“I work too much for this.” – Aurora
Aurora, 75, is the owner of La Serenata, located in Hollywood, California, and Marco Sr., 56, is her son and the restaurant manager. Aurora’s deceased husband, Jose, came to the United States from Mexico over a half a century earlier and eventually launched several successful restaurants, including La Serenata.
“He was like a legend,” Jonny, the sous chef, says.
After Jose passed away, “It affected my family badly, splitting us,” Marco Jr., 23, the head chef, says. A clear tension exists between Marco, Sr. and Aurora now.
“You always say, ‘Yo soy la patrona,” or I am the boss, Marco, Sr. tells her.
“They’re both hotheads, and it just puts everyone in a bad mood,” Marco, Jr. adds.
At one time, the family controlled three restaurants but eventually had to sell off two just to maintain the La Serenata location located on Pico, a major street in Hollywood. And now, Marco, Sr. says, they only have a few months of runway left. And meanwhile, the whole family is living together to save money, exacerbating the bickering and arguing going on.
“I work too much for this,” Aurora says.
With all of this going on, enter Gordon Ramsay and the whole oddball scheme that 24 Hours to Hell and Back brings: hidden cameras set up in the restaurant (installed under the guise that a renovation show will be filming there) and Ramsay’s first arrival taking place under some kind of elaborate disguise so that he can make his initial observations unobserved by the owners and staff.
In this case, Ramsay dons a dumb-looking fisherman’s hat and weird, wiry mustache while “embedding” himself with a van full of tourists as part of a Hollywood tour.
When he arrives at La Serenata, Ramsay’s first comment is, “This place looks grim.” When their table’s food arrives, it visually looks gross, and it’s not helped that their server is visibly sweating while we also catch Marco Jr. not covering his mouth while sneezing in the kitchen.
Ramsay on his breakfast burrito: “It’s like the inside of my great grandad’s underpants.”
That’s enough for Ramsay, and he quickly removes his goofy disguise in the restaurant bathroom. He soon assembles the staff and announces to the entire restaurant and tells everyone that “what we experienced was “shocking.”
With this, he takes the entire crowd to visit the bizarre tractor trailer that’s called the Hell on Wheels (or something), which features a mobile kitchen and a massive movie screen. The latter is used to show the crowd all of the health code violations, dirty conditions, and general incompetence at play that was caught out by the hidden cameras installed in La Serenata.
Ramsay then segues into a Drill Sargeant-like speech about how the staff now has 24 hours to get their acts together, and he also invites diners to return one day later for relaunch night.
Next up, Ramsay assembles the staff and presses Marco, Sr. on what the biggest problem is with La Serenata. Marco, Sr. starts off blaming the staff for not “taking orders” or some such, but the British chef soon draws out the rest of the room to focus on how the biggest issues stem from Marco, Sr. and his mother’s conflict that leads to inconsistent management, and also Marco, Jr.’s lack of focus and passion in the kitchen.
Ramsay then digs into the food storage situation, otherwise known as the part of the episode when Ramsay gags, yells/freaks out, and generally melts down at the way food is stored/left to rot and cross-contaminate under generally neglected conditions.
It’s honestly of the things that makes the Gordon Ramsay empire of reality TV shows stands out, because there’s a level of genuineness and heated passion that be brings to these kitchens around the United States that can’t be faked. Everyone can relate to both wanting to feel secure that we’re eating food non-contaminated food when we eat out, and to wanting to work in an environment that at least strives to do its best, and these are the connection points that make Kitchen Nightmares, Hotel Hell, and Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back compelling… or at least fun to scoff at, depending on the episode.
Ramsay pulls Marco, Sr. and Aurora aside, and gets Marco Sr. to admit that most people “probably” don’t respect him like they did with his father. As Gordon mulls this over, he next has a one-on-one conversation with Marco, Jr., who says that he wants to hold onto his passion, but the declining business and poor management has been “draining.”
Ramsay tells him that he needs to dig deeper and that with his help, he needs to step up.
Out at the mobile kitchen, Ramsay reveals the menu overhaul, featuring “original, dynamic Mexican cuisine,” which includes ceviche, tortilla soup, fresh mussels with chorizo, red snapper, and barbacoa tacos.
In order to compete in the Mexican food scene in Los Angeles, the food has to be super on point, and these dishes do look delicious.
Ramsay soon tells the camera that he can sense that Marco, Jr. is starting to absorb his “change at freedom” in embracing the new direction and spirit for La Serenata.
Marco, Sr. asks Ramsay for a private conversation and admits that he was not prepared for a “challenge” when his father passed away, and that he feels he fumbled his dad’s legacy since his passing. This has caused him to “take it out on” those around him as the business’ financial situation spiraled out of control.
Marco, Sr. recommits to living up to his dad’s high standards and turning things around.
In yet another early hours staff meeting, Ramsay shows everyone a moving slide show tribute to Jose’s life and legacy, and afterward Aurora accepts her son’s apology with a hug.
In the morning, Ramsay announces that new signature margaritas will be part of the overhauled menu. The staff samples the new dishes, and everyone is thrilled and encouraged by La Serenata’s new direction.
Meanwhile, the overhauled interior and kitchen look really great, and includes brand new kitchen equipment and a bright and cheerful new look dining room.
As the 24-hour clock expires, Marco, Sr. tells Ramsay that he’s so excited about relaunching La Serenata, and the rest of the staff readily agrees.
As relaunch night kicks off, a funny and relatable snag hits the kitchen where there’s a mix up when Marco, Jr. confuses the word “Juan” with “one.” More worryingly, a table where Los Angeles food critics Eddie Lin and Stephanie Kordan are seated receives the wrong dishes. And not once, but three times.
However, when the food critics do finally receive the dishes they ordered, they’re thrilled with how the food tastes. And the rest of the customers all seem to agree.
Ramsay tells Marco, Jr. that “the kitchen was strong tonight” and that “the whole feel of the place” was completely different.
Before leaving, Ramsay emphasizes to the two Marcos and Aurora to leave their conflicts behind and continue to work in the right direction.
An end of episode segment that follows up on the restaurant after Ramsay’s visit almost always puts a positive spin on how things are going. However, in this one, Marco, Jr. quietly reports that Marco, Sr. “went back to his old ways,” and even reverted back to the old and dated menu (that food critic Eddie Lin had told the cameras that he was thrilled that La Serenata had gotten rid of), and that further, sous chef Jonny had quit.
Marco, Jr. isn’t even getting paid at this point and has had to take on a second job.
And the episode ends on that bummer note!
🔪 Want more Ramsay rampages? Check out our full Kitchen Nightmares episode guide — every filthy kitchen, every redemption (or disaster), all tracked.
Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back, “La Serenata”: is it still open?
Remarkably, after all of that and a kitchen fire that struck in 2021, La Serenata de Garibaldi – as it’s officially called – is still in business at 10924 W Pico Blvd in Los Angeles.
Via Yelp, it has a 4.0 rating on 650 reviews as of this writing, which is quite solid if not spectacular.
Some stats and info about Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back, “La Serenata”
TV SHOW – Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 5
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FOX
EPISODE DESCRIPTION – Gordon Ramsay visits La Serenata, a family-owned Mexican restaurant, where he and his team discover the owner has exhausted himself in trying to keep his father’s legacy afloat.
GENRE – Office Culture, Trashtastic TV, Reality TV, Food Shows
CAST – Gordon Ramsay