. -Okay?
-I'm ready. -Good.
Tonight, what I want you to do -
I want you to write down
things that you don't know,
things you think you need to know.
There's a lot I don't know, Chef.
-Okay, then right it down. -Yeah. Okay.
How...
Don't know how to ask this.
When you lost your son, what was your biggest regret?
You don't have to answer that now.
But I want... I do wanna ask you.
I want you to think about that.
You know why I think that's important?
'Cause I think that's what's holding you back.
[Penny sighs]
I think that's why you're afraid to let go.
[Penny] Yeah.
[Robert] Come here. Come here.
I want you to move on.
I'm not saying forget anything.
But I want you to let go of the reins a little bit.
Yeah.
I appreciate you letting me come to your house.
Your house is beautiful.
And I will see you tomorrow.
-All right. Be good. -Thanks, Chef. So much.
[Robert] It's day two and I'm at Walters' Gas and Grill
in Opelika, Alabama,
visiting with Penny, whose passion for food
sustained her after a tragic loss of her son.
Now faced with failing health
and a failing business,
she's overwhelmed and afraid to make changes
necessary to save her business.
But today she needs to let go and trust the process,
or else she could lose Walters' for good.
-Good morning. -Good morning, Chef.
-How are you feeling? -I'm good. I'm good.
So, tell me. A lot went on yesterday. A lot of emotions.
But I think we left on a good plane.
I asked you to do some homework.
The first piece was the list of things
that you do not know.
So what don't you know?
-[chuckles] A lot. -Okay.
I don't know the cost of, uh, my food per serving,
-and I should know that. -Yeah.
I don't know what revenue, uh...
comes in the store, you know?
The money going out.
I don't know how to delegate tasks to others,
and then have them to follow through with it.
And, uh,
I don't know how to manage my employees, apparently.
Okay, I'm gonna go through each one of those with you
step by step later on today.
The second part of that homework
was your biggest regret
after your son had passed.
Uh...
[stutters]
It made me feel, um...
I didn't tell him I loved him enough,
or didn't spend enough time with him.
I just...
I could've done more, you know,
to show him I loved him, and listened to him.
I just immersed myself in anything
and everything I could do
and went right back to the restaurant
and tried to carry on as normal,
and it wasn't normal.
I never, ever have took anything
that meant something to me, like my family, for granted
ever again.
[Robert] I think all the tragedies
you've had in your life
are holding you back
in so many different ways in the restaurant.
You cannot continue
to hold the reins of this restaurant.
Yesterday was a pony. Now you've got a thoroughbred.
Right? The more you hold the reins of a thoroughbred,
the more you stem its success.
So you talked about, yesterday,
that you felt ready to change...
[Penny] Yes.
...and trust Vanessa a bit more,
if she understands more.
-You ready for that? -Definitely.
Okay, can somebody get me Vanessa, please?
The success of Penny's restaurant
hinges on trusting Vanessa
to take the lead as manager.
I hope these two can finally get on the same page.
So, first of all, I asked you to join us
because I believe in total transparency.
So, Vanessa, tell Penny how you feel.
I want you to be honest,
because that's the only way this works.
Right, right.
Um, well, I want you to trust me.
At the restaurant, I know that you're busy with,
uh, everything else that's going on.
I know you're catering and you're canning,
and you rely on me
to be here and to make sure that the...
the restaurant's running like it's supposed to be.
Um... but I feel like sometimes,
that I am handcuffed
and I need to be able to lead the staff.
I understand.
You mentioned that you felt handcuffed.
Especially when we talked about
looking at different vendors.
Tell me about that.
Miss Penny's had the same vendor for a long time.
That's pretty much who we use.
But at the same time,
I also have a close relationship
-with some of the other vendors. -[Penny] Yeah, yeah.
So it's kind of a win-win
if we could kind of meet in the middle
and see what we can do.
You know, Vanessa's right about that.
You know, you go where you're comfortable.
But I think you always have to check.
Because if I can get a dollar a pound off something...
-Yeah. -...immediately, that's good quality,
-then we should be looking at that. -Yeah. You're right.
We have to start depending on each other a little bit more.
-[Penny] Right. -And communicating.
[Penny] Thank you for caring enough
to try to find ways that we can save money
and better our business.
