La Galleria 33 - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

La Galleria 33 Kitchen Nightmares

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits La Galleria 33 in the North end of Boston, Massachusetts.

La Galleria 33 is an Italian family restaurant opened in 2006 by sisters Rita and Lisa.

The sisters were looking to draw on the success of their father's successful restaurant called L’Osteria.

They opened the La Galleria 33 just under a hundred feet away from their father’s restaurant and expected immediate success.

The North end of Boston is filled with restaurants and is home to more than 80 other Italian restaurants.

The staff state that the problem of the restaurant is the owner’s unprofessionalism and lack of respect for the staff or customers.

Rita smokes too much and Lisa drinks in front of the customers.

Rita believes one of the problem the restaurant is facing is the staff and claims they are beginning to lose their passion for the business.

They claim to have tried everything to try and increase business.

They have redecorated, changed their menu and lowered the prices but nothing they have tried has worked.

While Rita and Lisa were sitting outside the restaurant, Gordon arrives and mistakes them for customers.

He is confused by the name and how close it is to their father’s restaurant.

They tell him that the business is not working as they are losing money daily.

They also reveal that the servers are temperamental, are always sitting and not waiting or cleaning their tables.

Gordon is unimpressed with the decor and discovers Rita’s ex-husband Doug is the Head Chef and that he can be difficult.

They say he isn’t a trained chef as he was taught by their dad so he just cooks their dad’s recipes.

Gordon orders food from server Sara, who has worked in the restaurant for 2 years.

She says the restaurant lacks organization and that the owner who act irresponsibly never seek to improve.

Sara recommends the seafood ravioli and he also orders gnocchi, meatballs, veal and chicken masala.

While waiting for his order, Gordon meets Pat, the bus man who calls himself the general manager and has been fired by Rita once before.

The meatballs are rubbery and bland. Gordon then calls Lisa and Rita and asks how the meatballs are made.

They confess that they are homemade but then they are frozen so they’ll never run out of meatballs.

Lisa and Rita turn to the head chef Doug for answers but he defensively says it is normal to freeze food.

The Veal Paradiso is gnarly, bland, overcooked and salty inside.

The seafood ravioli which is the restaurant’s special dish for the past two years is frozen and disgusting

The chicken marsala is overly sweet and bland.

Gordon asks for a dessert menu and Sarah tells him that they only serve tiramisu for dessert, which they’re out of.

As their father’s restaurant is close by, he sends server Pat to get dessert from there.

Pat is a character in himself, he claims to be the manager and has been sacked numerous times but bugs them until they rehire him.

Their mother Lena brings the desert and Gordon is very impressed, branding it delicious.

Lena says the recipe is hers and Gordon compliments her for that.

A crashing sound of breaking plates in the kitchen was heard in the restaurant.

Gordon meets Doug and he says he has been a cook since 1994.

He claims his work is usually hindered by Lisa and Rita, which they deny.

Gordon is astounded that Doug doesn't like Italian food, he doesn't eat it and doesn't like to cook it either.

Doug says that despite being aware of Gordon’s visit, he didn’t change anything as he cooked for him as he would for others.

Gordon was appalled by the lack of communication between the owners and the head chef.

Doug was not aware that they had run out of desserts a week ago.

Gordon returns to observe how La Galleria operates during the evening service.

On entering the kitchen, he tells Doug to walk him through the kitchen and discovers there is no stations in the kitchen.

Every Saturday night, Boston’s North End is packed and as a result, it is the one night La Galleria is filled with customers.

Gordon observes that there is no communication or organization in the kitchen.

He is shocked when Doug drops chicken on the floor and then puts it back in the pan.

After an argument with Gordon and much pressure from Rita, he later agrees to bin the chicken.

While Doug continues to work in silence, food still manages to get out to the diners.

The customers aren’t impressed with the food, most of them calling the food awful, disgusting and bland.

A table asks to speak with the owners but Lisa and Rita shift the responsibility to each other, claiming they do not do well with irate customers.

But their decision to not deal with disgruntled customers does not stop the complaints from coming in.

A customer sends back a burnt dish, which was supposed to be cooked medium-rare.

Rita defends the food as she believes there is nothing wrong with it.

A customer sends back her dish of eggplant ravioli as it is cold in the middle and Rita irately takes it back and challenges them, saying it is hot.

