Business & Tech

'Restaurant Impossible' Gives Hurley's New Lease on Life

Business has been booming at Hurley's American Grille–formerly Edibles Restaurant & Pub–since celebrity chef Robert Irvine and his Food Network crew renamed it, revamped the menu and spruced up the dining room.

When Steven Hurley was 11 years old, he joined his uncle, aunt and cousins working at their restaurant washing dishes and doing “odd jobs.”

By the time he was 13, Hurley started cooking at what until recently had been known to people in and around Horsham as Edibles Restaurant & Pub.

“I’ve been doing the same exact thing for so long, day in and day out,” said Hurley, now 42, of Upper Moreland, while sitting in the dining room of the newly named Hurley’s American Grille, 561 Horsham Road in Horsham, prior to its opening Sunday.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Coming up with the day’s lunch and dinner specials had become a matter of “going through the motions.”

Frozen rather than fresh food was chosen for ease and “speed” of preparation, said Hurley, the restaurant’s general manager.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

“Our customers wanted everything in 10 minutes of less,” Hurley said. “Everyone wants their food quick.”

(For more on Hurley American Grille's new and tweaked offerings, click here. To see what was cut from the episode that aired, click here).

But, one man, lots of cameras and $10,000 in renovations changed all of that. In May, celebrity chef Robert Irvine and his “Restaurant Impossible” crew from the Food Network spent a few days at the Horsham Road eatery in an attempt to change the tide of the business, which owner John Hurley Sr. had previously described to Patch as failing.

During the subsequent 44-minute episode–which Steven Hurley said was edited down from roughly 90 hours of footage–the long-time cook who had grown bored with his family’s business admitted to being excited about working there again.

A week after the show’s original airing, he smiles from ear-to-ear while talking about how busy the restaurant is, how hard everyone is working and how long the waits are to get a table at the 60-seat restaurant.

“It’s almost like having a new job,” he said.

An “Impossible” buzz

From the time Patch broke news of the “Restaurant Impossible” filming until now, the Hurley family has been sworn to secrecy.

People from 26 states have called, emailed and sent messages on Facebook, including a woman from Alabama who regularly calls hoping to speak to John Hurley Jr., the son of the owner.

“It’s funny that you would actually have fans,” Steven Hurley said. “The lady from Alabama, she’s in love with my cousin Johnny. We tease him a little bit about it.”

Despite the buzz, the family–because of contractual obligations with the Food Network–was not permitted to speak about the show or any of the residuals from having Irvine lend his cooking and restaurant expertise until a week after the show’s original July 21 air date.

“You couldn’t push it on Facebook,” Steven Hurley said. “You’re like a kid on Christmas morning. ‘Here’s your present, but don’t open it.’ “

Of course, the “Restaurant Impossible” “present” was unwrapped prior to Mother’s Day when the new sign was hung outside, unveiling the new name. The dining room and hostess area were revamped and new menu choices were offered.

Shifting from red to black: Possible

Now, that the cat is officially allowed to be out of the bag, Steven Hurley is excited to share how far he’s watched his family’s business come in such a short time.

For starters, the seven family Hurley members who regularly work there no longer make up half of the workforce. Steven Hurley said the business has grown from 14 employees previously to between 24 and 26.

With lunch hours that blend to dinner with none of the previous “lull,” more hands are definitely needed to get the job done.

“If we can keep business like this, it’s extremely tiring, but that would be great,” he said. “The business makes more money. John makes more money. The servers are definitely making more money." 

And with the revelation from the TV show that owner John Hurley Sr. was losing between $3,000 and $4,000 a week and $600,000 last year, an increase in revenue was needed to keep the business afloat.

“Our daytime crowd was a lot of the businesses in the area,” Steven Hurley said. “When you drive by them now it’s all ‘for lease.’ ”

Even without the shot in the arm from “Restaurant Impossible,” “we’d still be going,” he said.

The uptick in revenue definitely has not come without work. On Sunday morning, several hours before opening, John "Johnny" Hurley Jr., 36, was busily working in the kitchen, preparing meatballs, chicken stock, ham and Navy bean soup, tomato sauce, baking chicken and roasting pork.

“Things have been good,” Johnny Hurley said. “Things are going in a positive direction.”

His father, John Sr. was there too busy as he is most days with food prep and paperwork.

“I’m up to my ears in paperwork,” the owner told Patch.

Breaking old habits: Impossible 

One of the suggestions that Irvine had made during the show was for John Sr. to delegate some of the responsibilities so he and his wife, Butzy, weren’t working as much. 

His son said that has not happened.

“He works more now,” Johnny Hurley said of his father.

But, it’s John Sr.’s dedication and hard work that propels the family forward and keeps all who work there willing to go the extra mile, according to Steven Hurley.

During a scene cut from the episode, Steven Hurley said he got “emotional” while talking about his uncle and what a driving force he is not only for the business, but for the Hurley family.

“He works a gazillion hours,” Steven Hurley said of John Hurley Sr. “I look up to his work ethic and I’m proud of the job he’s done.”

Like his uncle, Steven Hurley, who began working at an age when most kids are more concerned with video games and hanging out with friends, internalized some of those early work lessons.

“Instead of delegating I’m in there doing it myself,” he said of sweeping and mopping the floors at the end of the night. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here