All language subtitles for Kitchen.Nightmares.US.S08E09.1080p.HEVC.x265.MeGusta

- I'm in long branch.

I'm on the jersey shore
at max's bar and grill.

- Hi, folks. How are you?

You guys want to come sit at
the bar? I love that.

I'm jennifer, and I am
the third generation owner

Of max's bar and grill.

- All right,
let's make a chicago.

- Our hot dog has been
a staple here

For 9 and 1/2 decades.

In 1950, my grandfather
took over max's,

And then my dad inherited
the business.

We were this famous
hot dog restaurant.

- Table 19, coming out now.

- Unfortunately,
we don't make what we used to,

And the money isn't there.

I don't think we're that busy.

I'm confused why
I have so many staff here

And not enough customers.

- The bun couldn't hold
the weight of the hot dog

With the chili,
and it fell through.

- The rolls are
getting too soggy.

- The roll is too soggy
on a chili dog?

I'm going to give you
another one with chili on it.

It's gonna get soggy again.

- My ex-husband, jake,
is the kitchen manager.

- Come on.
- Working with my ex-husband...

Is, at times, very stressful.

I mean, how hard is it
with the consistency?

How hard?

Oh, god.
We have to do it together?

We're divorced, but
we are working together

Because this place is
our livelihood

And this place provides
a living for the both of us

To support our children.

I need a lettuce, tomato, and
onion for the turkey burger.

- Chika said no lto on it.

- Well, she asked for lto.

- All right,
this is a disaster.

I can't stand working
with my ex-wife.

- Try not to over cook them
'cause everybody gets upset.

- I'm not happy to be here.

If there was another option,

I'd take it, like,
in a heartbeat.

I'm doing it for the children.

I'm doing it to be
a good father.

- I'd rather,
at the end of the day,

Put money in his hands
than someone else's

Because it's for our kids.

A little feedback about the
chili tasting a little bland.

- Yep.
- Just letting you know, boss.

- Mm-hmm, bland my ass.

- To work with an ex-wife
and an ex-husband,

Is already very uncomfortable
as it is.

- I just want to let you know
that table 17's nachos,

They said, were like
not crispy.

- Then adding in his girlfriend
is just crazy. [laughs]

- Ok.
- All right, thank you.

My name is mary kate,
and I work here

With my boyfriend, jake,
and his ex-wife, jennifer.

Here are your nachos.

- I lost my front house
bar manager very abruptly,

And so I did reach out to mk
and say, "look,

Can you come
and help a little bit?"

- Awesome. Guys want to do
any french fries, onion rings?

I've worked in
other restaurants,

And I've seen what works,
I've seen what doesn't work.

I have a headcount sheet
for you.

- Yeah. That, I don't
understand how to do.

I don't do that thing
with the ticks.

- I feel that jen is not
equipped to handle

Running a restaurant.

The headcount is what you do
to make sure that everyone

Has the same amount of seats.
- No, I guess.

- So we all make
the same amount of money.

- Thank you.

- I want to see jen succeed.

I want to see
the restaurant succeed.

But you offer her help,
and she doesn't take it.

You don't appreciate anything.
You don't appreciate [bleep].

- Mk walks around,
acts like she owns the place.

- Mary kate's very organized
and detailed,

And jennifer is
very discombobulated

And all over the place.

How do you expect--
- I didn't call you a bitch.

You called yourself a bitch.

- Jennifer doesn't listen.

I don't think she has a clue,

And she doesn't change.

- You saw me sitting at
the table

Doing the [bleep] payroll.

The moment we don't see
eye to eye,

It goes from 1 to 10
immediately.

- The drama here is just like
a [bleep] clown show.

I don't even know how to
respond to it.

It's just not appropriate
for the workplace.

- Max's is celebrating
our 95th year in business.

What I hope for us is
to reach 100 years,

But I'm losing so much money,
and I don't know why.

- It's just ridiculous.

- It's a power struggle
in my own restaurant.

I need gordon to come in
and help me.

I have to keep this place open.
I have to keep making money.

- It's ridiculous.

You don't know how to
own your restaurant,

And you won't man up to it.

- Right.

[dramatic music]

- This place is a death trap.

I can't help you
if you can't help yourself.

Rot has set in! Smell it!

Shut it down!

[upbeat music]

- What's more american
than a classic hot dog?

That's why I'm in long branch
on the jersey shore

To visit max's bar and grill.

Now, this place has been
operating for 95 years.

And they hope to celebrate
their 100th year.

That's if they can keep
their buns in their seats.

- Hi. Welcome.
- Nice to see you.

- Hi. My name is jennifer.
- Jennifer, the owner?

- Yes. Very nice to meet you.

- Oh, my lord.
This place is huge.

- Thank you. Welcome to max's.

Having gordon in the restaurant
makes me a little nervous.

It makes me feel very exposed.

