butht at's an institution that's been there for 100 years. it'll be there for 100 more. ♪ jimmy: we are the best-kept secret in new jersey. lemonis: the food is amazing. ...great food isn't gonna be enough to keep this little new jersey restaurant afloat. you may have lost some business in those months. jimmy: lost half the business. it went back down to the numbers where we started. lemonis: this father-and-son team's complete lack of experience... this does not look like a financial statement. this is how a bookie keeps numbers. ...and motivation... does this sign look nice to you? dante: no. lemonis: all these weeds, all this trash, it feels like you really genuinely don't give a [bleep]. ...has them bleeding money year after year. jimmy: i don't think you know totally what to do. you don't know the laws. you don't know if you can handle this. lemonis: they'll need to learn the basics from the ground up. dante: we buy the pasta by the pound. we pay about $3.50 per -- lemonis: about or exactly?

jimmy: that is a simple thing. lemonis: while they overhaul their business... how many more seats can you pick up when you guys are busy? maybe you pick up eight more seats. ...more importantly, their relationship... jimmy: basically every single thing i've ever said for you to do was, "no, we're not doing it that way. we're doing it my way." lemonis: ...so they can heal from the devastating family tragedy that still hangs over everything that they do. dante: not everything has to be a fight. lemonis: we got to fix this tension between you guys. you lost your wife. you lost your mother. do you guys want to lose each other? i'm marcus lemonis, and i risk my own money to help businesses. i love investing in american businesses. these people are here because they care. it's not always easy, but i do it to create jobs, and i do it to make money. man: we have a deal. lemonis: let's rock and roll. man #1: yeah! man #2: let's do it. lemonis: this is "the profit." ♪ i have a special attachment to family businesses primarily because i started off working in one,

the car business, and it taught me how to navigate working with family, which can be tough, but also the same business skills i learned there helps me run a multibillion-dollar company, so i'm always gonna have a soft spot in my heart for family businesses. what's happenin'? jimmy: marcus. oh, my gosh. lemonis: how you doing, buddy? jimmy: hi. how are you? lemonis: good. this is a cool place. how you doing? dante: hi. nice to meet you, marcus. lemonis: i'm marcus. nice to meet you. lemonis: are you dante? dante: my pleasure. yes, i am. lemonis: so father, son. dante: this is my father, jimmy. lemonis: that's the arrangement. okay. jimmy: we own the building and the business. lemonis: okay. jimmy: so we're a family with the building... and just dante down here. lemonis: so you have to pay your father rent? dante: right. yeah. jimmy: sometimes. dante: and myself. lemonis: why sometimes? jimmy: sometimes i forgive him, you know, so... lemonis: but there's a balance between being his dad and being the landlord. jimmy: we'll talk about that. [ laughs ] lemonis: so your dad named it after you? dante: yeah, i mean, but... lemonis: do you owe your dad money for it? dante: no, i don't. lemonis: he just gave it to you as a gift? dante: i guess you could say that, yeah.

lemonis: did you have restaurant experience before this? jimmy: no. lemonis: did you have any restaurant experience? dante: i did as an employee, but never in a managing role or ownership role, so it was a first time for me. lemonis: overwhelmed? dante: at times, yeah, it takes over your life. obviously there's days where i kind of hate what i'm doing, but... lemonis: i'm sorry that you sometimes hate it. dante: well, yeah, i mean -- lemonis: it's being honest. i appreciate the honesty. dante: yeah, yeah. jimmy: the problem is, he wanted to do things his way. i've been in business all my life. so i try to keep him organized, basically, is what it is. lemonis: but he's not able -- you're not able to keep yourself org-- you need your dad? dante: no, no, no, no. lemonis: or you're just in his business? jimmy: [ laughs ] oh, no. lemonis: look, "hate" is a pretty strong word, but i have a feeling that dante's hate may stem from the fact that his father is always trying to control him and has maybe taken some of the fun out of it. which one of you called me? jimmy: i reached out. lemonis: why did you reach out? jimmy: what happened was, we would grow. we were growing and growing and growing. we did a million dollars within, like, the first year. lemonis: wow. jimmy: and then we had to hire another chef. at the same time, we were remodeling the whole place. it took us six months, and we're still recovering from it.

lemonis: you may have lost some business in those months. jimmy: lost half the business. it went back down to the numbers where we started. lemonis: can i get a tour? dante: yeah, absolutely. lemonis: let's do it. dante: let's go. lemonis: how are you? denise: hi. i'm denise. lemonis: nice to meet you. denise: nice to meet you. i'm dante's girlfriend. lemonis: okay. what is your role here? denise: take care of the waiters and waitresses. i do their scheduling. lemonis: you're here every day of the week or...? denise: no, i'm not. i do have a full-time job, as well. lemonis: what day is your day off? denise: um, i don't -- [ laughter ] lemonis: what i'm worried about is that it seems like everybody is always coming in to rescue dante. enabling people aren't gonna make them better at business. nice meeting you. i'll see you in a few minutes. denise: yes. lemonis: how you doing? i'm marcus. nick: marcus, pleasure. nick. lemonis: nick? nice to meet you, brother. this is really a small kitchen. it's tight. nick: a lot of the equipment in here is very, very dated, so we've just been kind of doing the best we can. lemonis: it's tough to work in here. nick: you get used to it. lemonis: what was strange is that i'm here around lunch time, and there's not really anybody here. as i walk around the inside of the facility, i'm underwhelmed.

