Who Runs Walters' Gas & Grill Now? Restaurant: Impossible (FN) Update

Walters' Gas & Grill combined a working gas station with a full-service restaurant on US-80 East in Opelika, Alabama, serving Southern-style plates alongside fuel sales. Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) featured the business in the episode "Running on Empty," which aired 2023-02-09, with filming in October 2022. According to realitytvrecap.com, when Robert Irvine arrived he found a gas-station restaurant struggling to find its identity: the combined concept was promising, but daily execution needed work and operations were strained around owner Penny. Irvine's team carried out the show's usual two-day renovation and staff retraining ahead of a relaunch service, working to sharpen the restaurant's menu and steady its daily operations inside the existing gas-station space.

Realitytvrecap.com reported that the changes brought improved operations, happier customers, and a healthier work-life balance for staff member Vanessa. Following the relaunch, review sites recorded strong scores: realitytvrecap.com cited a 4.1-star Yelp rating and a 5.0-star TripAdvisor rating for the business, ranking it #24 of 97 restaurants in Opelika. A Restaurantji listing showed a November 2024 review describing catering service provided under the name Walter's Gas and Grill, with posted hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Realitytvrecap.com reported, in an update last verified January 2026, that a decline in Penny's health led the restaurant to transition to new owners.

The business began operating under an adjusted name, Walters' Farm and Catering, described by the site as reflecting a slightly adjusted focus, while continuing to serve the same US-80 East location. The recap did not name the new owners. Google Places continued to list the business as Walter's Gas and Grill at 15930 US-80 East, with a status of operational, and an Instagram account under the handle walters.gasandgrill remained active for the business. The two names now associated with the address, Walters' Gas and Grill and Walters' Farm and Catering, point to the same location in current listings, and no source found for this update indicated the business had closed.