What Happened to Rifca's Mediterranean Kitchen After Restaurant Makeover?

Restaurant Makeover (HGTV Canada / Food Network Canada) featured Pita Stop, a restaurant in Richmond Hill, Ontario, in an episode that aired on 2008-05-19. The Rotten Tomatoes episode description says only that the restaurant gets a makeover; it gives no further detail. Wikipedia's Restaurant Makeover table credits chef Brad Long and designer Glen Peloso with the episode, lists the name after the makeover as Rifca's Mediterranean Kitchen, and gives Pita Stop as the original name. No source that was found describes the restaurant's problems, what was changed in the menu, decor or staff during the rescue, or how the relaunch went, so none of that is described here.

For the years since, the sources are listings and a lead. A Google Places listing for Rifca's Mediterranean Kitchen at 8950 Yonge St, retrieved on 2026-10-19, was marked permanently closed. A Wanderlog listing, undated, shows a business called Woody Wood Burger at the same street address, with daily hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and a Google rating of 4.6 from 2,262 reviews; the page files the business under Markham, but the street address is in Richmond Hill. Wikipedia's table notes that the restaurant became Woody Wood Burgers. Taken together, these listings show a burger restaurant with a different name and concept at the address that the Places listing gives for Rifca's.

A web search for Rifca's and Woody Wood Burgers together returned unrelated pages, including listings for other Mediterranean restaurants and a Richmond Hill business directory entry for a different address. No news article or owner announcement about the end of Rifca's or the arrival of the burger restaurant was found, so no date can be given for the change. The Wanderlog page carries no date and no closure notice for Woody Wood Burger. Wikipedia's table is a lead rather than a dated source, and the Places status reflects the listing as retrieved on that day, not the date of any closure.