Tonight, on Kitchen Nightmares,
Gordon travels though the California desert
and doesn't exactly find an oasis.
This has to be one of the worst restaurants I've ever seen
in my entire cooking career.
The food is wretched.
- This is outrageous. - Sticks to your hand.
Oh, God.
The restaurant is a mess.
It looks like somebody peed on the ceiling,
The walls, the doors.
Could be throw-up.
The owners are clueless.
Why would you open a restaurant if you'd never worked in one?
'Cause we're insane.
And the chef is a ticking time bomb.
What part of that don't you frickin' understand?
Ready to explode.
It's a bad in' day, pal.
Bad day?! Enough?
Could this be the restaurant
that leaves Gordon with more questions than answers?
I don't know what's wrong with you,
I don't know what's wrong with you, and I
don't know why they ing even opened a restaurant.
It's desperate times in the desert,
Next, on Kitchen Nightmares.
Maybe that's the secret success behind this place.
Burn the thing down.
Lancaster, California,
70 miles north of Los Angeles,
is home to Casa Roma,
the oldest restaurant in the city.
How's your pizza, guys?
In spite of having
Absolutely no restaurant experience,
Nylah and her son Jeremy bought this failing landmark restaurant
with the hope of turning it around.
Two-and-a-half years ago, I was in real estate.
I was sitting around looking at business opportunities
and I found Casa Roma.
I talked my oldest son into getting in with me,
and had we have known
the restaurant business very well
we probably wouldn't have done it.
We gotta get this place turned.
Soon.
Me and my mom thought we were buying a restaurant
with a bar attached to it.
You guys gonna sit in the dining room or--
We're gonna go in the bar. Okay.
But, really, this was a bar
with a restaurant attached to it.
My bar does all my business.
It's like two different countries.
Our bar is always packed,
and the restaurant sits empty.
In food, on a good night,
I'm making $175.
On a slow night, I'm making $9.00.
I'm just asking--
I don't want any of your in' drama.
That's bull, and you know it.
We've had almost 20 chefs over the last 2 1/2 years,
but I've had Drew for a year and Erick for almost six months.
Erick's a huge reason why Casa Roma isn't doing well.
Not one table!
Not one table's had their food yet.
He lacks getting the food out in a timely fashion.
And his food is very bland.
I'm gonna need five chicken breasts.
I'm good at this. I'm good at it.
Do I make it look fancy?
Can I put pine trees and stuff in it?
That's not what I do.
I make the food taste good. It's presentable.
And it's like, ", that's pretty damn good."
Erick and I do not get along in the kitchen
because he doesn't produce very well
and he expects me to do everything.
I need every ing one of my pans right now.
We totally are in dire need of chef Ramsey's help.
Because there's something
that's got to be turned around about this place.
Because it definitely is a nightmare.
If I closed down, I don't know what I would do.
I raised four boys and ran a home my whole life.
Ahem, five years ago, I got a divorce.
And then I bought this place 2 1/2 years ago,
and it kind of took up the...
The time.
I don't care about getting rich from here.
I just--it would be nice to pay my bills, you know,
and have some--some extra money at the end of the month.
"Casa Roma, since 1958."
This restaurant's nearly 50 years old,
and by looking at the sign, it shows.
Time to find out what it looks like inside.
Hi. How are you?
Oh, hi! Nice to see you all.
Nice to meet you. Is it Nylah?
I'm Nylah. Good to see you.
This is my son, Jeremy.
Jeremy, how are you buddy? Nice to see you.
Now, this is, uh, very cozy.
No windows anywhere?
No, not in the bar part.
We have a restaurant part over there.
In terms of business, I mean,
the bar's obviously busy.
Our bar's always busy.
Bar's always busy? Always.
Nice. It's our restaurant we can't get going...
Mm-hmm. To save our lives.
What restaurant were you working in before you got here?
I wasn't.
He wasn't.
I work in the grocery store
and he works carpet cleaning.
Grocery store and carpet cleaning.
I know.
Is that blood down there? What is that?
No, just dirt.
Oh, just dirt. Dirt.
And, just out of interest, with no previous
restaurant experience anywhere,
why would you open a restaurant
if you'd never worked in one?
'Cause we're insane.
So, um, I think it's about time
I had a little taste.
Okay. Sounds good.
Where's the dining room? Right through here.
Right through there.
, that carpet is disgusting.
I was so excited when Chef Ramsay walked in the door.
