Finn McCool's - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Finn McCool's in Westhampton, New York.

Finn McCools is an Irish themed family restaurant owned by retired policeman Buddy Mazzio.

He retired after 20 years and within a day had opened the restaurant.

The town is a tourist hot spot in the summer.

With a population of less than 2000 residents the off season is slow for the restaurant.

The restaurant is family run.

His son Brian is the Head Chef, son Jason is a manager and Jason's wife Melissa is a waitress.

Gordon arrives at the restaurant and is surprised how quiet the town is.

He thinks that the restaurant looks like a funeral parlour.

Gordon orders spring rolls, salmon and a shepherd's pie.

The spring rolls look strange.

The salmon is soaked in a balsamic sauce and tastes disgusting.

The shepherd's pie is a big ball of grease.

Gordon runs off to the toilet to be sick.

Gordon wants to find out the locals opinion of the restaurant.

He speaks to local firemen who tell him that they only serve fried food.

Gordon inspects the kitchen.

He finds mouldy and incorrectly stored food and a copy of his own cook book.

Gordon dons some rubber gloves and along with the whole family they deep clean the restaurant.

Gordon arrives for a dinner service but there are no customers except the firemen.

After nearly an hour they haven't received their food.

When they receive their food it is cold, the fish isn't fresh and the meatloaf is dry.

Brian brushes off the criticism.

Gordon sees Sous Chef Francis drop a chicken wing on the floor before throwing it back into the fryer.

He tells Gordon that the fryer will sterilise it.

The next day, Buddy confesses to Gordon that he can't afford to keep running the restaurant for much longer.

Buddy hasn't paid himself in months.

He admits that if Brian wasn't his son he would fire him.

Closing would affect the whole family by putting them all out of work.

Gordon enters the kitchen to show Brian how to cook a real shepherd's pie whilst he cooks his own recipe.

The staff test both versions.

They choose Gordon's version which angers Brian and he heads to the bar.

Buddy tries to talk to Brian but he walks out.

Without Brian Buddy is forced to be in charge of the kitchen.

Gordon and Jason man the pass.

Buddy is a disaster in the kitchen and the service is a total disaster.

Brian returns the next day.

Jason and Buddy now understand what Brian has to deal with.

Gordon can also see why Brian is unhappy and vows to help him.

Overnight, the restaurant is given a makeover.

There is a family style atmosphere complete with a new sign out the front.

The new menu is unveiled with modern food.

This includes a family style shepherds pie and a fireman's chicken dish.

For relaunch night, Gordon persuades the firemen to give the restaurant another chance.

As the tickets roll in the service falls apart as Brian becomes overwhelmed.

Gordon tells him to focus on the quality.

A local food critic, the fire captain and others are annoyed to be kept waiting.

The customers who receive food are enjoying the new menu.

Jason is having to deal with irate customers who are yet to be seated.

People start leaving including the fire chief.

Brian falls apart even more when Gordon pushes him to speed up to be able to turn tables.

The staff watch nervously as the food critic samples the menu but they enjoy the food.

The relaunch overall was a success and Brian hugs Gordon.

What Happened Next at Finn McCools?

Lee Stranahan spoke to the owners days after the show had aired on his blog post here .

They revealed they were picked after Brian auditioned for Hell's Kitchen.

They also revealed that Francis wasn't an employee.

Brian says that he didn't drive off.

This left some believing the Finn McCools Kitchen Nightmares episode was faked.

Gordon revisits the restaurant.

The family relationships are better.

He is told that business is good with an increase of 37%.

Buddy had a heart attack and was taking a break from the restaurant.

Brian won a local competition for Best Chowder in a Chilli and Chowder Competition.

He told a local paper that the regulars wanted to revert to the old menu and he threatened to quit.

Yelp reviews were mostly positive after filming.

There were compliments for both the food and the service.

In 2009, Buddy Mazzio sold the restaurant to Michael Mancuso and the family still worked there.

Finn McCool's closed in March 2012.

It closed after an issue with the lease and was boarded up in June 2012.

Brian opened Shuckers with a childhood friend in 2011.

He worked at Oakland's Restaurant Marina.

He currently works at Sundays on the Bay and has expanded into catering.

Jason has been working as a courier.

He has also worked at various restaurants and bars including Shuckers, Joe's American Grill and Buoy One.

Buddy Mazzio worked as a Private Investigator at his own firm, A.Mazzio Professional Investigations after the show.

Buddy sadly passed away in January 2023.

Finn McCool's aired on November 14 2007, the episode was filmed in March 2007 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 1 episode 7.

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