YMMV / Kitchen Nightmares

• Accidental Innuendo: In "Mill Street Bistro", after Gordon gives Joe Nagy a verbal beatdown and the latter has a therapy session with his staff:
  Joe: I know more about fucking elk and buffalo and beef than he'll ever know.
• Adorkable: Drew, from Casa Roma. Granted, anyone would come across as a Nice Guy compared to Erick, but he clearly relished the opportunity to head up a kitchen for the first time in his career, which makes it all the sadder that he couldn't pull it off in the end.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Although it's far more likely that he's just a narcissist who can't accept his own ideas being shot down, one could see Sebastian's obsession with uniqueness as a surprisingly industry-aware paranoia; even if food is very good, having a similar menu to other restaurants in the area makes it harder to compete with them, so being unique, even if slightly lesser than your contemporaries, helps you to stand out, and generates business.^note This is generally a point that Ramsay himself, as well as his Bar Rescue contemporary Jon Taffer, frequently bring up in their revamps, attempting to give banal locations a sense of identity through decor or a specialized menu But on the other hand, your food actually has to be palatable for said plan to work, and especially if one intends to franchise, meaning that even if this slightly more sound line of reasoning was the one Sebastian was following, he's still wrong.
• Archive Panic: According to Gordon Ramsay, watching all 123 episodes of the show back-to-back would take you a whopping 6,868 minutes, or nearly 5 days.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • In-Universe: The belly dancers at Prohibition Grille.
  • The intro for "Le Bistro" shows a split-second shot of a dog in sunglasses riding a boat.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Even in a series made of incompetent/ill-tempered restaurateurs, there are some examples that truly stand out:
  • During the "Burger Kitchen" episode, the owners are an elderly couple and their adult son Daniel. Over the course of the episode, it is revealed that the restaurant was opened after Daniel's grandfather (the husband's father) had passed away, leaving a sizable inheritance to his son and grandson. The grandfather had left his grandson's portion of the inheritance in a trust which the son used as start-up capital for the restaurant, without his own son's knowledge or permission. Basically, Daniel was presented with a fait accompli and felt he had no choice but to go along with it, despite not having any interest in being a restaurateur, taking on a job as a kitchen manager. On top of that, the restaurant itself was in dire financial straits, with his parents constantly coming to him for further funds to meet payroll, not keeping accurate books as far as his initial and continuing contributions to the restaurant fund, belittling his fiancée when she volunteers her time to help him out, and constantly stonewalling him when he comes to them wanting official documentation about his 50% share in the business. The best they do is a handmade document printed from a home computer that looks like the legal equivalent of an I.O.U. written on a cocktail napkin. The overall situation, and resulting discord, was so great that the result became one of the few two-part episodes in the entire series.
• Common Knowledge:
  • The legendary proclamation, "Hello, my name's NINO!!!!!!!" was not actually said by Nino himself, but rather by his brother Michael doing an unflattering impression of him.
  • Similarly, while the majority of the restaurants featured closed down, a lot of people have assumed this meant that the owners / staff left the industry. A good amount actually are still employed in the industry - sometimes the owner(s) or staff have actually started another restaurant (which adhere to what Ramsay teaches them) or moved onto something such as catering. Sometimes? People simply need someone else to handle the business (such as Mama Cherri)
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The Only Sane Man in each restaurant will inevitably become this, knowing the problems but too powerless to change anything without Gordon's help. For example:
  • Katy and Miranda from Amy's Baking Company are very popular. Both are woobies for being young girls who have to put up with their unstable owners and not getting tips, but Katy got it worse when she was told to leave for asking if Amy was sure of something... after Amy had to correct herself, meaning it was probably a smart move... then she was berated by Amy for walking away... which Amy just told her to do... then she got fired. Poor girl. Meanwhile, Miranda is popular for being a Sad Clown and constantly joking around about the state of ABC despite obviously hating working there.
  • Wendy, Daniel's girlfriend in the Burger Kitchen episode, fit this for being the only one supporting him and calling his parents out on their abusive behavior.