It was like, "Wow, I can't even believe he's here."
I thought, "Well, here we go.
He's gonna see the nightmare I'm really living."
What is it?
Crusty bits of lime, lemon.
And bits of tissue...
On my table.
Hello. Hello.
How are you? I'm well, thank you. How are you?
Good. I'm Ashley.
Ashley, like to see you, darling.
I'll just give you those. They were on the table.
And little bits of lime back from 1958.
Oh...nice.
Down the side of the bottom of the chair, sorry love.
That's okay.
Excellent. These seats.
I feel like--I mean, I know I'm not exactly
the smallest,
but I feel like I'm just gonna...go through.
Is that normal like that?
No, it's not. No, it's not.
I'll fix it in a minute.
Um, "Casa Roma-- Fine Italian Dinning."
Dining.
Oh.
Or is that just an Italian spelling?
Weird.
Anyway, um, I'll start off with stuffed mushrooms, please.
Stuffed mushrooms.
The monte cristo, I'll go for that as well.
Monte crisco.
Yeah, I'm hungry as you can see.
And finally, I'm dying to taste a pizza.
A Casa Roma deluxe.
What size would you like?
Yeah, let's go for a medium.
Medium? Yeah.
Thank you, darling.
You already got it?
Leave this damn ing thing open.
Hey, I got a big order.
People say, "Well, he's a five-star Michelin chef."
Okay, so he's got four tires and a spare.
Kiss my. It means nothing to me.
The blinds here are disgusting.
Oh, my God.
Why are you hiding there?
We're trying to see.
Have they brought any food to you?
Yes, I found some limes and lemons
dehydrated down the side of my, uh, chair.
And bits of, uh, tissue left on the, uh, table.
Do you have a cleaner in here?
Yes, we do.
Is she blind?
Probably.
Hey, you're not doing nothing right now?
I'm cleaning up our stuff before--
Get me a glass of ice water, please.
An ice water? Yeah.
Nylah, can I have an ice water, please?
Way to go.
Two?
She's standing right there.
Oh, my God.
It's, um...zero for zero.
15 minutes in--nothing.
I'm starving.
We got some appetizers coming, right?
What?
Appetizers coming?
It's cooking.
Here's what snapped.
Damn.
We gotta get rid of all these dirty dishes.
This is killin' me.
That's better.
A proper seat.
Just turn that one.
Turn. It's done.
No, it's not--turn it!
Why is the kitchen so slow?
Somebody wants me, I'm out back.
Past the half hour mark now so, hey.
Things are looking, uh, hmm, a bit low.
Hmm.
Well, you got your appetizers being made?
Nope.
Hey, what about appetizers?
They're all cooking.
You wanna start on those pizzas then?
Just relax. Take a chill.
I might as well keep fit and do something,
hadn't I now?
Go for a jog-- got a marathon coming up.
Nothing wrong with working off a lunch...
When you get it.
Do you have anything on that last order ready?
What's that?
Anything on that last order ready or close?
No, we put everything up at one time.
We're just waiting for the sandwich and the pizza.
Have you got one thing close?
You want me to start-- If you got one thing close, lay it out.
Okay.
Don't know why the you wanna do that, but okay.
Okay.
We got the appetizers-- Oh,.
Okay, great.
I was nodding off then. Huh?
I was nodding off. I know, I saw that.
Thank you, my darling, and that's stuffed with crab?
Right. Lovely.
Thank you, my darling. You're welcome.
Wow.
Soggy.
Tasteless.
There's no crab or any form of flavor
or texture or anything in there.
What worries me more than anything,
they're just full of water.
How is everything?
Uh, yeah, pretty vile.
Um, are they frozen, the mushrooms?
Um...they should be making them fresh.
Really? Yes.
Didn't work.
I told you.
The, um...
Stuffed mushrooms that he got,
he could definitely tell--
he said that it tasted like it was frozen.
And he didn't like those at all, either.
Deluxe pizza.
What is that thing?
What's that sandwich?
That's an ugly sandwich.
Yeah, no.
I'm not worried about him.
Just see what he's got.
If he wants to bitch and moan, that's his drama.
Here's the deluxe.
And here's your monte crisco.
Thank you.
Is that powdered sugar?
Yes. On the sandwich?
Yes.
With fries?
Yes.
Is that popular?
No.
It's actually dripping.
Fat.
Ew.
