It is 20 years since chef Gordon Ramsay first burst into struggling restaurants up and down Britain to help them whilst broadcasting the results on our televisions.

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares produced great television with tears, tantrums, blazing rows and the Michelin-star chef also narrowly avoiding being seriously ill through food poisoning.

Other highlights include him having to force out a chef who had armed himself with a knife, and a kitchen row over cooking a muscle – which still goes viral today.

There were breakdowns, waitresses being rushed to hospital and arson attacks.

This week, La Gondola restaurant in Derby went up in flames in a suspected arson attack. It had been empty for a number of years but had once been visited by Ramsay as part of his show, which ran for five series.

Now, Mail Online looks back at each restaurant featured on the Channel 4 hit programme, to see how they are getting on.

Bonapartes, Silsden, West Yorkshire

The first episode visited the restaurant and wine bar which became one of the most infamous episodes. 

At the time of filming, the eatery was only taking in £200 a week and welcomed very few customers. 

The restaurant was owned by Sue Ray with TV chef wannabe Tim Gray working as executive chef. 

Ramsay instructed Tim the challenge of cooking a signature dish and he chose scallops, but they were not cooked. 

Moments after being sick outside, he said: ‘F****** s***, how can you eat that? If you knew they were off then why didn’t you say? They are f****** minging’

He later came down with food poisoning. Bonapartes closed in 2005 and it became Reflectionz Bar in 2006. Subsequently, that business closed in 2009. 

Following the closure of her business, Sue ended up homeless and £400,000 in debt and alleged she was ‘unfairly’ treated by the filming experience.

Speaking in 2012, she said: ‘It’s been a nightmare. I thought the business was supposed to improve after Ramsay’s visit but it has just killed us off.

Angry at the portrayal of her restaurants failings on the show, the restauranteur added: ‘I was in tears, I couldn’t believe what they had done to me.

‘Tim had already been sacked and they failed to mention he was just a trainee, not a head chef.

Gordon was great but the show should have shown the real story.

‘It also made out we are a dirty restaurant, but we have since had the health inspectors in and had a glowing report.’

Curry Lounge, Nottingham

At first Gordon was impressed with an award being advertised on the front of the Curry Lounge in Nottingham for being the best curry house locally. 

But the small print revealed  it was actually the runner-up.

The star chef hated the menu – a ‘do it yourself’ concept which saw hundreds of dishes being made – and the restaurant was losing £3,000 a week.

He also clashed with Curry Lounge owner Arfan ‘Raz’ Razak, who was not keen to change.

But after Gordon helped launch a new menu the restaurant was packed and brought in £3,000 a month. 

However, the restaurant was later sold in 2015 and Raz was later prosecuted for tax fraud in 2017.

He received an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The restaurant shut down under new management at the end of 2017, before reopening as Tandoor in June 2018 under new ownership. 

However, since 2020, the premises have been occupied by restaurant Casa Italian.

La Gondola, Derby

Once a thriving and buzzing restaurant, by the time Gordon Ramsay visited La Gondola in 2005, the Derby restaurant and hotel was seriously struggling.

There were no customers, apart from a very small group who had been loyally visiting for years.

Despite their claims of being  a traditional Italian, there were over 100 dishes from across the globe on the menu – and crucially, Gordon hated the food.

After Gordon’s interventions failed to revive its previous success, La Gondola closed in 2007 and went into voluntary liquidation. 

Nearly two decades later in 2023, councillors turned down plans to turn the building into homes.

This week it burned down and has since been demolished.

Locals were quick to recall Ramsay’s visit in 2005, prompted by owner, Daniela Bayfield’s attempt to halt its decline.

He mocked its empty place settings and elderly clientele and was appalled to find tinned soups in the store cupboards.

Neighbour Colin Sweeney, 69, who watched the flames coming through the roof of the former hotel on Sunday, told MailOnline: ‘It is a shame. I have known it from when it was a beautiful hotel and restaurant.

‘After Gordon Ramsay came in, he found canned soups in the kitchen and went crazy. He was not impressed.

‘Clearly, his intervention did not work – it closed not long after he left.’

Tom Murphy, 32, who lives across the road, recalled: ‘When Gordon Ramsay was there he went mad at how basic it all was.

‘He brought in a new menu with all this fancy stuff but it didn’t last long. The customers had a more simple palate and they ended up reverting back to the stuff they liked.

‘Its fate was sealed and he could not do anything to save it. It used to be a real destination.’ 

Artist Alan Jenkins said: ‘I can remember watching Gordon Ramsay ‘rescue’ La Gondola.

‘He was not impressed at all and did his usual ranting and raving but he couldn’t help. He was just about the final nail in its coffin.

‘The owner was a great woman, very community minded. She employed someone with disability issues in the kitchen.

