Kitchen Nightmares has had some crazy episodes that have seen Chef Gordon Ramsay vomit, berate owners and kitchen staff, and even doll out a dose of family therapy. The reality show sees the famous chef enter a flailing restaurant to sample the food, talk with the owners and staff, and see the décor in order to figure out what the issue is. Often times, the food is bland and the owner isn't doing their job. Sometimes, however, the place is dirty and the kitchen is stocked with rancid, expired food, attracting critters, mold, and insects of all kinds.
But the best episodes will often see Chef Ramsay come face-to-face with a totally crazy owner. And these are the craziest of them all, ranked.
Muhammad (Dillon's)
He was trying to run what he described as an American Irish restaurant with an Indian flare, except the Indian chefs weren't able to cook the American dishes. What's more, the restaurant had flies and generally unhappy customers who didn't like the quality of the food.
Chef Ramsay ended up having to hire an exterminator! Mohammed seemed grateful but the fact that he let his restaurant get to the state it was in suggests that he's worthy of being on this list.
Michael Fernandez (Spanish Pavilion)
After inheriting the restaurant from his grandfather, working as co-owner alongside his mother Balbina and brother Jerry, things got heated when Michael and his brother. would constantly fight with one another. Not to mention that they dressed their wait staff in tuxedos and had a dead lobster floating around in the tank. Gross!
Michael was caught on camera assaulting the cook during an argument. Finally, by the end, the brothers start getting along and the restaurant appears to still be open though Michael is no longer involved.
Michel Bardavid (The Secret Garden)
You know there's something up when Gordon Ramsay calls him a "French pig!" The chef had worked at many other prestigious French restaurants in the past, making him believe that he was more skilled than he actually was.
But in reality, he was running a restaurant with boring, tasteless food and dated décor, with cold storage full of mold and maggots. Ew!
Joe Nagy (Mill Street Bistro)
Talk about delusional. Nagy advertised that is restaurant was offering "farm to fork" when in reality, it was from frozen or the grocery store to the plate! He claimed to have studied under great culinary masters.
But if he knew how to cook, he sure didn't show it. What's more, the staff called him arrogant and selfish, he was rude and condescending, and had several big blowouts with Chef Ramsay. He even accused the show staff of damaging his property and stealing kitchen equipment and food after the episode aired, a case that was settled pretty quickly.
Sebastian De Modica (Sebastian's)
Sebastian wasn't sure whether he wanted to run a restaurant or to be an actor. Nonetheless, he opened this spot in California and seemed to want to practice his acting on the staff and customers by being nice one minute and awful the next. He couldn't seem to get along with anyone. Was it a role or actually him?
He also tried to get creative with the food, mixing and matching things that should never go together, which made it difficult for both customers and waiters to make sense of it all. He eventually moved on from the restaurant business and reportedly even had a small role in a movie.
Alan Saffron (Burger Kitchen)
This man was despicable enough to have used his own son's inheritance from his grandfather – without his son's knowledge or permission – to open up the restaurant he always wanted. Sixteen months later, he was in trouble because the restaurant wasn't doing well.
Not only that, but he didn't disclose details to his son about the restaurant, even though his son technically owned it. Then he tells Gordon that there's a Yelp conspiracy against him whereby the website is deleting all of the 5-star reviews. Wait, what?
Nino Cristiano (Nino's Italian)
It was so sad that this son who grew up in this restaurant his family started had seemingly lost interest. He was reportedly hiding in the back all day watching TV and felt his main job was to keep the place clean.
Fair enough if he at least did that correctly. (Though really, an owner's job is far more than just cleaning!). Except Gordon found gum under the table and cobwebs all over the entire dining area. Er, maybe it's time to hire a cleaning crew and focus on your actual job.
David Leonard (Black Pearl)
After his episode aired, Leonard wrote a scathing online letter to Ramsay blaming him for ruining his restaurant and reputation. (Clearly it couldn't have been the bad food and arrogant attitude that accomplished that!)
He was nicknamed "the prince of darkness" by the show's narrator thanks to his ability to blame everyone else instead of himself for everything wrong with the place, and for being ungrateful for the free makeover. Gordon nicknamed David and his two partners Greg and Brian Sleepy, Grumpy, and Dopey.
Moe (Oceana Grill)
The restaurant was so upset about this episode when it aired that the parent company Cajun Conti sued Ramsay and the show, saying that scenes were fabricated and the drama was contrived to make them look bad. When visiting the show, Ramsay vomited into a bucket multiple times and even found dead mice.
The owner Moe got angry at his brother and partner Rami for calling Gordon in, even yelling and throwing chairs.
Amy and Samy (Amy's Baking Company)
Hands down the absolute craziest owners to have ever been featured on the show were Amy and Samy from Amy's Baking Company. They were combative with staff, customers, and Gordon. So much so, in fact, that Gordon actually walked out and said he couldn't help them. It remains the first and only time he has ever done that on the show and its new iteration, 24 Hours To Hell and Back.
After facing tons of backlash on social media, the couple started berating people online, then claimed their account was hacked. It was all so outlandish. They were featured on a follow-up episode but the restaurant eventually closed in 2015 and they apparently moved to Israel.