When Chef Ramsay squeezed the monte crisco
and all that oil came out, that really disgusted me.
That was very disgusting.
Pizza.
Maybe the best is for last.
Unfortunately...
the dough is raw.
So thick...
It's like wallpaper paste-- raw.
Oh, my God.
And that's why...
Clearly, there's nobody in the restaurant.
Because only people that can eat this kind of
are the ones in the bar...
Drunk.
After a long wait in an empty restaurant
For some horrible food,
Gordon gathers the staff...
So you're the sous chef and you're the head chef?
To discuss the nightmare that is Casa Roma.
Lunch.
Absolutely embarrassing.
The fried sandwich...
What planet are you on when you put that together?
Casa Roma celebrates
its 50th year this year.
Yeah, I mean, what a embarrassment.
Erick, you knew I was coming for lunch today.
I didn't know when you-- whose you were.
I said, "Which one is his?" They wouldn't tell me.
Ashley...
You never asked which one.
And it shouldn't matter
If it was him or her or whoever.
It doesn't matter.
I came here today, yeah, to taste your best.
Like any chef would do
when they go into each other's restaurants, yeah?
I'm not here to ing catch you off guard.
So cut the excuses and give me some respect
for the restaurant alone!
It was a bad ing day, pal.
Bad day?! Now you're pushing it. Enough.
I get it. We understand.
A bad day?!
Yeah, happens.
You never had a bad day?
I do have bad days, all the time.
I'm obviously having one today.
Just relax, take a chill pill.
Reload and do it again.
What the big problem is with you, Erick,
you've accepted it.
In your opinion only.
What?
What part of that don't you frickin' understand?
What do you mean "frickin' understand"?
Yeah, what part of that don't you understand?
In your opinion only.
I haven't accepted it.
Yeah, and I ed up stuff.
Yeah, , so I try and reload and redo it.
There was nothing edible.
Why are you walking away, Erick?
Coming up on Kitchen Nightmares...
This has to be one of the worst restaurants
I've ever seen in my entire cooking career.
Gordon takes on an incompetent staff.
Damn it, am I the only one that in' works here?
You haven't got a clue what's going on.
You're running around crazy.
We're spinning around.
I need the door closed.
And just when Gordon thinks he's seen the worst of it...
He goes where he's never gone before:
the bathroom.
Look at that.
That's coming up on Kitchen Nightmares.
Appalled by the food,
Chef Ramsay's little chat with head chef Erick
didn't exactly go over well.
Lunch.
Absolutely embarrassing.
What planet are you on when you put that together?
Why are you walking away, Erick?
I was in awe when Erick talked to Chef Ramsay like that.
He's coming here to help us out.
Don't be rude to him.
You got two minutes?
Two minutes? I've got a week.
I'm not gonna give you no excuses at all.
All right?
Long days.
Haven't been feeling 100%.
But I'm here anyway.
You do what you gotta do.
You work to try and get these people better.
Let me reload and we'll see what we can do again.
Okay, I think we got caught flat-footed.
But I get to reload one time.
I won't get caught flat-footed again.
You can bet your ass on that.
Sicilian Parmesan?
Is that what we're writing? Yep.
C-e-c--
S-a-n.
Sicilian what?
That's right.
That isn't even how you spell Sicilian.
Doesn't anybody know how to spell it?
That might be Celian.
Sicilian's from Sicily.
Really?
'Cause S-i-c-i-l-y.
I don't think there'd be a "y."
No, it's i-n.
Sicilian.
There we go.
Thank God you guys sawthat.
Uh, do you work here or you just bypassing?
Come round, so we can say hello.
This is... Jimmy.
And what do you do?
Um, I'm the son of the owners.
I said what do you do?
Little bit of everything. Uh-huh.
Just try and help out.
You're--what's that in there?
Cranberry juice.
Cranberry juice? Mm-hmm.
Nice. Little vodka.
Vodka and cranberry juice? Yes, yes.
So you drink and work at the same time.
No, I don't work.
Oh, you're not working?
No, no. Okay, right.
So what do you do then outside of here?
What's your job? What's your career?
I do construction.
Construction. Operate heavy machinery.
Okay, so no one's got any cooking
or restaurant experience?
No, no.
Ah. Not at all.
Excellent.
Hey, guys. How you doing?
Put your chair here, and I'll put one on the end.
I'm having the chicken parmesan.
He's gonna have the chicken nuggets and fries.
