“Because of him, because of him!” – Grace
Luigi’s d’Italia was opened in 1981 in Anaheim, California, located in the northern part of Orange County in Southern California.
I briefly had a job that required an incredibly long commute from Pasadena all the way down to Orange, California, and an occasional highlight for me would be catching a glimpse of Disneyland’s nightly fireworks show, which could be observed while driving on I-5 – what Californian’s refer to as The 5 – in Anaheim.
Luigi himself is the founder and head chef, and made the restaurant a success for many years with the help of his father, Dominic. After Luigi retired to Italy in 1999, he brought in another son, Tony, to help run the business, and that’s why everything changed.
Joe, a server, describes Tony as being “a little bit lazy, taking shortcuts,” while Luigi is more “hands on.” We then see a clip of Luigi screaming at Tony, telling him to get the f— out of here!
Luigi’s wife, Grace, adds, “Luigi works hard, Tony sit on his ass all the time! He don’t do s—.”
It’s important to note here that Tony’s vibe reminds me a lot of the character Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) from the classic comedy movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High – which took place in another suburban pocket of southern California. Mike is a little lazy, a little blasé, a little shifty and all kinds of manipulative if can pick up what I’m throwing down. But otherwise, you know, a pretty good guy all told.
We then see footage of Grace shrieking at Tony, “Without your brother, you be in the streets, f— you!”
At this, Tony just kind of shrugs his shoulders and gives off whadda you gonna do vibes.
“I’m trying to keep my sanity here,” Tony tells the camera, smirking a bit.
We also see footage of Grace shrieking and cursing at customers. It’s hard to tell what’s going on there but she yells in a way that is very disturbing and uncomfortable to listen to.
Meanwhile, Luigi relays that the restaurant is on its last legs: a half a million dollars in debt and with about a month of runway left before they’ll need to shut the doors.
A clearly emotional Luigi tells the camera that if Luigi’s closes, he’ll feel like he’s lost everything, including the legacy that he helped build with his father. \
When Gordon Ramsay arrives at Luigi’s, he sits down with Luigi himself, Tony, Grace, and other family members. As Luigi gives Ramsay more background on the situation with the restaurant, I kept getting distracted by a woman wearing a t-shirt with FUGETABOUTIT! written across it. They must really want people to know that this is an Italian Restaurant, I though to myself.
We also learn that because Luigi and Tony don’t get along, they weirdly split responsibilities with Luigi running the place half the week, and Tony the other. However, the real divide in the family and the business remains, with Luigi and Grace calling out Tony for being lazy and neglectful, and likewise Tony feels that Grace’s volatile attitude with the staff and customers is a major liability.
We see real evidence of what Tony is talking about right away, as Grace melts down, immediately yells F— YOU, and follows this up with loudly screaming STOP TELLING HIM THAT BULLSHIT!
Luigi follows this up with a bunch of yelling and cursing himself, but honestly Grace is the clear belt wearing champion in this particular category.
So overall, this edition of Kitchen Nightmares lacks nothing in the drama department, we’re finding out quickly.
The scene ends with Luigi moaning, “We are losing the business!” and Grace following with “Because of him, because of him!”
When Ramsay sits down to order a sample of dishes, he observes that the menu is massive, always a red flag for the British chef. He also notes that the décor is dated and feels like a time warp back to 1981.
It goes downhill from there: the ravioli, which is not made fresh (another big red flag) “doesn’t even taste like cheese.” The mahi-mahi is “mush, bland, no seasoning.”
Yet another red flag: back in the kitchen, Luigi completely disagrees with Ramsay, thinking that the mahi-mahi is “perfectly fine.”
“If he don’t like the food, get the f— out of here,” he adds.
When Ramsay visits Luigi in the kitchen, the restaurant owner continues to push back on Ramsay’s assessments of his food. “I’ll stick by food,” he says. “I’ve been sticking for over 30 years.”
That’s the problem, Ramsay notes, telling him that he hasn’t changed a thing in decades and “you’ve lost your sparkle.”
During lunch service, Ramsay notes that dishes fire out of the kitchen like rapid fire, but that chefs don’t taste their own food at all, causing some dishes to be sent right back to the kitchen by diners.
Soon, Luigi can be heard screaming at his staff, which can be heard by customers. Grace walks around the tables, casually telling people, “Don’t worry about it, you don’t hear nothing,” like it’s a scene out of a Scorsese flick.
