Classic American - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Classic American in West Babylon, New York.

Classic American Restaurant is owned by best friends Colleen and Naomi, they started out as waitresses before buying the restaurant in 2000.

Colleen made her son the chef and her boyfriend Dom the manager.

Gordon arrives and is greeted by Dom who tells him he was previously in the building industry.

He sits down with Colleen and Naomi and they tell him that they paid nearly $700,000 for the business and property.

Gordon comments on the huge menu and orders the fried calamari, the Bomb Burger and Mac and Cheese.

He is not impressed with the store bought, microwaved mac and cheese, the frozen calamari is chewy and the Bomb Burger is chewy and lacks seasoning.

He sends the burger back to the kitchen and the chef agrees that it is chewy.

Gordon tells the owners his opinions of the restaurant and doesn't hold back, calling the food horrid.

Colleen starts to cry and tells Gordon that neither her or Naomi haven't paid themselves in over a year.

Gordon arrives to witness a dinner service, Naomi tells Gordon she is good with the customers but spends most of the night in the kitchen.

Gordon discovers that the waitresses have to hand write the orders as the computer broke and they can't afford to replace it.

The pressure is too much for Colleen and she walks out, Gordon follows her and she breaks down.

The food leaves the kitchen quickly but it is also returned quickly.

Halfway through the service they run out of burgers, plates, cutlery and clean drinking glasses.

Gordon calls a staff meeting the next morning and gets the staff to anonymously write down a question.

They ask why Colleen gets frustrated with the waitresses and she says they will text and ignore the customers.

Naomi is labelled a pushover and admits she is in friend mode rather than boss mode.

The main issue raised is with Dom and that the restaurant is constantly running out of menu items.

He says as he isn't there every night but Gordon tells him as he is doing the ordering he should check what they need.

Dom then walks out swearing and throwing things about in the back room.

For dinner service, Gordon asks Colleen to expedite in the kitchen and Naomi to be front of house.

They only have 13 menus as they couldn't afford to get more printed.

The diners love the new sliders special but are not impressed with the old menu.

Gordon notices a pathetic plate of broccoli and tells them that if they are going to serve that they might as well close.

He tells them to close the restaurant and in the after service meeting he reveals that he is going to make huge changes.

Gordon's first task it to give the restaurant a massive makeover.

The interior is modern, a new computer system is in place and there are enough menus for each diner.

The menu has also been changed with new dishes and improvements  to their burgers.

For relaunch night, Colleen is in the dining room while Naomi leads the kitchen.

The night gets off to a bad start when the customers arrive and the waitresses are out the back smoking.

They soon recover and the food begins to leave the kitchen.

The diners are thrilled but Gordon is unsure as they fall apart when they are busy.

A few dishes slip through with lower quality but are noticed by Gordon before they reach the customers.

Overall, the night was a success and Gordon tells them they can be a huge success if they don't drop their standards.

What Happened Next at Classic American?

Gordon revisits and Colleen is in charge of the front of house, Naomi is in charge of the kitchen and Kevin is still in the kitchen.

Business is up 35% and Dom is still buying the ingredients but is no longer in the kitchen.

Gordon orders the meatloaf and thinks it is delicious, a 10.5/10. Gordon has a surprise for them both, he presents them with Long Islands Best Burger Award from Good Times magazine.

Yelp reviews were mostly positive after the show was filmed, with compliments on most of the food.

The burgers received mixed reviews, they were either praised or criticised as being cooked incorrectly or soggy.

Classic American closed in August 2013, posting the below on their website

"It is with a heavy heart that I tell you all that Classic American Restaurant has closed.

I would like to thank all of our employees, friends, family and loyal customers for your support and patronage for the last 13 years. It has been our pleasure to serve you!

Thank You!

Colleen

We will still be offering our catering services and can be reached through facebook."

Classic American aired on January 28 2011, the episode was filmed in November 2010 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 4 episode 2.

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Next episode - PJ's Steakhouse

This post was last updated in March 2023.