Okay, I got calamari to start,
and then kids' chicken nuggets with fries.
Excuse me?
Do you have any questions about the order?
Kids spaghetti alfredo, shrimp scampi.
Chicken parm. Marinara--okay.
Erick, you want me to saute, man?
You want me to saute?
Erick and I do not get along in the kitchen
because we don't really communicate very well.
Would you prefer working on your own?
Mm, sometimes, yeah.
I can tell.
Why is that?
'Cause you're not saying anything.
Just doing what I gotta do.
Yeah. Oh, dear.
Here's your stuffed mushrooms.
You're welcome.
You dig in.
Is it cooked, you think?
Yours--no.
You send that back.
This sausage is not done.
Erick, this sausage isn't done.
I ain't got time for this.
It looks like it's frozen.
I'm sorry about that, guys.
Working here is life for us.
It's what pays our bills.
And to know that the cook
is keeping us from making money,
it's hard on us.
What was wrong with the calamari?
Uh, what happened to the calamari that's come back?
They said that it tastes like it was frozen.
Is this normal? Yes.
Yeah. What can you do?
Drew, I need 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 chicken breasts, Drew.
Erick doesn't ever really push to get it done.
He just keeps telling me, "Oh, it's okay, I got it.
Everything's gonna be fine."
But it's not.
Did you get the lasagna, Drew, or no?
Damn it, am I the only one that in' works here?
It's an hour into dinner service,
and several appetizers
are getting sent back to the kitchen.
Yeah, that can... go back.
And only one table has received its entrees.
That's probably the worst shrimp scampi
that I've ever had in my entire life.
Let me take it back to the chef and explain it to him.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Okay, guys, listen.
Worst shrimp scampi they ever had,
and they said no flavor at all.
Well, what can you do?
Get me some water, Jimmy.
When food comes back like that
with the shrimps, you never taste it?
You know, what can you do?
I've never seen two cooks so far apart from each other
up until now.
I get frustrated, but...
I try not to get angry at people.
You know?
Everybody says I'm anyway.
So why should I perpetuate the problem
that's not necessary?
But you need help.
If you don't get help, we're gonna be in the
The next 10 or 15 minutes, no?
Is it really 8:30 already? It's true.
We've been here for two hours,
and we haven't even got our food?
Is this normal?
This is normal.
This...is incredible.
Right through those doors
has to be, to me,
one of the worst restaurants
I've ever seen in my entire cooking career.
The chef doesn't give a.
The owner's completely clueless.
And not any form of communication
between the kitchen,
the restaurant, and the management.
It's a shambles.
What are you waiting on, Ashley?
I'm still waiting on...
Chicken piccata with penne marinara,
an individual kids' pepperoni pizza,
a half order of spaghetti with meat sauce,
eggplant Parmesan with angel and meat,
chicken piccata, angel with marinara,
three chicken parms,
and a veal parmesan.
For just one table.
I felt like crying,
'cause it was that embarrassing for me.
Erick. Yes, sir?
Yeah, can I have your undivided attention?
Sure. Nothing's happening.
We've served one table of four, one table of two
for the last three tickets, half the order's gone out,
half is still on the board.
You haven't got a clue what's going on.
You're running around crazy.
What chance have we got
serving 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 tables?
You asked for one more crack at lunchtime.
"Let me go, big boy. Let me go, I wanna do it again."
We're spinning around
and serving.
Do me a favor.
Close the ing restaurant.
I can't stand any longer
and watch that embarrassment.
As of now, we're not gonna be
serving any more dinners tonight.
I need the door ing closed.
Forget it! All right.
We're done for the night.
This is a joke, guys!
Forget it! Good night!
What restaurant stops their business
and tells everybody that they have to leave?
There's no excuse.
At a point in the service
when more food was being returned than sent out...
I need the door ing closed.
Gordon shut down the restaurant...
As of now, we're not gonna be
serving any more dinners tonight.
And confronted the chefs about the problems in the kitchen.
This is a joke, guys!
Forget it! Good night!
It's now time for the cold, hard facts
With owner Nylah.
I don't even know where to start
with a 50-year-old chef
that can't even cook something basic.
Why are you employing a chef that is that incompetent?
Darling, he's not in the slightest bit interested
in ing making it work.
He doesn't give a about his cooking.
Doesn't give a about you.
And he's here for one thing and one thing only:
paycheck. money.
And the only restaurant that in' guy
will ever get a job
is in a restaurant that doesn't have any customers.
