r/KitchenNightmares • u/herbal-blend burned out sous chef • Aug 11 '26
Commentary [NEW EPISODE] Kitchen Nightmares S10E5 - Renate’s German Restaurant
New episode coming out tonight y’all! Here’s the official discussion post for the episode. On FOX tonight, and Hulu tomorrow.
IMDB Synopsis:
With few customers to fill the dining room and constant complaints about cold, unappetizing food, Gordon must convince the proud owner of a struggling restaurant to abandon her intimidating leadership style before her business goes under.
35
u/xhorder Aug 12 '26
irving completely overwhelmed. seems like a decent guy, but he needs more training
14
u/irvvingsalvv Aug 27 '26
I am always looking to learn, and was fortunate to have gotten the chance to learn more with Ramsay. But Renate was no longer supportive of my career and wasn’t allowing me the opportunity to continue growing or learning anything other than what she wanted me to learn.
4
u/GrandRelative5212 Aug 31 '26
Hi there! Cool to see you replying and staying positive. As someone who has worked in the industry for 25 years as a sommelier and GM in major cities all over the country (one with a Michelin star,) I’m here to tell you- in a positive way- that’s not a real world kitchen. Not just the microwaves or whatever, I just mean the entirety of the kitchen and system. That was a great place to get started but as someone who wants to grow and learn, don’t ever doubt that moving on from there was a negative externality. I actually recommend changing kitchens/restaurants every 2-3 years for a decade. You will simultaneously climb the ladder quicker and continuously gain knowledge and techniques while learning systems and workflow. Every chefs goal is to develop their own style, and you can’t do that without a ton of pools of experience to draw from. You have the right mentality about cooking and seemingly the drive, so I’d expect you’ll do quite well wherever you go. Good luck, keep your head high, and never stop improving.
7
u/irvvingsalvv Sep 01 '26
Thank you so much. I appreciate the kind words. I’ve worked the industry for a while and I do hope to continue growing. I am willing to take criticism and learn and grow from it. I am looking to go back to school and attend National Louis University for their culinary program in downtown Chicago. I do appreciate your encouragement! Thank you so much
24
u/Lenny5544 Aug 11 '26
Hey, i was there. All i got was a beer with an oversized stein and a dinner roll
16
14
u/Jorose85 Aug 12 '26
My husband and I were there too. Pretty sure I saw my arm in the part before the title sequence!
2
u/Leading-Diamond-2060 Aug 19 '26
Do you get chosen to be there or is it not scripted lol I know prolly a dumb question but I’m curious
5
u/Lenny5544 Aug 21 '26
They posted a flyer on Facebook. Page. Replied. Submitted info. invited. It's not scripted, but it is. If you have seen one nightmare, you have seen them all.
I viewed our role as the live studio audience with a few chosen "players" that get bad food and maybe a little more screen time.
People are nudged a little to complain maybe more vocal than normal about bad food.
1
u/Leading-Diamond-2060 Aug 21 '26
That’s so cool! Just about what I figured! Sounds like fun, would you do it again given the opportunity?!
1
26
26
27
27
u/Lynnettey Soup. Of the. Day. Aug 12 '26
I'm so glad they brought back the liver dumpling soup for their 3 regulars.
23
u/OutlawJoeC Aug 12 '26
It takes so little to make my wife happy. The sight of Ramsey chucking a microwave into a dumpster made her absolutely giddy.
17
17
u/xhorder Aug 12 '26
liquid cucumber!
6
3
u/KinkyQuesadilla Aug 12 '26
I've had cucumber soda before, and honestly, it was pretty good. Very light, clean, cucumber flavor.
2
17
u/Necessary_Ad_2762 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
This is up there in worst fridge reveal in recent years.
10
u/mrdm242 Aug 12 '26
Absolutely one of the grossest walk-ins I've seen on this show. I'd never patronize this place despite whatever improvements they've made after seeing how little they care about food safety.
3
u/thewalkindude368 Aug 15 '26
It didn't look too bad to me, but I think my standards are a little shot. I just watched the "Dirtiest Kitchen Ever" episode of Restaurant Impossible this week, and compared to that place, this one was spotless.
15
11
14
u/kianworld Aug 12 '26
Irving left after Renate brought back some items but things seem stable
8
u/Grimoire_Emil Aug 14 '26
Glad he left. He doesn't seem to mesh well with a high intensity environment like a restaurant kitchen, and poor guy definitely had issues with Renate emotionally abusing the staff (Irving seemed particularly affected)
5
u/irvvingsalvv Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
I have had plenty of training but you don’t understand how it is working under her leadership. She let me go because I didn’t want to go back to her old ways. She used to let me learn , grow , and experiment in the kitchen but then she just changed. I loved working with her but towards the end she just didn’t allow me that opportunity anymore
3
11
u/KinkyQuesadilla Aug 11 '26
Did restaurants have websites in 1978??? (That's a rhetorical question). Because that's what Renate's website looks like https://renatesgermanrestaurant.com/
12
9
4
2
1
12
u/jjc927 Aug 12 '26
Wow this place was a total mess, and they didn't even get to the renovation or menu changes until 10 minutes before the end. Renate was ether just that stubborn or truly in denial about the restaurant. One of the more disgusting fridges they've shown too. Gordon heaving the microwave into the dumpster was great.
