One of my favorite shows on television is Kitchen Nightmares, the Gordon Ramsey show where he visits restaurants whose owners have begged him to help them turn their business around. I love watching as Ramsey goes into the restaurant, hits the brick wall that is the owner and/or chef, rips them a new one, and gets the restaurant off on the right foot.

My favorite part of the show, however, is when Ramsey sits down to eat his first meal there. As the owner/chef tells the camera that their food is the best in the city and no one ever complains about the taste of the food, Ramsey is in the dining room doing his best to keep down what little food he’s eaten. There have been a few times where the show has indicated that Ramsey lost that battle.

There is one thing that really bugs me about Kitchen Nightmares, however. Yes, I don’t care for all the cussing, even when it’s all bleeped out. But that’s not what really, really bugs me about the show. It’s the diner.

After Ramsey has ripped the owner/chef a new one for the disastrous lunch he was just served, we see him observe a dinner service. And on just about every show, we hear the announcer say something like, “Word has spread that Chef Ramsey is at XXX and the restaurant is fully booked.”

Now, Kitchen Nightmares is in its fifth season. And during those five seasons, the format of the show hasn’t changed: Ramsey visits the restaurant, eats a meal, spits out the meal, rips the chef/owner in half, then observes a dinner service. It is during this dinner service that Ramsey visits the walk-in cooler and finds molding food, dead rats, roaches (usually not dead), and enough other problems that makes you wonder when the last time the city’s health inspector stopped by.

So please explain to me why, after all this time, anyone would think it would be a good idea to go eat at a restaurant that you have heard Chef Ramsey is visiting? Ramsey has just had his stomach pumped and twelve-gallons of antibiotics injected into him to counter what he had for lunch. And you want to go eat dinner there? REALLY?

I guess you have no way of knowing before you go if you are getting there pre- or post-rehab. But do you really want to take the chance you end up eating at a restaurant Ramsey hasn’t finished rehabbing? Is a trip to the local hospital to get de-wormed really worth the hope that you will get to see Ramsey in person and get to hear him gripe about the owners in person?

The most recent episode of Kitchen Nightmares is below. The state of the restaurant wasn’t as bad as it has been at other restaurants, but still……

So what do you think? Would you go visit a restaurant after hearing that Chef Ramsey is in town, or would you, like me, wait a couple of weeks before visiting to ensure that they’ve replaced all the spoiled chicken?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.