Park's Edge - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Park’s Edge in Imman Park, Georgia.

Park’s Edge is owned by best friends, Richard and Jorge who have run it for 3 years.

Jorge and Richard met at an airfreight company and neither have any experience of running a restaurant.

The food is over complicated and the staff are overworked.

They underestimated what it takes to run a restaurant and made several mistakes.

In the few years that the restaurant has been open the Health Department have forced them to close twice for health violations.

Jorge has failed to set organisation or any structure in the kitchen along with ensuring the food is to a high quality.

When the kitchen is under pressure, Richard doesn’t help and is out the front smiling with customers like nothing is wrong.

Richard put up a tent outside the front of the restaurant without a permit and they served liquor without a license.

When the local news came to interview him, he insinuated the neighbourhood was racist.

This was the final straw that alienated them from the local community.

They lost most of their business and they are regretful of their actions.

Gordon arrives at the restaurant after having already done some research into the restaurant.

He knows about the issues they have had with the locals in regards to the gazebo and accusations they have made.

He meets Richard at the entrance and then meets Jorge in the restaurant.

They sit down and he asks about their issues and they say the biggest one is the neighbourhood and the mistakes they have made.

They are adamant that despite these issues their food is good.

Gordon sits down for lunch and looks at their menu and he is confused as it has Mexican, Asian and Indian dishes on it.

Amy comes to serve him, and she helps Gordon out explaining that a grilled caesar salad on the menu is really grilled.

He has never heard of this before so he orders it with some chicken.

Another random server comes in to remove the extra utensils on the table startling Gordon and he introduces himself as Kevin the Bartender.

He manages to drop a comment on how bad the food is before being called away by Richard.

Amy and Gordon agree it was random for him to come over and remove the cutlery from the table.

Gordon continues to order some oysters and a grilled salmon.

First to arrive is the grilled salad and he is shocked to see that they have actually grilled the lettuce.

He gets the restaurant’s attention and shows them his lettuce has been grilled and they find it as funny and unusual as he does.

Gordon finds it hideous as the chicken is dry, the lettuce hasn’t been trimmed and it is too spicy.

The oysters are disgusting and he asks Richard to taste them.

Richard admits its bready and chokes on the spice on them.

The last dish to arrive is the salmon and the plate is very busy.

He asks Richard to taste this dish as well and he thinks that the combination of flavours don’t work together.

Gordon enters the kitchen to give feedback on his disappointing meal.

Jorge tells him that he went to culinary school and didn’t have proper training in a restaurant.

Gordon tells him he isn’t qualified to run a restaurant and they don’t realise how deep their problem is.

Gordon then sits with Richard to find out more about the neighbourhood problem.

Richard lists all the problems from their lack of a permit for their gazebo as well as business licenses and liquor licenses.

This made them a problem in the community as they weren’t operating correctly but the racist comment from Richard made it even worse.

Gordon arrives as the dinner service is about to start and runs into Richard leaving for a cigarette break and gets him back into the restaurant.

Gordon meets the rest of the cooking staff and the cooks both have more than10 years experience on the job.

Gordon observes the kitchen team working hard but Jorge is confused and overwhelmed.

The customers aren’t impressed with the food and there are complaints that it is too dry, too spicy, raw or meals are cold.

The servers are frustrated with the kitchen as their performance affects their ability to get tips.

The servers have to handle the complaints about the food while Richard hides out the back or outside.

Gordon confronts him on his role, or lack of one in the restaurant and him not dealing with unhappy customers.

Customers are left waiting for food and in frustration they walk out of the restaurant.

Gordon then inspects the walk-in where he finds stale and mouldy food produce, spoilt chicken and cooked food gone bad.

Jorge insists the cooked food was made recently but wasn’t going to be served.

Gordon doesn’t believe him and tells him he is lying but Jorge gets angry and walks away.

The next day, Gordon has a staff meeting with the owners watching via surveillance cameras.

The staff say the issues are mainly from Richard being hands-off with guests.

He drinks wine on the job daily but the owners are not communicating properly so Jorge is not aware of this.

The staff say they know more about running a restaurant than the owners but they don’t ask for help and are too stubborn to listen.

They say that Jorge is disrespectful and lashes out at them often.

Gordon then brings the owners in to iron out the issues.

They are touched by what they heard and Richard is emotional.

Jorge apologies to the staff for his failings and promises to change.

Gordon knows that they need to rebuild bridges in the community and encourages the owners to go on local news where Richard makes an apology to the neighbours.

Gordon’s team revamps the restaurants decor, the space has been made more contemporary, the clashing colours are gone and pictures from local artists are on the walls.

Gordon has also simplified the menu making it an American menu with a contemporary twist.

The staff sample and love all the food and agree Jorge’s previous menu was too complicated.

Gordon brings in his team to train the kitchen staff on the new menu but sous chef Matt is not on board with frying chicken wings.

He is taken outside and says that the menu sucks in front of Gordon and the owners.

He is given an ultimatum and asked to do his job and get on board or leave. He agrees to stay.

The relaunch is underway and orders come through the kitchen.

Jorge takes charge and the food comes out fast and to a high standard.

Matt complains as he is making the wings in the kitchen and he is bringing down the morale.

He overcooks a pork belly and when given a chance to correct it he messes up and is rude to Jorge.

He is asked to leave immediately.

The kitchen pulls together to push out the rest of the food.

The customers love their food and the night ends well.

Gordon gives Richard and Jorge some parting words, that they need to support each other for the restaurant to succeed.

What Happened Next at Park's Edge?

In the weeks that followed, the owners continued the community outreach and business is on the rise.

Richard is more active on the floor while Jorge has embraced the new menu.

After the show, they kept most of Gordon's changes but returned some customer favourites to the menu.

After filming, the Yelp reviews are mixed but negative comments are mostly service based and hit and miss menu items.

The Trip Advisor reviews were mixed and negative comments also seem to complain of poor service.

In October 2011 they failed a health inspection after also having failed previously in February 2011.

Park's Edge closed in early 2014 after their lease ran out in November 2013 and were reportedly looking for a new location to reopen.

The restaurant never reopened.

The website was active until 2020, 6 years after they closed!

Park's Edge was aired on February 03 2012, the episode was filmed in September 2011 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 5 episode 10.

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This post was last updated in March 2023.