Follow me. I'm going to seat
you right over here.

- Yes.
- He's here.

- What table is he sitting at?

- 18. The high top.

- Start with a drink?

- Yeah, I'll have a coffee,
actually,

And a glass of water.
- You got it.

Thank you.
- Thank you.

- The place is cold.

It's kind of dated in here.
In a bit of a time warp.

And all these exposed walls
with concrete in your face,

It feels like I'm eating in
my granddad's garage.

- Gordon's going to begin with
a glass of water, a coffee.

- So, wow,
what an array of dogs.

Got the barney, dirty dog,
mr. Max, mrs. Max,

The new yorker, the chicago,
the nacho dog,

Handhelds, basket, starters.

I'm always super nervous
when I see a menu this big

'cause that dictates
that it's 95% frozen.

- Hi.
- How are you?

- Good. How are you?
- And what's your name?

- I'm christina.
- Christina.

- Nice to meet you.
- Gordon. Nice to see you.

Pleasure. Likewise.
- Nice to meet you.

- How long have you been here?

- I have been here off and on
for about 10 years.

- Wow, congrats.

So, truthfully,
what's wrong with this place?

- There's a lot of struggles.

Lack of structure,
inconsistencies with food.

There's a lot of drama.
- Damn, that's not good.

- The ex-husband working here,
the girlfriend is working here.

- Jennifer's--
- ex-husband.

He works behind the line.
- Wow.

And his girlfriend works here
as well?

- His girlfriend works here.
- Who's that?

- Mk.

- Man, this is
a love triangle, sort of.

- Yeah. [laughs]
- wow.

Let's order. Let's start off
with some nachos.

- Anything else?

- Yeah, I'd like to try
some of the homemade chili

And some mac and cheese bites
as well.

- Mac bites.
- Thank you.

And then max famous hot dogs.

Let's start off with
the barney.

- The barney? Ok.
- Yeah.

Let's do the chicago dog.
- The chicago. All right.

- Good. I look forward to
catching up.

- Yeah, no problem.
- Thank you.

Woo. I haven't even eaten yet,

And this place sounds
a [bleep] disaster.

- All right, gordon's table. I
got a nacho,

Some fried mac and cheese
bites.

- Let's really impress him,
please.

Show him what we're made of.

- [sighs]
shut the [bleep] up.

- Nachos.

- Ok.
- Cheese bites.

- All right.
- Nachos.

- Thank you very much.

Are the cheese bites made
in house?

- They are not.
They are actually a product

That we do bring in.

- Right. Gotcha.
- Please enjoy.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.

- Ok.

Not the--not the best start.

They look frozen.

Heavily breaded, and so yeah.

There's hardly any mac and
cheese, just all breading.

Yeah, not good.

Wow.

They're terrible.

It's just deep fried
frozen [bleep].

- I wish that we made more
things in house for him.

- Nachos, ok.

Wow. Grilled chicken,
plain, no seasoning.

Cheese that's not even
properly melted, just tired.

[bleep].

Basically, just another bad
example of a regular old item.

$12 for that.
$10 for the bowl of chili

With hardly any chili in there.

Hm. It's weird.

- You should go check on him.

I'm concerned,
and I don't want to hover.

- Christina.
- How are we making out?

- Mm.
Yeah, not the start I thought.

So they just taste
sort of frozen.

And the breading is
just this sort of--

- You taste the frozen taste?

- And this thing here is
just like a congealed mess.

Even the cheese isn't
melted properly.

- Ok. Let me get all this
out of your way.

- Please, and thank you.
That's disappointing, though.

Thank you very much.

- He was not happy.

- Right. Who made the nachos
for gordon ramsay?

He was not happy.
- Hm.

- Let's knock these dogs
out the park, please.

- Ok.
- We got to get this right.

Here you go, gordon.
- Ok.

- This is our barney.
- Ok, thank you.

- And I see you already have
a knife and fork, so.

- Yes, thank you.
- Enjoy.

The onions are homemade.

- Right.
- And enjoy.

- Great. Thank you.

Wait, the onions are homemade?

[bleep].

Look at that hot dog.

Tell me. That is gross!

There's more wrinkles on there
than is in my granddad [bleep]

And he's been dead
for 10 years.

[bleep].

- He's looking at his hot dog.

- You should have seen the look
on his face

When you walked away.

- It was bad?

- When I think about hot dogs,

They should be, you know,
fat, juicy, delicious.

This thing is blistered
and wrinkled,

Reminiscent of
a bison's [bleep].

Wow.

[spits]
that is terrible.

Oh, my god.
It is just flavorless.

It tastes of chemicals,
and it's just very, very salty.

- I'm feeling stressed.

I don't think
he's happy at all.

- There's no [bleep] way
that this hot dog

Put this restaurant on the map.
Look at it.

[bleep].
I can find better hot dogs

At 4:00 in the morning
in times square.

