What Happened to University Grill After Restaurant: Impossible (FN)?

University Grill, a five-year-old restaurant at 2437 West Webb Avenue in Burlington, North Carolina, appeared on Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) in an episode that aired May 23, 2012. As shown in the episode, the restaurant was owned and run by siblings Eleni Fotiou-Madren, George Fotiou, and Manny Fotiou, and family conflict among the three owners was undercutting the day-to-day running of the business alongside a tired menu and interior that no longer reflected what customers expected. Chef Robert Irvine and his team spent two days and about ten thousand dollars reworking the dining room and menu, and pressed the siblings to sort out the roles and decision-making that had been causing friction between them, hoping a clearer structure and better communication between the three owners would let the improvements stick rather than fade once the cameras left.

The renovation brought a real bump in business: RestaurantNews.com reported that customer traffic increased after the Food Network makeover aired. But by June 2013, RestaurantNews.com and the Times-News reported that the Fotiou family had sold University Grill. Eleni Fotiou-Madren, who held a chemistry degree and had come to run the restaurant full time after being laid off from an earlier job, told the paper she was spending too much time at the restaurant and had decided that time with family mattered more than continuing to run it.

The outlet reported the sale closed on Monday, June 10, 2013, with the outlet reporting the new buyers planned to open an Italian restaurant in the space. No dated source was found confirming what business, if any, currently operates at 2437 West Webb Avenue. A Yelp listing for University Grill at that address is marked permanently closed, with an update dated May 2026, consistent with the 2013 reporting that the Fotiou family's University Grill did not continue under that name after the sale.