i can't tell if they've given up or they don't care. but i can't invest in a business that dante has neglected. what would you call these two colors? salmon and light salmon? dante: salmon. lemonis: let's the three of us go outside. and as i go around the outside of the property, i'm seeing weeds everywhere, crap hanging from the trees. the parking lot looks like garbage. now, i can be tolerant for certain things, but disrespecting hard-earned assets is not one of them, and so i'm gonna put him through the paces. what would you rate the property today, aesthetically? dante: uh, 5 out of 10? lemonis: a 5? what's giving it even a 5? like, walk me through what makes it a 5. look at your order sign. that look good to you? dante: no. lemonis: does this sign look nice to you? dante: no. lemonis: does that banner in the tree look good to you? dante: nope. lemonis: does the mailboxes like this look good to you? dante: no. lemonis: all these weeds, all this trash? dante: no. lemonis: if you pulled into a restaurant with your family

and you saw this, what would you do? dante: i'd be turned off a little bit. lemonis: turned off or turned around? dante: yeah, turned around. lemonis: i don't think you care. dante: i absolutely care. lemonis: i don't think you do. this place looks -- i'm sorry to say, it looks trashy. jimmy: but you could a million dollars fixing everything up. lemonis: unh-unh. it doesn't cost a million dollars. jimmy: if it doesn't work out, he loses his total investment. it's a bad, you know -- it's a bad situation. lemonis: okay, jimmy, here's the deal. it doesn't take an expert to know a few basic things, like keep your place in order and keep it clean, and if you say that it's not your business and it's dante's, then put your foot up his ass and make sure that he keeps his place clean. it's time to start treating dante like a business owner, not a kid playing one. so maybe you're coddling him. jimmy: but i do know the burden he has. lemonis: what's the burden? he's a business owner. jimmy: yeah, i know. lemonis: join the club. so, dante, i want to try the food. dante: yeah, yeah, yeah. lemonis: let's grab a menu. dante: sure. ♪

lemonis: okay. waiter: all right. ravioli. lemonis: any time i go into a business, i want to understand the people, the process, and the product, but now i want to do the most important thing in a restaurant, which is taste the food. good portions. dante: oh, yeah. ♪ ♪ lemonis: the food is unbel-- i don't think i've ever eaten this much. the food is amazing. i am stunned by how good the food is, considering how poor the environment is. like, if i could move this restaurant to new york city, we'd be millionaires. business lose money today? jimmy: it's just we don't see any profit 'cause we keep putting all the extra into the business. lemonis: it comes out of your savings? jimmy: yeah. dante: yeah. lemonis: and how much have you put in in the last year? dante: probably around 100 grand. lemonis: 100 grand? wow. dante: yeah. lemonis: i wanted to understand whose idea it was

for you to get into this business, 'cause it was a little unclear to me. was this your idea or your dad's? dante: oh, um, it was kind of both of ours. he wanted me to get a business. i wanted the same thing. lemonis: why wasn't he comfortable with you just doing your own thing? dante: he was a single parent. so he kind of felt more responsibility. lemonis: what happened to your mom? dante: uh, she passed away in 9/11. ♪ lemonis: how old were you? dante: i was 9 years old. i remember every second of that day. that day, she happened to be in the towers and... yeah, and that's what happened, so... lemonis: i'm really sorry. dante: yeah, i appreciate that. yeah, it was a sad time, for sure. it was just, like, a picture-perfect family, and then something like that happens, and it just gets ripped away from you. lemonis: you and your brother? dante: yeah. lemonis: and so your dad got left holding that bag. dante: right. lemonis: look, i've never experienced the loss of somebody in a tragedy like jimmy and dante have,

but i can understand why jimmy coddles his son, and while he's micromanaging and creating a lot of tension between him and dante, it's because he cares so much about his son, and he feels a tremendous amount of pressure for his son to succeed. you know, i wasn't aware of what happened when he was a kid and how he lost his mom, you lost your wife. jimmy: yeah, it's -- it's hard for me to talk about that. lemonis: yeah. jimmy: you know... she was the best. she was great. we had the greatest life you could imagine. lemonis: how long were you married? jimmy: 19 years. we had everything. we had two beautiful kids. [voice breaking] you know, we had a good marriage. and...it was very hard. her father got ill, and she was gonna visit him at the hospital. so she didn't go to work, and she had important meetings that she was gonna be missing. she said, "i'm gonna run across to the world trade center and check on the people that were supposed to be at the meeting, and then i'll come back to the hospital." so she went there for a few minutes, and that's what happened.