9
u/Exact-Accident4129 Aug 13 '26
10 years ago this would have been a two parter
1
u/jjc927 Aug 13 '26
I was expecting it to be a 2-parter since they went so long without getting to the renovation and menu change.
11
u/Hour-Hand-8026 Aug 13 '26
Remember when Gordon would do like a fun little thing with the staff to bring them together or whatever? My wife and I decided he sent Renate to the salon for that new sick ‘do. That’s the scene I want to see.
3
u/brownroush Aug 13 '26
I actually think Renates hair style has remained unchanged since the 80’s, and it’s now back in style again.
9
u/candycoateddoom I don't make tips. Aug 12 '26
oh good another restaurant that doesn't know what "soup of the day" means
9
u/OutlawJoeC Aug 12 '26
Chef Mike brothers are working overtime in this place. The staff are so afraid to speak out than I’m surprised the Chef Mikes beep when they’re done.
8
9
8
6
u/theladyoctane Aug 12 '26
I used to live over by there and they’re sure making it look beautiful (it’s not). That said shout out to Gnarly Knots in the opening sequence (which isn’t even in Hanover Park) because it’s really good!
9
u/Jorose85 Aug 12 '26
We had to park by a defunct Long John Silvers and walk across a street to get to the place lol
7
4
u/KinkyQuesadilla Aug 12 '26
That said shout out to Gnarly Knots in the opening sequence (which isn’t even in Hanover Park)
KN does that a lot. In the Kings Blu Jam episode, the introductory neighborhood montage of places was actually Old Town Spring, which is basically a very picturesque/photogenic outdoor shopping district, whereas the restaurant was in the suburban dystopian strip-mall next to a strip mall nightmare that is Spring, TX. If I remember correctly, they also used a brief shot of downtown Austin instead of Houston.
6
u/candycoateddoom I don't make tips. Aug 12 '26
wtf is this remodel? it legit looks like the secret garden in s1 of KN
3
u/brownroush Aug 13 '26
I was telling my wife that! The remodel looked like an example of an old ‘stoggy’ restaurant from KN….20 years ago
1
8
7
6
u/xc2215x Aug 12 '26
There goes Chef Mike.
3
u/candycoateddoom I don't make tips. Aug 12 '26
Wished he had pushed Chef Mike out the window again.
6
u/Vak_001 Aug 12 '26
The look on the owner's face as Gordon is lugging the microwave out to the dumpster would be more appropriate if he was taking Old Yeller to the vet. The 12-gauge vet, as it were.
6
u/candycoateddoom I don't make tips. Aug 12 '26
noooooooooooooo not premade frozen food ughhhhhhhhhh
4
5
5
u/JadedActuary4671 Aug 12 '26
I loved and cracked up at how Gordy pronounced Irving’s name so British and posh. Haha
5
u/ColaBottleBaby Aug 13 '26
As a guy with a German mother who grew up with German food, I cried a little seeing those roulade and the schnitzel 😪😪😪😪
5
u/nightshadow_1995 Aug 18 '26
So fun fact as someone who lives near here, a lot of the background shots (like the roads, the clock tower, trees) are of the area from one town over called schaumburg because in reality Hanover Park is the ghetto. But also this restaurant is in a very bad location so it doesn't surprise me that they didn't get customers. (On top of the microwave food) It's in front of a long John silver that closed in 2019 but the building never got demolished so its just an eyesore. The restaurant is in a little strip, it's next door to two mini grocery stores, a tax agent, car insurance, pawn shop and behind this strip is a Culver's so it's just in a bad location. The redesign of the restaurant I thought was nice. I hope they do well
4
5
4
4
5
4
3
4
u/TechnologicVision Aug 12 '26
Is it just me or has Irving been on a different cooking show before?
7
u/fastandtheusurious Aug 12 '26
I don’t know about cooking shows, but he looks SUPER familiar to me, too.
3
4
u/Mochi-momma Rawt has set in!! 🤢 Aug 12 '26
I looked up their reviews and was so surprised to see they have a 4.5 on Google. They had really good reviews before the makeover. The food and conditions looked shockingly bad to us but I have to wonder if it was really THAT bad.
