The Mixing Bowl - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

Kitchen Nightmares The Mixing Bowl

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits The Mixing Bowl in Bellmore New York.

The Mixing Bowl is 10 years old and is now in danger of closing due to the growing competition of new restaurants that surround them.

The Mixing Bowl is owned by Billy Galletti and Lisa Galletti.

Billy Galletti is the chef but does a lot more around the restaurant.

Lisa Galletti co-owns The Mixing Bowl and works there as a waitress.

She would prefer that the restaurant was shut down permanently.

Mike is the manager and is considered by customers to be the owner because of how much he schmoozes with them.

Other staff find him very difficult to work with and Lisa feels he doesn’t do much work around the restaurant.

The marriage of the owners is under pressure and they are stressed by working together at the failing restaurant.

Gordon arrives at the restaurant and notices the restaurant is completely empty with no bookings at all.

He meets with Mike who serves him and explains that the theme is healthy food, but Gordon points out that Mike may not be eating salads himself.

Gordon can tell from the decor and table settings the restaurant is on its last legs as everything is heavily used and in bad condition.

Gordon wants to go for the ‘award-winning’ crab cakes, but Mike can’t tell him what award it has won.

He orders the crab cakes, zucchini pancakes and a seared north Atlantic salmon.

Gordon gets his crab cakes and zucchini pancakes at the same time. Mike stands around staring at him eager to hear his opinion on the food and Gordon has to tell him to leave.

He isn’t impressed with the food. The crab cakes aren’t fresh, the pancakes are bland and thick and the salmon dish has a strong smell of garlic.

Gordon meets with Billy in the kitchen and gives feedback and the crab cakes were the only high point of his meal.

He also complains of Mike hovering over him and his over eager service.

They are insistent their food, especially their zucchini pancakes, is good but Gordon disagrees with him.

Gordon comes back for the dinner service to observe the service but they have only three bookings for dinner and it is depressing.

Gordon sees Mike give out 50% off coupons to customers and he reveals that they have been doing promotions for 8 years.

Gordon wants to see the promotions they run and Mike brings in lots of signs for almost every holiday with a variety of discounts.

Mike admits none of the signs worked and they were expensive to have professionally made.

There is also a huge sign they had trashed for free appetisers for the restaurants 10th anniversary.

After the dinner service, Gordon sits with the owners and lets them know they need to reel in Mike and his crazy signs; and Billy needs to be more vocal in the kitchen when cooking.

Gordon tells them they have the option to shut down the restaurant that night and be done with it.

Billy decides to give it one last effort to the disappointment of Lisa, who would rather be done with the place.

Gordon comes in bright and early the next morning and deals with Mike and his signs.

He puts them through a woodchipper to destroy them and to make sure they don’t make their way back to the restaurant.

Next, Gordon meets with the staff and shows them a map of the surrounding area showing that it has expanded from just 4 restaurants to 41 in 10 years.

They identify there are no health restaurants in the area and decide to brand themselves as the premier health restaurant in Bellmore.

Gordon then starts a challenge with Billy to test his cooking ability. They will both create a dish using ten fresh ingredients in a cook-off.

Gordon likes Billy’s salmon dish and says it can go on the menu along with his as the specials for the evening service.

The Mixing Bowl is packed for the dinner service and it is a chance for the staff to test the service and the new specials.

The orders come in and the kitchen is keeping up but Mike is being unprofessional, pointing at guests and schmoozing with them.

After dinner service, the staff have a meeting and they are upset with the tips for the evening because Mike collects half of them for putting in less work.

He is defensive and claims that he is entitled to those tips as they wouldn’t have got them without him.

Gordon points out he acts this way because they have let it happen for a long time.

Billy finally pipes up and tells Mike he needs to step up and be a team player and Mike smirks in response.

Gordon’s design team works all night on the restaurant and the staff can’t believe what they see.

The dining room has been made to look upscale with new decor from the new chairs to the new tables and fresh flowers.

Mike breaks down crying, overwhelmed by the change.

Next, Gordon reveals some new healthy dishes for the menu, made with fresh ingredients.

They take some time walking around gyms, spas and even the local football team to share flyers, market the new theme of the restaurant and drum up customers for the relaunch night.

On relaunch night, the restaurant is fully booked but Mike accidentally over booked reservations and people are queuing round the block.

He tries to pass the blame to Kim a server for the mix up with the booking and she is frustrated and defends herself.

