TV Restaurants

What Happened to Valentino's and Italian Bistro? (Summerville, SC)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Valentino's and Italian Bistro has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, May 2026.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
postandcourier.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Yelp's business listing for Valentino's Trattoria at 1990 Old Trolley Rd shows the location as closed, per a May 2026 listing update; no independently dated closure announcement was located.

  • Season / episode Season 11, Episode 2
  • Original air date
  • Address 1990 Old Trolley Rd, Summerville, SC 29485
  • Current name Valentino's Trattoria

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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) traveled to Summerville, South Carolina for "Double Trouble," which aired March 25, 2015, and marked the first time the series tackled two restaurants in a single episode. The businesses, Valentino's and Italian Bistro, sat roughly six miles apart and were run separately by a father and son: Frank operated Italian Bistro, and his son Frankie later opened Valentino's hoping to build on the family's momentum. Within about a year, Valentino's began struggling as well, prompting host Robert Irvine to address both locations during the same visit.

At Valentino's, at 1990 Old Trolley Road, Irvine's design team found mismatched flooring between dining areas, a deteriorating ceiling, a worn bar, and dated decor throughout. The bulk of the physical renovation and kitchen retraining went into Valentino's, while Italian Bistro received a lighter cosmetic refresh. Irvine also worked with the family on menu simplification and on clarifying responsibilities between the two operations, since shared suppliers and staff had blurred the lines between the sites.

Following the visit, Food Network's own episode recap reported a roughly 20 percent increase in business at Italian Bistro. Ahead of the broadcast, a Post and Courier preview noted that filming took place in the Summerville area in January 2015 and highlighted the two-restaurant format as new for the series. Community coverage from the College of Charleston student newspaper also noted two CofC-connected siblings appeared in the episode.

Restaurant-review aggregator Yelp reported the closure of the Valentino's Trattoria location at 1990 Old Trolley Road by its May 2026 listing update. No independently dated reporting on the specific timing of that closure was located during this research pass. The Italian Bistro location's current status was not independently confirmed and is outside the scope of this record, which centers on the Valentino's address that received the majority of the on-air renovation work.

Featured on Restaurant: Impossible

Season / episode
Season 11, Episode 2
Original air date
Episode title
Double Trouble
What was featured
Full renovation of two related Italian restaurants in one episode
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Valentino's and Italian Bistro

Frequently asked questions

Is Valentino's and Italian Bistro still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Valentino's and Italian Bistro has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, May 2026.

What happened to Valentino's and Italian Bistro after Restaurant: Impossible?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) traveled to Summerville, South Carolina for "Double Trouble," which aired March 25, 2015, and marked the first time the series tackled two restaurants in a single episode. As of September 2026, Valentino's and Italian Bistro has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, May 2026.

Is Valentino's and Italian Bistro permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Valentino's and Italian Bistro has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, May 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

What is Valentino's and Italian Bistro called now?

Now: Valentino's Trattoria (formerly Valentino's and Italian Bistro). As of September 2026, Valentino's and Italian Bistro has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, May 2026.

Where is Valentino's and Italian Bistro located?

1990 Old Trolley Rd, Summerville, SC 29485. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured Valentino's and Italian Bistro?

Season 11, Episode 2 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired March 25, 2015. The episode is titled “Double Trouble”.

Did the makeover last at Valentino's and Italian Bistro?

The episode first aired March 25, 2015. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 11 years later —: As of September 2026, Valentino's and Italian Bistro has closed — confirmed via the business's own closure notice, May 2026.

What do reviews say since Restaurant: Impossible?

Restaurant-review aggregator Yelp reported the closure of the Valentino's Trattoria location at 1990 Old Trolley Road by its May 2026 listing update. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is Valentino's and Italian Bistro still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?

Irvine also worked with the family on menu simplification and on clarifying responsibilities between the two operations, since shared suppliers and staff had blurred the lines between the sites. 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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Nearest tracked restaurants

Visit info

Address
1990 Old Trolley Rd, Summerville, SC 29485
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
None found

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • postandcourier.com — https://www.postandcourier.com/food/summerville-set-restaurant-impossible-airs-next-week/article_0426831b-517a-50df-81e6-dd3654b2f8e0.html
  • today.cofc.edu — https://today.cofc.edu/2015/04/15/cofc-siblings-featured-on-food-networks-restaurant-impossible/
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/valentinos-trattoria-summerville
  • foodnetworkgossip.com — https://www.foodnetworkgossip.com/2015/03/restaurant-impossible-valentinos-trattoria-italian-bistro.html

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