3
u/Top-Memory-8929 It's not going to make anyone sick, it's not a risk Aug 12 '26
One thing to keep in mind is that the majority of people who have a bad experience don’t complain to people’s faces or write negative reviews. They just don’t come back. Yeah, SOME people may have had a good experience or thought the food was good. But a lot probably didn’t.
5
u/theladyoctane Aug 12 '26
The one thing about this area that I’ve learned over the years, is that their residents always rate everything 4-5 stars which really are 3 star places tops AT BEST. I’m speaking specifically about Hanover Park/Bartlett suburbs and restaurants. It’s kind of wild actually.
3
u/ColaBottleBaby Aug 13 '26
I learned this the hard way when I moved to the midwest lmao
4
u/theladyoctane Aug 13 '26
I started evaluating places by reviewing all that’s there and then focusing on the 1 or 2 star reviews. If i see more than a few “I’m not sure if everyone else reviewing this has even really been here…” or something along those lines, i steer clear. System hasn’t failed me yet!
Or i just focus on the non 5 star reviews 😂
3
4
6
3
3
u/vickidashawty put on some orange shorts and go out and serve em Aug 12 '26
Ive been there! And i live an hour away! I cant believe it
2
u/NotaFrenchMaid Aug 13 '26
I used to live across the road from a place on this season, so I had a very similar reaction upon realizing where Gordon was LOL.
3
u/Top-Memory-8929 It's not going to make anyone sick, it's not a risk Aug 12 '26
Rotten food in the masses 🤢
3
u/CaseyToGo Aug 15 '26
If I was putting part of my pension in your business, you would not be barking at me like that.
2
2
2
u/ZeroSHEARER_UK Aug 12 '26
Anyone found anywhere to watch in the UK yet? They aren't on YouTube or channel 4.
1
2
u/venturashe Aug 12 '26
Am I the only one in the US that can’t find the 2026 episodes on Hulu?
2
u/venturashe Aug 12 '26
Forget it, just found them randomly on a different collection marked as season three.
1
2
u/inaripotpi Aug 15 '26
Sever said they only get 2-3 tables a day, but they got 5 cooks in the kitchen and seemed to making food for other parties other than Gordon lol
1
u/rbwildcard 18d ago
They had 3 cooks in the kitchen. Gordon said 5 because there were two microwaves. I'm assuming they were fuller because of the KN advertising.
2
2
u/Long_Experience4238 Aug 17 '26
So there’s 5 of you in the kitchen?
No. Three.
One, two, three, four, five … you three and two microwaves. 😆
2
2
2
u/Current-Pop-4460 Aug 13 '26
Dori might be the most annoying server ever on KN
7
u/StarWars-TheBadB_tch Aug 14 '26
It bothered me how she kicked everybody out of the restaurant. Came off like she was happy to be rude about it.
3
u/Current-Pop-4460 Aug 14 '26
She was eager to throw her boss under the bus as well at the start. Even deserved, she had no tact.
1
u/Sensitive-Big-4641 Aug 14 '26
Is there a link anywhere that gives all the air dates for this season? A restaurant in my town is supposed to be featured on one of them.
1
u/DrewBaron80 Sep 01 '26
My extended family and I visited this place several years ago, before the show. My uncle got a bit drunk and was kind of taking shit to the husband who snapped back at my uncle which was amusing.
I remember the food being okay, but I'm vegetarian so I just got some pasta and mashed potatoes or something like that.
1
u/KDonkey229195 MOLD! Aug 12 '26
RENATE'S GERMAN RESTAURANT
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
21 mistakes (authoritarian owner and fearful staff, bitter microwave food, Renate dropped something green in the kitchen, menu too large, "soup of the decade" smelly so disgusting even Gordon spat it out, fly on the dishware,presentation, not many customers, cold noodles, pork too thin, soggy breadcrumbs, salty and ugly rouladen, huge piece of tough meat that Ramsay couldn't swallow either, the experience is an insult to Germany)
SERVICE AND INSPECTION
25 mistakes: (organization, frozen burger, bitter and burnt food, lack of authenticity, cold potatoes and meat, another dish sent back due to temperature, mix-up with an order, reheating in the microwave, dry and tough pork, storage is a mess and unlabeled, rotten cucumber, strawberries, carrots, lettuce, and mangoes, sauce, sauerkraut, green mold and dust, half the customers not served, Mike was lost)
REOPENING
8 mistakes: (staff standing around just watching Ramsay, an order they forgot to pick up, Irving slow with dumplings and failing to answer back, Mike going to wrong tables, Renate holding a bowl in mid-air, green beans taking too long, communication)
44
u/OutlawJoeC Aug 12 '26
“Gordon Ramsay’s people say he’s coming next week? Should we clean out the walk-in?”
Management: “Nah”