♪ so, what little compensation i got for them, i gave it to them because they lost their mother. ♪ i'm sorry. lemonis: don't be sorry. jimmy: and that's why i felt he could do business 'cause he had some money from that, and i said, "go ahead." lemonis: and so the money that you bought the business with was part of the money that came from your mom's passing? jimmy: i didn't want to keep that money. i gave it to the kids because, like i said, it was blood money to me, and they had no mother. so i didn't want them to wait until i was dead to have the money, and then it was just sitting there, and he couldn't find a job. what am i supposed to say? i'd do anything for him. i'd jump in front of a train for him. i'm sorry. lemonis: this business exists because of the tragedy that dante experienced with his mother. it has tmean something. people know the reason you bought the business?

jimmy: we don't tell anybody our business, you know. lemonis: your background, motivation? jimmy: no. dante: no. lemonis: i'm a big believer that, in business, consumers will rally around a cause or a story or some personal connection they have. people like to do business with people. it's okay that you amplify who you are. that's how i make a connection with you. you've really been a mother and a father for... jimmy: for 19 years now. ♪ lemonis: you have the financials that we can look at? jimmy: yeah, yeah. lemonis: wanna go get them? jimmy: yeah, sure. lemonis: are these the books? dante: yeah. keep track of how much cash, how much was on credit cards. lemonis: this does not look like a financial statement. this looks like a bookie... jimmy: yeah, i understand what you're saying, yeah. lemonis: like, this is how a bookie keeps numbers. jimmy: we don't have it printed out. lemonis: so how much did it do last year in revenue? dante: uh, about, like, 460 --

lemonis: no, no. i don't want an "about." i want the exact number. dante: um... lemonis: can you guys add it up? jimmy: he's just busting our balls now, i think. dante: all right. well, year-to-date for... jimmy: from january '18 to december '18. dante: january '18. jimmy: you should have it in the book. i got it right here. here's january, february. dante: i think part of that's in that book. jimmy: i got it right here, january '18. what are you doing, changing the book? dante: it starts in this book. jimmy: here's where we start. dante: you want to see where we're at currently? this is week-by-week. the big circled number is what we did for that week. jimmy: this is june '19. lemonis: it almost looks like two people got into the restaurant business that had no idea how the restaurant business actually works. that may be the first indication of why business is down. i'm -- i'm like, "no, thank you." dante: this can't be right, but... jimmy: you have to do it again? dante: i'm just saying, trying to add -- jimmy: just -- no. do it again. dante: that's it. jimmy: that's it. i came up with 505. lemonis: 505. dante: we should be doing just under $1.2 million a year.

lemonis: all right. do you know what the margins are on the $500,000? dante: no. lemonis: do you have a pos here? dante: yeah. lemonis: typically what would happen in a business like this is the pos system would feed right into quickbooks. jimmy: into the what books? lemonis: quickbooks. it's an accounting platform. how are you keeping track of all of it? dante: oh, our bank statements and... jimmy: yeah, yeah. lemonis: no, but on a financial statement, how are you keeping track? jimmy: we've never had to show anybody a financial statement. lemonis: what about showing yourself, like, to make decisions? how do you make decisions without good information? dante: just by me being here all the time and seeing what everybody orders and... lemonis: look, guys. here's the deal. normally, right now is usually when i would make an offer. unfortunately, i... ♪ jimmy: every single thing i've ever said for you to do was, "no, we're not doing it that way. we're doing it my way." no matter what i said was, "no."

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lemonis:writing a checkusiness thand investing in.le however, i do want to help you guys... get the outside of the business right, get the inside of the business right, and come up with a plan that will actually get you to $1 million...

but with process. dante: okay. jimmy: yes. thank you. lemonis: i give him a lot of credit for putting the most important asset that he ever received, the memory of his mother, on the table, fully at risk with the possibility of losing it, and because of that, i don't want to take equity out of the company, but i am interested in teaching dante because i want him to believe in himself and have pride in what he's doing. so tomorrow we'll get started? dante: let's do it. lemonis: why don't we go lock the door? i don't want anybody else coming in. look, we need to reintroduce dante's to the neighborhood and have the locals give it a second chance, but what we also need to do is help dante find his motivation for why he's doing this. ♪ let's get everybody together. how do people know about the story behind the family, the owners, who owns it, why they're here? does anybody know that? do you knanything about them?

camryn: i thought it was something to do with his father. lemonis: jimmy, will you tell her the story? they work here, and they don't know the story. jimmy: dante's mom died on 9/11, and i raised him and his brother by himself, and i wanted to help him out. and that's why we ended up here. lemonis: did you know that about dante? camryn: no, i didn't. um, i have a lot more respect for him now. obviously, i did already, but... lemonis: this idea that business isn't personal is total b.s. business is personal, and to have the employee understand the genesis of the idea, the purpose behind the business, and how much it means to you will give them maybe some pride, as well. why is that we do what we do? is it just 'cause you want to sell pizza? dante? dante: no. i also want to prove to myself that i can run a business just like my father did growing up. lemonis: prove it to yourself or prove it to him and yourself?

