TV Restaurants

What Happened to Rascal's BBQ and Crab House? (New Castle, DE)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Rascal's BBQ and Crab House has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
realitytvupdates.com

Last verified

What the source shows: Yelp's listing for Rascals Crab & Seafood Restaurant at 1102 N. DuPont Highway, updated July 2026, marks the business permanently closed; a fan-tracker site (unverified) separately describes a May 2011 closure.

  • Season / episode Season 1, Episode 3
  • Original air date
  • Address 1102 N Dupont Hwy, New Castle, DE 19720

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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) visited Rascal's BBQ and Crab House in New Castle, Delaware for the show's third episode, which aired February 2, 2011; a same-day WHYY report previewing the broadcast noted that Food Network's own preview material called it one of the dirtiest kitchens host Robert Irvine had encountered on the series to that point, and said the restaurant "hides behind mountains of trash." The restaurant was owned by Steve Kledaras, who had taken it over from his father, and, as shown in the episode, was struggling both with cleanliness and with sales of its seafood and barbecue menu, with mounting garbage and clutter obscuring the dining room and putting off potential customers driving past on the highway. Over the program's typical two-day timeline, Irvine's team deep-cleaned the kitchen, replaced worn-out equipment, and introduced a revised menu built around the restaurant's crab and barbecue offerings, along with an updated dining room meant to modernize the space for New Castle diners passing along U.S. Route 13. According to a description on the fan-tracker site Reality TV Updates (unverified), Kledaras did not keep Irvine's menu for long, reverting to his earlier menu and portion sizes because he felt the new dishes were too different for his regular customers, and the restaurant subsequently cut back to weekend-only hours before closing in May 2011, with Kledaras citing difficulty sourcing crab. That specific timeline has not been independently confirmed through an official record and should be treated with appropriate caution given the source. What is independently confirmed is that Rascal's is no longer operating: Yelp's business listing for "Rascals Crab & Seafood Restaurant" at 1102 N. DuPont Highway in New Castle was marked permanently closed as of an update in July 2026. A separate, unconfirmed web description suggested a cigar shop had since occupied the address, but that detail could not be verified against a dated, named source and is not treated as established fact in this record.

Featured on Restaurant: Impossible

Season / episode
Season 1, Episode 3
Original air date
Episode title
Rascal's BBQ and Crab House
What was featured
deep-clean and menu overhaul of a dirty seafood and barbecue kitchen
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Rascal's BBQ and Crab House

Frequently asked questions

Is Rascal's BBQ and Crab House still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Rascal's BBQ and Crab House has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What happened to Rascal's BBQ and Crab House after Restaurant: Impossible?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) visited Rascal's BBQ and Crab House in New Castle, Delaware for the show's third episode, which aired February 2, 2011; a same-day WHYY report previewing the broadcast noted that Food Network's own preview material called it one of the dirtiest kitchens host Robert Irvine had encountered on the series to that point, and said the restaurant "hides behind mountains of trash." The restaurant was owned by Steve Kledaras, who had taken it over from his father, and, as shown in the episode, was struggling both with cleanliness and with sales of its seafood and barbecue menu, with mounting garbage and clutter obscuring the dining room and putting off potential customers driving past on the highway. As of September 2026, Rascal's BBQ and Crab House has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Is Rascal's BBQ and Crab House permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Rascal's BBQ and Crab House 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.

Where is Rascal's BBQ and Crab House located?

1102 N Dupont Hwy, New Castle, DE 19720. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured Rascal's BBQ and Crab House?

Season 1, Episode 3 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired February 2, 2011. The episode is titled “Rascal's BBQ and Crab House”.

Did the makeover last at Rascal's BBQ and Crab House?

The episode first aired February 2, 2011. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 15 years later —: As of September 2026, Rascal's BBQ and Crab House has closed — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Is Rascal's BBQ and Crab House still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) visited Rascal's BBQ and Crab House in New Castle, Delaware for the show's third episode, which aired February 2, 2011; a same-day WHYY report previewing the broadcast noted that Food Network's own preview material called it one of the dirtiest kitchens host Robert Irvine had encountered on the series to that point, and said the restaurant "hides behind mountains of trash." The restaurant was owned by Steve Kledaras, who had taken it over from his father, and, as shown in the episode, was struggling both with cleanliness and with sales of its seafood and barbecue menu, with mounting garbage and clutter obscuring the dining room and putting off potential customers driving past on the highway. 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
1102 N Dupont Hwy, New Castle, DE 19720
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
None found

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Sources

  • whyy.org — https://whyy.org/articles/new-castle-restaurant-in-national-spotlight/
  • realitytvupdates.com — https://realitytvupdates.com/restaurant-impossible/rascals-bbq-crab-house/
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/rascals-crab-and-seafood-restaurant-new-castle

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Record ri-003 · last verified .