# Epic facebook meltdown from Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341 "2013-05-14T19:14:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/101 "2013-05-15T18:04:04Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > **madmonk** : A few. You can find the (low) success rate by Googling the usual terms you’d guess. Most of the people on this show are deeply delusional about their restaurant’s food quality, cleanliness, and general appeal, and are so deep in the hole that I doubt much short of a major fucking wake-up call and rehiring all new staff (and owners) would work at times. Pretty much. I mean, Gordon is portrayed as an abrasive asshole (and, by some metrics, maybe he is), but he does know his shit, from both a food level and business level. If I happened to run a restaurant and had him come in to critique me, you bet I would listen to most of what he says. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/102 "2013-05-15T18:20:48Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > If I had been present in this restaurant on the evening they filmed the part appearing at the beginning of the show, I would have been fully convinced it was a candid camera thing. I would never have believed all that crap could happen in real life (three different customers thrown out in a row, IIRC). > > The whole show was comedy gold. Too bad I don’t understand everything said (I’m not good at understanding spoken English). Yeah well, all those BEEPs don’t help either. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/103 "2013-05-15T19:53:11Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Of course, how did Ramsey get into this place? Don’t they have to ask for his help? Here are the “instructions” from the Fox website: > [@](#): > > Are you looking to Revive your Restaurant? > > FOX’s hit show “KITCHEN NIGHTMARES” wants to help you! > If you want CHEF GORDON RAMSAY to come into your establishment to troubleshoot your problems and try to get you back on the road to success… Contact us NOW!!! > > Email or Call for Information > {E-mail and Phone information removed} > > \*\*Make sure to include: > Your name and contact info (including a phone number), name of your restaurant and your specialty, how many seats you have, and most importantly…Why you need our help! > > If you are a Restaurant Owner fill out or download the application online at: [http://www.theconlincompany.com/now-casting/kitchen-nightmares/](http://www.theconlincompany.com/now-casting/kitchen-nightmares/) and email it back to {E-mail address removed} > > \*Restaurants must have been open at least one year, offer dinner service, not be a franchise or chain, and have at least 35 seats. > > This is a casting call with no guarantee of acceptance. Note that one of the questions on the online application is: “How do you react to criticism?” ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/104 "2013-05-15T19:54:02Z")
That guy was a total douche but can tell he knows how freaking insane his wife is. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/105 "2013-05-15T20:19:38Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Note that one of the questions on the online application is: > “How do you react to criticism?” I think they actually _want_ people who don’t respond well to criticism, as it means for a more dramatic show. It’s very typical on the show for the chef/owner to reject Ramsay’s suggestions, even though the restaurant is in trouble and they requested that he come to give them advice. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/106 "2013-05-15T20:29:58Z")
> [@Sally\_Mander](#): > > I wonder if Ramsay would have been able to convince them to let the servers put in their own orders on the POS. Neither of them seemed to realize just how much it slowed down the entire ordering process. And Samy didn’t exactly look like he was very proficient with it. > There was one shot of a server standing there reading off an order while he did a “hunt and peck” style of input. No wonder it takes over an hour to get a pizza! Obviously there is no way this business is legitimately running in the black. My guess would be that there’s some kind of financial records skullduggery afoot, and that’s the real reason Bouzaglo won’t let anyone else touch the POS system. Word on the internet is that Amy has gone under several aliases and served time for identity theft and fraud. I can’t find shit on Salomon Bouzaglo, at least not under that name, but honestly the guy couldn’t act and look more stereotypically thuggish if he was trying out for a part in the local community theatre. Made his money in “construction”, huh? Right. What I can’t figure out is why the owners of a fraudulent business would ever want to show their ass on national television. But hell, even if this pair is on the up-and-up it still wouldn’t make sense for them to want to show off this shitshow of an operation. