Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant – 24 Hours to Hell and Back Update – Still Open?

Is Lowery's Seafood Restaurant still open today?

Current Status: >> CLOSED <<
(keep reading to learn what happened)

Season: 3 | View All Season 3 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: January 7, 2020
Lowery's Seafood Restaurant Address: 528 N Church Ln Tappahannock, VA 22560
Lowery's Seafood Restaurant - 24 Hours to Hell and Back Update


Episode Recap

Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant was a Tappahannock, Virginia restaurant featured on Season 3 of Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back.

Though the Lowery’s Seafood 24 Hours to Hell and Back episode aired in January 2020, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place earlier in October 2019.

It was Season 3 Episode 1 of 24 Hours to Hell and Back.

In this episode, Gordon Ramsay and his Hell on Wheels bus head to Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant.

Located in Tappahannock, Virginia, Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant opened over 80 years ago.

The owner’s grandparents opened the restaurant close to the best fishing locations in town.

At the time of the episode, the Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant owner is Duby Lowery.

He’s also assisted by his brother David, who is the manager at the restaurant.

Because Duby was given the restaurant and not David, a rift has formed in the brothers’ relationship.

Anthony’s line cook thinks that servers Arlene and Pam are the only reason the restaurant is still running.

Arlene and Pam have been at the restaurant for over thirty years, so they’ve become real fixtures of the place over that time.

Duby’s parents fund the restaurant, and they blame Duby for the restaurant’s failure.

They say he is slacking off and can do better, which is always a tough thing to hear from your parents, right?

When Gordon Ramsay arrives at Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant, he goes in undercover, as he usually does on 24 Hours to Hell and Back.

During his visit, Gordon is disguised as a retired person.

It’s pretty funny seeing him look so old haha.

When Gordon Ramsay enters Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant, he is immediately put off by the overwhelming smell of seafood. 

I mean, it’s obviously supposed to be pretty seafood-heavy given the name, but you still don’t want to be smelling fish the entire time, right?

To test the food, Gordon orders the crab cakes, the ribeye, and the oyster bowl.

I always think it’s weird ordering steak at a seafood restaurant, but I guess that Gordon wants to get the full experience.

As you’ve probably come to expect from 24 Hours to Hell and Back, there are a lot of issues with the food.

The steak comes out overcooked, and the crab and oysters are spoiled.

Gordon Ramsay then reveals his identity to the restaurant and says he has had a dreadful experience.

To start turning things around, Gordon then takes everyone out to the Hell on Wheels bus. 

They watch the kitchen’s hidden footage, see expired foods, and even overhear a staff member admitting to a salmonella outbreak. Yuck!

The customers are disgusted and refuse to return, but Gordon invites them to come back in 24 hours for the relaunch. 

Duby is barely at the restaurant, and there is a lack of leadership.

Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant doesn’t buy from suppliers because they cannot afford to pay them.

Many of the staff don’t get paid on time, either, which obviously isn’t great for morale. 

I know that I wouldn’t really care about my work if I weren’t getting paid on time.

Duby begins to get defensive about the state of things at Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant, so Gordon has to talk him down. 

This is also the time when Gordon goes into the restaurant to investigate the back-of-house areas in person.

The kitchen is covered in grime and grease and just generally a disgusting disaster.

The walk-in refrigerator smells and has black mold.

The restaurant has been storing raw beef near cooked fried chicken, which is obviously a huge contamination risk.

As Jon Taffer would say, “You’re going to kill somebody”.

There is also over $1,000 of wasted produce in the fridge, which is part of what explains why Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant is doing poorly financially.

Gordon then discovers the oysters he was served yesterday covered in slime.

He is angry as those oysters could have poisoned him (and it also explains why he didn’t like the food).

After the staff finishes cleaning the kitchen, Gordon takes the team to the Hell on Wheels bus to learn and practice the new menu.

Line cook Anthony is promoted to head chef, and David is trained as the kitchen manager.

Gordon brings in David and Duby’s mom.

She wants to help the brothers mend their relationship. 

On relaunch night, Gordon catches Anthony almost serving raw chicken, which would be another huge issue.

Gordon has to give him a pep talk and remind him to slow down and only to send out quality food.

So far, the customers and the brothers are happy.

