Does Gordon Ramsay Really Save Every Restaurant On ‘Kitchen Nightmares’?

Food shows on television have been a staple for years, and fans have gotten to see a number of personalities rise through this genre. Names like Emeril and Guy Fieri are just two examples of small screen icons that made their name in food and entertainment.

Gordon Ramsay is one of the most famous people on the planet, and he’s had a tremendous career thus far. Kitchen Nightmares is one of his biggest hits, and fans want to know how many of the show’s featured restaurants remained open after Ramsay helped them out.

Let’s take a closer look at Kitchen Nightmares and see how things played out.

Gordon Ramsay Is A TV Star

At this point, virtually everyone is familiar with Gordon Ramsay and what he brings to the table in the world of food and the arena of televisoin. Ramsay was a successful chef and restaurateur before transitioning to the small screen, and once he broke out on television, he took things to another level in a hurry.

Through the years, Gordon Ramsay has had a number of hit television shows, which largely focus on the food industry. He has, however, branched out to other shows that have focused on hotels and even travel, as well. It’s an impressive array of offerings that he has put together, and if you’re a fan of his, chances are you’ve checked at least a few of his shows out.

One of Gordon Ramsay’s most popular shows has been Kitchen Nightmares, and it’s one that fans still love to circle back and watch.

‘Kitchen Nightmares’ Was A Hit

In September of 2017, Kitchen Nightmares made its debut on the small screen, and it looked to capitalize on the success of Gordon Ramsay and his ability to run a successful restaurant. Based on Gordon’s British show, the premise here was simple: send Gordon to struggling restaurants to help them turn things around.

During each episode, Gordon would venture to new restaurants, assess the current state of things, and help the place implement strategies that would potentially turn things around. Conflict was a major factor on the show, as people’s stubbornness often combated Ramsay’s intense demeanor.

In a surprise to no one, Kitchen Nightmares was able to last for 7 seasons and a total of 92 episodes. Ramsay himself was the one to pull the plug on the show, which is a decision he later came to regret.

Many of the restaurants that were featured on the show seemed to turn things around in a hurry, while others seemed completely doomed from the start. Regardless of how things played out, there is simply no denying how entertaining this show was while it was still on the air.

Thanks to working with so many restaurants to turn things around, fans have grown curious about whether or not Gordon was able to save every eatery he helped.

Does Gordon Save Every Restaurant?

So, was Gordon Ramsay able to come in and save the day for every restaurant that appeared on Kitchen Nightmares? Unfortunately, even the great Gordon Ramsay was not able to help keep every restaurant afloat, even after pointing them in the right direction while working with them on their respective episode.

According to Grub Street, “There were a few lawsuits along the way and various claims from proprietors that the show wrecked their businesses, but in all, while some spots have scintillating Yelp! reviews now, Kitchen Nightmares saved less than half of its featured restaurants, and a few even closed before their episodes aired.”

That’s right, at the time of that article (2014), 60% of the restaurants that were featured on Kitchen Nightmares wound up shutting down. In fact, many of these places closed within one year of their episode airing on the small screen.

The team at Grub Street listed each restaurant and their operating status at the time of publishing, and the amount of restaurants that closed is quite astonishing. It just goes to show that running a restaurant is incredibly difficult, even when someone as acclaimed as Gordon Ramsay intervenes.

One user on Quora made an astute observation about these restaurants, writing, “The simplest explanation is this; They were in such bad shape financially that even turning things around to a ‘moderately successful’ restaurant wasn’t enough to save them — and going from a money losing place to a fantastically successful place is a very, very hard thing to do.”

Despite trying his best, Gordon Ramsay was not able to save all of the restaurants he lent a helping hand to on Kitchen Nightmares.