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/107 "2013-05-15T21:20:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think they actually _want_ people who don’t respond well to criticism, as it means for a more dramatic show. It’s very typical on the show for the chef/owner to reject Ramsay’s suggestions, even though the restaurant is in trouble and they requested that he come to give them advice. This. The UK version of KN is a lot less dramatic. Very little yelling at the chefs/owners. Still a lot of cussing though it’s just not directed at the chefs/owners. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/108 "2013-05-15T21:40:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The thing about the “no tips” policy is that they didn’t tell the customers about the policy. Had they done so, that would be one thing. But not telling customers and then taking the tips is cheating the wait staff and possibly illegal. This is what blew my mind about this episode - I’m pretty sure they were openly committing some sort of offense by doing this. Maybe someone who knows about Arizona labor law can shed some light on it. If you’re paying the waitstaff Arizona minimum wage then I’m pretty sure you can have a “no tipping” policy, but I’m fairly certain that if customers leave tips for the staff the owner can’t just take them. Perhaps a local DA watches the show, that could be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/109 "2013-05-15T21:45:52Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > This is what blew my mind about this episode - I’m pretty sure they were openly committing some sort of offense by doing this. Maybe someone who knows about Arizona labor law can shed some light on it. If you’re paying the waitstaff Arizona minimum wage then I’m pretty sure you can have a “no tipping” policy, but I’m fairly certain that if customers leave tips for the staff the owner can’t just take them. Perhaps a local DA watches the show, that could be interesting. I know at least one place in Tucson doesn’t give servers tips directly, but rather pools all the tips and divides them evenly between all servers working that shift. So I don’t think it’s illegal to not give servers gratuities left for “them”. Then again, that restaurant is open about it, so that may change things. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/110 "2013-05-15T21:54:02Z")
I did a Google search; it looks like [tip pooling is legal](http://www.azrestaurant.org/ARA/Govt_Affairs/FAQs/ARA/GovtAffairs/FAQs.aspx), but I can’t find anything about whether a restaurant owner can confiscate tips. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/111 "2013-05-15T21:54:50Z")
Plenty of places pool together tips and distribute them-- it’s usually a way to make sure busboys and such get tips, too. The point is, they folks are still getting tips though. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/112 "2013-05-15T21:59:29Z")
> [@colander](#): > > Obviously there is no way this business is legitimately running in the black. My guess would be that there’s some kind of financial records skullduggery afoot, and that’s the real reason Bouzaglo won’t let anyone else touch the POS system. Word on the internet is that Amy has gone under several aliases and served time for identity theft and fraud. I can’t find shit on Salomon Bouzaglo, at least not under that name, but honestly the guy couldn’t act and look more stereotypically thuggish if he was trying out for a part in the local community theatre. Made his money in “construction”, huh? Right. > > What I can’t figure out is why the owners of a fraudulent business would ever want to show their ass on national television. But hell, even if this pair is on the up-and-up it still wouldn’t make sense for them to want to show off this shitshow of an operation. I haven’t followed their antics too closely - are they trying to leverage their “fame” in any way? Someone was speculating that they may get a reality show after this - just a shot at it may be reason enough for people like this, no? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/113 "2013-05-15T22:05:20Z")
That was quite a video. She’s got Michelle Bachmann eyes and the personality of a pit viper. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/114 "2013-05-15T22:09:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I did a Google search; it looks like [tip pooling is legal](http://www.azrestaurant.org/ARA/Govt_Affairs/FAQs/ARA/GovtAffairs/FAQs.aspx), but I can’t find anything about whether a restaurant owner can confiscate tips. It’s very illegal for an owner to confiscate tips. The only time an owner can intervene in tip-related payments to employees is to ensure a tipped employee makes at least minimum wage (they have to cover the shortfall). Other than that, the owner shouldn’t be taking any tip money given to servers. Even if there’s a stated no-tipping policy, tip money given directly to an employee is theirs to keep. The employer runs afoul of federal (and likely state) laws by confiscating it. There is a sort of loophole. If the restaurant has a service charge (common for large groups in many places), that doesn’t count as a normal tip and the employer can dip into that. [Link](http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf) to a Department of Labor fact sheet on tips. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/115 "2013-05-15T22:25:15Z")
