Top 10 Moments from Kitchen Nightmares

Gordon Ramsay has become one of the best known celebrity chefs in both North America and the United Kingdom. He decided to abandon his football career at the age of 19 and focus more on his culinary skills and it has paid off. One of his most well-known restaurants is Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in good old London, UK at the Royal Hospital Road which has held three Michelin Stars since 2001. And one of his career highlights is the famous reality show Kitchen Nightmares where he travels both the United States and the United Kingdom in search of restaurants that are ready to tank badly. Here are some of the best, most bizarre and totally WTF highlights starring everyone's favorite screaming culinary Scotsman.
The Top Ten
1 Too Far Gone - Amy's Baking Company

Any fan of Kitchen Nightmares should've seen this one coming. Amy's Baking Company is truly the stuff of legends because of Amy's inability to handle criticism and Samy taking the servers tips and being rude to customers. When Gordon first arrives, he's very impressed with the decor and how the kitchen is all clean and organized. However, some of the food items left much to be desired like an undercooked pizza and when he observed how the staff were treated, Ramsay was just horrified. Whenever people tried to critique the Bouzaglos' food items, Amy would dig in her heels and fire back, both in person and online. Furthermore, the couple wouldn't allow the restaurant to open without them and they went through over 100 employees in only a year. After giving it much thought, Ramsay realized that Amy only brought him to her restaurant to be her little yes man and any changes he would try to make would only be temporary. He's then forced to do the one thing he never thought he have to do; just walk away. This is easily one of the saddest episodes of any reality T.V. shows because the Bouzaglos were absolutely close-minded and couldn't handle hearing any criticism. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant closed down two years after the episode aired and the couple even appeared on an episode of Dr. Phil. Truly unbelievable.

2 "Hello, my name's NINO!!!" - Nino's Italian Restaurant

Nino's Italian Restaurant has been opened for over 50 years when Ramsay visited the place. The eldest son, Nino, didn't understand how to be a restaurant manager and needed to realize that there was a lot more to keeping a restaurant going than just cleaning the place and taking pictures of himself doing it. To further add to the drama, Nino's mother kept having to take money out of her retirement fund to keep the place going. As per the usual, none of the food items pleased the iron-tongued chef and the decor was an eyesore. At the end, it looked like things have turned around. However, the restaurant eventually closed in August 2016. While the restaurant is long gone, this meme will live on.

3 "There's your refried beans on the way out!" - Fiesta Sunrise

This has to be one of the worst managed Mexican restaurants in culinary history. When Gordon Ramsay first arrived, there was no proper sign directly on the restaurant and it said Grill 303. The menus were also left over from the other restaurant and that was just the tip of the dung pile. When Gordon inspected the coolers, he was mortified as to how old and rotten everything was. But what pushed him over the edge was how the refried beans were stored in a garbage bin. He then takes the bin out to the dining room to show the customers and tells them not only that the restaurant is closed, but they didn't have to pay for anything. Later on, he discovers cockroach-infested dishes while trying to organize a burrito cooking contest. The highlight was when Ramsay tells Victor; "I wouldn't trust you to run a bath, let alone a *beep* restaurant! " Despite a drastic turnaround, the Fiesta Sunrise actually closed before the episode could air due to financial issues.

4 Where it all started - Bonapartes Restaurant

Before Gordon Ramsay took his show overseas, he was helping struggling restaurants in the United Kingdom and certain parts of Europe. The first ever episode was where he went to the small town of Silsden, England to help a struggling restaurant where it had two major problems; the menu had no appeal to the working-class locals and the head chef was 21-year old Tim Grey who was totally inexperienced in the culinary world. To further add fuel to the fire, Tim serves Ramsay some scallops which were well past their best before date and causes Ramsay to vomit in the back alley. By the end of the show, it looked like Bonapartes had finally turned things around with solid bookings for Valentine's Day. However, when Ramsay returned a month later, he found the place in even worse shape than when he first arrived. The fridge was worse than ever and Tim still couldn't make an omelet. Sue, who owned the restaurant, fires Tim and closes the place.

5 Liar, Liar, Chef's Jacket on Fire - Mill Street Bistro

If there's one thing you must never do when talking to Gordon Ramsay, it's lie about your credentials and experience. That's something Joe of Mill Street Bistro learned the hard way. When the two first meet on Joe's farm, Joe tells Ramsay about how he trained with some of the best chefs in the world and that how a lot of the food served at the restaurant went from the farm directly to the plate, figuratively speaking. However, Joe found out that Ramsay can tell the difference between what's fresh and frozen. And much to Ramsay's disappointment, it was the latter. He even interviewed a former employee who was originally hired for Garde Manger and eventually had to do more work than what she was originally hired for. The menu items were overpriced and talking in the back of house was very restrictive. But the best part was when he verbally eviscerated Joe after hours, much to the delight of his staff and the viewers. This was a two-parter episode where it looked like Joe had turned over a new leaf with the new name Maple City Tavern. However, this closed in February 2016.

