Categories: Kitchens

Kitchen Nightmares: What happened to Mangia Mangia restaurant?

Published by
James marcus

Kitchen Nightmares’ series finale had a two-part special focused on the Mangia Mangi restaurant, which closed in the same year as the airing of the episode in 2014.

Kitchen Nightmares was the 2007 restaurant-focused reality show by Gordon Ramsay.

The last season of the show aired in 2014 and had a total of 10 episodes, which broke the convention of each season having a total of 15 to 16 episodes. A fact which highlighted Ramsay’s dissatisfaction with the show at the time.

While the season might have had less content, the episodes still intrigued viewers on whether the business survived after Ramsay’s intervention. One such episode was episode five of season seven, Mangia Mangia: Part 1.

The story of Julie Watson and her restaurant would be a two-part feature, as episode six was Mangia Mangia: Part 2.

What was Kitchen Nightmares about?

Kitchen Nightmares was the brainchild of culinary heavy-weight, Gordon Ramsay. Not only did he executive produce the reality show, but he was also the host and culinary expert.

The reality show which concluded in 2014, after seven seasons and eight years, was premised on, “Gordon Ramsay visits struggling restaurants across America and spends one week trying to help them become successful.”

The series finale season was seemingly shorter. This is as Ramsay became increasingly aggravated by the continuous critique that the show was not helpful to businesses it was supposed to help turn around.

Kitchen Nightmares: What happened to Mangia Mangia restaurant?

Mangia Mangia restaurant closed down in November 2014. The closure of the restaurant came just six months after the airing of the two-part episode, which was focused on former realtor, Julie Watson.

With no experience, Watson bought a fast-food and drive-thru store which she reimagined as an Italian-food restaurant with the drive-thru element still incorporated.

Julie, being allegedly mean-spirited to both customers and her staff, also employed a staff of unqualified kitchen and serving staff. Moreover, her head chef, Trevor, was hired without experience being promoted from the dishwasher.

Trevor and Julie’s daughter, Janelle also dated in the past and continued to lash out at each other in the restaurant. Coupled with the matter of the majority of staffers being on drugs and working high.

However, by the end of the two-part feature, Ramsay was able to remedy most of the issues, except Julie. A fact which is believed is the biggest contributor to the business’ subsequent closure.

What happened to Julie Watson?

Following the news of the closure of Mangia Mangia in 2014, it seems that Julie Watson became a memory like her restaurant.

No reports have been shared on her whereabouts and considering that she was not an avid social media user, it makes sense that she has no social media presence to date. However, a point of interest for fans was what happened to Trevor after he walked out during part two.

In 2015, his father shared on Facebook that following the show, Trevor booked himself into rehab and after checking out, he was looking to further his studies in culinary school to pursue being a chef professionally.

Was Kitchen Nightmares cancelled?

Kitchen Nightmares was not cancelled by the television network it was airing on. Instead, the decision was taken by Gordon Ramsay during season seven.

It seems that Ramsay was growing frustrated over the consistent ridicule that the show aimed to exploit the restaurants in question by airing their downfalls, without actually remedying the situation.

In light of the growing ridicule, the fiery personality decided to end the show, so that he could avoid continually defending his intentions.

This also explains why the series finale was reduced to only 10 episodes, rather than the standard 15 episodes per season.

Will Kitchen Nightmares return?

When Gordon Ramsay explained his regret for his impulsive decision to end Kitchen Nightmares due to the growing criticism that the show aimed to exploit participants for content, rather than help, it did give the fans hope that the show might have a reboot.

However, it is very unlikely that it would return imminently, or in the future. This is as Ramsay and his team have already started production on other culinary-focused reality shows set to air in the coming years.

This is besides ongoing and popular shows like MasterChef US and Hell’s Kitchen.

Final thoughts

When Kitchen Nightmares concluded the series in 2014, it did so with a condensed version of the show.

Unlike the seasons before, which on average totalled 15 or 16 episodes in a season, this season had a total of 10 episodes, and the first was a recap of season six’s Amy and Samy Bouzaglo journey since their appearance.

Additionally, the season featured a two-part special for the mid-season special. Episode five and six focussed on Julie Watson’s restaurant, Mangia Mangia.

After failing to work on herself on the episode, in November 2014, Mangia Mangia closed down six months after the episode had aired on television.

James marcus

Garden Courte is a blog written by [James Marcus], a passionate gardener and writer. She has been gardening for over 20 years and has a deep understanding of plants and how to care for them. In her blog, she shares her knowledge and experience with others, providing tips and advice on gardening, plant care, and more.

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Published by
James marcus

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