restaurantRestaurant: Impossible · Season 2, Episode 10 · Aired September 21, 2011
The Trails Eatery
San Diego, California
Open. The rescue stuck and it continues to operate.
On the show
Season 2, Episode 10 · September 21, 2011 · restaurant
revisited in S15E8 (2019-08-10); revisited in S7E* (2014-03-01)
What happened after
official site live, branded "#brunchsohard", owned by Stacey Poon-Kinney; active Yelp (1.9K reviews)/TripAdvisor; spine notes revisits S7 2014-03-01 and S15E8 2019-08-10
What happened on the show
Run by Stacey Poon-Kinney as a father and daughter venture, The Trails Eatery in San Diego charmed Irvine on sight, a small and genuinely likable neighborhood spot. The problem was hidden in the books. He quickly learned the place sat on the edge of closing, its finances far worse than its cheerful room let on. With little time for theatrics, Irvine handed the eatery a decor makeover that left it markedly more inviting and helped steady the operation behind it, all inside the 48 hours and capped renovation spend the series builds around. The intervention took: The Trails Eatery became one of Restaurant Impossible's brightest success stories, still trading under Poon-Kinney with a busy brunch following and confirmed operating as of our most recent verification, a save that stuck long after the cameras left.
After the cameras left
The Trails Eatery thrived. As of our latest verification pass it was still operating under Stacey Poon-Kinney from its Jackson Drive address, branded around a brunch-so-hard identity, with active Yelp and TripAdvisor listings. The show clearly saw the promise, revisiting the restaurant twice more, in season seven in March 2014 and again in season fifteen in August 2019. Few businesses on this series earn two return visits, and fewer still stay open through them. We rate its open status high confidence.
Sources
Confidence: high. Last checked 2026-07-19.
What is there now
Street imagery via Google Maps. Location approximate.