It’s probably not fair, but the waitress said she had plenty of experience, so why was shhe slumming it there? I am not sure if confiscating the tips was their evilest thing or firing the girl for no good reason. I am going to say the former because that girl who got fired actually should be happy. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/116 "2013-05-15T22:35:27Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > It’s probably not fair, but the waitress said she had plenty of experience, so why was shhe slumming it there? I am not sure if confiscating the tips was their evilest thing or firing the girl for no good reason. I am going to say the former because that girl who got fired actually should be happy. Do you understand that the economy isn’t doing well, and some people have a very difficult time finding jobs? Some places won’t even hire a person who is out of work; they only hire people who already have jobs. And with the job market so bad, many people are waiting tables who wouldn’t have in the past, making it that much harder for servers to get a job. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/117 "2013-05-15T23:29:25Z")
When I worked at Panera, I wasn’t allowed tips even though I pocketed it all the same. We were given well above min wage but all cash floated our way had to go into the donation jar. As I understand a lot of other fast food restaurants have that policy too. Not exactly the same but not entirely different either. It is, however, super dishonest to collect tips without advocating that as policy. I can see them getting into legal problems by charging large parties the mandatory gratuity AND not tipping out the wait staff. That would be the only formal form of fraud I can discern. As for the legitimacy of their business… I can see how someone who got in while the going was good and got out before the going got bad in land development could net a couple of million dollars in the Arizona/Nevada area. Couple that with a small business loan with a multi-million dollar house as collateral and they could potentially have enough funds to grind it out for a couple of years, especially if the construction company was still humming along and either/or had money to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/118 "2013-05-15T23:59:57Z")
I have read in comments on various sites (which is to say, this is all completely unsourced and may be a pack of lies) that Gordon got wind of some sort of scamminess they were up to and decided to leave because he didn’t want to be associated with that. Certainly, the way the owner had to put in all the tickets looked shady as hell to me. And it makes a lot more sense to leave for legal reasons than because they were so crazy; crazy makes for great TV! I would have watched another 2 hours of just them doing dinner service! I mean, I watch a good bit of this show (loooove me some Ramsay!) and there are lots of restaurants he goes into where its obvious within a couple minutes that there’s no helping the place. And yet, he stays, because the show is only incidentally about fixing restaurants. It’s actually about watching crazy restaurant owners get yelled at. So I think it’s a plausible theory. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/119 "2013-05-16T00:12:41Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Certainly, the way the owner had to put in all the tickets looked shady as hell to me. I’ve never worked in a restaurant…why was that shady? I get why it was stupid, and slowed down the entire process to a snail’s pace, but what makes it shady? Is there a way to screw with the books if Samy is the only one using it? > [@](#): > > and there are lots of restaurants he goes into where its obvious within a couple minutes that there’s no helping the place. And yet, he stays, because the show is only incidentally about fixing restaurants. It’s actually about watching crazy restaurant owners get yelled at. So I think it’s a plausible theory. Do most of the owners accept his help? I can understand some resistance to change, but do they take his advice in the end? (I’ve never watched the show before, please forgive the questions. Oooh, just checked Netflix. The first two seasons are there. Guess I know what I’m doing the rest of the night!) ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341/120 "2013-05-16T00:37:01Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > That two-part video actually gave me physical pain. When the one customer complained about waiting over an hour for a pizza, then overheard Amy in the kitchen making fun of him, then Samy told him to pay for his drinks and get the fuck out and threatened to call the police and pushed him? Then Amy called him a pansy as they were walking away? Oh my effin God. One of these days someone will pull a gun on him when he does that. I wish I could be there to see it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-facebook-meltdown-from-gordon-ramseys-kitchen-nightmares/658341.md?page=7)