Gordon tells Lisa and Rita that they are overreacting but Lisa tries to blame Gordon for the increasing complaints.

A customer complains that her dish is very fishy and that the mussels aren’t fresh.

Gordon goes into the kitchen to see how the mussels are stored and finds a bowl of dirty, open and dead mussels in the fridge.

Gordon decides it is time to inspect the walk in, he discovers rotten onions, dead mussels and orders them to be thrown away.

He investigates the pantry and finds frozen pasta, rotten food and Lisa gets fed up and threatens to walk out.

Gordon tells her that if she walks out, he walks out and the episode ends with them walking in different directions.


La Galleria Part 2

Lisa comes back into the restaurant but goes straight up to the bar for a drink.

Gordon calls her aside and tells her he feels the pain and wants to help but she has to step up.

She bursts into tears as the night was humiliating and overwhelming for her.

Rita convinces Lisa that while she thinks their food is great, she believes Gordon is right and they could do better.

Gordon has a heart-to-heart talk with the sisters and tells them to take charge as they are the owners of the restaurant.

The final orders are now leaving the kitchen but many of the customers leave unhappy.

After the night’s service, Gordon tells the sisters to make a list of the things that bother them in the restaurant that they want to change.

The next day, chef Ramsay calls a staff meeting.

The sisters share their list of issues and start off by telling the staff to start following the rules and stop being lazy, which the staff admit to.

Rita tells Doug that he can’t take criticism, which leads to an argument.

Server Sara is accused of hogging the tips and doesn’t pay Pat the agreed 20% of her tips, Sara then walks out so Lisa fires her.

Gordon tells the owners they must change too.

Lisa agrees to stop drinking and Rita promises to give up the cigarettes.

The staff also admit that they have been wrong and have had a lazy attitude to work.

They promise to change as they want to be better and make the restaurant successful.

Rita decides to surprise chef Ramsay, so she serves him a tiramisu she has prepared by herself and he loves it.

Gordon's next task is to work on the menu by showing Doug how poor the food is with photos he had taken.

He compares them to photographs from other local restaurants that look amazing.

Doug is defensive and says that the pictures of the Galleria 33 food look awful because they were taken up close.

With so many Italian restaurants in the North-end alone, Gordon knows that Le Galleria 33 needs something to help it stand out.

He introduces a new menu of classic Italian dishes including homemade meatballs.

They all love the new menu and says the new dishes are totally incomparable to the old dishes they served.

She also loves how the food is served on small plates.

Doug is unsure and nervous of the new menu but Gordon introduces a consultant Chef Michael, who will stay on to help with the changes to the menu.

Lisa is ecstatic that they have a new chef but hopes they don’t scare him off as they can be dysfunctional sometimes.

With everyone committed to change, Chef Michael teaches Doug the new menu.

Later that night, Gordon and his team give the restaurant a modern makeover to make the restaurant lighter.

The next morning, Sara returns to Le Galleria 33 with a new attitude and the owners were happy to have her back.

Gordon reveals the new decor that has given the restaurant a modern romantic feel.

On relaunch night, Rita and Lisa want to make sure that everyone focuses on the job, so they give words of encouragement to the staff before the service.

The waiters forget about some of the new dishes on the menu so Gordon tells them to go revise the menu before the relaunch starts.

Doug complaints that he sees people coming in to the restaurant but hasn’t received any orders in the kitchen.

The staff struggle as they are not trained on the computer system and the system malfunctions so they revert to handwritten orders.

Doug and Mike work together to get the kitchen back into gear and as a result the plates start heading out to the diners.

There is tension when server Miguel shouts at Rita, almost putting the service in jeopardy and he has a confrontation with Gordon before backing off.

Gordon calls on Lisa and Rita to get the evening back on track and get the service to run more smoothly.

Doug is completely refreshed and performs well in the kitchen and with Michael's help they are able to push out the orders.

The customers love both the new food and the new decor and the night’s service ended successfully.

Gordon praises Doug for working hard and keeping the standards, he also compliments the staff for listening to the owners.

Gordon calls Lisa and Rita aside and they say they feel happy that they were able to run the restaurant responsibly.

Gordon says some words of encouragement and bids them farewell.



What Happened Next at La Galleria 33?