  • Also from the Burger Kitchen episode is David Blaine, the head chef for the first part. He is abrasive, rude and on the verge of losing his sanity... but he's also completely and 100% right throughout the whole episode. In the context of the utter insanity of the restaurant, his outbursts are downright cathartic, and the fans love him for it. Also, like Mama Mary below, being able to make a dish Ramsay enjoyed definitely contributes.
  • Aaron and Scott from the Jack's Waterfront episode have made a great impression at the audience, the former due to his willingness to learn from Ramsay and his work ethic, while the latter provided an emotional story of a put-upon "silent partner" becoming one of the pillars of the restaurant.
  • Mama Mary from the Blackberry's episode has quite a lot of fans and sympathizers due to funding the restaurant out of her retirement fund, calling her daughter out for rejecting Ramsay's help and walking out during their dinner service, and being grateful to Ramsay (in contrast to her daughter). Being able to make food that Ramsay likes doesn't hurt much either.
  • Steven, the affable waiter from the Black Pearl. He got along exceedingly well with Gordon, and even returned to talk about the Black Pearl shutting down in one of the Revisited episodes...causing a hilarious awkward-silence moment with Gordon.
  • Rami from Oceana was quite well-liked and sympathized (especially by siblings who have overbearing older ones) due to being the more reasonable sibling, and trying to rein his more arrogant older brother to listen to Gordon Ramsay. He also got along well with Ramsay, and listened to his advice and words. It's also telling when Ramsay left for the first day to sort things out, he hugged Rami, while he just left Moe. His snark and how he tricks Moe to just accept Ramsay's words was also pretty hilarious.
  • Sara from La Galleria 33, for just being so blatant in how much joy she took in pointing out how bad the restaurant was, to the point of constantly smiling and laughing. She went out of her way to trick Gordon into ordering a dish so bad that even the owners knew about the complaints.
  • Lou from Sebastian's, because in contrast to her boss, she had a true, strong passion for cooking, was actually good at it, and was 100% on board with all the changes Ramsay made in the restaurant.
  • In Tavolini, Van, and to a lesser extent, Joli. Unlike their completely incompetent parents, they held a good head on their shoulders in trying to run the restaurant on their own, being completely honest to Ramsay about their problems, as well as very susceptible to his help. Just go to any comment section about the episode, and most viewers will shower Van with their admiration, saying he should've been the owner of the restaurant in the first place. Also, head chef Michael, for humbly accepting Ramsay's criticism instead of being in denial about its quality, as well as successfully taking over the service by himself the first night when the owners had a mental breakdown amidst of it. Really, everyone in the staff except for the owners are ensemble darkhorses.
  • In Downcity, we have Rico, the co-owner. Compared to his partner Abby, he was very willing to accept help from Ramsay, knowing how much of a handful she was. The main reason Gordon stayed was because of his plea, as Gordon had already lost all respect for Abby by then. The waiters as well, for joking at the expense of the food and service, and also being level-headed.
  • Leone's Restaurant has several. First we have Rose, who owned the restaurant for a long time and was very devoted to making it successful. Then she ended up in a coma for two years, and during that time, her son Michael had deteriorated its service, making many viewers feel sorry for her. But she still tried to stay cool-headed, and even joked around a bit with Ramsay despite having troubles talking due to her aforementioned state. Then we have waiter Jon, mostly for his snark at the expense of Michael, as well as Trudy, for stepping up the plate and managing the restaurant in Rose's absence when Michael wouldn't.
  • The infamous Nino. Unlike most neglectful and/or incompetent owners in the series, most viewers seem to agree that with how much of a Literal-Minded Cloud Cuckoolander and walking wellspring of ham and hilarity the man is, Nino is simply too enjoyable to truly hate.
  • Kevin from "Mangia Mangia" is well-liked for his constant snark towards Julie's incompetence and having a rational outlook on Trevor's behavior. He doesn't approve of it, but he also doesn't go out of his way to single Trevor out and blame all the problems on him.
  • Fernandes from "Diwan" for being 100% honest with Ramsay, calling out the chefs for their lying, and being the most vocal supporter for changes in the restaurant.
