SOUTH PORTLAND – Being part of a nationally known television makeover brings many benefits, but the Fogg family, owners of Uncle Andy’s Diner in South Portland, is now seeing the ugly side of that 15 minutes of fame.

In late June, the diner, located in Knightville, was the focus for the filming of an episode of “Restaurant Impossible,” a popular show on the Food Network. In three days, the TV crew revamped the diner’s interior and made changes to the menu.

But then the Fogg family was left on its own to fully implement the new menu items, learn how the newly revamped kitchen would best function and train new staff.

That period of adjustment has left some customers unimpressed with the food and the service, while others, who have never patronized Uncle Andy’s, have been using social media to deride the family and make hurtful, negative comments.

Following the airing of the “Restaurant Impossible” episode three weeks ago, the family received negative attention, with many judging the family and the diner solely from the one-hour show.

That prompted one of the Fogg daughters, Amanda Fogg, to post a plea on the Uncle Andy’s Facebook page for people to stop harassing her parents, Dennis and Tina Fogg, who are the public face of the diner.

“I just want everyone to know we did the TV show to help my family out. Like any daughter would when she see her parents struggle,” Amanda Fogg posted on Sept. 7.

“When we got picked I thought finally something good happened to us,” she added. “After the show we got really busy, really fast. (The) show gave us a better diner, but kept our small grill. I can understand the reviews, yes they hurt, but when my brother gets harassing messages and then people wish my father was like Joan Rivers and Andy Kaufman because they’re dead (it’s) unacceptable.”

Some of the reviews Fogg referred to in her post were on Yelp, a website where people can post what they think about everything from local restaurants to professional services.

Prior to the renovation, many of the reviews were good. After the renovation, many people who reviewed Uncle Andy’s on Yelp complained about the service, in particular.

This week, another Fogg daughter, Kayla, said that while the “Restaurant Impossible” producers told them they would see an uptick in business following the renovation, the producers did not prepare them for the negative consequences.

Overall, Kayla Fogg said, she’s not sorry that the family went through the “Restaurant Impossible” experience, but said her parents might feel differently, especially after all the negative attention.

What’s particularly bothersome, she said, is that, “with today’s technology it is easy to say something so vile that normally you would not say it in person.”

She added, “Yes. The show made some changes (and it) gave us a great facelift. (But), a major problem we had before the show was not enough cooking space. (And) the grill we (still) have cannot keep up with the number of customers and cools down rather quickly, but people see that we were on this show and think, ‘Hey they must have all new free stuff.’”

Kayla Fogg also said that in terms of the menu changes, the family wanted to keep much of its former, more inexpensive items in order to cater to the local college students and families that live on the east end of South Portland.

“It hurts our family to hear all of this (negative reaction) because what people don’t see is my parents working from 5 a.m. until at least 3 p.m., then most of the time going to other jobs,” she said. “We’re trying just as hard as any other working person, but to hear that our efforts are wasted is hurtful. To get threats and people wishing you were dead over something as stupid as eggs is terrifying and silly.”

In all, she said, her family does value the opinions of its customers and to have people “ruining” the sense of community within the diner “is sickening.”

Despite the negative reaction by some, Kayla Fogg said many of the diner’s regular customers have been “extremely supportive. It means a lot to us that people still believe in us and are being patient with us. They understand Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

The TV show “was a great experience and it was fun,” she said. “We got great cosmetic renovations out of it and met some really cool people. Financially it has helped, but there are a few things I wish were different. I wish they (had) focused (more) on the functionality of the diner, rather than the decor.”

She and her family “really just want to say thank you to all of those who have supported us and even to those who have given us constructive feedback in a polite way. That is what we want. If you have a suggestion or comment, message it to us or talk to us directly (and) maybe we can fix it or explain it to you.”