I need you to be right there on, you know, by my side.
That's what I'm here for.
When was the last time you sat down and had a cup of coffee
before you even walk in the place?
Talked about the things that are going on?
-Probably not for a long time. -Yeah.
So you need to find time to do that.
All right, I'm gonna leave you for a couple of minutes.
I'm gonna check in with my design team.
Then we'll start hitting these one by one.
-Okay? -It's exciting. Thank you.
-All right. I will catch up with you shortly. -Okay.
We're gonna make a good team.
-I'm looking forward to it. -All right.
-And you know I love ya. -I love you.
Mmm.
You know, I never realized that Vanessa felt handcuffed.
From this point on,
I'm gonna do what I can to open my ears and heart more
and let her take control.
[Robert] Morning, guys.
-[Tom] Hey Robert. -[Lynn] Hey.
[Robert] How's everybody doing?
[Lynn] Tired.
-Tired? -More than usual.
Like, we've been doing this forever,
we know what to expect, but this one...
snuck up on us.
It was a lot last night.
I mean, we had to make it a restaurant.
[Lynn] It's getting there, though.
Well, it's more than a restaurant.
It's a fuel stop, it's a retail space,
-and a restaurant. So it's three in one. -Yeah.
All right, so let's talk about this.
So we walk in the door,
this is kind of the restaurant space
from the column to...
-Right here. -Here.
There's also some low pony walls
that are coming in between here
so it really defines the space.
That way we can put a table here.
So how high is the pony wall between these two columns?
They're gonna end up being, like, three foot tall.
-[Robert] Okay. -Or a little taller.
And then the columns are only half done.
So the concept behind this is it's...
we're in farm country, it's a country store,
these are like hay feeders.
So we have these screens
that Tom's gonna build all the way around
so it looks like...
it's a hay feeder that's been turned into a column.
And what's gonna go on top and the bottom of them?
Like, two big barn lights,
so it's really gonna have some cool detail when you walk in.
Okay.
So we got our restaurant space,
we got our retail space,
which will be all these...
[Lynn] Perpendicular with the door.
[Robert] Okay.
Kitchen. Love the countertop.
-Counter's amazing. -It's cool, right?
[Robert] I'm loving the wallpaper.
I was a bit worried, but the wallpaper
really stands out on the rust base now.
-[Lynn] It ties it together. -[Robert] The rust base looks like it's meant to be.
-It's starting to tie in. -[Robert] Yeah.
Everything's kinda tying in.
Well, I gotta tell you,
I'm kind of pleasantly surprised.
[Lynn chuckles]
It's almost like a brand-new restaurant. Well, it is.
Almost like a restaurant.
-A restaurant now, yeah. -[Robert laughs]
Okay. I got lots to do.
-Appreciate it. -All right. I'll go make it happen.
[Robert] Tom and Lynn are making progress,
and Penny and Vanessa are finally learning
to communicate and trust one another.
But unless they both learn how to run their numbers,
they'll never be profitable.
So, I wanna talk about your business.
This is your recipe book, right?
-Yeah. -Your recipe book.
Yeah, it's just got the ingredients.
[Robert] This is my recipe book,
with everything costed out.
Wow.
So, what is your food cost, by the way?
What you looking at her for?
[laughs] What's she looking at me for?
[both laugh]
Exactly.
Your food cost, based on your profit and loss statement,
is 55%.
Good God.
[Robert] It should be anywhere from 18 to 22.
Almost triple where you should be.
Which means not making any profit whatsoever.
This is the money that you made
in the month of December, 2021.
Now, if your product was priced correctly,
this is what you would have made.
Wow.
You lost out on more than $27,000 of revenue
because nothing was priced correctly.
If I multiply that by 12 months...
You lost out on more than $27,000 of revenue
because nothing was priced correctly.
If I multiply that by 12 months...
this is the money you lost.
$330,000 because you didn't take the time
-to cost and measure. -[Penny] Mmm.
That's a big number.
Are you shocked at that?
-[Penny] Yes. -Mmm-hmm. Definitely.
-That's a lot. -A lot.
[Robert] Fuel gets them in the door.
And everything else that's in there
is what makes money.
-Only if you know what it costs. -Right.
