Lido di Manhattan - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Lido di Manhattan in Manhattan Beach, California.

Lido di Manhattan is owned by Lisa Hemmat.

Lisa is a 28 year-old USC Business School graduate.

She bought the restaurant at 23 years old.

Lisa didn’t have any experience running a restaurant.

She inherited the staff and customer base from the previous owners.

Damien was a server and was promoted to bar manager and he is also Lisa’s romantic partner.

The staff think she doesn't know what she is doing.

It is only their experience that has stopped the restaurant failing.

Initially there was a buzz about the restaurant.

Now the restaurant is mostly empty each night and they may not be open for long.

Gordon arrives and observes the parking lot is full of potential customers.

Gordon meets Lisa and is shocked to she’s is so young.

He assumes she was gifted the restaurant.

She got a loan cosigned by her father and is her own boss.

Lisa tells him that she has not changed anything since she bought the place five years ago.

They have not even changed the decor or the menu.

Lisa also admits that she’s vegetarian.

She doesn’t eat most of the food that is on the menu.

Luis and Arturo Martinez are the Chef and Sous Chef.

They have been working at the restaurant for 18 years.

Gordon sits down to look at the menu and Priscilla serves him.

He orders the baked eggplant roll, ahi tuna tower and chicken tortellini salad.

Damien introduces himself to Gordon as he is sat at the table.

He reveals that he is dating Lisa after calling her ‘lovely’.

The eggplant roll arrives, and Gordon spits out his first bite.

The eggplant is microwaved but is crunchy and raw.

The tuna tower arrives next and he finds it gross.

He can tell its frozen tuna, even though Priscilla claims it is fresh.

Gordon playfully offers the camera crew a taste but they reject it.

The tortellini pasta salad arrives, and he is told it is not homemade.

It tastes rubbery and he asks Lisa to taste the vegetarian portion.

She thinks that it tastes fine.

Gordon confronts the staff in the kitchen and tells them the food is horrible.

The chefs say they don’t have the power to make key decisions or change anything.

Gordon arrives for an evening dinner service.

The servers struggle at the front of house.

The computers they use are severely outdated and aren’t up to the job.

They are 30 years old and barely working.

There are missed tickets due to the old equipment so orders are missed.

Customers still get their food but they aren’t happy with it.

They send many dishes back to the kitchen with complaints.

Gordon inspects the walk-in and freezer.

He finds out the tuna served that night was made 4 days ago.

He calls Lisa and shows her the walk in.

It is crammed with lots of frozen food she is unaware of.

Gordon finds mounds of dust above the food serving and cooking areas in the kitchen.

He is appalled and tells her that she needs to shut down the kitchen and stop sending food out.

Lisa refuses saying it's unlikely the food got contaminated by the dust.

Gordon angrily calls customers into the kitchen to see the dirt.

He asks if they would still like to eat from the kitchen and they all say no.

Lisa gets upset at the embarrassment.

Gordon reiterates, the restaurant is in a very bad state.

She cries in the toilet for an hour.

Gordon organizes the clean up of the kitchen.

Lisa is still not seen once cleaning is done and food service begins again.

A lot of customers are not served.

They leave the restaurant in frustration.

Gordon meets with Lisa after the dinner service is over. ‘

She says she didn’t expect him to be so hard on her.

She didn’t know what to do but she knows something is missing with her business.

Gordon gives her an assignment of five major things to change in the restaurant.

The next day, he has a staff meeting.

Lisa has her five things to work on in the restaurant.

Gordon is happy with her points but says the hard part is following through with them.

Next, Gordon brings in the outdated POS system.

He has all the staff take a baseball bat to it.

Gordon trains Lisa and the chefs on a tuna dish using all fresh ingredients.

Just before dinner service starts, Lisa is put on the line in the kitchen.

She is in charge of the specials.

Lisa is confused on what to do and is fussy with everything.

Lisa and Gordon see food going into the microwave.

They immediately ask why it wasn’t cooked on a stove.

Customers love the specials but hate the regular menu.

They say it wasn't worth the money they paid and send the food back.

Arturo and Luis try to shift blame for the food sent back rather than try to correct the dish.

Lisa puts a stop to the bickering.

With experience in the kitchen Lisa becomes more vocal and more confident directing the kitchen.

Gordon says she did well in the kitchen.

He warns her about her chefs being lazy and they may bring her down.

Gordon’s design team worked on the restaurant overnight.

The place has been opened up by removing the dividing wall.

New seating has also been added along with new china, curtains and lighting.

He tells them they will be branding themselves as a wine bar.

Gordon believes this will lead to a new type of clientele.

There is also a new Halo POS system.

The staff taste the new menu designed by Gordon and love it all.

On relaunch night, Lisa is in front of house.

The staff are loving the new POS system.

But soon tickets are piled up and customers wait up to 30 minutes for their food.

The kitchen is not communicating properly.

Gordon tries to get them to pull it together.

It takes an hour for food to start leaving the kitchen.

The food is sent back for various reasons.

Ninety minutes in, customers start leaving because they still haven’t got their food.

Lisa finds kitchen staff standing around.

She tries to get them to get their act together but Arturo and Luis stage a walkout.

Gordon calls in a friend Scott to come help since there is no one in the kitchen to cook the menu.

Gordon also pleads with Luis and Arturo and they come back.

The cooks with the help of Scott, get on top of the orders.

They take charge of the kitchen and turn the service around.

Gordon had a sit down with Lisa after the relaunch.

He tells her she has grown and shown her commitment to the restaurant, but her kitchen staff haven’t.

After everything, the relaunch is a success.

She is ready to make essential changes and is excited about the future.

What Happened Next at Lido di Manhattan?

They focus on the wine bar.

Chef Scott worked on training the chefs.

Gordon revisits a year later, business had increased by 20%.

Lisa has fired her boyfriend Damien, the bar manager.

There are new dishes inspired by Gordon including a Mushroom Flatbread.

They cook a dish together.

Gordon is impressed and tells her to keep up the good work.

Lisa has also expanded into Lido brand wine, catering and private dining.

The restaurant hosts a number of events including wine tastings.

Lido di Manhattan is open.

It continues to be very successful.

Yelp reviews are good with positive comments on the food.

Planning a visit to the restaurant? Check out their website.

In 2017, Lisa Hemmat and partner Levi Lupercio opened Playa Hermosa Fish and Oyster restaurant.

Reviews are excellent.

Lido di Manhattan aired on March 04 2010, the episode was filmed in July 2009 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 3 episode 5.

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