6 Her way or the highway - Down City

"YOU'RE SO IN DENIAL YOU NEED THERAPY! " Those are probably the first words that come to mind when we think of this episode. Even when Ramsay walked through the door of the restaurant, Abby was totally defiant and close-minded. Whenever someone tried to tell her something, she would dig in her heels and not listen. To make things worse, she fired the head chef some time before the episode started airing, which meant there was no real leader to take control of the situation. As per the norm, the fridge was full of moldy, rotten food, with the lamb bones being one nasty example. At the end of the episode, Abby has an epiphany and agrees to let Gordon help her. However, the chef's changes didn't sit well with the old customers and the restaurant closed in December 2011.

7 Holy Building, Unholy Carvery - The Priory

In the U.K. version of the show, Ramsay heads to Haywards Heath, England and finds that this restaurant has more business than any other restaurant to that date. However, that's only because of the 2 for 1 coupons that they keep giving out. But the biggest sin of the whole place was the carvery, which wasn't up to par. Not to mention that he was the only customer that wasn't a senior. After examining the back of house and discovering how filthy it is with old food and derelict equipment, Ramsay immediately quarantines the kitchen and reprimands the staff, head chef Toby in particular. Near the end of the show, after a dinner service, it looks like things are turning around. When Ramsay revisits the place a few weeks later, he's glad to find that the new head chef Matt is steering the restaurant in the right direction and that Toby, who was demoted to Sous Chef, was fired for serving expired chicken. However, Ramsay becomes concerned when Matt tells him that the carvery is returning on weekends.

8 Stubborn Chefs get fired - Seascape

The first U.S. episode to feature a restaurant that specializes in seafood, Ramsay went through the usual pattern of sampling the food, getting customers to come and inspecting the kitchen. This was easily the most disgusting kitchen in the history of the show with nothing being cleaned in who knows how long with the restaurant being closed until it was spotless. But the highlight of the episode is when Ramsay introduces a new menu item that head chef Doug refuses to taste and sous chef Charles continues to not care about the quality of his work. Because this duo refuses to pull the about-faces needed for the Seascape to survive, the owners Peter and Irene have no choice but to boot them off the payroll. Naturally, YouTubers destroyed them in the comments section. Despite a drastic turn around, the restaurant closed in October 2007 and a new one opened in its place.

9 "Frozen" in the past - Mama Maria's

Once upon a time in Brooklyn, New York, a restaurant called Sal's Pizzeria was one of the city's most popular restaurants and then in the 1990's, they were able to purchase Maria's next door. But soon after, Jon's mother was stricken with Cancer and passed away, with his father also dying not too long after. He decided to rename the restaurant Mama Maria's to honor his parents' legacy. However, while the neighborhood around the restaurant certainly changed, Mama Maria's stayed the same and business started to plummet. Dinner service was a disaster with a vegetarian finding a bone in the pasta sauce Jon refusing to do anything about it. But things came to a head when they had to call an ambulance after a customer got sick from a bad lobster tail. What really pushed Ramsay over the edge was how much frozen food was being stored. In the end, Jon was able to leave the pizzeria behind to work full-time in the restaurant and is one of the few restaurants still open. But feel free to reply to my comment if it closes.

10 Over 100 varieties of bland - Leone's

Leone's was once one of the most popular restaurants in Montclair, New Jersey, famous for their Italian food. But Rose was in a coma for 2 years and her son Michael was charged with the restaurant. After recovering, Rose is horrified by how her son has run the place into the ground and is on the verge of collapsing. To keep things simple, Ramsay orders one of every dish off the menu and when he returns, he's dumbfounded that there's over 100 items. Naturally, he didn't like anything. During dinner service, Ramsay found the usual disgusting kitchen which explains how Michael has stopped caring about the business and the back of kitchen is so foul, Ramsay orders the restaurant to close immediately. He then shows him pictures of high quality food from competing restaurants and shows them their own slop which makes Michael open his eyes. After a renovation and new menu, Michael has become a new person and leadership material. As of this Top 10, it's one of the few restaurants featured on the show that's still open.

The Contenders
11 Meow Meow Meow - Amy's Baking Company
12 Ricky Brewer - Lela's
13 Brutal Job Interview - The Walnut Tree Inn

Located in the rural reaches of Llanddewi Skirrid, Whales, this quaint inn obtained a Michelin Star under the leadership of their head chef. However, without one, the food has risen in price but fallen in quality. And it's definitely reflected in the empty dining room. Ramsay had some seafood stew that he said was like eating a bowl of clay. He tells the current owner, Francesco Mattioli, that without a head chef, he could kiss his Michelin Star goodbye. Gordon and Francesco interview a couple of candidates to help turn the inn around. Most people doing an interview go by how well the candidate is dressed and by how polished their resume is. Gordon Ramsay wasn't one of them. Instead, he took them into the kitchen and charged them with making something delicious. However, they were rejected because they couldn't cook anything that pleased the two. Not to mention that one of the candidates knew nothing about the place before coming. Although it closed in 2007, it was reopened with new owners and given a new Michelin Star in 2010.

14 French Pig - The Secret Garden
15 Richie's Rant - The Runaway Girl
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