Best Hell's Kitchen Contestants

Was this guy real?... The stuff he was pulling off on the show was like deep blue hero tale from some Greek epic. One handed almost throughout the season, he never screwed on the line, won a challenge over an Indian cuisine of which he had no experience and never ever gave up on his fellow team members. He was totally inspiring. I have never seen anyone like him ever on HK. I was compelled to ask, if he was so good with just 1 hand, how awesome would he be with both.?

Dave is definitely the best contestant in Hell's Kitchen history. This guy only had one hand working properly, and he was still cooking like a steam train. He won tough challenges with only one hand. Overcame excruciating pain, and won Season 6. No doubt, the best chef in Hell's Kitchen. Hands down.

Dave Levey is a prodigy. The only other person who could've beat him in a competition is the one who ended up as the runner up (Kevin). Even with a broken arm he was able to make amazing food, become a great leader, and inspire everyone. No one has even SCATHED the achievements of Dave ever since. Too bad the Araxi treat him as poorly as they did. Best Chef ever.

An absolute legend. One handed master. Determined. Team player. Perfect.

Only one to keep her cool and not get catty! Strong person on and off T.V.. She seems to be the most successful post Hells Kitchen too!

How is Rock higher than Christina!?! Rock had a terrible attitude and scary temper. Not leadership quality at all! Christina was liked and respected by all who worked with her. She in turn respected everyone in the kitchen. Flawless cooking!

Rock was a great chef. Yes he had a temper, but he worked hard, led his team, and performed very well in almost every service. They are both great, but Rock is more iconic than Christina.

Christina is one of my favorite contestants. She's such a hard worker, and she was one of the only people on season 10 that didn't get caught up in all the drama. She's amazing, and badass

She is always cool and clam，i think that she is exactly the kind of chef that Ramsay want

He deserve to win hell's kitchen season 9.
He is a better chef than Paul.
I don't know how chef Ramsay give Paul won.

I was SO disappointed when Paul won over Will, one of the few times I felt Chef Ramsay made the wrong call. Will was rock solid through out the competition & was never put up for elimination by his teammates. He was an outstanding chef, leader & teammate. Definitely a Hell's Kitchen All Star! (How awesome would it be if they did a season of Hell's Kitchen All Stars with former runner ups & chefs who made it to final 3 all gunning for redemption? )

They are doing an All Stars series now, but people who made it to black jackets but didn't make it to the top two are taking part, so no Will and no redemption - Aquaturtle

One of the few chefs with so much respect. Doesn't let anything personal get towards himself. No such thing as a threat to him and like he's been calling it since the first day at hells kitchen, his only real threat is himself. With a great personality like that, anybody would be glad to cook under him. Like everyone says, I kinda wished he won over Paul and felt that they just wanted to Paul to win just because they played the deceased family card. - hk99

Paul only won because he somehow managed to silence Elise and Carrie for the whole final service, a feat not even Gordon Ramsay could accomplish. Will was the better chef overall, and the classier and more professional chef. He was the first one who started the rounds of applause for the eliminated chefs, which is a class act at its finest. - RAWdonRamsay

He was the most competent in that season.

Are you CRAZY?!?! Rock was a beast in the kitchen, 100% deserved to win. None of the chefs in season 3 came close to matching Rock's talent!

He completely deserved to win

He rocks

So consistent, never failed and dominated. He even has his own knife company. I think he was more professional than some of the other chefs throughout the seasons.

The best chef I've ever seen in hell's kitchen

Michael was a good cook shuted up and won

The one who brings the "quality test" into hell's kitchen.

He's a really good chef his style is amazing he could have been in the finals the only person that was amazing on the blue team

Pure injustice that he didn't win Season 11. Consistent, confident, always very calm (The only contestant that didn't get flustered at any point) The insult lies in that the winner lost her job at Caesar Palace leaving the real winner unrewarded.

Him not giving up or asking to be switched to the red team just proves who he is. I think Chef Ramsay regretted his decision by giving him Sous Chef in Gordon Ramsay steak. - ClashingWizardWill92

While the other Season 11 Blue Kitchen chefs basically backstabbing each other, Jon on the other hand, was just staying on course (or staying on target), to earn the black jacket, finished on the final three, and got the job offer on one of the Ramsay's restaurant. He deserved my respect!

