Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room - Kitchen Nightmares Update - Open or Closed?

In this Kitchen Nightmares episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room in Monrovia, California.

Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room is owned by Sam Najarr and his family and is located 30 minutes northeast of Los Angeles.

Sam worked in the restaurant starting in 1982 as a bus boy and decided to buy the restaurant in 1997.

Business was good to begin with but has since slowed down. Sam was forced to sack his staff to reduce costs and is now $70,000 in debt.

The only staff he has left at the restaurant are his family including his wife and children.

They argue in front of the customers and resent being forced to work in the restaurant.

Gordon is met by Sam's children, they all have plenty to say about the problems at the restaurant.

They also have plenty to say about each other but they mainly blame their father for the arguments.

Gordon is shocked to discover that all the children all work at the restaurant.

They are also working long 12 hour shifts, seven days a week and none of them want to work there anymore.

They all have their own dreams and aspirations but they are unable to pursue them as they are stuck at the restaurant supporting their father.

Gordon arrives and is greeted by Sam and discovers that he doesn't pay his children.

He can't afford to pay them wages but tries to justify the lack of wages as they all live at his home for free.

Sam rates his food as a 9/10 and recommends a lamb shank from New Zealand to Gordon.

Gordon sits down to order from the menu and notices that there are many spelling errors on the menu.

Gordon orders the Vegetable Combo, Lamb Shank, Gyro and the Top Sirloin Steak and Shrimp, cooked medium rare.

The Vegetable Combo has dreadful canned eggplant and both the falafel and hummus are bland with no seasoning.

When Gordon sends back the first dish, the kitchen starts arguing and this continues throughout his entire meal.

The Gyro is bought in, frozen and dry and the lamb shank looks anaemic and tastes like bland boiled lamb.

The steak is overcooked, solid and dry and the shrimp scampi is swimming in butter, rubbery and overcooked.

Gordon calls the staff together and tells them his criticism of the food, to which the chef admits he has given up.

Gordon arrives to observe a dinner service and meets Sams wife, who doesn't think the children should be working in the restaurant.

Gordon discovers mouldy food in the kitchen and in the walk in fridge he finds huge buckets of chopped parsley, bendy celery, soft cucumbers and rotten lettuce.

They try to serve raw chicken to a customer as the Chef says it is cooked on the outside so he thought it also was cooked inside.

The family argue loudly yet again after service and the argument spills into the street outside.

The next day Gordon sits down with the children and tells them to be honest with their father.

He wants them to explain that they want their lives and careers to go a different way, be more independent and not work 24/7 at the restaurant.

Sam puts his foot down saying that the family rule is that he makes the decisions for the family, they all speak their mind to their father and there is a lot of tears.

Gordon gives the staff cooking lessons including cooking the kebabs on the skewer and there will only be one person cooking on the grill so they aren't crossing over each other all night.

Overnight, his team give the restaurant one of the biggest and most expensive transformations they have ever done.

The restaurant has been modernised with new carpets, freshly painted walls and new chairs and tables.

The menu has also been revamped with a menu of new cintemporary Mediterranean dishes and recipes, the staff sample the food and love it.

On relaunch night, the customers are raving about the decor and they love the new food.

The family are working well together in the kitchen, are more calm and organised and most importantly they aren't fighting with each other.

As Gordon is leaving he gives them the framed photo he took of the family.

What Happened Next at Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room?

We are told that in the following months, the children have been given time off and Sam is planning on hiring new staff.

Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room closed in January 2014 with owner Sam telling the press that appearing on the show didn't work out.

After the show they didn't do much better than before, they had a brief surge in business for around two weeks but did not gain long term business from appearing on the show.

Sam also blamed the rise of competition from other restaurants in the area and a number of new Mediterranean restaurants planned to open close to their location.

Yelp reviews after the show filmed were mixed but mostly average or poor with criticisms of both the food and the service.

Trip Advisor reviews were mostly positive.

The restaurant had a peak in business after the show aired but it only lasted a matter of weeks.

Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room was aired on February 15 2013, the episode was filmed in July 2012 and is Kitchen Nightmares season 6 episode 8.

Read About More Kitchen Nightmares

Previous episode - Levanti's Italian Restaurant

Next episode - Nino's Italian Restaurant

This post was last updated in March 2023.