Burger Kitchen - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Burger Kitchen in Los Angeles, California.

Owner Alan Saffron didn't have enough money to open the restaurant.

He used $250,000 of his son Daniel Saffron's inheritance money.

Burger Kitchen has only been open for 16 months.

It already has serious issues and a family at war.

Alan enjoys eating meat had eaten in a number of steak restaurants.

He decided to open a hamburger restaurant to be able to cook with Wagyu beef.

The money was part of a million dollar inheritance from Daniel's Grandfather.

It was used by his father without his permission to pursue his dream of owning a restaurant.

Alan doesn't consider Daniel a partner in the business.

He makes important decisions without telling him.

Alan also doesn't tell him about the restaurants finances.

Daniel feels that his father belittles him and treats him like a child.

He also thinks that they don't respect his girlfriend Wendy.

Gordon arrives and is impressed by the central LA location on trendy 3rd Street.

He also likes the interior of the restaurant.

He sits down with Alan and Jen who reveal they have been open 16 months.

They are losing roughly $6000 per month.

When Gordon asks why, they blame the Burger Kitchen staff.

They have ever changing chefs and servers.

There are also multiple menu changes and a Yelp conspiracy.

Alan reveals they have hired and fired 20 service staff and 20 chefs.

They have also had 10 menu changes.

Alan believes that Yelp are ruining the restaurant.

He believes that they are deleting all of his 5 star reviews and only leaving negative reviews.

They reveal that Daniel usually works the night time.

Alan works in the day time as they can't work together.

Alan reveals that his son has resentment towards him.

He tells Gordon that the thinks the food is a 4/5.

Gordon sits to order food.

His server Marilyn tells him there is a lack of management.

There is no consistency and burgers are constantly sent back.

Gordon orders the California and Cowboy Burger, cooked medium rare and an Australian meat pie.

The food disappoints as both of the burgers are raw and tasteless.

They have doughy or disappointing buns.

The Australian Meat Pie is tasteless and like cat food.

Gordon meets Executive Chef David Blaine.

He was hired as a pastry chef and worked his way up to Executive Chef.

David says that is not allowed to change anything on the menu.

He follows the recipes he has been given and has not been paid his wages.

Jen and David don't get along and David doesn't want her in the kitchen.

They argue about whether a mushroom dish has been changed from the recipe.

He accuses her of drinking and taking prozac.

Jen claims he gossips about her and blame her for problems.

Gordon also discovers that the Australian Waygu burgers are bought in and are frozen.

David is challenged to cook a fresh burger, the Redemption Burger.

Alan cooks a frozen prepared burger, determined to prive they are better.

Whilst they are preparing the burgers, Gordon takes a visit to Daniel at his home.

Daniel tells Gordon that Wendy and his family had a falling out and they don't respect her.

Back at the restaurant Gordon loves David's fresh burger but hates Alan's frozen Wagyu mix burger.

David has proved to Gordon that he is a good chef when he isn't restricted by the recipes he is given.

Alan tells Gordon that he thought the Wagyu beef would be better as it sounds expensive.

He tells Gordon that he wrote a book about his father.

For the evening service, Daniel is sent out to work front of house.

The food speeds out of the kitchen only to be sent back as they aren't cooked correctly.

The kitchen is in chaos as the tickets are messed up and they don't know what half the orders are.

David looks like a deer in the headlights and is unable to keep up.

Frustrated by the ticket drama he explodes and threatens Daniel and is fired on the spot.

The guests start to leave and David comes back.

He returns not to finish the service but for the money he is owed.

David is owed $1000 and doesn't want another cheque that will bounce.

Alan and Jen don't think they even have $1000 to pay him.

They offer to pay the next day but he refuses.

He tells them he isn't even sure they will be open the next day.

They say they will move around some money so that it doesn't bounce.

David remains sceptical and makes more accusations against Jen.

Daniel's partner Wendy tells them he isn't putting in any more cash to the business.

Another argument breaks out.

Daniel breaks down outside but Gordon consoles him.