dante: a little bit of both. i just feel like he thinks i'm incapable. growing up, he tried to make decisions for me. jimmy: like? you have an example? dante: the decision of picking my own house was not even up to me at 26 years old and... jimmy: so, when we looked at the house, i didn't say to you, "dante, what do you think? you like the house? you think we could do it?" denise: you said, "i like the house. this is where i'm gonna live." jimmy: you weren't there. denise: i was there. jimmy: if somebody ever built me a house, i would not complain about it. i've dedicated my whole life to you and your brother and get talked to like i do. ♪ lemonis: part of the reason why i'm so adamant about doing this is because i feel like dante gave up on the business because of his relationship or frustration with his dad, and i feel like jimmy gave up on the business because of his frustration with dante. i don't plan on solving this right now. it may take a little bit of time. we're all gonna work together to clean up the place, and the restaurant is gonna be shut down for at least a week. all right? let's go back to work. dante: sounds good.

♪ lemonis: so, what on this menu do you want to learn the actual food cost for? dante: pappardelle steak alfredo. lemonis: okay. great. any time i see a company that's generating revenue but not making a profit, there's two things that you want to look at -- what the gross profit is and what the expenses are, and so as part of that, i want dante to really start to dig into his food cost. i want him to go item by item so he can understand if you sell something for $5, and it costs $6, well, that's gonna be a problem. dante: we buy the pasta by the pound. we pay about $3.50 per -- lemonis: about or exactly? jimmy: that is a simple thing. dante: no. exactly $3.50 per pound. lemonis: so how much is that? dante: $1.16. lemonis: so that's $1.16. dante: okay. lemonis: what's the next ingredient? dante: 6 ounces of steak. or, no, that was half-pound. lemonis: premade frozen steak. dante: yes. um... i think that steak cost us $2.75. jimmy: confirm the steak price.

nick: that's definitely wrong. jimmy: so can you get the bill out? nick: it's $4.20. lemonis: oh, okay. let's put that in. i'm now starting to better understand why jimmy inserts himself all the time. dante just kind of -- "yeah, that looks like -- yeah, we could sell that for $12 or $13." next item. nick: half-cup heavy cream. lemonis: okay. how much? nick: 56 cents. lemonis: okay. next item. nick: one tablespoon minced garlic. 11 cents. lemonis: okay. nick: 3 tablespoons pecorino romano. 67 cents. 4 ounces of white wine is 28 cents. lemonis: what is the total? nick: the total is $7.63. lemonis: please write that down. what should the appropriate retail price for this item be? nick: so, typically you multiply it by three. $22.89. lemonis: and how much is it? nick: $18. lemonis: so, is this item selling well at $18? nick: no. lemonis: is it gonna sell well at $22? dante: no. nick: oh, no. it's not gonna sell at all. i see what you mean. too high. lemonis: off the menu. nick: you got it. lemonis: by the way, news flash, nobody wants frozen steak,

not in a bag that looks like steak-umms. that's what i should have said to them, "steak? umm... maybe shouldn't be on your menu." so, next time i come back, i want it all done. nick: okay. lemonis: every item on the menu. nick: you got it. [ motor stars ] watch those fingers. it takes a second to build pressure. ♪ lemonis: in addition to working on the food costs and other processes, i also want to start cleaning up the place. let's get that sign on the other wall off. all the christmas lights. everything in the dumpster. denise: all right. let's go. we have a crew. lemonis: you're in charge. dante: yeah, i... lemonis: if not, we're gonna change the name to jimmy's. dante: all right. [ laughter ] so, just start cleaning everything on the exterior. denise: all signs. dante: lights. everything. denise: lights. everything. lemonis: if places look good, people stop. ♪ everything should be as good as it can be. it's got to be right. you know, as i go through this whole process, i realize that this business needs more help than i originally thought, and i have to be honest that i'm seeing a side of dante

that i did not see the first day i was with him -- hard work, really committed to what he's doing -- and so i don't mind giving him a small loan that he can pay back when the business is profitable. so, dante, let's do it the right way. i'm gonna give you a check. consider this an advance. so it's -- $30,000 is the budget for the inside. dante: holy crap. lemonis: and you pay me back when you can. dante: okay. okay. lemonis: okay? doesn't matter how long it takes. i don't care if it takes 10 years. we got a deal? dante: thank you, marcus. lemonis: okay. dante: we have a deal. jimmy: thank you. is this all going in the garbage, marcus? lemonis: yeah. one of the things that i hope to accomplish in lending dante money is to raise his focus on being responsible, understanding the value of money, and he can't just wing it. i want him to budget things. i want him to be accountable for it. so let me talk to you about something with nobody else around. dante: yeah, sure. lemonis: what i want to be able to leave or end today with is this understanding around this pride of ownership. there's people that have literally nothing.