So let's start with the recipe.
Let's use something really simple.
Say it's a burger. So it starts with one bun,
six-ounce patty,
pickle, tomato, two ounces of cheese.
and four ounces of fries.
Cost of that dish is $3.25.
That's just the food cost.
Okay.
[Robert] So a third is food.
A third is labor.
And a third are overheads.
So I times that by three
to give me the selling price.
$9.75.
So that's the minimum
I can sell this dish for.
That now covers
my overheads, my labor,
and my food.
This is the biggest thing you have to remember.
Wow.
I didn't ever know what to help
how much you do increase your price. Thank you.
[Robert] Because I showed Penny and Vanessa
some brand-new dishes for Walters' menu,
I'm having them teach their cooks
about the importance of recipes and food costs.
We have lost an astronomical amount
of money on our food costs.
-Yeah, it's been a eye-opener. -It's horrible.
And he stressed the importance of recipes.
If you have a recipe, you know what's in it,
then you can add up your food costs, right?
Y'all in the kitchen, the most important, you being the main cook,
we wanted to ask, do you know the hush puppy recipe?
One-and-one-half-cup of meal,
One-and-one-half-cup of flour,
seven eggs, one half-cup of sugar,
um, chopped-up jalapenos,
chopped-up onions, and roll with, mix it.
You got it mostly right.
[Vanessa] Just a titch off on some measurements,
-but, I mean, to have the ingredients down... -Yeah. You had the seven eggs
and the cornmeal and the flour,
of course, as your main ingredients.
But as far as the onion and jalapenos and sugar,
just kinda watch that.
-Great. That's awesome. -[Vanessa] Good.
-Group hug! Group hug! -Oh, you're so warm.
[Robert] I've also instructed the rest of their staff
to clean everything in the kitchen
from top to bottom
as we get closer to the grand reopening.
So, here's the fun part.
We're obviously outside in the wilderness
because you have a kitchen that runs
inside the restaurant that I'm rebuilding.
First thing I wanna do is take a play on a Brunswick stew.
Now, you make yours in the jar.
Mine is slightly different.
I've used sausage and I've used beef,
vegetables, tomatoes.
And I'm gonna make a Brunswick stew nacho.
It's fast, it's money,
and they're already eating it
within a couple of seconds of sitting down.
-Yeah. -Right? And it starts with chips.
I got a little bit of Brunswick stew.
-[Penny] That's beautiful. -[Vanessa] It smells good.
Smells delicious.
[Robert] Then more chips.
Then more stew.
-Mmm. -It's a good serving.
[Penny] It is.
-[Robert] Some cheese sauce. -[Penny sighs contentedly]
Oh, my God, that smell. Do you smell it?
Then goes pickled onions. Oh, yeah, baby.
-Then cilantro. -[Penny] Mmm.
Go for it. Eat.
Use your fingers, get in there.
-That was amazing. -Every table should have that.
It's simple, it's fast.
-[Penny] And it's delicious. -[Vanessa] It is.
[Robert] It cost me $2.54 for that.
We're gonna sell it for $10,
giving me $7.46
in my pocket every time I sell that.
That's Merry Christmas to me
-and to you. -Mmm.
-It was amazing. -Right? Isn't that good?
Yeah.
It's simple, look, you've gotta make a menu
that can be put out fast.
Right.
[Robert] But it's also flavorful.
There's no excuse for not having
-flavorful food. -[Penny] So flavorful, yeah.
While you're eating that I'm gonna get my next dish up.
I'm gonna make you a collard green pasta.
Oh, my.
[Robert] I'm gonna start with spiral pasta.
I'm just gonna literally warm it through.
I have collard greens, smoked turkey, bacon.
Oh, my God, this is gonna be like heaven.
-[Vanessa] Yeah, looks great. -[Penny] It smells so good.
-[Robert] A little cheese. -[Penny] What kind of cheese?
-Reggiano. -Okay.
Some scallion and some cornbread crumbles.
[Penny] Wow.
[Robert] Go for it.
-[Vanessa] Oh, my goodness. -That's crazy good. Wow.
The first bite I got was the crunch
-of the cornbread. -Oh, yeah.
That is amazing, Chef.
So what's even more amazing is
-it cost us $2.79 to make. -[Penny] Wow.