After the show the Yelp reviews were mixed with both compliments and criticism about both the food and service.

Trip Advisor reviews were mostly positive with compliments on the food and service.

It appears that after filming a large amount of trash was left on the side walk outside the restaurant.

La Galleria 33 closed in November 2018.

La Galleria 33 was aired on October 26 and November 02 2012, the episode was filmed in May 2012 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 6 episode 1 and 2.


Read About More Kitchen Nightmares

Previous episode - Zocalo

Next episode - Mama Maria's

This post was last updated in March 2023.

32 comments:

  1. This episode aired last night and is a 2 parter. The owners are absolutely clueless and am dying to see the next episode.

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  2. The soundtrack is way too loud and takes a lot away from the dialogue, of which there is plenty in this episode. Also the pre-break and after-break previews and reviews are getting out of hand.

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    1. "Also the pre-break and after-break previews and reviews are getting out of hand."

      I couldn't agree more. Many reality shows do this, and it's just shamefully obvious, lazy filler. Great point.

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    2. I totally agree! I kept reaching for the remote to turn down the volume but then I couldn't hear them talk. It's annoying. And so are the owners for that matter. Do they want his help or not? They seem like Gordon is the one in the wrong here. When will people learn that they can't just open up a restaurant like a lemonade stand? It takes a lot of hard work and experience. I guess without people like these there wouldn't be Kitchen Nightmares.

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  3. I loved Sarah; she obviously works hard, and although I wish the owners best of luck, the way that they talk to their employees is absolutely astounding. Abusive, negative, personal statements that would make a lesser soul enjoy watching them fail. As a full Italian woman myself, I understand the urge to lash out but a true professional would never verbally abuse workers that way. Horrendous. The food looks wonderful but their personalities have completely ruined my appetite. I would never eat there.
    You go, Sarah.

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    1. she was suppose to give the bus boy 20% of her tips but because she was selfish she did not.

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    2. You mean the bus boy that was fired for insubordination, thought he was general manager and probably did nothing? If he wasn't working I wouldn't tip him out the full amount either.

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  4. Regardless of how good an employee Sara was, she admitted to not tipping out the bus staff properly. Not only is that completely obnoxious, it is flat out WRONG...and takes a good employee from Hero to Zero. She should have been fired even if she didn't walk out.

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    1. Yeah but that busboy was kind of a weird guy who the owners admitted was fired and then brought back because they felt bad for him. Wouldn't be surprised if he weren't all there mentally and didn't put in his proper share of work.

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    2. Sara had a mouth on her and was in denial of everything that she was confronted with. She was suggesting that everything that she was accused of, the owners were pulling out of there *ss. She walked out because she knew it was true and that she wasn't going to get away with it anymore. Good riddance to employees who want to make their own rules.

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    3. Kathy, who should I believe - a girl who gets tipped and is clearly intelligent - or an owner who has allowed her business to die and hired a chef and a "bus boy" who are both clearly mentally deficient?

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    4. A lot of the people commenting about Sara clearly have never worked in the service industry. It doesn't matter if your bus boys suck, you still tip them out. If you tip well, they can help you out a lot with pre-busing and stuff. Although Pat is crazy, Sara should have tipped the amount. I am however surprised she is supposed to tip 20%, as when I was a waiter we only required 3% tip to the bus boys of out total sales.

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    5. Busboys get better hourly rates so how is 20% fair? Also they told Sara that she should help clear tables, which means he has even less work to do but still gets the same percentage of their tips. the guy was an idiot and clearly didn't deserve the extra cash...

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  5. This is one of my favourite visits. That family is So adorably Italian and I love the weird thin guy who was looking through the windows with an umbrella when he got sacked. That Sara is gorgeous! But she's also a nasty piece of work! She takes great delight in stabbing her employers in the back and doesn't share her tips as she should. It's all her and she doesn't care because she's so pretty. She's the sort of girl who'll use that allure to ensnare some poor bloke, drain him of his resources, all the while treating him like garbage, and then just move on to the next one. It's all money and no heart, but lie a siren men will fall for her and end up splayed upon the rocks of lust. Still, looks fade, and then all you're left with is what's inside.

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    1. This is my favorite internet comment ever.

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    2. you have a soul of a poet.