Only person on the Blue Team in Season 11, the worst HK season, that was an outstanding chef.

Inspiring, great guy. Definitely a person people would love to work with in the kitchen. Too bad he was sabotaged by Jen in that season. Completely deserved to win.

True Chef, right here. If you had taken out the Jen incident, there wouldn't have been a competition. He was also so honest and seemed very nice.

How did he not win!?

Not really, chef's that won some seasons were men, but maybe they have more passion and determination, and cooking ability, men who won like Rock and Dave have those too, but Louie doesn't he said women are the best at Cleaning so it's right up there alley, he was a good chef but I think Christina is a little better

Were's his first name?!

Amazing guy. Had he been in pretty much any season besides Season 6 he would have won. Great chef, leader, palette, creativity, and personality.

He would have easily have defeated the winner of any other season, with the possible exception of Heather in season two. It was unfortunate that he had to compete with Dave, who was in a class by himself.

I know that Dave went through so much pain to win but Kevin just did better and had way more creativity and passion. He was the Michael of season 6. (the Michael from season 1) - spodermanfan1000

He deserved to win.I felt bad fir him and his family especially his son his father could have won.He was better than most of the Hell's Kitchen.If Dave didn't broke his arm or Kevin broke his arm too,maybe it will be like season 1 were both if them are equally as good

Cute, friendly and hard working girl.

How is she not first? Burned her hand and stayed in service, got the first apps for the red team out, never gave up. Good enough to become Sous Chef for season six - best so far!

From the first service she was in a league of her own, could see she was the winner from the start - Aquaturtle

Never got put up for elimination!

She took her defeat in the finals the best out of all the runner ups of the show. Plus, she's very talented, has a great attitude, and is an amazing chef overall. Definitely one of the best contestants on the show.

She was just perfect as it comes to cooking, having always delivered in the highest standard. She might not have been maybe the most exciting or extravangant, but in my opinion the best COOK in HK. Also very intelligent, friendly, hard-working, funny and beautiful. Ramsay did see that and I think she was one of his all-time favourites contestants.

I think Season 5 might be the only season I disagree on the choice of the winner. During most of the season, Paula had better services than Ramsey and she also made a lot less mistakes than Danny overall. Her lone elimination nomination wasn't really one. - Cre47

Better than any winners prior to her season. Gordan Ramsey said so himself.

She's genuinely my favourite, she rarely made mistakes throughout her whole stay! She was easily the winner of that season from day 1 - Aquaturtle

I knew from the very start Ryan was going to win, she had all the qualities needed to be a head chef. She was carrying every team she was on Red, Blue and Black. What I love most is how she found her voice. I am so happy she is a head chef.

She consistently won challenges and rarely if ever messed up on the line. She had personality and style and masterful technique. She is a master of the kitchen, and should be regarded as one of the greatest, easily up there with Dave and Christina.

A great contestant from such a terrible season.

The most beautiful contestant ever, and never seen such a consistent attitude ever. From the first two episodes I could see she would win, I was 99% certain the entire time. So many moments you could see she would win - For example the steak night, she had about 10-12 steaks resting at all times, then you remember Giovanni from season 5, the steak house executive, that fell flat on his face even with a helper (Robert) on his station. Meghan handled it flawlessly on her own.

Very impressive person and maybe my most favorite contestant ever, maybe after Keith from season 2 or Petrozza from season 4.

She is consistent in almost every service and a great leader. She is one of the best chefs I have ever seen on Hell's Kitchen that she should be around at least the top 20. - ndog

This is the best contestant ever in Hell's Kitchen history not one bad dinner service flawless all throughout the competition great leader has a strong passion for cooking and a strong chef. See at first I thought Jillian from season 8 was the best chef ever but when I saw Meghan I saw she was even better and an even stronger chef.

She would win a tournament of champions. Rock solid cooking, rock solid leadership.

Top 50 maybe but not top 18 you give up a reward for drugs your pathetic

She just got busted for drugs, and lost that position in season 11, failed drug test

Too bad she made a bad decision for doing drugs, now nobody would want to hire her.