If you've got any chance of surviving here,
get rid of him.
What are you scared of? Talk to me.
Nothing. There's gotta be something.
Where am I gonna-- I need to find another chef.
So Drew, what's wrong with Drew?
Drew, I think, can carry it off.
So get rid of him.
Okay.
Let's go.
me.
Un-ing believable.
Hey. Come here.
I'm sorry. I know.
No, you don't know. I feel bad.
Just wait a minute. Just wait a minute.
Jeremy, come here. I feel bad.
I feel real bad.
But the whole thing is,
this isn't the first time you've let us down.
I don't know what's going on. I just can't do it.
I know, but I can't do it.
Erick, I gotta make--
you guys get your paycheck every week.
Jeremy and I never take a dime out of here.
We understand that.
I know, but I mean--
the whole thing's just not gonna work.
Because you--
Okay, so what do you wanna do?
I--we're gonna part ways.
Okay, no problem. Okay.
Damn it.
I got a in' bad deal.
He couldn't pull off lunch,
couldn't pull off dinner.
And so... We just had to let him go.
I can't, you know, I can't do this.
With head chef Erick gone,
Gordon is hoping sous chef Drew
can rise to the occasion.
That was a tough one tonight.
Oh, very much so. Yeah, yeah, very tough.
Don't get down in the dumps.
Tonight was... clearly,
at its best.
But...you don't need me telling you that.
'Cause that was embarrassing. Very much.
Yeah, is that how you run it?
Hell, no. Good.
Tomorrow we go again.
Thank you. Thank you.
I need you. All right.
Yes? Thank you.
Good night. Good night.
I'm glad Erick's not in our kitchen anymore,
because maybe it'll give me an opportunity
to step up and do something.
Okay, that was embarrassing.
Not only a bad morning, but a bad evening.
For every plate
we put out there this evening,
we were losing what little reputation we had left
to salvage this place.
What chance would we have of getting all those tickets out?
There was no chance.
To put it bluntly, that chef--
possibly the worst chef in America today.
To quickly put a man like that out of his misery
is the biggest favor you've done for him
and the restaurant.
Okay, tomorrow's a new day. I've got Drew.
That's what I've got left to work with.
What's his strengths?
Uh, I would say pizzas.
Calzones.
Um, his lasagna is awesome.
All right, Drew
is the only saving grace I've got there.
I'm gonna work with him tomorrow.
I'm gonna be by his side tomorrow
to start from scratch.
Okay?
Good night.
Thank you.
I think Drew will step up.
And I think if he gets some confidence behind him,
I think he can do it.
Last 24 hours is one of the toughest days ever spent
in a restaurant.
Last night, we did get rid of the chef,
which was a positive move.
Now I need Drew to step up to the mark
and Jeremy to support his mother more.
I got here early this morning,
so I'm gonna check out the place properly
with no interference.
Where do you start in a place like this?
Roast beef.
Dating back when?
And what in the hell is that there?
Just meat defrosting.
Again, no sign of what it is.
Fresh Parma ham.
It's caked in mold.
This is outrageous.
Look at it.
It sticks to your ing hand.
It's that rancid.
Ugh. Hell.
That's just over three months old.
God.
after witnessing one of the worst kitchen walk-ins
he has ever seen,
Gordon moves on to an area outside the kitchen
that restaurants are judged upon:
The bathroom.
One of the best ways to check the hygiene of any restaurant
is always through its bathrooms.
Turn that on and turn the lights off.
Right.
This could be quite scary.
Oh, my good God.
Green and yellow identifies bodily fluids.
Any form of bleach or any form of cleaning
will be identified through the color blue.
But the bodily fluids on here is extraordinary.
Look--as high as the ceiling.
Oh, my God.
Even the ceiling's caked in it.
Oh, my God.
This is shocking.
"Wash your hands."
Yeah.
Honestly, I've seen enough.
Let's get the out of here.
Disappointed by the state of the restaurant,
Gordon is concerned about the family's commitment
to its own restaurant.
Right, got in early this morning.
It's like a new day, and...
I'm somewhat...
not just confused,
but disappointed, yeah?
Come with me. Let me show you something.
How old is that?
Uh, Tuesday.
Tuesday?!
Aw, come on, guys.
How old is this?
Well, hold it and smell it.
Touch it!
It's sticky. Uck.
Let's come outside.
The walk-in is just rubbish, really.