  • Mama Cherri. Being the ONLY restaurant owner in the series run, both UK and US, to have Gordon Ramsay clean his plate is definitely going to earn style points.
• Fan Nickname: "Mr. Clean" for Nino from the eponymous episode, for the thing he claims to do (and took photos of himself apparently doing) and for bearing an uncanny resemblance to the mascot.
• Fountain of Memes: Just about everything from the Nino's Italian Restaurant episode.
• Growing the Beard: While few people have argued that the US version is outright bad, most agree that Season 3 was a marked step up from the previous two, due to the postscript sequences that show whether Ramsay's efforts actually counted for anything in the end (perhaps surprisingly, just to be fair, they have shown several instances where they didn't), along with a more diverse selection of restaurants rather than the bistros and Italian restaurants that Seasons 1-2 tended to focus on.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • During Gordon's visit to Campania, he warned that the business was about to "float down the Hudson River". Cut to a few years later, when owner and head chef Joseph Cerniglia's body was recovered from the Hudson River after a suicidal jump off the George Washington Bridge. Unsurprisingly, this episode is not aired on TV anymore, at least in the U.S.
  • Many cases covered under Tear Jerker fit into this knowing the episode ends rather hopefully, but even those places often closed down - be it the 2008 recession, COVID-19, or a lot of other factors. Multiple restaurants actually did so well their rent spiked and thus couldn't renew their lease.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The first Revisited episode of the American series is subtitled "Gordon Returns". Five years later, a sidequest involving enlisting the aid of "Gordon Gourmet" to help save a failing restaurant appears in a video game called Lightning Returns.
  • The owner of Cafe Hon trademarked the word "hon" and tried to sue or C&D anyone in Baltimore who used it commercially (including the city itself), which led to a negative reputation of her and her restaurant. It's practically identical to what the Fine Brothers on Youtube would do years later with the word "react".
  • In the UK series Gordon remarked that the Moore Place looked "more like a rest home", which became ironic when it eventually closed down in 2009 (with the building being demolished) and the space where it was became occupied with a rest home.
  • Gordon has nothing but disdain for the drive-thru/to-go window in Mangia Mangia. After the COVID-19 pandemic pushed many restaurants to offer curbside take-out, a to-go window for a non-fast-food restaurant no longer seems so far-fetched.
  • Kingston Cafe served salads in martini glasses, which Gordon Ramsay saw as bizarre. Two years later, an episode of Bar Rescue served their appetizers in a stemless martini glass to make it look more classy.
• Ho Yay: Palpable in the Chiarella's episode between Gordon and the troubled but fundamentally sweet owner, Tommy. When Gordon saves the day, there is much hugging, mutual admiration and Tommy even kisses him on the cheek when they part company. It's ramped right up though in the revisited episode, where Tommy shows off his bench-pressing skills in his basement gym before telling Gordon he loves him when he finally leaves, after finding out that Gordon has part-funded his badly needed liquor license. Aww!
• Memetic Badass:
  • Somewhat Downplayed, but NINO is often referred to by YouTube commenters on clips from other restaurants, usually with facetious jokes like "Nino would never do this!" (e.g. "Nino would always make sure the food was out on time!" or "Nino would never lie to Gordon!")
  • Bill from "Flamango's", for putting up with several decades of marriage to Adele and for actually being a good chef when he's allowed to cook what he wants to cook.
• Memetic Mutation: "This is all ROTTEN!" and "it's fucking RAW!!" Typically with as thick a British accent as possible.
  • As of late appearing in the YouTube comments of the show clips, HELLO, MY NAME IS NINOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
    • Ascended Meme / Meme Acknowledgment: The Kitchen Nightmare channel and Gordon Ramsay's own channel often splice in NINOOOOOOOO in their outros.
    • And you won't find any Wiki Vandalism on this page, because Nino cleaned it and took pictures as evidence.
  • Thanks to Cafe Hon's episode, the same comments often include the order to "86 THE [thing they want deleted/removed]".