After this hiccup they all resolve to work hard to make the night a success regardless.

As the night goes on, the staff are putting in a lot of effort to make it a success but Mike is only taking care of his friends.

Two hours in, some members of the local football team show up and Mike has forgotten to book them a table.

He gets belligerent and screams at Lisa in front of all the customers it wasn't that his fault and he wasn't told and Lisa tells him that he did know.

Gordon sends Mike out to cool off before customers leave and he talks to the owners in the meantime.

He advises them taking a decision on Mike, Lisa thinks he should be fired but Billy decided to keep him on.

Mike is called back in and told he has a second chance but that is it.

They pull together to find a table for the footballers and they are seated and served.

The customers loved the service and the food and overall, the relaunch night was a success.



What Happened Next at The Mixing Bowl?


Over the next few weeks, the customer numbers were up as was profit, the restaurant hosted the First Annual Mixing Bowl Mile fun run and Billy was leaving the kitchen during service to meet the customers.

Gordon revisited and it looked like the restaurant was doing well, profits were up, Mike's management skills had improved and their marriage was better.

The Mixing Bowl closed in January 2009.

The restaurant had closed shortly before filming but reopened to be featured on the show.

Billy is now president of Jr. Alta Foods Inc.

In it's place now is Greek Delight, a Greek restaurant and Yelp reviews are mixed.

The Mixing Bowl aired on October 03 2007, the episode was filmed in March 2007 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 1 episode 3.

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This post was last updated in March 2023.

32 comments:

  1. What did Ramsay have against the manager? Was it just that he was a little bit overweight? He seemed to be making cutting comments at him right from the outset, which I thought was over the top and just downright rude, even for Ramsay. Ramsay hates fat people, obviously.

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    1. It was nothing personal at all. Gordon Ramsay has three groups of people that he picks on, acceptable in American culture in general or not -- fat people, old people, and vegetarians. This is evident in ALL of his shows, not just K.N.

      He also hates lazy people and unclean people but well, I think most of us can agree to dislike those individuals..

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    3. Gordon was highlighting the fact that it was a fat manager running a "health-forward" restaurant. He was making the point that it's a hard sell as a health food restaurant when you appear out of shape and don't resemble your intended clientele, or even who the clientele wish to be.

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    4. Ramsey hates lazy people, not fat people. Fat people just happen to be mostly associated with lazy people.

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    5. Cici, the owner of Anna Vincenzo's, was not only grotesquely fat, but she was also combative and an emotional mess, but Chef Ramsay was nice to her. the manager at Mixing Bowl was a stupid idiot, and Ramsay doesn't suffer fools lightly. It's a shame the restaurant didn't make it. The owners were nice, hard working people.

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    6. Cause he was creepy. At the start he kept very little distance, kept squiting his eyes and had a weird smile. Sorry but that is a horrible first impression and that is the guy that welcomes the guests.
      Besides that his promotions were horrible, the signs looked cheap (but so did the restaurant tbh) the 50% coupon is just freaking stupid. He knew nothing about the menu, if you work the floor people will ask you questions and he knew nothing. He wasnt just a waiter, he was the manager. But to be honest i never really thought that the 2 owners had much passion left.

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  2. watch the show again - the manager was an idiot. if you look at the show objectively and really pay attention to everything that that dope said he's done, it's easy to see that he probably destroyed the restaurant on his own. How many years was he giving 50% off to diners....After they ordered and ate their food he gives them a 50% off coupon before they pay for their meal? Just doing that alone eliminates every cent of profit the place could earn. The owner should have fired him...but since he didn't, the owner got what he deserved.

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    2. ^^ Yup, you nailed it. Or another way to put it,"follow the money".

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  3. Yes Chef Ramsey doesn't seem to be a big fan of fat gay people! That guy Michael was the most annoying person I've ever seen. I heard that he is a manger at White Castle now. What a joke.

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    1. its not about gay people its about dumb people!

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  4. That coupon thing was one of the dumbest 'promotions' I've ever seen on KN, US or UK. What in god's name was the point?!