He tells him that the only reason he has stayed is to help him.

Burger Kitchen Part 2

The next day, Gordon invites them all out to a theatre.

He brings out the Yelpers to quash Alan's conspiracy theories.

There is a Community Manager from Yelp and numerous diners who have posted Yelp Reviews.

They assure him that they are real but Alan still refuses to believe that the reviews are real.

The Yelpers tell Alan that they are giving constructive feedback for him to make changes.

One poster says that he received a response from Alan and was met with a baraage of emails.

Alan has even threatened the Yelp reviewers.

He threatened to report one to the LAPD Hate Crime Division for their review.

A fellow restaurant owner talks on how to deal with Yelp.

Finally, Ramsay gets through to him that he needs to take the criticisms.

They can learn and improve on the negatives.

The next issue Gordon needs to tackle is the family relationships.

Daniel reveals that the problems are mistrust due to them taking his money.

Alan says that he put $250,000 of his money and Daniel put $250,000 of his in.

Daniel reminds him that he didn't put the money in.

He had no permission to use the money and he took the money from him.

He also tells his father that he wants to be on the paperwork.

Daniel wants evidence of ownership and know the financials from the accountant.

Gordon also feels that they need to make the decision of who will be running the restaurant.

Wendy is defensive of Daniel and they agree to try and move past it.

They will try to get along with Wendy for the sake of the restaurant.

Gordon reveals the Alan that he read the book about his father he had given him.

He reveals the same is repeating again.

Gordon thinks Daniel would probably describe him the same as he had his father.

All attention then goes to improving the food and creating a tasty burger for the evening's service.

Gordon introduces a new burger recipe using fresh ground beef.

In the evening, the dinner service begins with Daniel expediting.

There are small hitches but he deals with them successfully.

The new burger is a big hit with customers.

Overnight Gordon's team gives the restaurant a makeover.

There are new murals, pop art and the ugly green colour is gone.

The booth is gone and there is a chalkboard on the way to be able to leave messages.

There is also a POS system replacing the old ticket system with handheld stations for the servers.

The menu has also been updated and shortened.

It will contain new burgers including a new lamb burger.

There are new side dishes including vodka battered onion rings and parmesan fries.

They will also be making their own home made barbecue sauce.

The staff sample the new menu and are impressed with the new food.

For the relaunch Gordon has a surprise, the restaurant is going to be packed with reviewers.

There are writers from Yelp, Urban Spoon, Chow and other major review sites and blogs.

Daniel gets off to a good start but Alan just can't stay out of the kitchen.

He is distracting Daniel whenever he goes into the kitchen.

This leads to some food for the Chow table being sent back for being undercooked.

Gordon loses it, urging Alan to get out the kitchen and let Daniel work.

Gordon tells them Daniel did a great job on relaunch.

Alan says that Daniel is doing a good job on running the restaurant.

Alan and Jen promise to let Daniel run things in the restaurant without interference and the show ends.

What Happened Next at Burger Kitchen?

After Kitchen nightmares, the menu and kitchen staff at Burger Kitchen in LA were changed numerous times.

In August 2011 the restaurant is said to have changed ownership.

By October 2011 there was a rebranding, a new, smaller menu, a new team of Chefs.

There was also new management in place.

Yelp reviews continued to be negative.

Customers reported that none of the burgers that Gordon had created were on the menu.

The POS system installed as part of the revamp was also no longer used to take orders.

Burgers were still not cooked as ordered and service was very slow.

Burger Kitchen closed in February 2012.

There was a for lease sign at the restaurant in mid January and the restaurant was shuttered in February.

There is the belief that the Burger Kitchen episode was staged.

Burger Kitchen was exposed in this blog post.

Luigi's opened in it's space just a few weeks after they closed but this also later closed.

Jaffaa Middle Eastern restaurant is now in it's place.

Alan Saffron died in April 2020 after a heart attack.

Burger Kitchen is Kitchen Nightmares season 5 episode 5 and 6 and was aired on November 04 and 11 2011. The episode was filmed in August 2011.

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