We're selling for 14 bucks,
giving us $11.21 in my pocket every time I sell that.
Wow.
Do you notice, cooking is not stress?
[Penny] No.
It takes minutes to cook.
The next one. You made me chicken yesterday
with absolutely no flavor whatsoever.
So I'm gonna take a take on what you did yesterday,
taking chicken and making it into a cutlet.
I've got my pan nice and hot here.
Take a little bit of oil. Chicken breast.
This is basically a take on Wiener schnitzel,
-for want of better words. -Yes.
Take a little bit of butter.
That gives us the richness.
Sweet potatoes. Diced and fried.
This is a bacon vinaigrette.
Oh, my gosh.
[Robert] Notice what I'm doing
with the sweet potato and that vinaigrette.
I'm having it reduce down so it coats the potato.
-Watch. -[Vanessa] And it smells delicious.
-[Penny] Yes it does. -[Vanessa] That sizzle.
That aroma is just, mmm.
[Robert] Onions and mustard that's reduced down.
-Chicken. -[Penny] Mmm.
The mustard sauce.
Go for it.
Get some of the mustard.
Mmm.
God, it's good.
[Robert] Cost was $3.11.
We're gonna sell it for $16.
And $12.89 in our pocket.
Well worth it.
You cook food like this in that restaurant
I'm making over there,
nobody can touch you.
-I'm so excited. -Put this food out,
it's gonna be amazing.
And I know we can put this food out.
-Yes. -Thank you.
-[Robert] All right? -Thank you so much.
I'm gonna check in on my design team. Enjoy eating.
-Thank you so much. -Bring some other things over here and we'll be good.
-All right. -I'm gonna get one more bite.
So, it's three o'clock right now and we haven't even touched the floor.
We're still building walls, we're putting lights on,
we're painting, trying to put all the signs up.
So everybody is in it.
Uh... it's crazy.
[Tom] 9978s, please.
The chairs are all ready to go. Right back there.
Get the vacuum.
Anything here we can take out, let's take it out. Guys.
Let's go. Get open.
Coming through, coming through.
You know where it's going, right?
Let's move this out the way. All right, that's it.
We gotta go.
Right, everybody out, everybody out!
Get out of here.
Thank you, everybody.
[Penny] So, the past 48 hours with Chef Irvine
has been very enlightening,
and I haven't felt this promising
in a long, long time.
I think I can step back now
because I can trust Vanessa.
I can feel some of the weight
just lifting up a little bit already.
Let it go.
You don't have to be in control of everything.
Just let it go.
I can see this place being here for a long time.
A long, long time.
-Hello, hello, hello. -[Penny yells] Ah!
-Oh, there he is. -This is time.
I'm gonna take you in first.
-Oh, okay. -Okay?
-Mmm. -So come over here.
-Okay. -Stand here.
Close your eyes. I'm gonna hold your hand
'cause I'm gonna open the door and walk you in.
-Ready? -Ready.
[Robert] Okay. Here we go.
Okay, you're gonna walk this way.
Keep your eyes closed.
Are you ready?
[shouts] I'm so ready!
Open your eyes.
-Are you ready? -[shouts] I'm so ready!
Open your eyes.
Oh, my God.
[Penny sobbing]
Wow!
Oh, my gosh. Oh, walls are beautiful.
Oh, my gosh, it's beautiful!
[sniffles] It's...
so beautiful. Wow.
[Robert] Everything you've been through,
I think you deserve this.
[Penny] Thank you.
Your son is now looking down on you right now.
He's watching over, he sure is.
He's smiling.
[chuckles]
He's saying, "You go, Mom."
Go on, have a look.
All new lighting.
-All new tables, new chairs. -I love the lights.
[Robert] Look at this.
[Penny] Gorgeous wood.
-New front. -Wow.
[Penny] Oh, it's so rustic.
I love it. I'm just in awe.
Why are you crying?
[laughs] I'm happy. These are happy tears.
Yesterday you didn't like me so much.
I was crying for a different reason yesterday.
Look this way.
-This is your retail. -Look how marvelous.
-This is your retail. -[Penny laughs]
-This is how a store looks. -[Penny laughs]
You have a brand-new top.