they own a rock. dante: right. lemonis: that's all they have to their name, and it's the most important thing in their entire life. this is your rock. dante: mm-hmm. lemonis: this is the equivalent. dante: mm-hmm. lemonis: and so how do you think about the rock differently today or how do you move forward? dante: oh, i have to do everything to protect that rock. lemonis: because that is all you have. dante: mm-hmm. lemonis: right? and so where did that rock come from? how were you able to acquire this rock? dante: i was able to acquire it through the sacrifice of my mom. lemonis: so, when you now stand here and look at it, do you think about it a little differently? dante: i do, when... lemonis: because who's it really ultimately disrespectful to? dante: my mother, absolutely. lemonis: right. i wanted him to start to think about what this business means to him, and i wanted him to think about the importance of keeping it polished and protecting it, just like his mother would want him to. and rather than getting angry at dante, i felt like the best way to get his attention is to draw the parallel to what his mother would think.

♪ so let's figure out how we configure this space in a way that this could all be -- i could sit with the guy, make pizza. how many more seats can you pick up on a friday night when you guys are busy? maybe you pick up eight more seats. by adding seats at the bar, i'm actually going to attract a different kind of customer, one that's not comfortable sitting at a table by his or herself, generating revenue that, quite frankly, may never have been here before. just keep pushing stuff out the door, that oven that doesn't work. what do you -- you look like you're freaking out. jimmy: well, it's just a lot of things. like, i paid $3,000 for that oven. lemonis: we're not throwing it in the trash. sell it. jimmy: what are we gonna do with it? lemonis: sell it. jimmy: oh, all right. lemonis: if you looked up "worry wart" in the dictionary, turn the page -- it's a picture of jimmy. jimmy: i don't think you know totally what to do -- or the ovens and the space. now you need a plumber. and they don't know the laws. you don't know if you can handle this.

you're talking about moving sinks over. you're talking about putting another oven here. you're talking about getting rid of this oven and another oven. lemonis: not only is jimmy a worrier, but he tends to meddle, and he's not allowing his son to learn. jimmy: these mailboxes can use a little fixer. and, of course, these bushes, you have to keep them nice and trim. dante: oh... jimmy: you can't just pick and choose what you want to do. it's every -- i tell you, if it takes 22 hours a day to fix it, you need another... you got to work 23. dante: i think, going forward, it's time for me to make my own decisions, and whether you think they're right or wrong, that's besides the point. it's up to me if i'm gonna sink or swim. jimmy: no matter what i said, no matter i inputted, it was, "no." 99% was... dante: it wasn't "no." i just had a different idea of going about things. jimmy: it was "no." come on. be honest. dante: i am being honest. lemonis: if those two can't connect and heal, i worry that that tension is gonna rip the business apart. jimmy: every single thing, basically every single thing

i've ever said for you to do was, "no, we're not doing it that way. we're doing it my way." dante: the ideas of yours that i liked, i took and i did. the ones that i didn't, i did not want to do. jimmy: and how many would you say percentage of was, "no, i'm not doing it that way"? lemonis: there's obviously this weird tension between the two of you that i know there's a lot of love, but i don't know that there's a lot of respect when it comes to business. jimmy: there is none. there is none. lemonis: if you're looking to take your business to the next level, log on to theprofitcasting.com.

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jwas, "no, we're notthing i'vdoing it that way.u to do we're doing it my way." ♪ lemonis: while jimmy has the right intentions in meddling, he's not allowing dante to learn things on his own, to grow on his own, to fail on his own. that's not gonna work for dante long-term. what i know, though, for sure is that he's doing it, honestly, because he loves his son so much. as a parent, you can guide him and nurture him and give him advice when he asks. you can protect him and protect him from hurting himself, but for the most part, i think what i want you to try to help me do, is he would like to be able to make decisions on his own, sink or swim. ♪ construction is under way at dante's, and everybody is pitching in to get this thing ready for the grand reopening. ♪

i've asked dante and nick to pare down this menu to get things on there that sell with the right food costs. nick: as of right now, we're charging $25 for the filet, where we need to be making $33 to make a profit. dante: mm-hmm. so crossing off the filet mignon. nick: cross it off the menu. ♪ lemonis: also, i'm taking them to purchase new equipment for the restaurant. john: so we're gonna do a total of 10 burners. we can put in a brand-new fryer. lemonis: and what is this for? cakes? john: yes. lemonis: do you guys do desserts? dante: we do. lemonis: what do you think of something like this? nick: that would be excellent. lemonis: out somewhere in the kitchen where people could see it. because to sell more dessert, what do you need to know? nick: display. lemonis: you need to see it. how much is something like this? john: $2,875. if you do just four cakes a week, you're talking nearly $220. marcus would have his money back in less than 3 months. lemonis: desserts have great margins and especially if it's an add-on to the existing bill. if 20 people walk in a day to the restaurant, and half of them get dessert,