‘At one time it had quite a good reputation.’

The Walnut Tree Inn in South Wales

Customers had claimed high-prices were putting them off from visiting The Walnut Tree in Llanddewi Skirid, South Wales so couple Enrica Mattioli and husband Francesco called on Gordon Ramsay for his much-need guidance.

He helped them bring in a new head chef and said the prices of some dishes were too high.

But sadly, it did not prove a success. In 2007 The Walnut Tree closed and the couple partly blamed the show for the demise.

The restaurant was reopened months later under new management and holds a Michelin star. 

Regarding the restaurant, Mrs Mattioli previously said: ‘It was a mistake. It made us look like we were too expensive. It put people off.

‘We did have customers with Bentleys and Porsches but we didn’t want people to feel intimidated by this. Everybody was welcome.

‘There was a honeymoon period after the show when people came to try us out but this was short lived. After a couple of weeks it went back to normal.’

At the time the former owner said she was selling up to head back to London with her husband, blaming The Walnut Tree Inn’s demise on ‘competition’. 

Moore Place, Esher, Surrey

Within seconds of his visit to Moore Place in Surrey Ramsay was not impressed. He hated the ghastly exterior, painted maroon and joked he would turn it ‘into an open prison for young offenders’. 

He also had a particular hatred the food, comparing one dish to a ‘cremated turd’.

Customers seemed to agree with very few stopping by.

Owners Richard Hodgson and Nick Whitehouse had no experience in running a restaurant and were struggling to cope.

Attempts to revitalise the restaurant did not go well, and ended up with Ramsay curled up in a ball on the floor.

Following the show, the restaurant experienced some success, with some customers travelling from as far as America and Australia. 

The owners sold it two years after the show aired and it has since become a care home. 

Lanterna, Letchworth, Hertfordshire

The first episode of the second series saw Gordon visit to Lanterna in Hertfordshire, an ‘Italian’ restaurant, which served Hawaiian pizza.

However, after discovering a packet of béchamel sauce tucked away in the kitchen, it soon dawned on Gordon that there would be no authentic Italian food in sight. 

Lanterna, owned by chef Alexander Scott was losing £1,000 a week.

Gordon was called in on arduous mission to transform the business into a successful Italian restaurant.

And six weeks after the episode aired, the Michelin-star chef returned to a restaurant on the up. 

However, the restaurant shockingly closed its doors only four weeks later, even though Mr Scott claimed Lanterna, by then, was raking in £4,000-a-week.

According to HertsLive, the eatery filed for bankruptcy after profits plummeted and Mr Scott reportedly became a car salesman.

D-Place, Chelmsford, Essex

Israel Pons, owner of D-Place in Herfordshire, called in Gordon as his profits were plummeting and customers weren’t coming through the door. 

He had put in hundreds of thousands of pounds into the business and leased it from the brewery which owned the building.

The episode saw massive rows, including one about roast potatoes which were faux deep fried.

Gordon even helped rename the restaurant, The Saracen’s Head, in a bid to get business going.

But when he returned months later, he found that owner Israel had been kicked off the business by the brewery.

The restaurant had gone into receivership after poor profits, and the brewery took back control.

However, head chef Philippe Blaise remained at the restaurant, despite the major shake-up. 

He told EssexLive in 2021 that the restaurant had moved on from its troubled past and was now thriving.

Momma Cherri’s Soul Food Shack, Brighton

Gordon loved the food and embraced owner Charita Jones when he arrived at Momma Cherri’s Soul Food Shack in Brighton.

It was the only time he cleared a plate and he helped install discipline in the business. 

Thousands flocked to Brighton to experience the ‘Soul in a Bowl’ concept served up by Momma Cherri’s owner Charita Jones after she appeared on the Channel 4 programme. 

But The restaurant was forced to close in 2009, as Momma Cherri was unable to deal with costs and debts of £200,000.

In 2008, she said: ‘The building is costing us too much and we never got a loan from the bank.

‘We were running two businesses for a whole year and then had a building we couldn’t sell.

‘We went from ten employees to 30 and the building that we took on had so many hidden problems.

‘It was bigger and better though and I just wanted to feed as many people as I could.

‘I have written to Gordon Ramsay but I’ve heard nothing back. I’ve asked them to do another follow-up which helps deal with the debt.

‘I do not regret a minute going on the show. The difficulty is there needs to be more of a follow up show.

‘A lot of the businesses are in debt anyway just have a higher turnover doesn’t necessary tackle debt.’

Following this ordeal, Ms Jones opened a new pop-up eatery last year in Brighton, based on the old restaurant.

La Riviera, Inverness

At first glance this restaurant had it all, a top chef, great staff and a fine dining restaurant – but customers were simply not coming through the door.