That is just
absolutely shocking.

The [bleep] bad news is,
I've got another one coming.

Hello.
- How are you today?

- How are you?
- Good.

- And first name is?
- Mary kate.

- Mary kate, nice to meet you.
You good?

- Nice to meet you.
- I'm done with that.

I've got the chicago dog
coming next.

May I have
some fresh coffee, please?

- Of course.
I'll be right back with that.

- Ok, here is our chicago.
- Thank you.

Dog with pickle, tomato,

Onions, pepper,
and celery salt.

Oh, [bleep].
We've cracked on that one.

Bloody hell.

This is really lazy.

Honestly, [bleep],

I've had a lot of dogs
in my time,

But this one has to be it.

I mean, it tastes rubbery.

- How we doing?
- The crack on this one was

Bigger than the grand canyon.
- [laughs]

- No, it's just rubbery.
Yeah, not good.

- Wow.
- Yeah.

Thank you very much.
- You got it.

Hey.

- Good?
- No.

He just was not happy with it.

- Wow.

That's disappointing.

Hey, jake.

Gordon's reaction to
our chicago dog?

- Ok?

- He said that the whole
overall dog

Was just very disappointing.

- Ok.

- The kind of person
that jake is,

He is on the quieter side.

But the reality of it is
is that

I don't think he cares
that much.

- Just letting you know.

- That's jake and his ordering,
I guess.

- I mean, you own the place.

- I didn't hear you. What?

- You do own the restaurant.

So if something's wrong,
it is--

- No, I understand that--
- you can't blame jake.

- Well, I'm not blaming him,
but I'm saying--

- You just blamed jake.

You just said,
"that's jake and his ordering."

- My ex-husband's girlfriend
always yells at me.

I feel bullied, unheard.

This has to change,
or I'm going to blow up.

- You need to talk to him.
- He does the food ordering.

- But you own the restaurant.

- We can have this conversation
later. Thank you.

- Phew, [bleep].

I've come for a hot dog.

I feel like
I'm in [bleep] therapy.

- I'm on the jersey shore
at max's bar and grill.

I've tasted
their famous hot dogs...

That is terrible.

- I don't think
he's happy at all.

- Discovered
a love triangle...

- But you own the restaurant.

- We can have this conversation
later. Thank you.

- And now I need to meet
the owner, jennifer...

Let's catch up, shall we?
- Yes.

- To find out why
this 95-year-old restaurant

Is on the brink of collapse.

The last customer has gone,
yeah?

- Yes.
- Uh, ooh.

I'll come on to the food in
a minute.

There's quite a lot to say
and also I'd like to

Talk to the chef. There's some
real issues with that.

- Sure.
- But it wasn't good.

Take me back to the beginning
when you took over.

- I took over, I would say,
in 2018.

But I've been doing this since
I'm 15 years old, off and on,

With my dad, my grandma,
and my whole family.

And I always say that
max's is more than just me.

It is part of this history
of long branch.

It's part of the community.

People come to me and say,

"my dad's last meal was
a max's hot dog.

I put a max's hot dog
in my dad's coffin."

That means something to me.

- The dogs, why were
they so dry and salty?

Why were they cracked and dry?

- Our hot dog has been a staple
here for 9 and 1/2 decades.

- Wow.
- And I'm not quick to change.

- Wow.

That's not good enough.

- I also think jake,
who's my ex-husband,

I don't think that
he's purposely made things bad,

But I think that he--
he lacks passion.

I think that he's just lost
something along the way.

- Why would you keep him here?

- He agreed to, you know,
hang in there for the kids,

But not as a married couple,
I guess you could say.

- No.

Now jake is with mk.

Just the scenario,
being new to this,

Why would you keep her here?

- Mk coming on board was
a decision I made

Because I lost two full-time
employees in April.

Very quickly,
I had to fire them.

And I don't know if I made
the best decision.

She's not a very good
communicator.

I can't sit and have
a level-headed conversation

And get my point across.
It becomes too toxic.

- We're at boiling point here,
but you're the boss.

- I am, and I'm not respected.

- I love the fact you want
to continue this legacy.

I love all that,

But you're brunting the risk,
the responsibility,

Trying to continue the legacy.
It's not working.

Clearly, we've got issues
with the food.

Clearly, the customers
aren't biting.

And there's fighting
in front of those customers.

But what I need to know is

How deep are you in now,
financially?

- Well,
that's very embarrassing.

I have to be honest.

I mean, I'm, you know,
well over $1 million.

- In debt?
- In debt.

- Holy [bleep].
- Yeah.

- [bleep], jennifer.

I'm here to help,
but it's gonna get hard

Before it gets better.
- I know that.

- Can I meet him?
- Yes.

- Can you get him out, please?
- Yes.

- I need to meet
jennifer's ex-husband,

Who's also the current
kitchen manager,

And dig a little deeper
into this hot dog disaster.