and the dessert is $5, well, that's $50 of revenue. at a 70% margin, that's $35 in gross profit. if the goal is to give me my $2,800 back, it'll take him 80 days to accomplish that. on average, i expect an investment to give me my money back in two years. it's a huge return on investment. okay, so add that to the order. ♪ john: hello, guys. lemonis: how you doing? i'm marcus. john: john levatino. lemonis: john, nice to see you. this is my friend dante. i wanted to take dante and jimmy to driscoll foods because in any restaurant, the food distributor is quintessential to your success because not only do they deliver the food, but they help you craft the menu. they help you work on your food costs, and they give you other ideas of things that are working and not working in the marketplace. dante: okay, so, um, i guess maybe we could start -- i could show you what i'm ordering now. jimmy: give him the menu first. that way, he'll get a taste of what the business is like, and then you'll -- john: the best way to go about this is to be able to match up apples to apples

as far as pricing is concerned. dante: invoices? john: yeah, invoices are great. jimmy: what about the situation with the sauce and the special sauce you need and the cheese you need? there was a big problem when we made the last switch. lemonis: maybe just for a second, jimmy, for one second, if you could let your son just answer a question. john: i would be charging you $33.50 for romaine hearts, and they charge you $39.58. lemonis: what's that as a percentage? dante: as a percentage? lemonis: yep. dante: how would i find the percentage? ♪ lemonis: so 15% across -- how much food do you buy a week? dante: i was averaging about $2,300. lemonis: and the business is gonna go up. times 52. and how much is your rent? dante: $2,800. lemonis: how many months of free rent did you just get? dante: almost 6 1/2. lemonis: right. you have a much different approach today than you did a month ago. dante is actually starting to get on board with the program. he's starting to understand that he's capable of thinking for himself. it starts with dante.

dante: thank you. lemonis: thank you so much. we're looking forward to doing business. thank you so very much. john: thank you. you guys will do well. see you guys. dante: have a good one. lemonis: so it's those little things you got to start to keep a scorecard of. dante: mm-hmm. lemonis: even if you pick up 10, 15 grand a year, that's super meaningful. jimmy: and i said that a long time ago. lemonis: okay. it's not about... jimmy: it is about that. lemonis: no, but it's not, though. jimmy: there's so much like that. lemonis: why do you feel the need to do that? jimmy: because he doesn't belieme. lemonis: there's obviously this weird tension between the two of you, that i know there's a lot of love, but i don't know that there's a lot of respect when it comes to business. jimmy: there is none. dante: i think he expects me to take every bit of advice he has and for me to just, "okay, dad, yes. i'll do this. i'll do this. i'll do this." meanwhile, i should have the ability to make my own choices. he makes it me versus him when it's really we're supposed to be on the same team. that's what i feel the issue is. it's his ideas versus mine. it's not like --

we're supposed to be on the same team. lemonis: does it feel you versus him sometimes to you? jimmy: no, not to me. lemonis: that's how he feels. jimmy: i know. lemonis: how do we fix this? jimmy: i just let him do his thing. lemonis: right, but my concern is that the two of you are gonna grow further apart, not closer together. we got to fix this tension between you guys. it's very real, and i'm very worried about it. you lost your wife. you lost your mother. do you guys want to lose each other? visit theprofit.cnbc.com.

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lemonido you guys want wife. to lose each other?her. dante: no. lemonis: because that's a really serious question. jimmy: without a doubt. lemonis: is there a way for you to press the reset button and forget about what happened in the past and give him a clean start? jimmy: oh, he'd have to change his whole attitude, yeah. lemonis: no, no, no. i'm asking you to let your son run his business, and if he runs it into the ground, that's what he does. dante: not everything has to be a fight. jimmy: all right. ♪

lemonis: i asked jimmy to go with me to liberty park, and i know that he's been spending a lot of time worrying about how things are gonna get done and what's gonna happen and how this deal is gonna work. so i thought it would be a good idea for him and i just to talk one-on-one without dante. jimmy: i'm so worried. i wish -- my girlfriend yells -- lemonis: but what are you worried about? jimmy: his future. lemonis: but let him worry about it. when you owned a business and you had to work 90 hours a week... jimmy: i went home on the heating pad every night. i know. lemonis: and did anybody help you feel better about it? jimmy: no, no. lemonis: no. okay. jimmy: i didn't have a father like me. lemonis: that's right. and that's what i love about you, jimmy. you care so much about your family. jimmy: that's all i have. i have nobody else. just those two boys. if something happens to me, they have nobody. that's why i called you. lemonis: let's go under here. we're in the middle of this heavy discussion, and all of a sudden, this storm comes through, and i'm definitely gonna wait this thing out because there's a lot more to say, and there's a lot more to understand. look at the rainbow.