She shouldn't be on the list!

This guy started out as a douchebag but quickly matured during the show & gained the talent but most important maturity that allowed him to win Hell's Kitchen 5.

Danny was just awesome. He didn't whine that much. hell's kithcen is full with pussies. Danny wsn't one of them

I don't think he was a douchebag, I think he really saw the other chefs cook and knew he was better. Never complained and always seemed competent. Competed well in every challenge.

Why is he ranked lower than Ja'Nel?

He was really good and it was nice to see him flirting with Holli, it was entertaining.

Should have won - lampard287

What if Holli flirts with Andrew

This guy has a heart of gold, he's humourous and he's very talented. Especially considering Ramsay's hatred towards fat chefs

He was great during Season 5, but he was awful during Season 6.

He is so nice but in season 5 he was a hero and in season 6 he went to zero. - spodermanfan1000

He is the most underrated chef in hell's kitchen history. I would never understand why did ramsay eliminated robert over andy, andy was bad and was so horrible to see him making big mistakes. If I were ramsay, I would give robert a black jacket instead of suzanne, but not only I would do that, I would put him facing either dave or kevin in the finals of hell kitchen season 6

He may not look like a serious competitor but his passion, drive, and determination proves that he's always 100 despite not making it to the black jackets.

He was always so positive, supportive and never back stabbed anyone. I was happy to see him get as far as he did. Too bad he couldn't be put on season 16 to help balance out the men's terrible egos - they were all so horrible and crude that season. Sterling was definitely a class act!

Every person should aspire to be like chef sterling he had such a great attitude and may not have been the best but for sure a favorite

He's 100 baby. Also he cooks with LOVE!

Great chef, great leader, only contestant to get perfect score in blind taste test, should have won.

5/12/2015 Milly just got a perfect score on the blind taste test. Justin is now the first contestant to get a perfect score on the blind taste test instead of the only. - ResistOppression

One of the top guys ever

A very talented chef. Although Christina's win was kind of a given, I would have liked to see Justin win.

Should be higher on this list (sorry jon

She was more skilled than Nona and had a way better attitude than Russell! How did she not win?

She was the best of her season

Let's see, is it because she has been frequently defended Sabrina, that she is not at least in the top 20

Russel was so mean to everyone nona should of gone homeon day 1

To this day, I never understood why Anthony got eliminated over Zach. He was consistent, funny, and hard-working. The only bad thing about him is that he has a bad palate.

I'll never understand why Jon even nominated him over Zach in the first place. Sure, Anthony struggled in the beginning of the service, but he bounced back and was more consistent overall. Zach, on the other hand, only continued to go on a downward spiral, and in that service, not only did he struggle, but he also kept making excuses for his poor performance. - ResistOppression

Probably the only other guy in the season deserving of a black jacket.

Zach should have gone home before Anthony. Never made excuses for himself and bounced back on services. Season would have been dull without him.

This guy needed a black jacket. Zac was awful and had a bad attitude. Anthony actually cared.

Ralph should have won this season, hands-down. Michael slipped through the cracks and back-stabbed his way to the win.

Ralph for sure was the better chef in season one my favorite all time Hell's Kitchen chef

Talented guy if michael wasnt there he woud have won.

Raplh sabatoged Andrew though

He had a awesome spirit. He was a good cook.
And when he left it proves how good of a cook he was
" I came into hells kitchen with my joy and I'm going to leave with my joy"

Four star General black Gordon Ramsay

His attitude is inspiring and he was always such a joy

He's a great guy, good chef. Kinda had a bad feeling about him at first when he was gloating on the bus though lol

Didn't have any experience in a restaurant, ends up in final 4. That's very impressive!

Really love her spirit. She is a legend, able to recreate food just by watching. And she's got so much passion to her. Real Gutted to see that she's got to leave but I think Maybe Gordan Ramsey sees the stress she's under.

Elsie was a great chef with a good personality. She told Chef Ramsay that her team helped her even when they did not. They did not help her on purpose.