Hey.
- Hi. Hi, chef.

- Hey. How are you? Gordon.

You must be jake, right?
- Yes.

- Uh, wow. How are you feeling?
- Uh, ok.

- Yeah, "ok" doesn't give me
much confidence.

- Well.

- Let's talk about the food,
shall we?

Because you're
the kitchen manager there.

That's your title.
Is that right?

- Yes.
- Yeah, the food's dreadful.

- Um--

- I don't see anything famous
about the dogs.

Why do they taste processed,
dry, and rubbery?

- That's the way I was taught
and shown by ownership.

That's the way
they've always been.

- This legacy was not built
on that [bleep]

That we've just eaten,
let me tell you.

[tense music]

This is a very strange setup.

It's a very strange triangle,
right?

Because you're sadly divorced.
- Yes.

- And you and mk are an item.
- Mm-hmm.

- This relationship is fraught,
and I've witnessed it,

That mk doesn't make it

The friendliest of places to
work in.

So when you see
your girlfriend--

- I don't feel--
- disrespecting the owner,

How does that make you feel?

- Um, I don't want toxicity.
And I don't want, you know,

Mary kate and jen to
be at ends, and--

- You don't want, but they are.
You know that.

It's festering and bubbling
and about to implode.

Right now, this thing is--

Is a really nasty taste.

And that's without tasting
the [bleep] hot dog.

[exhales]
ok.

Can I just see this place
running--

- Sure can.

- To see how this place
functions?

- Yes.
- Yeah?

And try to show a little bit of
resilience with some passion.

Do you have any passion?
- Yeah, I have passion.

- Are you concerned?
Are you bothered?

Do you give a [bleep]?

- Of course I give a [bleep].

- Thank you, jake.
- Thank you.

- Holy [bleep].

Restaurants depend
on creativity, flair,

But also passion.

And right now,
this place is lackluster,

And jake's not stepping up.

He doesn't seem to be helping
much.

[upbeat music]

I need to see for myself

Why this once famous
hot dog destination

Has lost its way
and lost its customers.

- Hi. How are you?
- I'm good. How are you?

So I've asked members of
the local community

To fill the restaurant
and put max's to the test.

- Hi.
Let's see. Where to put you?

- The grilled cheese.
Did you want to add

Any bacon or tomato to it?

- Sure.
- Thank you.

- Chicken nachos
and everything on there is ok?

- Yeah.
- Cool.

- I hope you're gonna enjoy it.

- [chuckles]
yeah, you can throw it down.

I like that.

- Ok, so first up,
we've got two chicken nachos,

Grilled chicken new yorker,

Lobster roll,
smokehouse medium,

And along with these three dogs
I'm putting out right now.

- And what's a normal pickup
time for those dogs?

- We cook them on low,
so maybe around 20, 30 minutes.

- 20, 30 minutes?
Wow, that's a long time.

- All right, that lobster roll
looks ready to go.

Let me fix that for you.

- What's wrong with that?

- I put in the lobster
grilled cheese,

And they gave me
a lobster roll.

- Wow.

- Um, this is a lobster
grilled cheese,

And they sent me
a lobster roll.

- I need a lobster
grilled cheese asap.

- Do you have nachos
coming for 21?

- We've got boneless chicken.
- I don't see it.

All right, I'll make you one
asap.

Nachos, nachos, wings,
boneless chicken bites.

- What are we working on here?
Can you just talk to me?

- I'm doing table 21,
the big guy.

- All right, thank you.
How long on those nachos?

- Give me, uh--
give me a minute.

- Wow.
He does not give a [bleep].

When jake's behind
the line there,

Is he always that lackluster?

'cause he's sort of almost
just going through the motions.

- Well, he gets in his zone,

And I know that he can get
heated and overwhelmed.

And I think he's trying to
really hold himself together.

- Dan, slow down on the apps
'cause I can't keep up.

- What do you mean overwhelmed?

Serving frozen food,
it's not that--

- No, it shouldn't be
that overwhelming.

- Just a little undermanned
right now

For this amount of volume.

- Can I help with anything?

- Um, not right now.

You know, there's little
minor problems here and there,

But nothing that's, you know,
really hurting the place.

- Let me check on your guys'
appetizers for you.

- You're not still waiting,
are you?

- Yes.
- Yes.

- You're still waiting for
your food?

- Yes.

- Can we work on counter one
and get two mr. Max's going

So they can start on something
please?

- Are we still waiting
for that?

- Yes, we're still waiting
for that.

- Jake, how long for 21?

They've been half an hour
for nachos.

- 21, I am waiting on
boneless buffalo wings.

- No, 21. Table 21, I got
nachos and coconut shrimp.

- I don't have--
all right.

- You don't have 21?
- Table 21.

- I don't have that ticket.
Give me one sec.