jimmy: that must be telling us something, right? that's the new world trade center. lemonis: when you look at that building now, what do you think of? jimmy: the suffering that my wife did. i should take a picture of it. that's blowing my mind. i can't believe that that's happening now. she's always around me because i see signs of her all the time. only the good ones die young. she was really great. lemonis: how could you use the restaurant to create more awareness? jimmy: we never, ever talk about that. i don't ever tell anybody. lemonis: well, do me a favor. put some thought into what you and i could do to create awareness for those people that do feel forgotten. jimmy: in the restaurant? lemonis: yep. on our small, little corner of the world. i know there's got to be a way to honor dante's mom and to bring dante and jimmy closer together. i knthere's got to be a way. let's get the restaurant open, and then we'll go from there. is that okay? jimmy: yes. lemonis: okay. all right. jimmy: i appreciate everything. i appreciate everything you're doing, man. ♪

lemonis: i'm on my way back, and i'm really excited to see what kind of progress they've made in the week since i've been gone. this is painted. this looks good. i'm impressed with what i'm seeing so far. the outside is really coming together. ♪ it looks different. dante: yeah. lemonis: it looks good. it looks lighter and brighter. joe: big difference, right? lemonis: did you guys redo this? joe: yeah. lemonis: this lip is gonna be a problem. you're not gonna be able to sit here, and you can see it from the side. if i want to pull up my seat, i've got nowhere to go with my legs. dante: okay. lemonis: so we need a new bar put in, a new counter. oh, my gosh. i didn't expect to walk in to this. not as much progress that i had hoped. and it looks a little haphazard. the outside looks infinitely better. how do you feel about it? dante: i feel awesome about it. lemonis: but what's happened in here besides nothing? dante: well, today the equipment people are coming. they're swapping out equipment. should be here at 10:30.

lemonis: but i don't want any new equipment coming in here until this tile is fixed. you can't go over that. do you have a knife? dante: yeah. lemonis: this -- that's nasty. i would stop the equipment people from coming. nick: i know the floors aren't the best. lemonis: aren't the best? to say that they aren't the best would mean that they're kind of okay. nick: yeah, all right. so they're not good. lemonis: they're awful. nick: okay. lemonis: i don't want any food coming out of here. nick: okay, sure. lemonis: it's disgusting. dante, why would you want to bring new stuff into this? nick: we don't want to. we were just pressed for time. lemonis: what are you pressed for? because this has been 10 days since i've seen you. like, all the other work's great. what the hell's happening in here? dante: it was very difficult to get barstools that match the rest of the dining room. jimmy: it's gonna be different. it has to be different. lemonis: he'll figure it out. how we doing with letting him figure it out? jimmy: i've left him alone totally. lemonis: totally? because you just jumped in on the chairs.

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and while i'm confident that we'll ultimately get there, i'm hoping that dante gets his act together. so you got literally, like, a week. and things aren't getting done. so we got to get refocused. we're losing revenue every day. dante: yep. ♪ lemonis: i know that dante and jimmy have really struggled to tell their story of why the business exists, and so i found an organization in new york city called stars of hope. jeff: these are stars of hope. children paint inspirational words and messages on the stars, and they're a way for families to get together and express their compassion to anybody in need of hope, following either a natural disaster or human-caused tragedy. jimmy: how do you sell them? jeff: there's a $5 donation per star, and then that's what enables us to go into the communities and do disaster relief. this is a very special star of hope i wanted to give to you, just as a little way to say, you know, peggy's light never dies. lemonis: they definitely haven't resolved what has happened,

and particularly jimmy, and so what i'd like to do is make a donation to your organization for $25,000. jeff: wow. lemonis: they'll take the stars that come with that donation, and they'll make that part of their business, and it now gives your mom a presence in the business, and it gives you guys something to feel really good about. dante: i feel pretty emotional. i think this is a great opportunity for us to help their organization and remembering my mom. that's just unbelievable. lemonis: i think they now feel like they have something they can take back to the restaurant and be proud to talk about and be proud to show people and be proud to tell them the story, and that's the love for their mother and wife. ♪ let's go to appetizers. the grand reopening is just a few days away, and we're getting the point-of-sale system upgraded and up and running. so everything that's on the menu is in here. every single item that gets ordered is gonna be in the system, and they're gonna know

what they sell and don't sell. ♪ thomas: we have a little something special just to kind of show you the strategy that we're gonna apply to this. lemonis: and i brought in directmail.io, a marketing company that will help to drive traffic from the surrounding area. thomas: we mocked up a couple of prototypes. denise: it's beautiful. it speaks to me. dante: i love it. this is the best i've seen. i'm glad to have you guys on board. denise: yeah. ♪ lemonis: the restaurant is scheduled to open tomorrow. i'm making a special trip to walk through every part of the restaurant to ensure that it's got my seal of approval to open. ♪ what's up, guys? dante: hey! lemonis: it looks totally different. dante: oh, yeah. joe: it looks beautiful. lemonis: it dolook good. dante: so, this is the beautiful display case that you bought for us. lemonis: the tables and chairs looks good. dante: yep. all brand-new furniture.