It looks like.
It's horrible, it's old.
It's probably about as old as Erick.
This is the killer for me!
Pass it round.
It's three months old!
And then, look,
only in California.
What...In the is that?
Made me sick. I hated to see it.
We talk about cleaning out the refrigerator,
making sure things are clean all the time.
And, to my surprise, they aren't.
Nylah, the state of that fridge in there
confirms whoever's running this place
in terms of kitchen management has given up.
They don't give a about you
And they don't give a about standards.
I went into the bathroom.
And that's where it got worse.
I need two minutes with you.
Okay.
You start taking that out, yeah?
And, hey, get a bin,
and get every ounce of dirt out of there.
Having a dirty refrigeration unit is one thing.
Having a filthy bathroom is something that
scares the hell out of me.
This thing here
detects body fluids.
Just have a look at this.
That's body fluids up there?
That there has got nothing to do
with any form of cleaning.
Look at the state of this.
Green, green, green, green, green.
Here's where it gets really scary.
How the hell did it get up there?
It looked like somebody may have peed on the ceiling,
the walls, the doors.
You know.
Could be throw-up.
It made me sick--I didn't even want to touch the doorknob
coming out myself.
Bring your son in, yeah. I'm not going in there.
My God.
This is body fluids.
Body fluids on the ceiling?
Uh-huh.
People are peeing.
Up on the ceiling?
Well, maybe.
As Nylah shows her sons the bathrooms,
Gordon's inspection continues at the kitchen prep area.
What in the is going on here?
It just shows that there's no bleach.
You know, these walls probably haven't been washed.
Oh, God.
What in the are they?
Look at that there.
Holy bleep.
Jimmy!
People ing on the ceiling.
What?
What is that?
I supposed it's meatballs.
Good God.
Have a look.
Those are from Super Bowl Sunday.
Super Bowl Sunday? Yes.
What is that?
That looks like raviolis.
What? Soaking in water.
Uck.
I need to start stepping up,
taking the reins, taking control.
And doing what I need to do.
My big worry is
this is not difficult to spot.
You could spend ten minutes after every night's service
behind the bar,
walking through the kitchen,
and turning this place upside down.
And you don't need to be a rocket scientist
to understand
that this place
is in desperate need of support.
Before I go any further,
I want the in' place clean.
me.
After a full day of cleaning,
Gordon realizes that if there is any chance
of relaunching this restaurant,
he has to turn his attention to Chef Drew.
Drew, right now,
I want you and I to go and cook some pizzas.
And I'd like Jeremy and Nylah to taste them.
I've got a little trick up my sleeve.
This is a secret between you and I.
Okay.
Okay, I wanna find out
if they can actually tell the difference
between a frozen pizza
to something freshly made.
That goes in.
Okay.
Array of ingredients.
Fresh, vibrant, exciting.
Let your imagination go wild
and create the ultimate pizza.
Okay? Let's go.
Who's the chef of this place?
I guess I am now. That's right.
While Drew creates his own signature thick-crust pizza,
Gordon is preparing a special thin-crust pizza
that will be on Casa Roma's new menu.
Lovely.
Working with Chef Ramsay
Was, like, one of the best things ever.
Like, oh, my God,
I just worked with a world-class chef.
Frozen pizza.
And yours. Right--ready?
Uh-huh. Nice.
Okay.
So two nice pizzas.
We're gonna be looking for a verdict
on both these.
I mean, I like this one.
Mm-hmm, good.
Same. Jeremy, pick one as well.
Yeah.
I'm so glad you chose that one there.
Because this one here was frozen,
cheap.
I was shocked when Chef Ramsay
told me the one pizza was frozen.
'Cause I thought it tasted a lot like our pizza we have.
The good news is, both of you know your pizzas.
Now let me get you my pizza.
This is a thin crust.
I like this too.
These two... Mm-hmm.
Are the type of pizzas that should be on your menus.
We are gonna relaunch this restaurant,
and we're gonna shout from the rooftops
how good these pizzas are.
I'm happy.
Well done. Very nice.
In order to transform Casa Roma,
Gordon and his team needed a full day
to turn this broken-down Italian restaurant
into a contemporary pizzeria.
Nice to see you guys.
How we feeling?
Nervous! Nervous.
Nervous?
Just have a look at the new decor
of the outside of the new Casa Roma.
Take off your blindfolds!
Wow!
Nice, new colors.
The concrete jungle is gone, yes?
