History Series / RestaurantImpossible

* DropTheHammer: Robert ''loves'' to wield his sledgehammer when clearing out the restaurants, sometimes to the horror of his designers. In the 100th Episode Special, it was revealed that he has gone through at least 40 different sledgehammers because his designers get so frustrated that they keep hiding them or throwing them away.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Of ''Series/DinnerImpossible''.

It's ''Series/KitchenNightmares''... [[RecycledINSPACE WITH ROBERT IRVINE]]! On Creator/FoodNetwork!

* TheMeanBrit: Robert can very much come off as this, though he's always quick to say that he's just trying to help.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Despite the show's TV-G rating, "damn", "hell", and in rare cases "pissed" often are used.

* OnceAnEpisode: In the earlier episodes, Robert would gather the restaurant staff around his paper board and outline the bullet points of everything he needs to do. Actually, it's a callback to ''Series/DinnerImpossible''.

** In the revival, the show alternated conventional episodes with "Revisited" episodes, where Robert and the owners of a restaurant he visited would review the previous episode before Robert returns to you restaurant to see what progress has been made.

* {{Retool}}: Starting in Season 12 the show changed format, with Robert & co. "ambushing" owners by showing up to the restaurant unannounced.

* BoredomMontage: Robert in one episode where he had the owner read the restaurant's [[LongList 180+ item menu]] aloud in order to hammer home the point of why an outsized menu is bad for customers. It took the owner ''over 20 minutes'' to finish reading it.

* CompanionCube: It was revealed in the "making-of" episode that the ''Restaurant: Impossible'' team kept a taxidermied fox from the Snooty Fox episode (from Indianapolis) when they were cleaning out the restaurant and turned it into their mascot. It travels with the power tools they use in remodels, and gets dressed up periodically.

* GenreSavvy: Maria at Mamma Lucrezia's expected Robert to completely tear apart her food and the service, a rarity for the program. Robert actually enjoyed her food and didn't see anything to change about the service.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: While visiting the Cocomoda chocolate shop, the arrogant inflexible owner and head chef proved to be such a problem that Executive Producer Marc Summers had to come out of the production vehicle and sit everyone down. You know the situation's bad when it manages to piss ''Marc Summers'' off.

** One of the cooks at the Wagon Wheel, who is the owner's grandson, quits because he's lost his passion for working there. He's been habitually late -- by as much as 2 1/2 hours -- for his shifts. He'd gotten away with his constant tardiness because his grandmother wasn't able to separate family from the business (her daughter and granddaughter also work there; the daughter decided to stick around when faced with a similar decision while the granddaughter is studying business in college anticipating taking it over someday).

** At Mike La Susa's, Robert confronted the eponymous chef's father Pat, who alongside his wife had been chewing out Mike constantly the first day. Pat's response was to leave the meeting and drive home in his car. He was not seen again for the remainder of the episode, not even for the unveiling of the new interiors, which everybody attached to the restaurant normally at least attends.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: The head chef of Cave Inn BBQ calls himself a "culinary chemist," never a "chef." He does get referred to as an "executive chef" though.

* BerserkButton: Robert has several:
** Canned or frozen food. One of the quickest ways to tell when a restaurant is in trouble is if it's overusing frozen food; it's cost ineffective (fresh food is generally cheaper), rarely, if ever, of good quality, and is frequently used as a crutch by chefs who either don't know how or are unwilling to make things themselves. He looked like he was going to have a stroke when he realized that one chef's "family recipe" barbecue sauce mostly came from a bottle.
** Oversized menus as well. He always seems to cut the menu to one page or maybe two. One establishment had 400 (!) items on its menu. Another restaurant had over 200, including 32 different steak dishes
** Filthy kitchens. [[CatchPhrase "YOU'RE GONNA KILL SOMEONE!"]] In the El Bistro episode, he was so outraged at the sheer filth of the entire restaurant - which was just about as bad as Rascals or [=McShane's=] - that he was literally on the verge of [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere walking out and refusing to do the mission]].
** Do not imply that Robert intentionally messes up your restaurant for show. He will be very quick to correct you.
** Certain design elements always get Robert's goat: carpets, tablecloths, fake plants, and Christmas lights are always among the first things to be torn down and thrown out during the design phase. They went to ''town'' incorporating every single one of his pet peeves into the set design for the 100th episode special.
** Another one is owners not knowing their finances at all, which is amazing really. Robert was particularly astonished when this was the case with Grace's Place Bagels and Cafe, whose co-owner, Eddie, is a math teacher; and at Scrimmages, which kept no organized records of money despite one of the co-owners being a professional accountant.

* LighterAndSofter: Of ''Series/KitchenNightmares'', to a degree. Robert tends to take a gentler approach than Creator/GordonRamsay, though he can definitely go to town on a luckless restaurant owner or staff member if something pushes a BerserkButton (as seen in other entries here). Also, Robert has a livelier sense of humor than Gordon, who tends to be very intense and serious, and doesn't swear ''nearly'' as much.