- What are you waiting on?
The wrap?

Why is he just throwing food up

From bits of other tables?
- I'm not sure.

- It's almost like
we're just cooking

What we want when we want.
Nothing's complete.

So the food's just dying
in the window.

Jake, can we sell these or not?
- Yes, they're still hot.

- Yeah, I didn't ask if
they're hot, [bleep].

- More tickets coming.
- What a mess. Oh, man.

- All right, bar 10 right here.
- Bar 10? Thank you.

- Wow, welcome to being busy.

Right now, this is a fraction
of the business that you'd do.

Jake, this guy's just
throwing food out.

There's no tables complete.

There's just dishes
going into the window.

- He doesn't care.

- Did this ticket go out? No.

Just a disaster.

[tense music]

- At max's bar and grill,
the orders are backing up.

- It's all bits of tables
coming up.

It's a bizarre way
of working, right?

Jennifer, the owner,
is out of her depth.

Her ex-husband, jake,

Is completely overwhelmed
in the kitchen.

- People just keep
ordering and ordering?

Come on. That's ridiculous.

- If they can't handle
an increase in business...

- I'm waiting on the nachos.

- There's no way they'll
generate enough revenue

To make 100 years old.

- All they have left
is the legacy

Of their once famous hot dog.

- Yeah, mine did, too.
It was definitely overcooked.

It tasted like plastic.

- Ladies, my locals,
how we doing here?

So far, so good?
What's going on?

- Yes, that's burnt
for you tonight.

- Hello. How are we?
What did you get?

- The mr. Max, I think it was.
- Mr. Max.

Is it a good hot dog?

- Uh, I would say no.
- No.

- I think on the bottom,
it was a little, uh--

- Oh, jeez, yeah.
- Little burnt and such, yeah.

- Slightly dry. My apologies.

Customers are hating
the hot dogs.

They're dry. They're salty.

And the whole thing
is lackluster.

It's hard to believe
this business

Has been functioning
for 95 years.

- Where are you
getting drinks for?

- 13.
- You can just do a pitcher

And--ok.
- I got it. It's all good.

Mk, are you there
looking at table 13?

- I am. We are getting it done.

- Do you have any kind of
time frame?

- They are coming.

- Ok.

Mk, her delivery is
so abrasive.

All it does is make
everybody retreat.

I'm sick of it.

- It's toxic.
- It's very toxic.

- There's no one dream team.
- It's not a team, no.

- No.
- No.

- We're waiting on a smokehouse
chicken, no barbecue.

Why was her wrap delivered
and no mr. Max?

We really need the nachos.

They've been waiting
a long time.

- Jen walked up to the window
every time

To let jake know
what he did wrong.

- It went out at 4:02
in the computer.

It's 4:33.
Gotta work on our time.

- Not once did she try to fix
or help.

- This is easy peasy
right here.

- Thank you so much.
I hope you enjoy your night.

Watching jake just get
[bleep] on all day is hard.

- What are you looking at?
- It's not all his fault.

Sorry about the hot dog.

- Have a nice night, ladies.
Thank you.

- You know, something
has to change.

- It's clear that tensions
are running high at max's.

And after a disastrous
dinner service...

Let's have a quick catch-up
with everybody, shall we?

Jake, let's have
a catch-up together.

Mk, can you join us, please,
darling?

- Sure.
- Yeah? Let's go.

It's time to deliver
some hard facts to the team.

Ok. Ooh la la.

This place has been running
for 9 and 1/2 decades.

We've got the location.
We've got the name.

But no one's holding on to
any form of standards.

- Yep.

- Jake, how you feeling?

- I'm feeling a little--
little defeated.

I think the kitchen
got pushed to the edge.

- But that's a fraction of
the business

You should be able
to handle here.

Now, every area of
this business

Is spiraling out of control.

When was the last time we had
a general staff meeting?

Together?
- Two years ago.

- What? Two years ago?
- Easily.

- Oh, my god.

- To try to get everybody
at the same time

Doesn't always work.

- No, but as the owner,

Your responsibility is
to get that info to them.

It doesn't feel like
there's a team spirit here.

- I'm newer here,
but yes, I could

Definitely agree with that.
- Yeah?

- Like everyone wants to be
in control, but no one is.

And the back and forth
between jen and mk and jake,

Like, it's a lot.

And everyone sees it, you know?
Even the customers.

- I think the problem is,
is I have an idea,

Jen agrees with the idea,

And then when we come to
implement it,

Jen doesn't have my back--
- that's not true.

Mk has offered a lot of ideas
and suggestions.

They are good ones. But then
when I say,

All right, well, I'll see you
later or what have you,

And she's working with someone,

And then the next morning
when we come in,

Food was left on the floor
or things weren't swept.

I get a picture of it
the next day.

- Never.
I have never done that.

