So Natural Organic Restaurant is Revisited on ‘Restaurant: Impossible’

Getty Chef Robert Irvine returns for more episodes of Food Network's "Restaurant: Impossible."

Chef Robert Irvine revisited So Natural Organic Restaurant and Market in Harker Heights, Texas to see how the business has been doing since his first visit. The Restaurant: Impossible Revisited episode will air Thursday, Feb 13 at 10 p.m. on the Food Network.

Irvine first visited So Natural in 2016. When he arrived, he met a family of seven who all worked at the business to keep things afloat. The episode description for “Revisited: Family Matters” said it was important to the owners to leave the legacy of the business for their children.

The original episode aired on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, and it was an ambush episode. The owners’ daughter called Restaurant: Impossible to ask for help. The owners were passionate about healthy food, but they did not have any restaurant experience prior to opening their own place.

So Natural opened in August 2013. At the time the episode aired, Gina Pence, president and CEO of the Harker Heights Chamber of commerce hoped that it would help put the city on the map for people to come visit.

Before the Restaurant: Impossible renovation, reviews were positive for the restaurant, with over 50 reviews and an average of 4.5 stars.

The Restaurant Closed After the Renovations

Originally after the renovations but before the episode aired, business was up by 50 percent.

In an update after the show, the owners’ daughter Luvina Ann Norwood-Sabree told KDH News that they would not have been able to keep the restaurant open if they hadn’t gotten the renovation.

“If this had not happened, the restaurant would not have survived,” she said.

The original episode focused a lot on the family dynamic and the importance of being able to spend quality time with their family.

“The show opened the door to the possibilities of our restaurant,” said Jameel Sabree. “The process of getting more family time is slowly getting there, but we’ll get there, because we have a blueprint to make it happen now.”

Two years after So Natural Organic Restaurant and Market was featured on Restaurant: Impossible, they closed their doors. The family now use the space for events, and they are in the catering business.

Owner Luvina Sabree told KWTX.com that she was grateful for the support from around the country after the first airing of the episode.

“They came from all over. Arkansas, Connecticut when they saw the show,” she said. “They came to our restaurant to eat.”

The family now runs So Natural Catering and operate as an all-natural catering service. They are inviting a public watch party at their catering shop for the revisited episode.

The Catering Business Has Positive Reviews

The website for So Natural Market says they offer catering and cooking classes. The entire catering menu can be seen here.

While there are not many reviews that mention the catering on Google Reviews, the ones that have been left are five-star reviews. Most recently, users on Facebook complimented their service.

“The service is impeccable and the food is even better,” one user writes.

“Absolutely amazing service! I just had their homemade chicken pot pie and it was so delicious! It made me think of my childhood and fresh home cooking. I would definitely have this meal again,” another review wrote.

So Natural mentions on their social media that they open once a month to work with Killeen special needs students. They help to teach the students employability skills. They also hosted a Veggie and Art Festival in January 2020.

They said they are getting a lot more family time in now than they had before.

READ NEXT: