TV Restaurants

What Happened to Smitty's Restaurant? (Clearwater, FL)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Smitty's Restaurant has closed — confirmed via foodnetworkgossip.com, August 2014.

Primary source
foodnetworkgossip.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Food Network Gossip reported Smitty's closed in mid-2014 after the owners could not absorb a roughly 25 percent lease-renewal rent increase; Yelp's listing for the address carries a permanently-closed tag last updated March 2026.

  • Season / episode Season 6, Episode 3
  • Original air date
  • Address 4890 122nd Ave N, Clearwater, FL 33762

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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?

In "Creepy in Clearwater," which aired April 28, 2013 on Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network), Chef Robert Irvine visited Clearwater, Florida to help owners Gus and Evi Gialelis with Smitty's Restaurant, a spot serving American diner food alongside a handful of Greek dishes rooted in the family's own background. The episode's central problem was a roach infestation serious enough to require a professional exterminator, alongside outdated decor and a menu the show described as unfocused and inconsistently executed by an overwhelmed kitchen staff during peak service hours.

Irvine's team brought in pest control to address the infestation at its source, had the kitchen and dining room deep-cleaned and refreshed with updated paint and furnishings, and narrowed the sprawling menu to a shorter list combining American diner staples with a handful of Greek dishes drawn from the Gialelis family's own recipes and cooking style.

The two-day turnaround ended with a relaunch dinner that introduced the cleaned-up space and revised menu to the Gialelises' regular customers and to new visitors drawn in by the broadcast, with the couple expressing relief at finally addressing a problem they had struggled to fix on their own for some time. Evi Gialelis said afterward that the restaurant saw a noticeable increase in first-time customers in the weeks following the episode's original air date on the network, a lift the couple attributed directly to the renovation.

According to Food Network Gossip, Smitty's closed in mid-2014, after the owners were unable to absorb a roughly 25 percent rent increase presented at lease renewal. A Yelp listing for the address, 4890 122nd Ave N in Clearwater, carries a permanently-closed tag last updated in March 2026, consistent with the property having remained closed under this business name since 2014. No successor restaurant at the address has been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this entry.

Featured on Restaurant: Impossible

Season / episode
Season 6, Episode 3
Original air date
Episode title
Creepy in Clearwater
What was featured
roach-infested Greek-American restaurant cleaned up and menu narrowed
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Smitty's Restaurant

Frequently asked questions

Is Smitty's Restaurant still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Smitty's Restaurant has closed — confirmed via foodnetworkgossip.com, August 2014.

What happened to Smitty's Restaurant after Restaurant: Impossible?

In "Creepy in Clearwater," which aired April 28, 2013 on Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network), Chef Robert Irvine visited Clearwater, Florida to help owners Gus and Evi Gialelis with Smitty's Restaurant, a spot serving American diner food alongside a handful of Greek dishes rooted in the family's own background. As of September 2026, Smitty's Restaurant has closed — confirmed via foodnetworkgossip.com, August 2014.

Is Smitty's Restaurant permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Smitty's Restaurant has closed — confirmed via foodnetworkgossip.com, August 2014. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Smitty's Restaurant located?

4890 122nd Ave N, Clearwater, FL 33762. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured Smitty's Restaurant?

Season 6, Episode 3 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired April 28, 2013. The episode is titled “Creepy in Clearwater”.

Did the makeover last at Smitty's Restaurant?

The episode first aired April 28, 2013. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 13 years later —: As of September 2026, Smitty's Restaurant has closed — confirmed via foodnetworkgossip.com, August 2014.

What do reviews say since Restaurant: Impossible?

No successor restaurant at the address has been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this entry. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is Smitty's Restaurant still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?

The episode's central problem was a roach infestation serious enough to require a professional exterminator, alongside outdated decor and a menu the show described as unfocused and inconsistently executed by an overwhelmed kitchen staff during peak service hours. 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
4890 122nd Ave N, Clearwater, FL 33762
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
None found

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Sources

  • foodnetworkgossip.com — https://www.foodnetworkgossip.com/2014/08/smittys-from-restaurant-impossible-has.html
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/smittys-restaurant-clearwater

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