Most respectable female non-finalist contestant to ever set foot in Hell's Kitchen

Awesome in 14. Great in all stars. He definitely should have won All stars.

Too low for my liking

Ji was one of the best on Season 5. But her injured ankle unfortunately took her out of the competition but she got to keep her jacket which was awesome. She should return for any future season of Hell's Kitchen!

She was great! Too bad she was injured, she should come back for season 12

Ji was a beast, but too bad she got injured very early into the competition.

If it weren't for her ankle she would have won easily. As soon as she presented her signature dish you could tell she was Ramsay's immediate favorite.

Was the underdog right from the beginning, having more foes than friends. Ultimately she was able to beat the odds and conquer the Season 4 winner's title. - jimmy12lee

She was targeted more then I've seen any other Chef targeted, and she still won! There is also the fact that she won more challenges then any other Chef in Hell's Kitchen history.

Also Barbie takes the throne of being the most targeted chef nowadays

Not exactly Ja'Nel won allot more challenges than she did

I would say by far the best on the red team even though she had a lot of problems with some of the meat (especially lamb/venison)

There were a lot of awful contestants in season 12. Rochelle wasn't one of them. Kinda surprised she didn't make it to the finals.

A great attitude goes a long way. With some more restaurant experience, she would have at least made the final 2.

Very calm after cutting of her finger

So sweet!

This guy is crapping bats insane

He has a big heart, a ton of charisma & a fantastic sense of humour. Bottom line, Van was awesome!

This guy was not only a great chef, but a very funny guy! He's my favorite contestant from Season 6 along with Dave and Kevin.

Van rules, his elimination in season 17 was so unfair!

Could have been one of the top contenders, but instead pulled up a Sarah-like meltdown in the latter episodes and was a disaster in the final service, nearly costing Meghan the win.

She Was A good chef and should have been on the finale

Yes, she was a good chef, but being in the finale? I don't think so. She definitely wasn't better than Christina or Justin. - ResistOppression

Dana started off great didn't have much of a voice, than she gained it and there was no stopping her...until she got eliminated - spodermanfan1000

Very good chef. She deserves a position at a top notch restaurant.

He's not a bad chef, but I definitely would not rank him as one of the top contestants. I think he lacked a lot of respect, and had a very poor attitude (particularly in the all stars season). I was glad to see him get eliminated.

Top 4 in a very strong season. Could easily have won some of the previous seasons.

Very talented, hard-working, and has a lot of passion. If he ended up in season 15, I think he could have easily won.

How is he not in at least 5 place

She only had 4 years experience coming into Hell's Kitchen, yet she kicked ass during her stay!

If she was in season 15, she would have easily won.

WINNER OF ALL STARS

Talented chef for a young person. She had been looked down on because of “inexperience”, but she definitely gave Elise and T from season 14 a run for their money by winning the All-Stars Season

Such a shame she couldn't get a visa to travel to London. She was great.

One of the hottest chefs on the show.

Very intelligent and hard-working. She wasn't my favourite but I think she deserved that black jacket.

Too bad he had his famous downfall in the latter half of the episodes where he competed. Because he had what it takes to win the competition prior to becoming a bad chef from episodes 8-10!

Good cook and good attitude and the funniest chef there
And his hair pure amazing

Agreed could cook and was unlucky because Russell threw him under the bus

How come Paul, the winner is ranked lower than Steven the first chef eliminated by Chef Ramsey (that means I don't include Jason's medical emergency)?

Great chef. I loved it when Jennifer told him she had a crush on him

Okay, maybe Will did deserve to win, but Paul being 65th is pretty bull to me. - VultureOnAcid

Funny

She deserves more than Heather in the finals - J1996

She should not be on the best list. Jackie cooks for only three months, she has her fight back personality, and performed well in the final dinner service with Ariel. I do admit her progress. Unfortunately, she had problems at the beginning of the show, fighting with Kristin, and even disrespecting Christina. However, she does improve herself during the show.

Are you kidding me? Jackie was probably the WORST contestant in Hell's Kitchen history: Acts tough, can't cook to save her life, and is very unprofessional. This must be a troll.