Owned by multi-millionaire Barry Larson, the business was haemorrhaging £8,000 a week on food and staff costs alone.

Larson previously brought KFC, Wimpy and Harry Ramsdens to Scotland. 

In a bid to prove find dining could thrive in the chilly north, the entrepreneur funnelled £2 million of his own cash into the project. 

Larson was hungry to make the restaurant a success , even remaining it Abstract.

Things started to improve while Gordon rolled up his sleeves and the restaurant was renamed Abstract. 

Although the business later closed its doors. Barry went on to open Abstract in Edinburgh to stellar TripAdvisor reviews.

Oscars, Nantwich, Cheshire

Gordon rolled up to Oscars in Cheshire on a mission to install a more traditional Irish theme into the restaurant, but it was full of drama. 

Chef Lenin Doris collapsed and was rushed to hospital and later revealed struggles with alcohol. Gordon helped him get into rehab and he started to recover.

The restaurant closed in 2005 as the family focused on themselves.

Chatting about the experience, with CheshireLive, Lenin said the show helped him take his life more seriously.

He said: ‘I can’t hide my problems with alcohol but I have a lot to thank Gordon and the show for. 

‘The programme helped me realise I had a problem and encouraged me to get things out in the open.

‘It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m now looking at being an alcohol counsellor so I can help people going through the same thing.’

The Sandgate Hotel, Folkestone, Kent

Gordon’s visit to The Sandgate Hotel in Kent did not get off to a good start,with the star chef complaining of poor service.

Owned by Peter and Lois – with had no hospitality experience between them – the hotel was losing £2,000 a week.

Gordon would soon discover that the hotel’s three restaurants, a bar, terrace, and a Japanese restaurant in the basement, were all empty.

Lois and Peter revealed that they were set to lose up to £250,000 and would face closure by winter if the summer didn’t pick up soon.

Despite signs of business making improvements, the couple had enough and sold up in 2006.

Clubway 41 / Jacksons, Blackpool

Owned by Dave Jackson and his partner Dawn Brindley, Clubway 41 in Blackpool left Gordon at a lost for words as soon as he entered through the doors. 

Ramsay thought Clubway 41 sounded like a strip club. Gesturing towards the restaurant, he said: ‘Is that it? That can’t be it. Actually looks like a sex shop.’

The Michelin-star chef was also taken aback by the strange food combinations on offer, such as Quantro soup and salmon and strawberries. 

He was less than amused with a pork dish he ordered from the kitchen, quipping: ‘You’d struggle to give that to a dog.’ 

Even with only a semi-full restaurant, Dave struggled to keep up with demand, giving a clear indication of the huge amount of work ahead. 

Only months after the show aired, the restaurants name was changed to Jacksons – but unfortunately things weren’t looking promising.

Gordon attempted to use some colourful PR to help the restaurant back from the brink, but it shut only two months later in 2016.

La Parra De Burriana, Costa del sol

Located in Nerja, Spain, La Parra de Burriana owned by British chef Laurence Davey, appeared to be a disaster.

Lawrence had lent money from his father to open the eatery and follow his dreams. 

Sadly the restaurant lost twenty thousand pounds was lost in the first year, whilst serving a menu with a whopping 72 items – including chocolate prawns.

Ramsay ordered a filet steak kebab, which arrived swinging from a hook, which he described as ‘swinging like a Donkey’s d***’.

Moments later and smoke emerges from the kitchen, as a server tells Gordon his desert is burning.

Against Gordon’s advice Lawrence expanded the menu, and La Parra De Burriana eventually closed in 2008.

Fenwick Arms, Claughton, Lancashire

Owned by Brian and his wife Elaine, Gordon’s visit to the Fenwick Arms in Lancashire is the first takes on a pub in the Kitchen Nightmare series in 2006.

The star chef opens the episode with: ‘Time is running out for The Fenwick Arms – a country pub that thinks it’s Claridge’s.

‘This week, I’m trying to help the most stubborn fruit cake I’ve ever met.

‘Seven days to teach this old dog some new tricks. It will take a miracle.’

But Brian had grand ideas for his menu and feels insulted when Gordon advised him to dish out traditional pub classics, rather than fancy fine dining.

Gordon said: ‘It’s supposed to be a traditional pub, but it’s full of tacky clutter. And when it comes to table settings, Brian’s got serious delusions of grandeur.’ 

He addes ‘Unfortunately nobody is coming for dinner. But it’s not for want of trying. Brian and Elaine are throwing everything at the business.’

The couple were losing £1,500 a week and Brian was unwell and burning himself out working seven days a week. 

He only took seven days off when he had a triple heart bypass.

Gordon called the atmosphere in Fenwick Arms ‘static and dreary,’ and said the menu is full of ‘pompous sauces’.

