(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 1 | View All Season 1 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: February 2, 2011
Rascal's BBQ and Crab House Address: 1102 N Dupont Hwy New Castle, DE 19720
Episode Recap
Rascal’s BBQ and Crab House was a New Castle, Delaware restaurant featured on Season 1 of Restaurant Impossible.
Though the Rascals Restaurant Impossible episode aired in February 2011, the actual filming and visit from Robert Irvine took place before that.
It was Season 1 Episode 3.
Rascal’s BBQ and Crab House is in New Castle, DE.
If you’re not familiar with Delaware geography, New Castle is on the Delaware River and near Wilmington. The closest major city is Philadelphia, which is just up the Delaware River.
Rascal’s is owned by Steve Kledaras, who purchased the restaurant from his father.
The restaurant is over forty years old, but Steve only took control of it nine years ago, which mean’s had it for less than a decade at the time of the Rascals Restaurant Impossible visit.
He has been an employee of the restaurant for years and, with the support of his wife, Courtney, took over the family business.
Unfortunately, the restaurant is now losing thousands of dollars a month, and without help, Rascal’s BBQ and Crab House will close.
Robert Irvine arrives, and the first thing he notices is a disgusting smell emanating from the restaurant.
The restaurant is dirty and untidy. There are years of dirt built up on the ceiling fans.
Three food critics join Robert Irvine and will taste various dishes, but the meals and service the critics receive are awful.
The chicken is dry, the clams are rubbery, and the soup is cold.
Robert inspects the kitchen and is disgusted to find grime and grease caked on the surfaces.
There are also dead flies everywhere.
In addition to the dirt and flies, there are mouse droppings, rotten produce, and trash bags in the dining room.
Steve meets with Robert and expects positive feedback but is shocked to hear otherwise.
Robert calls a staff meeting and makes the employees clean the restaurant.
The staff has to wear protective employment, and once everything is removed, the actual state of the kitchen is revealed.
The situation is so bad that Robert Irvine has to call in a professional cleaning service and a waste removal company.
The cleaning and waste removal service cuts into the renovation budget, and there are only $5,000 left for the design team.
Taniya is informed she will have half her usual budget.
To keep costs down, she is taken to the trash pile filled with recyclable metal to see if there is anything of use.
The kitchen needs a deep cleaning, so a makeshift one is set up in the restaurant’s parking lot.
Steve learns basic cooking skills from Robert. Crab cakes and brisket with a dry rub are added to the menu.
Robert wonders if Steve will keep the good work up after he leaves.
The kitchen doesn’t just have a problem with dirt and grime – there are also rodents.
Live mice are found in the kitchen and over ten dead ones.
Exterminators are called into Rascal’s BBQ and Crab House.
The following day Robert returns, and the kitchen is sparkling clean.
He meets with the design team and isn’t happy with their design, and they make changes.
Two servers, Tess and Erin, meet with Robert, who teaches them customer service skills.
Robert goes to the Chamber of Commerce with brisket to promote the relaunch.
Steve and Courtney are overwhelmed when they see all of the design team’s changes.
Steve asked some friends to assist him in the kitchen, but he needed Roberts’s help.
The servers struggle but get better as the night goes on. The customers leave happy.
Rascal's BBQ and Crab House Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Rascals Restaurant Impossible update, let’s talk about what happened to the restaurant after Robert Irvine and his crew left New Castle, Delaware.
Given the state of the kitchen on the episode, you probably don’t have high hopes for its success…and you wouldn’t be wrong.
However, it’s worth pointing out that Steve claims the Restaurant Impossible producers made the restaurant seem dirtier than it was. Who knows where the truth lies.
What I do know, though, is that Rascal’s BBQ and Crab House no longer exists as of 2024.
Is Rascal’s BBQ from Restaurant Impossible still open?
Rascal’s BBQ and Crab House closed in May 2011, just a few months after the Rascals Restaurant Impossible episode aired on TV.
The restaurant just never had a chance. After Robert’s visit, Steve was only opening the restaurant on the weekends, which is already a bit odd.
He also ditched a lot of Robert Irvine’s menu changes and went back to the old situation, so the closure really shouldn’t come as a surprise.
As of 2022, the old Rascal’s restaurant New Castle, DE location is occupied by a cigar shop named Tobacco Field II. So it appears that there will be no more crab served there.
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/rascals-crab-and-seafood-restaurant-new-castleWhat did you think about the episode? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
You can also click the buttons below to share this post!
And don't forget to check out all of the other Restaurant Impossible updates.
Last updated: 2022-05-19 03:28
It wouldn’t have mattered how positively that restaurant had transformed after the show. I, like I’m sure a lot of others, felt that the state of that restaurant that was shown at the beginning of that episode was no accident. It was due to laziness and owners that simply had no clue. My opinion is that no matter how well the kitchen was cleaned during the show, it would eventually return to the condition it was at the beginning of the show. I have to believe that if you were to visit the home of the owners at that time you would have seen a similar state of cleanliness. The show may not have helped the restaurant but it did provide a service to the public. That is the closing of a restaurant that should not have been in business.
Hell yeah!!!
My thoughts exactly.
Don’t any of these towns have heath inspectors that check restaurants?
Secret garden restaurant is it still going
There is no reason for any restaurant or home to be that NASTY and FILTHY! I don’t see how the Drlaware Health Dept. allows any restaurant to stay open as disgusting as it was. I don’t think Steve knew what he was doing and I also think he was lazy as well as his staff. No knowledge or direction; not willing to change or accept suggestions. I feel sorry for his children. Sad!
I’m just happy that they’re out of business…
They’re hoarders and need professional help and lots of it. I feel sad for them and I hope they got the help they really needed.
Just rewatched this episode. I think the owner was a hoarder. I’m from the south and have eaten in some run down places and liked it. I would not set foot in this place!
It was a gross pigsty that made my skin crawl just watching it on TV!
They choose to be in the kind of life they live right now!! If they were just open on week-ends when Restaurant Impossible went to their place, I don’t think owning a restaurant is what they want to do in life!!