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  6. I felt like the people on this show were angling to get their own reality show on air, and put on fake personas on the camera. Maybe. Not sure.

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  7. I seriously doubt that "success" as far as this restaurant is concerned is coming from the owners but more likely from their parents and related third party support saving their bacon behind the scenes. Those two owners couldn't have changed that fast even if we're talking one year. Don't get me wrong. I like!e what Ramsay's trying to do to help even the most stubborn of owners but this restaurant has too many oddities. For one thing, most restaurants that are saved may get better reviews from improvement but never always spectacular rave reviews.

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    1. Haha 50 cents is not enough. That is only 10%. That is exactly what she gave the bus. I hope you gave them more than 10%.

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  9. Waitress have us wrong appetizer and said it would take too long to re-do but could if we really wanted it. Wrong drinks. Then I slipped on water the bus woman spilled. Told them to wipe it up before someone else got hurt. Told the waitress and she said "I know she wiped it." I responded "but I got hurt." Hostess took my name. The owner just called and said she couldn't see me slip on the video footage and preceded to call me a nasty (her word) tw#$. I said "You're the owner? I'M the one that got hurt!" She said "Don't ever call me again!" I told her she'll hear from my attorney. Amazing customer service. I suppose I should've NOT caught myself from my slip, flailed on the ground and called 911..., but she'd still blame me for her worker's carelessness.

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  10. sara is a backstabber from the start; offering wine to ramsay before lunch, offering the seafood ravioli even thou she knows its already bad, talking back with that tone.

    rita and lisa are so awesome, funny, and they really appreciate the help done for them. hope they succeed like their parents.

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    1. You are kidding. She was the only one who had any clue about what was happening. She suggested the seafood ravioli because she knew Gordon Ramsay was there to find out why the restaurant was not doing well and part of the reason for that was the food. How is Ramsay supposed to see if the food is ok or bad if he gets the best of their food.

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    2. "Gordon Ramsay was there to find out why the restaurant was not doing well ". It's astonishing how so many commenters do not get that. What do they think they're watching?

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  11. I feel sorry for that quiet girl, the one who Rita kept calling a b***h. She was making a lot of mistakes but she wasn't acting like a b, the owners even said she was the only one who took criticism without complaining. She was Rita's whipping girl.

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    1. I'm sorry but I understand Rita's point on that. You can be the nicest person on earth but if you keep making mistakes that jeopardize your work then you're simply not good enough. If you're the boss and you have to clean up that person's mess constantly you'd flip too.

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  12. I'm surprised to see how many of these places ended up closing. I guess in many cases it's the crushing debts. Second has to be the owners slipping back. I loved this episode and am glad to see this place is still open!

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  13. Just watched part 1 of this here in the UK and it's the usual Gordon Ramsay formulaic stuff - entertaining in parts.

    I couldn't help but wonder about the owners, though. Their folks already own an Italian Restaurant about 200 yards away. According to Ramsay, the street they are on is absolutely rammed with Italian Restaurants and it's one of the most competitive streets in Boston.

    So one day Rita says to Lisa "What shall we do?" and after some thought they come up with ...

    "We'll open an Italian Restaurant!" (duuurrr? whut?)

    Lisa would have made a great mob wife but Rita reminded me more of Tony Soprano. Surprised to find they are still open.

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  14. These two episodes have just been shown on More 4 in the UK. One of my favourite Kitchen Nightmares of all as helped along nicely by Lisa being total eye candy! Gordon performed a miracle with this restaurant and I am glad to see that it is still trading. Sara's departure came as no surprise I have to say: Not a team player in an establishment which cannot function on a 'them and me' / 'them and us' basis especially where all other staff are trying so hard to regroup as a team after a general aura of dysfunction and dissent has prevailed. Nice to think that Rita 'Shut Your FACE!!!' (ROFL at that one!) and the gorgeous Lisa are still in business doing what they are so passionate about :o)

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  15. Hated to see the end of La Galleria. Always looked forward to dining there. Great service, nice people and I always ordered one of three items for dinner but the pasta fagioli was the best thing I looked forward to having. Lisa always took care of us as did the staff. Big loss for Salem Street.

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  16. It was pretty gross when Doug dropped the chicken on the floor and started to cook it anyway. It would be hard for anyone who ate here to watch that knowing he probably did it before Gordon came.

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