I will send you a picture of
a full rack of silverware

And ask you
why it wasn't rolled, but--

- I couldn't roll silverware
after my shift.

- Do servers roll silverware
at the end of their shift?

- I'm not a server.

- You were scheduled
to serve that shift.

- Don't talk to me that way.
I filled a position!

This is what I'm talking about.
I can't--I can't do this.

I'm not gonna be yelled at
by you.

I can never have...
- I'm not yelling at you, jen.

- A conversation with you.
- All I'm saying is--

Jen, I asked you to do
a rotation sheet.

And you said,
"I don't know how to do it."

- No, you showed me
a little thing

With little checkmarks on it.

And I don't stand at
the hostess check

And check little boxes.

I seat my customers.

I've been seating them
for 30 [bleep] years.

I know how to seat them
at a table.

And I don't need a checkmark
to count the customers.

- You're just
right off the cuff,

Not like every other
restaurant.

- I'm not every other
restaurant, and--

- That's why
we're not doing well!

- I admit it.
I can't do it all,

But I don't want to be
yelled at all the time.

I need your approach
to be different.

"hey, jen, what can I help you
with today,"

Instead of saying,
"what did you do wrong today?"

- Jen, you're not
taking the help.

I'm literally begging you
to take my [bleep] help,

And you're not.
- Right.

- I cry in my bed at night
thinking about your struggles,

And you won't take our help!

- On the jersey shore

At max's bar and grill...

- I'm literally begging you

To take my [bleep] help,
and you're not!

- The staff meeting
has got personal.

- The way that you offer it to
me doesn't feel like help.

[tense music]

- Listen, this scenario

Is the whole reason why this
business is not functioning.

How long have we been
this fractured?

- As long as I can remember.

- This place has the potential
to be a profitable business.

But it needs to change.

We have to put our frustration
and our emotions,

We have to part that,

And we have to focus
professionally on the business.

I can help.
- Thank you.

- But not this fractured.

Because it's tearing
you all apart.

The question for you is,
are you prepared to change?

- I'll do whatever it takes
to keep it going.

Family businesses
don't survive this long.

We are special.

It is a beautiful business.

- To be on the cusp of
a 100-year celebration is rare.

There's a lot riding on this.

It will not be easy.

And jennifer,
it starts at the top.

It's not jake's business.
It's not mk's business.

It's your business.

- I know.

Having gordon
in the restaurant

Has made me feel overwhelmed,

But you know,
I can't ask for somebody

With more ability to help me
address where I'm failing at

And where I can do better.

- Gordon, if I could just have
like maybe three minutes

Of your time one-on-one.

- Let's do it now.
- Yeah. Thank you.

- Sit down.
- Thank you.

- I'm all ears.

- Well, I'm, as you can
probably tell,

I'm a little introverted,
so I don't really have a voice.

Like, I don't--
you know, it's--

This whole thing for me is
like difficult, you know.

I don't want to throw mud at
her and speak about her

That way, you know,
so that's not who I am.

But jennifer doesn't
listen to me.

You know, it just--
it is a lot.

- But the toxicity in here
is just--

You're a responsible father.
- Yes.

- But to witness this level
of fragmentation,

There's only gonna be
one detriment,

And that's these kids.
- Yeah.

- And that's what you need to
start thinking about,

If this place has got
any chance of success.

You have the understanding
of this business,

Alongside jennifer.

And it sounds like
you're not doing enough

To help sort it out.
You're just watching the fight.

And I just want to see
more from you.

- No, I am not doing enough.

It's something I would love
to see here,

Just everyone getting along.

- Sure.
- You know, so.

- I'm here to help.
- Great.

- And I want this place fixed
for all of you.

You've got a voice.

If there's ever a time
to use it, it's now.

- Yeah.

- I appreciate your honesty.

Thanks, jake.
- Thanks, chef.

- Thank you, man.
- Appreciate it.

It's not a great thing to
work with your ex-wife.

We don't see eye to eye
in how we do things here.

But gordon's right.

We need to make
this place great.

Can I talk to you for a minute?
- Yeah.

- You know, you'd do anything
for your children.

That's what I'm doing here.

- [sighs]

- I hold back a lot.
I've held back a lot.

But that's who I am.
- I know.

- I'm not gonna
start confrontation.

- What the [bleep] is
her problem?

- You know, mary kate is fiery
like that, and--

- I know she is.
- You guys don't get along.

- That fiery side is not always
the best approach, jake.

- I know, but you guys don't
get along, so it's not--

- And I feel like you never,
as her man

And me as your ex-wife,

Why aren't you just--just
a touch more supportive of me?

I thought that we were gonna
have a better understanding

With one another.

- Well, obviously,
we have to do better,

And we have to do better
for the kids.

- I don't think that you and I
have to fail as people.

I don't think that we have to
fail at

Still respecting one another
and hearing one another.

This has to change.