  • "Finally, some good fucking food."^Explanation Gordon's response to Mary's red velvet cake, the only thing he actually liked in Blackberry's.
  • "I can't believe Gordon just killed Chef Mike!"^Explanation In "El Greco", the kitchen microwave was nicknamed "Chef Mike" due to how often they used it in meals. Gordon threw the good chef out the second-story window as part of the renovation process, which led to jokes that Gordon had committed murder and/or just fired the hardest-working cook out the window.
  • Pete: "I disagree with you." (Insert reality warping event here.)^Explanation Pete, from the Pantaleone episode, constantly disagreed with Gordon on almost everything brought up before his pizza failed to stack up to a pizza from another restaurant and a store-bought frozen pizza.
  • "Fresh frozen."^Explanation An argument that has appeared multiple times in the series with someone arguing with Chef Ramsay over the quality of frozen goods still qualifying as fresh.
    Ramsay: Fresh Frozen!? There is no such thing!
  • The official social media accounts of Kitchen Nightmares have become a subject of jokes and hilarity due to promotional materials featuring memes and the YouTube channel's recent videos being titled after popular trends and memes.
  • Some variation of "Nobody ever complains about the food." ^Explanation A common misconception that if nobody ever vocally complains to the staff about the food, it must be good.
• Narm Charm: The intro to seasons 1-4 of the US version, in which Ramsay is targeted by a Knife Outline, before grabbing two of the knives, scraping them together with the most bored look possible on his face, and throwing one at the camera.
• Nausea Fuel: Has its own page.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Some of the kitchens are filled with rotten food (Dillon's and Fiesta Sunrise in particular, both of which also had insects crawling around everywhere), which is not only disgusting but very dangerous given that poorly prepared food can kill you, or at least make you very sick. (This happened in one episode when a customer had a rotten lobster, and in the UK pilot where Gordon threw up after eating a rotten scallop and flat out told the owners it could've killed him.)
  • Peter from the titular episode "Peter's" of the first season is a large, very hotheaded man who can lose his temper very easily, to the point he can get violent and vulgar. Case in point; when a rude debt collector came by his restaurant and insulted Gordon, he got so mad at him that a fight nearly broke out between the two of them. If it weren't for Gordon and the restaurant's staff intervening and holding Peter back, it would have devolved into an ugly No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
    • The "debt collectors" themselves could also count, because considering how casually they're dressed and that the restaurant is in Babylon, New York, it's very easy to see them for who they really are. And then it was found out years later that Peter had actually been an associate of the Bonanno crime family before appearing on Kitchen Nightmares.
• Signature Scene: Of course, the "Hello, my name's NINOOOOO!" scene from the Nino's Italian Restaurant episode.
  • Gordon Ramsay enjoying the food of Mama Cherri, and cleaning his plate is this in the UK run, due to the fact this was the only time Gordon Ramsay enjoyed the food.
• Squick: The state of many of the kitchens and food storage areas makes one wonder how many of the customers do not end up with food poisoning (in fact, only one instance was shown of this happening), as well as how many health inspectors are either not doing their jobs or are taking bribes. It also makes one wonder if the restaurants they eat in every day may have the same conditions in the back.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: In the Dillon's episode, Gordon suits up as a steam cleaner in a uniform with equipment that almost looks like something out of Ghostbusters. The upbeat synthesizer music accompanying the scene is obviously a nod to Ray Park Jr.'s Ghostbusters theme song.
  • Some modern distribution of the UK series has resorted to this, being unable to secure the same music licenses that the broadcasts used. The Fish & Anchor uses blatant soundalikes of Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Coming", Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" & Korobeiniki(sometimes known as the Tetris theme)
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • The American version includes the usual reality TV tropes (excessive use of flashbacks, cheesy and continuous background music, and replacing Gordon with the narrator from The Dog Whisperer and later producer Arthur Smith, though Gordon does return to narrating the 2023 reboot). Most importantly, Gordon no longer has exclusivity on deploying Cluster F Bombs.
  • Several restaurant owners say this about Gordon's changes. As it turns out, they make the place better more often than not.
• The Woobie: Has its own page.

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