She says she's only been cooking for three months?!? WHAT?!? however I do admire her fight back personality but she sometimes can be very rude.

She was awful, should not be on this list - dubs35

Agree with the two comments, but he shouldn't be on the list or at least not that high (he is as of now ranked higher that the winners of seasons 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13). He was eliminated even before Amanda and Suzanne and eliminated early enough that we has not part of one of the finalist's dinner service teams.

How come Jim is ranked higher than Ariel? Jim was mediocre at best and even had sous-chef Scott to bail him out while Ariel was the best from the Red Team by a mile.

He always stay calm. I like that

One of the funniest chefs ever, but definitely not near the best.

"Joseph, we're not at war, we're just in a kitchen. So calm down, and let's cook some carrots."

When you talk about pure passion, this guy is hands down #1. He couldn't cook in the first service for the ninth season, which sucks. Because he was dehydrated, he was off the show. But, HE CAME BACK! He came back because he still wanted the position. Talk about determination.

I was so sad when he lost to Scott because no one had more passion than him. He really wanted it, but didn't end up getting it. It was heartbreaking. No one was better than him and that's why I think he should be higher on the list.

He is a great chef, many people think that had a terrible attitude, but he display that attitude with persons like mike and sandra, who are useless contestants. He was very consistent and it suprised me that he didn't win hell's kitchen 12 considering that he made a big comeback after he left season 9 because of a dehydration. He is a great chef and should be higher than rochelle.

He had great personality. My brother and I would just laugh when he'd scream, get mad, and do his evil laugh... dam he deserved the title more than Scott.

One of the best chefs what sucks is the fact he couldn't cook in the first service in season 9 but in season 12 he was awesome... too bad he lost to scott though

Good Palate, but I think Jillian deserves to win more than her. - ndog

Best palate and knew how to run a kitchen.

Lost a lot weight

Already nominated for elimination three times in seven services. Raw salmon, raw eggplant and screwed up lentils. Like Sarah, good on challenges but terrible in services. If it wasn't for Sarah's sudden nosedive she would have been gone already. So definitely should not be in this list

WHAT! Christine is good in challenges but she sucks hardcore in dinner service, she should NOT be on here!

Why Christine? She's very inconsistent in services.

She was the nicest person ever on Hell's kitchen. And she never cursed which in this day and age is a rarity. She was also very talented. She may not have been the smartest person but she was the most lovable.

A contestant that showed great improvement in Season 11

She was responsible with dan finished first should have won!

Should be much higher

To this date, I still cannot figure out how she made it into the final two. I thought for sure she would have been voted off the first time she made a huge mistake in the kitchen. Nope! Even after being nominated every single time for screwing something up, she still got chance after chance (obviously everyone else saw something fishy going on, as she was the only contestant I saw Ramsay have that much of a soft spot for). She could do no wrong, and the excuse given was that she had this amazing "palate" that couldn't be beat, yet she couldn't even do the most basic skills in the kitchen. This doesn't mean I don't think she's a good chef, but I have watched other chefs make just one mistake and get the boot. Something just didn't add up, unless they kept her for the ratings.

Very honest true persons never try to be someone else or screw over people and not the best cook but got that thing than most people don't

She was probably the hottest contestants on Hell's kitchen

Aaanddd shes higher than keith..

One of the funniest contestants!

He should have gone much further than he had

With Robyn's downfall, Brian should've been the 6th place finisher with the black jacket, not her.

I LOVE YOU BRIAN

I think she has a pretty good chance of winning. She's a great leader, has a great attitude, and overall, she's been doing a great job so far.

She should be in the top 10 she carried her team, was extremely consistent, and hardly got called out by Ramsey ever.

Nah, Bryant or Sade should have won. La Tasha made to many mistakes and she is dumb! Proof? Grilled Watermelon was her signature dish...wow... - spodermanfan1000

So, you're basing her whole performance off her one bad signature dish? Mind telling me the "too many" mistakes she made? All I remember were her serving raw salmon in one episode and overcooked scallops in another. Other than that, she was the most consistent performer, and she overall led her team better than Bryant did. - HanSolo69

She should be in the top 10. One of the best competitors ever to walk in to hells kitchen