-Brand-new cupboards. -Oh, it's gorgeous.
-Yes. -These were your original.
-I love the color. -Right?
[Penny] That's the same ones.
I don't know if I'm going home tonight.
I wanna stay here. [laughs]
I'm gonna go get your husband.
Put your hands down.
Open your eyes, babe.
[Penny laughs]
Oh, my lord.
[Penny laughs]
-[Robert W.] This is unreal. -[Penny] Isn't it gorgeous?
-And the painting. -Yeah.
-The cotton field. -It's cotton, yeah.
That's amazing, isn't it?
[Robert] It is.
-[Penny] Oh, my gosh. -Hey, hey.
Wow, look at this place.
Looks like an old country store now.
-Amazing, guys. -How you doing?
-Congratulations. -Thank y'all so much.
You guys match the restaurant.
We've got... Yeah!
We've got the hay
-from the columns in your shirt... -Hay!
...and the green from the walls.
-Robert, how you doing? -What do you think?
Oh, so... It's amazing.
-Oh, good. -Absolutely amazing.
Y'all are... Y'all just don't know.
My heart is so full right now.
There's nothing you cannot do in this restaurant.
[Penny sighs] Oh, my gosh.
[Robert] You're gonna walk out the door,
you're gonna invite people in.
-Okay? Off you go. -So excited.
So, everyone, welcome!
I'm so glad you get to see the new Walters'.
Come on in, come on in.
[laughter]
[gasping]
[Penny] I know, right?
[Robert] Ain't this crazy?
See?
Look over there.
Oh, my gosh.
Look at the cotton painting on the wall.
It is such a big change. It looks amazing.
Looks great. It's perfect. It's still country.
-Good to have y'all. -Yes, ma'am.
Wonderful to have y'all.
[Robert] Tonight, Penny needs
to trust Vanessa to be an active manager
who completely leads her staff.
Hey, hey. I'm gonna get you on the tables, yeah?
And make sure when they get up,
everything's cleaned up, okay?
Y'all okay over here? Y'all need anything?
Y'all just remember, offer them desserts,
see if they want an extra drink.
Just gotta make sure we keep our sales going.
[Robert] And I want to see Penny step back
so she can concentrate on the big picture.
Vanessa, can you help me do the sales report?
-Yeah. Right here. -Yeah.
-Got it? -Wonderful.
Thank you so much.
-I'm getting better. I'm getting better. -You are.
That is delicious, girl.
[Robert] Right now we've got one, two, three,
four, five tables in. The kitchen is doing great.
Yesterday there was no cooking. Now we're cooking.
That's a restaurant.
Where people come to eat.
[people chattering]
The chicken cutlet is very good.
The chicken is crispy
and the flavor is just... it's awesome.
[woman] The Brunswick stew nachos, absolutely delicious.
10 out of 10.
I've never had collard green pasta before.
It's creative, and it's what Alabama needs.
[Penny's son] Penny's my mom
and she cooks for me all the time,
and this is a little bit different than what she normally does
but I like the new style a lot.
-Hey. -Hey.
-Thank you so much. -You're welcome.
You have just got it running so smooth.
I feel great. I really think just us communicating
and listening to one another,
it's really boosted both our morale, really.
A fresh look, a fresh start.
You know, there's nothing but the future now.
Well, it's good to have y'all.
It's amazing what Robert has created here,
in this little-bitty community,
and I can't believe what I see.
This is my country restaurant.
This is where I'm supposed to be.
-You hear the buzz? -Yes.
It's a wonderful sound.
Thank you so much.
[Robert] There's nothing that you can't do.
I gotta tell you, I am so impressed
the way the staff and Penny
have come along over the last two days.
Her fuel stop, her retail store,
and her restaurant. [chuckles]
I'm so happy right now.
[woman] My daughter and my chef,
they have the same goal
but they don't wanna reach it together.
-Oh, you're just not gonna say nothing? -Woman, I'm busy right now.
If you don't know what to do
then I'mma tell you what to do.
Stop it! I don't want you guys to say nothing else.
Lose the ego, lose the ego. It's your restaurant.
Boom!
Your life is about to change.
Get on the same page.
This restaurant could be a $1 million-plus restaurant.
But you've gotta work together.
Open your eyes.