lemonis: lighting is brighter. dante: new blinds, new upholstery along the booth. lemonis: yep. dante: but this is our new menu. lemonis: okay. so simplified the appetizers. cut your entrées by 50%. dante: most of the items that we took off, we were losing money. lemonis: how did you find that out? dante: by doing the cost analysis on each item. nick: yeah, by doing the math. lemonis: mm-hmm. i was really impressed by the fact that dante was actually doing and executing all of the things that we talked about -- owning his business, seeming enthusiastic about it, and, to be honest, it's a pretty proud moment for me. this counter came out good. jimmy: that's beautiful. dante: oh, yeah. the one issue is the barstools. it's just very difficult to get something that matches the rest of the dining room. jimmy: if it's gonna be different, it has to be different. it can't be close to that there. lemonis: he'll figure it out. he'll figure it out. how are we doing with letting him figure it out? jimmy: i've left him alone totally. lemonis: totally? because you just jumped in on the chairs. jimmy: well, i'm trying to explain what you're saying. dante: well, marcus, i'm really gonna blow your mind right now. remember that rock that you gave to me?

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cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere. jimmy: i'mlemonis:to explain for him to be successful, he has to be able to make his decisions on his own. dante: from your lips to god's ears, marcus. lemonis: no option other than doing really well. dante: absolutely. lemonis: that's it. right, dad? jimmy: it's been a whirlwind with marcus. dante: oh, yeah. oh, yeah. jimmy: oh, man, he's amazing. dante: obviously, up until this point, i never really thought about how the property is a reflection not only on myself, but you, as well, our family, my mother. but marcus made me see it that way, and he's honestly right. jimmy: so please build this business,

run with it, be successful, and have pride in it. dante: that's what my dream is, dad. jimmy: come here. ♪ dante: dante's. how can i help you? lemonis: in all of the businesses that i've ever been a part of, there are very few that i've ever been more excited to reopen. hi, guys. the bar is awesome, isn't it? you got some business? dante: oh, yeah. lemonis: the first time i was here, there were crickets. that's how quiet it was. now the place is packed. the phone's ringing off the hook. everybody's using the pos. how's it working? camryn: it's working very good. woman: we don't have to run back and forth from the kitchen. lemonis: what i think is amazing about where dante has come is that he did a lot of this himself. he acted like a leader, and because of that, he's got a different pride of ownership over the place. and you can see it, and you can feel it. dante: hey, guys. how is everything so far? woman: it's good. lemonis: is anybody complaining about the smaller menu? is it easier for you guys?

woman: absolutely. lemonis: do you see the dessert case? woman: it's gorgeous. lemonis: you're selling more desserts? woman: yes. lemonis: okay, awesome. [ indistinct conversations ] folks, if we can have your attention for just a quick moment. when i receive applications from people for help, what matters to me more than anything is the purpose of their business. jimmy: my wife passed away in the world trade center, and i used funds that he got for the death of his mother for the restaurant. marcus loved our family and what we were doing here, and he offered to help us out. he offered to help the community out. dante: we have a new and improved business for everybody to enjoy. lemonis: yesterday, we went to an organization that really brought it all full center. josh: stars of hope, we are a nonprofit organization where we go to different communities to paint stars to honor those that were taken too early by tragedy or disasters. lemonis: we made a donation to the organization, and we purchased 5,000 stars,

and so when you come here to eat, there will be paint provided, and you'll be able to make your own star. dante: each star that we donate is gonna help somebody facing very hard times in life. lemonis: there's a lot of different ways to get a return on an investment, and in most cases, it is money, but in this particular case, it is seeing that the memory of peggy will live forever... and that dante now realizes the importance of being a business owner and having pride in it... and jimmy now realizes that his son can rise to the occasion. thank you. enjoy your meal. [ applause ] ♪ dante: i love you, and thank you for everything you've ever done for me. jimmy: thank you. dante: well, marcus. i'm really gonna blow your mind right now. remember that rock that you gave to me? lemonis: mm-hmm. dante: here it is. i kept it just as a reminder of everything i'm doing here to try to improve this place and become a success. lemonis: you're gonna do great, buddy. i got no doubt in my mind. dante: thank you. jimmy: i don't know nothing about this rock.

lemonis: that's between us. you don't have to know everything. put him to work, dante. let's head inside. dante: all right. let's go. lemonis: put your pops to work. we need some cash in the cash register. dante: that's absolutely true. lemonis: let's rock and roll. ♪ lemonis: tcan i taste your pesto?.. lisa: it's delicious. lemonis: ...healthy meals, ready to eat and delivered right to your door. erik: we help a lot of people. lemonis: it's a service that's helped clients lose serious weight. -diana: she's lost 150 pounds. -lemonis: check it out! this florida company is on to something big. but their marketing campaign is offensive... erik: everybody come on over, meet the fuel food girls. it always tastes better when it's free. [ horn honks ] lemonis: ...the owner overbearing. erik: put a piece of basil on here. dress this up a little bit. sprinkle a little cinnamon on top. lemonis: if i can get the debt under control... erik: 'cause everybody's popping off with no money here. lemonis: ...as well as the owner... diana: you took us off the system. lemonis: you locked her out of the computer already? erik: i don't trust anything that goes on.