The Italian flag.
We've got the most amazing Casa Roma Pizzeria.
Oh, my God.
But look at the windows.
It felt like we were in prison before.
Now it's more inviting, yes?
Are we ready to see the new interior?
Let's go.
Come through.
Come through, come through, come through.
Come through.
Ohh, look at this!
Oh, my God!
I was shocked beyond shocked.
It looked like a bright, new pizzeria.
We got a nice, new, dry pizzeria.
Carpets are gone!
The booths have gone!
Chairs realigned. New colors.
I love it.
And the restaurant has been painted from top to bottom.
Oh, look at those floors!
I know!
No more hideous rugs.
No more carpets to clean.
Just nice.
Come through. Look.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God!
Look at these new chairs.
The bar has been sanded and stained twice, rather nice.
And now we have a theme coming through, yes?
We were trying to be fine dining,
and then we had the bar,
and it was like two different countries.
Now it's all blended together
and we're one big pizzeria
and everybody can come and have fun now.
This place needs
to celebrate its 50th year
with a comeback.
We are gonna hold
the first annual Casa Roma Pizza-eating Contest.
Yeah, thank you.
I love this.
Mwah!
I'm glad you're happy.
Thank you so much.
In recent years,
The community's perception of Casa Roma
is as a bar with an inferior Italian restaurant attached.
Gordon knows this restaurant now has to reintroduce itself
as the new happening pizzeria in town.
Thank you very much indeed.
Welcome to the first-ever
Casa Roma Pizza-eating Challenge.
Excellent.
It was great to see that many people supporting us today
And actually getting out and being part of the relaunch.
Okay, contestants,
are we hungry?
Yes. Are we ready?
Five minutes.
On your marks, eat!
Let's go!
Come on, guys!
Take some water, it goes down a lot easier.
I can't do it.
Come on, Jimmy!
I can't eat that much.
Jeremy is substituting for Jimmy!
Squoosh 'em in, come on!
Piz-za! Piz-za! Piz-za!
3, 2, 1.
Stop! Yes!
We have a winner,
ladies and gentlemen.
Congratulations to Jose!
The pizza-eating contest was definitely a fun way
of spreading the word
that Casa Roma has changed.
There's a new look to it and there's a new menu.
Give it up, please.
Round of applause, ladies and gentlemen, yes.
Four hours prior to relaunch,
Gordon goes over the new dishes.
This is doable, uncomplicated,
Nothing frozen, and freshly home-baked pizzas.
Wow.
Chicken wings,
served with a cherry pepper sauce.
Stuffed mushrooms,
for the house specialty,
bruschetta--simple.
Look at it. It's a lot more condensed, yeah?
It's cooked to order, it's fresh.
Okay, good. Get familiar with the food.
Have a little taste.
The menu is easier, it's lighter.
It's more sufficient. It should be great.
That was good, huh?
That's crazy.
Tonight...
Honestly,
for me is one of the most important nights
in 50 years.
We gotta make our mark.
- Yes? - Yes.
Absolutely.
Tonight's the night.
Tonight is definitely the night.
Coming up on Kitchen Nightmares...
Drew is put to the test.
It's like a loaf of ing bread in there.
Can he handle the heat in the kitchen?
Andrew...
Stop pushing me and just chill!
- Can do. - Oh,.
Or will relaunch dinner go up in flames?
This is unbelievable.
That's coming up on Kitchen Nightmares.
God bless Casa Roma.
Let's go, yes?
How are we all doing tonight?
Thank you.
Drew!
First order on. Most important--let's go.
I wanna shine for Chef Ramsay today.
And it would be silly not to
because I have the best opportunity ever,
that I've ever had in my life, actually,
to show that I can handle it.
We got our setup for the mushrooms.
Yep. Wings.
And garlic powder. So we're ready.
Good.
Hi, guys. How you doin'?
Are we ready to order?
For relaunch dinner,
Drew has Nylah's son Jimmy
assisting with calzones and pizzas.
Put the dough on and stretch it all the way out
till it's even with that.
Jimmy had to be back there to be solid
and pick up the pace a little bit.
He's never done that before.
Try not to make love to it,
and you'll make it happen, okay?
We're working on the calzones right now, please.
The wings. Thank you.
You're welcome.
I'll be right back with the other two.
That is not done.
These aren't cooked.
So get-- get her back here.
The whole evening started, and everybody was in a rush,
and all of a sudden food was going out cold.