After ordering a prawn salad and a rack of lamb, he said: ‘How the f*** do you get in? How do you get the lamb out. Not only is this not pub food, but it’s plain awful. 

‘Its like chewing a f***ing golf ball. Brian’s got a lot to answer for.’ 

A new campaign for real gravy was launched during the show and things turned around.

But the success did not last, as the couple left the pub in 2009. It is now under new ownership and thriving.

Rococo, Kings Lynn, Norfolk

Owned by former Michelin star winner Nick Anderson, Rococo in Norfolk was in trouble and losing £2,000 a week when the Kitchen Nightmares team visited.

Service was poor and the food overcomplicated. When Gordon arrived early one day, the door to the restaurant is locked and Nick is not answering.

It changed its name to Maggie’s only seven weeks after the show aired – and it proved to be a success. 

Gordon previously said the food was great. However, no amount of great dishes would be able to wipe the business’ debt clean.

Sadly, Rococo closed 2007, with a new restaurant called the Market Bistro sitting in its place.

Morgan’s, Liverpool

Owned by Sandy and her two daughters, Morgan’s in Liverpool had no customers and was £100,000 in debt. 

Things only went from bad to worse when Gordon gave the food a go, which later descended into an argument with head chef Phil.

Gordon later said that Morgan’s toffee pudding was delicious, but even this ruffled Phil’s feathers and the chef stormed out of the kitchen in frustration of being outshined by his assistant chef, who prepared the dish.

A menu relaunch started to work but Morgan’s closed in 2007, becoming Oddfellows Restaurant.

It later became Caveau, a French restaurant, with excellent TripAdvisor reviews. 

Ruby Tates, Brighton

Run and owned by ex-actor and Hollywood wannabe Allan Love, things at Ruby Tates were in a bad way.

The restaurant was losing £1,500 a week and despite being a seafood restaurant, Allan did not eat seafood. He broke down in tears at Gordon’s criticism.

Things improved but it closed in 2009 due to the credit crunch, and a lack of bookings according to RestaurantOnline. 

Announcing their closure, Allan Love wrote: ‘We were very lucky to have had such a wonderful mixture of people to serve.

‘It’s very sad time for us all but we hopefully will try to be positive for the future.’ 

The Priory, Haywards Heath, Sussex

The Priory, a 100-seater carvery in Sussex, is in big trouble when Gordon visits with losses of £5,000 a week.

Religious leaders were brought in to bless the service, as the venue was riddled with  dry meat and frozen Yorkshire pudding. 

But despite a revamp from Gordon, co-owner Scott Aitchison went back to their old ‘tired and dated’ carvery theme, as he claimed customers demanded the revert.

He said: ‘They [Kitchen Nightmares] looked at the demographics and decided that this is a commuter belt with a young market, but in actual fact the straw polls we conducted showed most of our customers are middle- aged. 

‘There isn’t another carvery nearby so there is a gap in the market.’ 

Although the show had been in touch with Aitchison, Mr Aitchison told The Brighton Argus he had no intentions of allowing camera crews into his establishment. 

Despite his steadfast decision to remain to stick to the traditional carvery theme, The Priory closed in 2008.

The Granary, Hampshire

The Granary launched in 2003, with the likes of Katie Price and Dean Gaffney helping to launch it. 

Originally it had a £2,000 joining fee but was forced to axe it as the restaurant struggled to bring in customers

The Hampshire based venue was losing £4,000 a week when Gordon visited and quickly revitalised the menu.

However progress didn’t come without challenges, with owner Nigel Nieddu being called a ‘fat idiot’ by Ramsay during the show.

Mr Nieddu previously said: ‘It was the most stressful week of my life. If I had my time again I would not go on the programme. 

‘I have never spoken to anyone like that in my whole life. I am not happy about being humiliated. 

‘My friends call up and laugh about me being called a fat idiot but that’s how I will be known now – I’m the fat idiot from The Granary.’

Less than a month after featuring on the show, it was destroyed by a fire. Years later a man received a five year prison sentence for the incident.

Fish & Anchor, Lampeter, Wales

When Gordon visited the Fish and Anchor in Lampeter it was struggling

Owners Mike Ciminera and wife Caron had originally run a traditional chip shop but had decided to upgrade the premises after they won £700,00 on the football pools.

The re-decorated and adorned the walls with blue sports memorabilia. 

However, the couple argued constantly and were relying on celebrity cook books to come up with dish ideas for their new menu.

Gordon despised the food and was suspicious after seeing a flurry of extremely positive online reviews – which he later realised Mike has written.

When he came to plating the food up, Mike struggled to cook from such a huge mish-mash menu. 

Things improved with Gordon’s help but a waitress taken to hospital after she slipped and was knocked unconscious. 

Following Gordon’s visit it was sold in 2008, however the reason has not been publicly disclosed.