I need to set aside personal
differences of the past

And put our three children in
front of what we need to do.

- We need to right the ship.

- What do we do?
- And, you know, fix it.

- How are we gonna make it
better?

Are we gonna make it to
100 years here?

Are we gonna keep
this business?

This is all I know.

- I'm in long branch,
new jersey,

At max's bar and grill.

Owner jennifer and her
ex-husband, jake,

Are struggling to keep

Both their professional
relationship

And this 95-year-old
restaurant alive.

- Obviously, we have to do
better.

- They need a fresh start.

So my team is fixing up
the restaurant

And giving it
a complete makeover.

Now, I've invited
jennifer, jake, and mk

To see what we've all done.

Welcome to the new
max's bar and grill.

- Wow.

- Come on.

This is what I call a bar,

100 meters from
that beautiful beach.

We've brought a lot of color
with the red trim,

The turquoise walls,

And also this beach theme
around the bar.

- It's beautiful.
- We've made it warmer.

You ok?

Now, coming into this part
of the restaurant,

This beautiful signage,

What we were desperate to
incorporate was

A throwback to
the original max's.

We checked out the archives.

These things were stuck away
in your office.

But look at them.
This is history in the making.

- I'm just blown away
by what's been done here

By gordon and his team.

[emotionally] I know my dad's
looking down right now.

It's very special.

- But it can't just look good.

The food must step up
a level, too.

We have absolutely
overhauled this menu.

Nachos, burgers, cheese bites,
shakes, and more,

All improved.

- It looks fresh.
It looks light.

- It's beautiful.
- Ok.

Let's get to the dna:

The hot dogs.
- Yes!

- First of all, they're gonna
be kept in a delicious brine

And then on to
the plancha grill to order.

It's an 8 to 9-minute pickup.

They're not going to sit there
for 2.5 hours, 3 hours.

- Absolutely.

- Let's start off with
the classic dog,

The chili dog,
the bacon cheese dog,

And then the mexican dog,
and the cod dog.

These hot dogs are plump,
juicy,

And not overly processed.

These are hot dogs that
customers will come back for

Time and time again.

But jake, you need to
communicate and drive your team

To pull this off successfully

And focus on the quality.

That is gonna be key.

Tomorrow, I'm inviting
a very special guest

To guide you in the kitchen...
- Yeah, super excited.

- When we reopen
max's bar and grill.

- I like that.

- Well, sit down.

Dig in, have a little bite.

- Mm.

- It's all delicious.

- Oh, those are very good.

- This looks more like
real food.

- It doesn't look like
max's frozen food.

- The hot dogs are very good.
Mm, that is delicious.

The dog that gordon
introduced was good.

I'm feeling positive.

- It's time to
reopen the doors

To max's bar and grill.

- Hi, ladies. How are you?
Welcome to max's.

- I've invited
the local community,

Local celebrities...

- Oh, that is her, yeah.

- And local restaurateur,
james avery...

- Let's go.

- My sous chef
on "hell's kitchen."

- All right, we don't want
to be waiting on fries.

- He'll teach jake how to
take control of service...

- Easy money.

- And deliver the new menu,

Including the new
gourmet hot dogs.

- Are you all set to order?

- You got it.

- Here we go.

[energetic music]

- All right, so my first ticket
is gonna be those two dogs.

All right, that is table 21.

Make sure that you don't
drop that cod yet.

- Chef james is showing me
a lot what he does

To make this place just run
better and run smooth.

All right, lead ticket
is a mexican dog,

Then followed by a mexican dog
with frickles.

It makes me,
you know, more vocal.

Keep it up, guys.
You guys are doing great.

- Yeah, you're at 14 minutes
on table 17, guys.

- It's always amazing how quick
this place fills up.

Timing wise, we're ok?
- Yeah.

- Good.

- This is how you want
the restaurant to be,

Full like this.

We're wanting this.
We need this.

- All right, guys, here we go.

- What did I get?
What did I get?

- Enjoy, guys.

- We good?
Thanks so much for coming.

How are you?
- Good.

- Appreciate the support
locally.

This place needs it, so,
uh, fingers crossed

This place gets back on
the map.

What a transformation.

The buzz in that room right now
is just off the charts.

The locals are biting,

But more importantly,
they love the food.

[apprehensive music]

James, can we let jake
hold the reins for a bit?

- Absolutely, chef.
He's got it already.

- Good. Excellent. Thank you.

So we need your voice now,
right?

Let's go, big boy, yes? Yeah?

- Ok, so you got five chicken
bacon burgers all day, five.

[tense music]

- How are you?
Have you got food coming?

Is it--just waiting? Ok.

- Uh, 16.

- Right here, right here.
- Huh?

- I hope your food is
coming out very soon, ok?

- Thank you, jen.

How's table 10 going?

- I don't have that ticket.
Give me one sec.

- Oh, boy.