Anthony continues to struggle, though, and walks out after he sends out chicken that is raw in the middle.

He comes back and overcooks a fish dish; he then leaves for good. 

When Gordon leaves, though, things seem to be looking better for Lowery’s Seafood.

So was the Lowery’s Gordon Ramsay visit a long-term success?

Keep reading to learn what happened next and if this Tappahannock seafood restaurant is still open in 2024.


Lowery's Seafood Restaurant Update - What Happened Next?

So, what happened to Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant after Gordon Ramsay and 24 Hours to Hell and Back?

Well, things started off much better…

Three months later, the numbers are up.

Chuck has stepped up in the kitchen, and both Duby and David are working well together.

However, the good times would not last…

Is Lowery’s Seafood still open after Gordon Ramsay?

Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant closed in August 2020, around seven months after the 24 Hours to Hell and Back episode aired.

In announcing the closure, there was a sign outside the restaurant that said the following:

Closed.

Stay Safe.

God Bless.

There was also a for sale/lease sign on the building, which you can see in this image from Google Maps:

Lowery's Seafood Restaurant closed sign

The restaurant filed for bankruptcy, so it appears that the problem was mainly to due with money issues and debt.

They originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 20, 2020.

However, they later converted that into a Chapter 7 liquidation.

For a time, the old Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant location seemed to be empty.

For example, when I checked again in 2022, the old Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant location in Tappahannock, Virginia was vacant (as you can see in the picture above).

However, as of 2024, it seems like the location is occupied by a new seafood restaurant named 528 Prime Steak & Seafood.

You can see the new tenant in the most recent picture from Google Maps street view:

The building still has the big Lowery’s sign on the brick wall, but all of the other signage is for 528 Prime Steak & Seafood.

However, reviews for 528 Prime Steak & Seafood don’t seem very good, as it has just a 2.6 Yelp rating on 33+ reviews.

Final thoughts on Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant

Overall, Gordon Ramsay was not able to turn Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant’s 80+ year history into long-term success.

While things seemed to be looking better for the restaurant when he left, the restaurant just seems to have been dealing with too much debt.

Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant filed for bankruptcy just around 7-8 months after the episode aired on TV and never re-opened.

As of 2024, the old Lowery’s location is occupied by a new seafood restaurant named 528 Prime Steak & Seafood.

That wraps up my Lowery’s Gordon Ramsay update.

If you want to see some other Virginia 24 Hours to Hell and Back episodes, you can check out my updates for Seafarer’s Family Restaurant / Halterman’s Eatery in Manquin and Southern Kitchen in Richmond.

If you want to see an update for the next episode from Season 3, you can check out my Blend on Main update in Manasquan, NJ.

And if you want to share your thoughts on the Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant episode, you can do so using the comments section below.

As always – thanks for reading!


More Information

https://www.yelp.com/biz/lowerys-tappahannock
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g58239-d786561-Reviews-Lowery_s_Seafood_Restaurant-Tappahannock_Virginia.html



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Last updated: 2024-02-10 08:22

5 thoughts on “Lowery’s Seafood Restaurant – 24 Hours to Hell and Back Update – Still Open?”

All comments are the sole opinion of the commenter and are not endorsed by RealityTVUpdates.

  1. I first stopped at this restaurant in 1970. Whenever I was in the area, I always ate there. The food wa sgood.
    I was particularly interested in the antique cars in the rear of the building.

    Does anyone know what happened o the cars?

    Reply
  2. Went to Lowery’s after the re-do, not impressed.

    The new restaurant is 528 Prime Steak & Seafood, seems to be doing well, haven’t been yet.

    Reply
  3. It was a place for high school students and their families. The menu was pretty diverse and the food was delicious. I loved the shrimp and oysters. Antique cars were part of the decor.
    Ramsay didn’t understand the culture. He couldn’t pronounce the name of the restaurant or the town. It’s Law reez and Tap a haa nock.
    I wish the new owners well.

    Reply
  4. Flowers had really good food at one time. All of our family members would go there to have fried oysters they had the best. And one evening my spouse and I decided to go to Lawry’s for dinner and they had a buffet. We both were extremely sick by the time we got home. After seeing Gordon Ramsay’s 24 hours to hell and back we now understand why. And it’s just a shame that it went downhill like it did.

    Reply

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