Kitchen Nightmares sees Gordon Ramsay head to New Jersey as he tries to help “Da Mimmo”

Kitchen Nightmares heads to New Jersey to try to help the small Italian eatery, Da Mimmo, as they struggle to survive after less than a year in business. While this is mostly a family owned and operated eatery, it seems like this restaurant is struggling to get the family to work together as only one of the sons is actually working the business.

Sadly, Da Mimmo is also in debt and the owner (the matriarch of the family) can barely pay her employees. As soon as Gordon Ramsay walks into the restaurant, he points out that there are very few diners and the look doesn’t really scream Italian eatery.

Right away it becomes clear that the communication between the chef in the kitchen and the pizza chef, the oldest son Antonio, is lacking. And once Ramsay starts getting the food, it just goes downhill from there. While the soup tastes good, nothing else really hits the mark. And it is clear that the chef is unhappy with the way things are going, especially the quality of the products she has.

Kitchen Nightmares heads to Da Mimmo in New Jersey to help a family save their Italian restaurant

This is Kitchen Nightmares, so these problems make sense. And once Gordon Ramsay meets with the team, even he calls things a nightmare.

Unfortunately for Da Mimmo, they don’t really know what they are doing. They don’t have enough customers and they don’t have money to get fresh supplies to make food that would bring back any customers they might have. And clearly it doesn’t help that the two sons who are apparently social media influencers are not really helping their family out in any way that seems meaningful.

As Ramsay observes his first real dinner service at Da Mimmo, it is clear that things are just not going well in the kitchen. The kitchen is filled with smoke, dishes aren’t going out together, and the chef doesn’t seem to have control of the kitchen, leading to customers not getting meals in a timely fashion.

After a less than pleasant chat with the two brothers with a social media following, Gordon Ramsay heads to the kitchen to check out the fridge, freezer, and the kitchen itself. And right away he finds rotten produce, dead seafood (the mussels are floating and open which means they are dead), and even rotten chicken.

Once Ramsay confronts the kitchen, he does another sit down with the family about the problems in the restaurant and he makes it clear that the brothers need to step up for their mom and their older brother. And he also lets them know that he will be revamping the menu and helping the oldest brother to learn what he needs to know about making pizza and running a restaurant.

In order to help Da Mimmo, Gordon Ramsay sets Antonio and Tyler, his assistant pizza maker, up with a master pizza maker to learn how to really make a great pizza that will bring people back in.

On top of the pizza making class, the restaurant gets a fresh look that impresses the family. And of course, there is a whole new menu for everyone to try. Unsurprisingly the family likes every dish that Ramsay created for this new menu.

It is clear that Kitchen Nightmares is exactly what Da Mimmo needed. And for their first dinner service after the refresh, it is clear that the social media posts from the brothers has truly brought in new customers.

Quickly, it seems as if the kitchen is in a groove and things seem to be running smoothly. However, about halfway through the service things seem to come to a halt as food is ready to go but service is not happening. But all is not lost, as Gordon Ramsay sends Antonio back to try and get things back on track.

Following the relaunch, Kitchen Nightmares reveals that Da Mimmo is actually busier than it ever was and the brothers are helping to keep the momentum going in the restaurant.