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    1. That could be a "smart" promotion for a new restaurant opening, done like for the first week after the launch so locals can get to know the food at a lower price and create a bit of a buzz, but not half off prices and certainly NOT for 8 years as it was being done in this episode O_O

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  5. This episode is one that makes me wonder about the show. Gordon liked the first entree, and he struggled to find fault with the rest of his food. The restaurant was clean. He did not pound the chef/owner like he has done with others. Maybe it was because Chef Billy could pound Chef Gordon into the ground. I find it hard to believe the manager was COMPLETELY responsible for the downturn in the place. As Gordon pointed out, the Mixing Bowl went from being one of 12 to one of 40! If anything, the owner should've been keeping up with the times. He should know what goes on in the front as well as the back. Yes, the manager was a moron, but he had help in the failure of the place. The owner's wife, the one with that annoying nasal Newww Yakk accent, could've stood up for herself, not only as the owner's wife, but as a person. She helped with the downfall as well. She didn't really want to be there or believe in her husband.
    Now, about the show itself. How the clips are put together after the show is filmed goes a long way in the perception of the restaurant. Watch the individual interviews. I've seen instances where the person it talking as if no redo or personel changes have been made, yet behind them are the new chairs and tables, or painting. If you have a DVR, it's easy to catch instances of them.
    Gordon's shows are always entertaining. But you can tell when he just playing to the cameras. Watch his arms and hands. When he's stressed out, they fly around. Then, as the situation smooths out, the arms fall to his sides.

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    1. I totally agree with you, she just wanted out no matter what.

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    2. Is it obvious to anyone else that this post is obviously written by Mike or one of his friends???

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  6. This manager was like a bartender who gives away drinks. He loses nothing from giving things away, he makes the same salary no matter how good or bad the restaurant does. Then on top of that, he takes 50% of the tips. The guy's an imbecile. Maybe even rode the short bus.

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    1. Rode the "short bus." FUNNY!!!!
      Beep-Beep.

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  7. Saying Ramsay hates fat people, old people, and vegetarians actually DOES mean something personal. There is no reason to be unnecessarily rude to people for things that don't affect you. And making fun of vegetarians when you run a food business? Seriously?

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    1. ohh ohh oh i get another point in the find the vegetarians game!

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  8. I wad really rooting for the mixing bowl to stay open and for them to can mike right out the door ! What an elf!! Sobbing like a baby. He has pretended that he owns the place for so many years I think he actually started to believe it was true!! He was 70% to blame why it closed! Sure of it! And if anyone, esp an employee, talked to me that way. He would be fired and fired apon,by my husband! What kind of man was the owner? Gordon nailed it when he said "WEAK"!!

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  9. I just saw this episode for the 1st time on BBC America and a question occurred to me that I often have watching this show. When someone is an outlandish buffoon, are they acting for the cameras or really like that? If the manager Mike is acting, he should be in Hollywood. I have never seen an actor be more convincing as an ineffectual nobody drain on humanity (probably also a middle-aged virgin) who has delusions that he is, in fact, a swinging Johnson alpha male. If he was acting bravo sir. If he wasn't I wouldn't want to work at the same post office the day he is let go, if you know what I mean.

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  10. The chef/owner is quite adorable, but very much an ostrich. Owners need to be more outgoing than he is, by far! He shouldn't be an owner if people intimidate him so!!

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  11. The show is staged for certain things to bring a bit of zest for the audience. UK program is miles better!

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  12. Mike I recon at the end destroyed the place. Shame, Billy looked like a nice bloke

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  13. I actually was disappointed to hear they closed. This was the first episode in Kitchen Nightmares where the kitchen wasn't disgusting and it was obvious Gordon knew Billy had some talent after he tried the card cakes. Billy had just lost his passion for the food, probably because of worrying about closing. I really thought this restaurant could have made it.

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  14. Mike, the manager, should have been FIRED. He should NOT have been taking the tips. They belong to the servers and bus people. They NEVER go to the manager who is salaried. He messed up the reservations (his main and actual job besides maintaining the front of the house). He is ridiculously self-centered and pompous. He should have been CANNED.

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  15. Season 1 was right before or during the last economic crisis - I am wondering if some of them closed in large part of that.

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    1. I think that it's just down to the fact that by the time GR gets there, they are so deep in debt that the interest kills them, even if they have an upturn.

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  16. Can we admire how Lisa slumps in absolute spiritual defeat when Billy decides, with the enthusiasm of a sleeping jellyfish, to keep the restaurant open, and Gordon's all, "Cool, now we just need to get your wife to support you" ? Ignoring her reaction entirely ?

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  17. Mixing Bowl Mike was using his 50% coupons and comps as a way of driving up tips straight into his own pocket.

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