- All right, jake,
you're running about

30-minute ticket time.

That's way too long
for this kind of thing.

- Ok, all right, great.

- Oh, boy.
This is embarrassing.

Middle of dinner service.

Honestly, we had a good start.

The problem now,
the wheels are falling off.

Jake is not communicating.

And yeah, it's just
the whole thing lacks.

- Huh?
- What a [bleep].

- The relaunch of max's bar
and grill is buzzing.

- These are so good.

- All right, so you're running
about 30 minute ticket time.

- But the orders
are backing up.

- Have you got food coming?
Is it--

- Yes, we do.
- Just waiting? Ok, great.

And jake is struggling to
control the kitchen.

- You got to now step up,
use your voice,

Drive them a bit more.
All right?

- Ok.
- Cool.

- All right, great.

All right, guys,
I know it's hard,

But we got to pick up the pace.

We're at 30 minutes
on ticket time.

Push out a mozzarella stick.

I can sell a ticket if
you just give me a mozzarella.

- Ok, thank you.

Good, dan.
You making that chili nachos?

- Chili nachos.
- Thank you.

16's done.

Keep it up, guys.
You guys are doing great.

- Jake, keep your energy up.
- Yep.

- Beautiful job.

- Aw, thank you.

- Jake stepped up.

You heard him being vocal
back there.

- Frickles, thank you.

- It was nice that someone was
running the tickets,

And food was going to
the right tables.

- Chili dog was perfect.
Burger?

- I had the double burger.
That was incredible.

- It was delicious?

- Did it knock your socks off?

- How was it?
- It was really good.

- Yeah?
- Yeah, I liked it.

- Good.
- These are amazing.

They look so good.
- Wow.

- Danny, thoughts on
the hot dog.

- Good.
- Good?

- Got like a good snap to it.

- It's got a good snap to it?

Are you gonna come back
and visit?

- I will.
- All right, good.

All right, thumbs up on
the food, guys.

- Great.
- Thank you.

Jake, everyone is loving
the new menu.

- Awesome.

- Hey, no, I just wanted to
touch base with you.

I just wanted to say to you

That I know that this has been
a very hard ride for all of us.

And a lot has been said,
but I hope nothing more

Than out of all of this pain
and change

That you and I can get closer
from this because we--

- I think once things are
in a good place,

We'll have the time
and emotional energy

To move our relationship
in a better direction.

I really hope we break through,
and this is the new start.

- Thank you.

[gentle music]

Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Mk and I,
we might have our differences,

But at the end of the day,
I see us working together

And doing what is necessary
to keep this business going.

- How did that feel?
- Oh, completely different.

It was just easy.
- Yeah.

They're loving the hot dogs,
by the way.

They're just delicious.

And you could taste
the difference, right?

- Homemade.
- Homemade.

Good luck, man.
We are not stepping back.

Jake's newfound voice isn't
the only success tonight.

Just in the last 90 minutes,
profit is running at $939.

- Wow, that's amazing.

- Come on, guys. Let's push out
the last two tickets.

I'm gonna try to help out

As much as I can,
even more than I have been.

Booth 1, all set.

- Thank you, jake.
- You're welcome.

- That means so much to me.

Can I give you a hug?

Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.

Good job, everybody.

- You are such a lovely person.

So lucky to have you.
- Come on, come on.

- [sniffles]
- hey.

- This business is my legacy.

You know, max's is family.

And I want nothing more than
to see my children

Running the business.

This is for our--
you know, for our kids.

Thank you so much, gordon.
- You've got this.

You know that? I promise you.
- Thank you.

- If you continue, I'll come
back and help you celebrate

That 100th anniversary.

- Thank you, gordon.
- Yeah?

- Thank you so much.
- Ok.

Oh, boy.

When I first arrived,
I found an iconic restaurant

Barely hanging on
to its legacy

With virtually no chance of
making it into the future.

But if jennifer can embrace
the new menu,

Follow through with
the new systems in place,

And let go of the past,

Then I promise you, max's has
a chance to really celebrate

Its amazing 100th anniversary.

Fingers crossed. Wow.

Two months later, max's bar
and grill is busy as ever.

- Welcome to max's.

- With the new menu and
new systems in place--

- 16's done.

- Jennifer is looking forward

To celebrating
max's 100th birthday...

- Love that idea.

- And beyond.
- Cheers!

- Next time on
"kitchen nightmares."

Oh, my god.
It's like a [bleep] hoarder.

[coughing]

This is not good!

- My husband has a problem
letting go.

- Hey, that comes here.

My chefs cannot
change the food.

I will not let that happen.

- I do not have the deluxe
mixed grill.

Who has forgotten this order?

The day the kitchen
doesn't mess up,

It would be a miracle.

This table got screwed up
with the appetizer.

At least let's serve this
properly.

- It's pandemonium
behind that line.

[dish breaking]

Oh, my god.