TV Restaurants

What Happened to De Rican Chef? (Virginia Beach, VA)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, De Rican Chef has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Yelp's listing for the featured oceanfront address, updated July 2026, marks it closed; a separate, actively updated Yelp listing for the brand's Holland Rd location, updated August 2026, shows the De Rican Chef name continuing to operate elsewhere in Virginia Beach.

  • Season / episode Season 13, Episode 2
  • Original air date
  • Address 325 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
  • Current name De Rican Chef (Holland Road location)

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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) featured De Rican Chef, a Puerto Rican restaurant on Virginia Beach Boulevard near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the episode "Ambush: Beneath the Surface," which aired March 16, 2016. Coverage of the episode describes owner Raquel being surprised by the crew after her daughter reached out for help, in line with the show's ambush format, and the renovation covering the dining room, kitchen, and menu during the program's usual compressed schedule.

EntertainmentNow later reported that Robert Irvine returned to revisit De Rican Chef around 2020, and that coverage noted the business had since updated its menu and expanded to a second location beyond the original oceanfront address. Yelp's page for "De Rican Chef - Oceanfront," covering the Virginia Beach Boulevard address featured on the original episode, was last updated in July 2026 and marks that specific location closed.

That closure, however, does not appear to represent the end of the broader De Rican Chef business. A separate, actively updated Yelp page for "De Rican Chef - Holland Rd.," at 3208 Holland Road in Virginia Beach, was last updated in August 2026 and lists current operating hours running into the evening on weekdays and later on Fridays and weekends. The brand's own website also lists a location associated with Norfolk's Oceanview neighborhood in addition to the Holland Road address. No source reviewed during this research specified exactly when the oceanfront location stopped operating relative to the Holland Road location's opening, or whether the same family continued to own both.

Because the specific address featured in the original 2016 episode is confirmed closed by a dated business listing, while the same restaurant name continues operating at other Virginia Beach addresses under presumably related ownership, this record treats the featured oceanfront location itself as closed while noting the brand's continuation elsewhere rather than describing the overall De Rican Chef concept as having ended.

Featured on Restaurant: Impossible

Season / episode
Season 13, Episode 2
Original air date
Episode title
Ambush: Beneath the Surface
What was featured
kitchen and dining room renovation
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
De Rican Chef

Frequently asked questions

Is De Rican Chef still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, De Rican Chef has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What happened to De Rican Chef after Restaurant: Impossible?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) featured De Rican Chef, a Puerto Rican restaurant on Virginia Beach Boulevard near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the episode "Ambush: Beneath the Surface," which aired March 16, 2016. As of September 2026, De Rican Chef has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Is De Rican Chef permanently closed?

As of September 2026, De Rican Chef has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

What is De Rican Chef called now?

Now: De Rican Chef (Holland Road location) (formerly De Rican Chef). As of September 2026, De Rican Chef has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Where is De Rican Chef located?

325 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured De Rican Chef?

Season 13, Episode 2 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired March 16, 2016. The episode is titled “Ambush: Beneath the Surface”.

Did the makeover last at De Rican Chef?

The episode first aired March 16, 2016. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 10 years later —: As of September 2026, De Rican Chef has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What do reviews say since Restaurant: Impossible?

No source reviewed during this research specified exactly when the oceanfront location stopped operating relative to the Holland Road location's opening, or whether the same family continued to own both. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is De Rican Chef still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?

Coverage of the episode describes owner Raquel being surprised by the crew after her daughter reached out for help, in line with the show's ambush format, and the renovation covering the dining room, kitchen, and menu during the program's usual compressed schedule. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
325 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
dericanchefva.com

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • entertainmentnow.com — https://entertainmentnow.com/news/de-rican-chef-revisited-restaurant-impossible/
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/de-rican-chef-oceanfront-virginia-beach
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/de-rican-chef-holland-rd-virginia-beach
  • dericanchefva.com — https://dericanchefva.com/

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