Drew, they complained
that these chickens are bloody in the center.
They're not even hot. Quick refire.
Oh, man, I was rather embarrassed
when the chicken came back.
I was like, "Oh, come on, not--
We're not starting like this, you know?"
Here you go.
I gotta relax
and not try to rush things that take time.
That is the second time she's brought that back
and that is...underdone. they're raw.
Again?
Yeah, they're raw.
Let's just go for a house salad.
Okay.
It was extremely embarrassing.
Chef Ramsay was completely disgusted,
as well was I.
- Me. - Same table.
That's the second bowl.
Look at me.
They gotta go in the pan and in the oven.
They're not even hot in the center.
What's going on? Not good enough.
Come on.
Once is a ing joke.
Twice is just disgusting.
No rush. On the wings.
I'm just trying to tell everybody.
Just keep workin'.
I don't know what the hell that thing is.
Jimmy, this is your first attempt
at a calzone, ever,
and it's the worst one I've ever seen.
But it's cooked.
Look at the size of the ing thing.
Is that for two?
It's a large.
The calzone ishuge.
You could probably feed about five people with it.
Jimmy...
Yes?
The calzones, yeah, are huge, yeah?
Be careful of the size.
Oh, look at all the cheese.
I thought I had a large.
We should have just got one of those.
We could feed the station.
This is huge.
Cut down the size of the calzone, yeah?
That can fill an entire football end zone.
Look at the size of it, yeah?
We want them coming back for more, yeah?
Your other ones are better.
I need some form
of quality control, guys, yeah?
It's like a loaf of ing bread in there.
Most important thing here is standards.
Slow down and pay attention to detail, yeah?
Has this pizza been started yet?
No, it just got up there in the window.
You wanna go ahead and take that order
and start looking at it?
It's coming, because he ed up
And he had to make another one.
It's a calzone. He's getting beat up over here.
Just take a deep breath.
Stop pushing me and just chill.
You're making me hurry up I can't have
Anything to do with.
Go for it.
This is unbelievable.
Drew now is starting to feel the pressure, and it's showing.
Cracks are appearing-- he's fighting with the owners,
fighting with the chefs.
If he's not careful, this place is gonna start sinking.
What a way to celebrate 50 years.
Hold on, Jan, do not take that.
With orders in the kitchen backed up...
Don't tell me-- change it. Okay, sorry.
Customers have a lot of time on their hands.
We gotta pull it together.
We're like this rag right here right now.
You know? We gotta pull it together.
Okay, I need a large deluxe calzone
and a small deluxe calzone.
The mushroom calzone's fired.
I got the calzone up.
The calzone's in, right? Yes, yes.
Okay, thank you.
In a dramatic turnaround, head chef Drew
Has finally taken Gordon's advice
by taking complete control of the kitchen...
This is your mushroom calzone.
And orders are moving out to the customers promptly.
Drew is doing a great job.
He stepped up to the plate.
I'm real proud of him.
It's good.
Mmm.
That is good.
This one goes to the bar, right here--thank you.
So nice to actually see food coming out, fast.
It's pretty good, huh?
I think the new menu is a huge success,
'cause it's just easier.
Bye, guys!
It was so good.
Yes, I know, and we're taking it home.
That it, guys?
I pulled it off.
Thank God for Ramsay.
Okay, it was well done.
After a most impressive turnaround,
Gordon has some final words for the staff.
I know I put
a fork and a spoon on the wall, yeah?
But you didn't have to make the calzone to match it.
I mean, crap.
What was that, for a tent top?
Yeah. Cut them down.
We're here to make money, not give it away.
Yeah.
Good.
Now you've taken it.
Make it work.
We will.
We're gonna keep each other
motivated on this.
Considering we have a new menu,
a new chef, new look,
if we couldn't make this restaurant work,
we'd definitely be idiots.
Trust me--if everyone does their bit,
three months down the line, this place is gonna be rockin'.
My heart's here.
He saw that.
He saw that it's a dream of mine.
And I just wanna-- I wanna make it live.
What a week.
When I first arrived,
that had to be the worst-ever Italian restaurant going.
Then we made some drastic changes--
promoted the chef, reinvigorated the owners,
and turned this place into a really nice, classy pizzeria.
I only hope now Lancaster embraces it.
But one thing's for sure.
That has to be the biggest ing calzone
I've ever seen in my entire life.
Holy mackerel.