CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Big Tom’s Backyard Grill and Bar in Cleveland, Tennessee was on the verge of closing its doors but has been rescued by the Food Network’s TV show "Restaurant Impossible." The episode aired Thursday night.
Owners Sabrina Anderson and Tommy Anderson said they had risked losing everything more than once after buying the restaurant. Tommy or "Big Tom" suffered a heart attack from anxiety.
“It got to the point where he would be here when it opened and stayed until it closed,” said Sabrina Anderson.
Big Tom worked relentlessly to keep it afloat which made his health and marriage suffer. "It just got to a place where I just wanted my husband back,” she said.
Then Restaurant Impossible contacted the two and swept in to rescue the restaurant and their marriage.
"We were within two weeks probably of locking the door and throwing in the towel,” said Tommy Anderson.
During the pandemic, sales slowed drastically and hit them hard.
"Two or three months behind on our light bill, two-three months behind on our rent,” said Tommy Anderson.
They said they did not have enough money to pay staff members, their children working for them or even pay vendors.
The celebrity chef and host of "Restaurant Impossible" Robert Irvine and his team reworked the menu, did bookkeeping and gave the restaurant a makeover.
Since the show was filmed in February, and especially after the episode aired, the owners said sales have more than doubled.
They added because they’ve gotten busier than ever, they haven’t been able to have as many date nights as they would have liked.
However, new financial freedom will allow them to focus more on their marriage.
“Being able to hire someone a little bit to help where we can go on a vacation or we can go on a date night,” said Sabrina.
"We are actually seeing the sun, we are going to come out of this tunnel eventually,” said Tommy Anderson.
You can visit the restaurant at 88 Mouse Creek Road NW in Cleveland.