Meanwhile, Luigi and Ramsay get into it back in the kitchen, eventually prompting Luigi to storm out of his own restaurant, saying, “Why don’t you do it, you know better than me?” on his way out.
A fascinating and genuinely hilarious scene follows, where Tony goes outside to comfort and reason with his brother. This is how he tries to do it: “He’s an a–hole English bastard, but it’s not a bunch of bulls—,” he says.
This is some brotherly bro talk right here, Italian American style, I’d say.
“Don’t back down from the motherf—er,” he adds.
The next day, Ramsay sets up a little gimmick where he meets with Luigi’s staffers as Luigi, Tony, and their wives monitor what’s being said from the kitchen. They corroborate that food needs to be tasted before being served to diners, and that the food quality has been deteriorating for years. And further, the disorganization of the management has caused stress for both staff and customers.
It’s kind of funny when Grace gets called out for the one who causes the most stress due to her yelling and “unpredictability.” Back in the kitchen, Grace shakes her head and asks, “Can I get out of here? Too many liars!”
The receipts, as the kids say, are there for all to see.
“I feel like everybody against me,” Grace tells the camera.
When Ramsay returns to the kitchen, Grace howls, “I can’t take it anymore! I can’t take it anymore!”
It’s honestly quite a scene.
Ramsay does an admirable job of talking Grace off the ledge, so to speak, and eventually calms her down enough to sit the staff down with the owners. When Ramsay tells the staff that the owners were listening in on their earlier conversation, their reactions of fear and surprise are rather priceless.
Ramsay attempts to use the moment to clear the air and turn a new page, telling everyone, “The past is past.”
Next up, Ramsay puts the team to work making spicy sausage from scratch. Grace lights up like this, saying that it reminds her of making sausage as a little girl in her native region of Calabria, Italy. It’s remarkable how different she looks and acts when she’s happy.
Ramsay even manages to make Grace laugh when he asks her, “How big do you like your sausage?” Luigi also confirms that this is the first time the full family has ever worked together in the kitchen like this.
This gives Luigi “a little bit of hope,” he tells the camera. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Luigi also now sings Ramsay’s praises, saying that he wants to recapture the passion that the British chef clearly exhibits while he’s cooking.
And Tony for his part tells the camera, “I want to do better, I have to do better.”
The overnight renovation of Luigi’s is revealed the next morning – rustic Italian charm is the theme, with the intended feeling of whisking diners away on a trip to Italy. I’m not sure if they nailed the theme, but it’s certainly an improvement from the dated décor that had been in place for many years.
Tony does a zany dance in appreciation of the change, so there’s that.
The overhauled menu is heralded by Tony too as “authentic Italian in Anaheim” while Luigi proclaims that he’ll be proud to serve this food.
During relaunch night, a massive bottleneck develops as cooked food piles up on the pass in the kitchen, waiting to be sent out to diners.
“We’re producing unique food… and it’s dying in the window,” Ramsay tells Tony, pleading with him to get his expediting act together.
While some diners waited nearly two hours to get served, things eventually smooth out and people seem to genuinely enjoy their meals.
Later, Ramsay announces to the entire team, “The passion is back at Luigi’s!” as everyone cheers. Luigi and Tony even put their arms around each other, a sign that real family reconciliation has taken place.
🍽 Want more? Check out Pop Thruster’s Kitchen Nightmares episode reviews (there’s a lot).
Kitchen Nightmares, “Luigi’s”: is it still open?
Yes, Luigi’s d’Italia is still open! It appears to have changed locations at some point as it’s now located on Bastanchury Road in Fullerton.
I happen to be very familiar with both Bastanchury and Fullerton as my in-laws lived just off that main road for decades. I did not know of Luigi’s until I watched this episode, however.
Via Yelp, Luigi’s has 4.4 out of 5 stars on 558 reviews, which is excellent.
Some stats and info about Kitchen Nightmares, “Luigi’s”
TV SHOW – Kitchen Nightmares
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX
GENRE – Reality TV, Docuseries, Food Shows
EPISODE DESCRIPTION – In Anaheim, California, Chef Ramsay performs an extreme makeover on Luigi’s. The Italian eatery faces management conflicts after the owner retires and leaves the business to his sons.
CAST – Gordon Ramsay