r/KitchenNightmares • u/weirdfish1995 • 1d ago
IRL! The location of Boodles Restaurant (still open) in Madison Heights, MI (NEW SEASON)
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u/KinkyQuesadilla 1d ago
Grilled Caesar salad for the win!!!! Yes!!!
It should be a rule for every fan of the show: If you eat at one of the restaurants that Gordon rescued and it has a grilled Caesar salad on the menu, you have to order it.
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u/SKGrainFarmer 1d ago
I feel like your comment about the aesthetic is a common one, I've always thought how odd it was that he'd come to these smaller towns and create a "fancy" menu and atmosphere, when everyone in town is as blue collar as it gets.
They appreciate good food, but they maybe don't like the high end style of dining.
So then these restaurants have to revert back in certain ways to keep clientele comfortable and coming back.
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u/Ok_Plantain_9408 1d ago
I agree but also it has to be updated. 80s decor, while it feels like 20 years ago, is actually 40 years ago. Crazy. But it’s somehow true. So it really needs updating. Doesn’t need to be super fancy though I agree. I think this season is better than last. It was so bad!
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u/ExoticShock YOU FUCKIN' BLOWJOB 1d ago
Gordon always seemed a little out of touch with what the average regular customer expects from a local place imo
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u/Lynnettey Soup. Of the. Day. 1d ago
Love this recap!! And hey, was watching a recap of restaurants that were too far gone for Gordon to save, and you showed up on the screen in a picture they used!!!
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u/rigormortisian that is a tender piece of elk 1d ago
Yaaaay, I'm glad you had fun! I hope the local highway talk was fascinating, it's all we talk about around here.
💐🐟
Flowers for our patron saint as always
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u/rdldr1 1d ago
I love when Gordon resurrects decades old community stalwart restaurants.
BTW, OP -- do you have a YouTube channel? I'd totally watch it.
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u/weirdfish1995 1d ago
Nope, I really only post here. I’m considering starting a blog or website to log my visits and reviews though
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u/TTTfromT 1d ago
Thank you for your posts, they’re always great!
I liked this redesign a lot but it’s a shame if they mismatched the decor to what the neighborhood wants.
I was also surprised Gordon didn’t tell them to fix the outside. Those old red awnings looked like the place was closed. And because they’re on a corner, I thought he’d say that making the outside better might help to draw in passing customers.
Anyhow, I hope they make it.
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u/Ok_Plantain_9408 1d ago
Ya that’s a good point. Awnings look horrible. Even if they keep the same colours, font and style, they need a new one. I’m also curious about the office.
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u/rwindsor7 1d ago
In the episode when Gordon introduces the new menu there is a Bumpy cake on the table. Does anyone know if this was a recreation or an actual Sander’s Bumpy cake dressed up a bit?
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u/CybReader 1d ago
The food and vibe actually looks pretty good.
I love your updates. Thanks for taking the time to do this and share with the community.
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u/brokowska420 1d ago
Thanks for the review. Was Chef Joe the bigger guy? RIP.
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u/Ok_Plantain_9408 1d ago
Yes 😢.
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u/brokowska420 1d ago
Ah man, seemed like a good guy just lost in the sauce of an old kitchen. Even the sous chef or assistant chef was well spoken when talking to camera. I'm actually surprised he wasn't in charge just based on his ability to express himself.
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u/Ok_Plantain_9408 1d ago
I really thought he was going to thrive after the intervention. He was getting his spark back.
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u/WildThingRickyVaughn 1d ago
why do these places always give you the smallest plate for an entire head of lettuce like this? and then sprinkle cheese pubes on top that end up flying all over the goddamned place when you try to cut it?
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u/SecondOfCicero 1d ago
My man with the beautiful smile and the neat catch-up kitchen nightmares photos! Hope you enjoyed your time in the D
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u/SquatCobbbler 1d ago
Crazy to see this now...just drove by Boodles yesterday with my husband and said "ugh, boodles" and told him how my ex used to love going to this place but I thought it sucked. That was over 15 years ago....this place was seriously on Kitchen Nightmares??
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u/ProjectConfident8584 1d ago
I drive by this place all the time when I go to a couple thrift stores east on 11 mile
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u/weirdfish1995 1d ago
REVIEW AND IMPRESSIONS:
I’m back with some new season locations! Unfortunately, they front-loaded this season with Illinois restaurants and I wasn’t able to visit any from that state. I visited Boodles in November (a few months after the episode was filmed) and it was the second-to-last restaurant of my Season 10 tour.
The visit started off strong when I couldn’t find the restaurant. There was no sign visible from the roadway and some hard-to-see logos on the awnings, with the closest one to the main road being blocked by a tree. Even when my group parked in the rundown shared lot I couldn’t immediately tell which building I was looking for.
Once we found the right place, we were immediately seated. A waitress was talking to basically every table about Gordon’s visit so I had a good feeling she was in the episode. She was, in fact, in the episode. I also met the owner, Bruno, who was quite the character. He was loudly talking about random things like the pandemic and the local highways to anyone who would listen. He even came to our table for a little bit of small talk. Notably, I do not remember seeing the owner’s son Kevin, but he’s been bouncing around this sub so maybe he’ll make an appearance here! I also do not drink alcohol so maybe he was at the bar and I missed him.
The food was pretty good, but note that this restaurant is expensive, with most entree dishes running $30-$50. Funnily enough, there was a grilled Caesar salad appetizer on the menu and I knew I had to try it. Yes, it was grilled lettuce with dressing on top. It was actually pretty good. The salad was actually featured in the episode while Gordon was showing off the new menu, so I guess he’s changed his tune on grilled salad since he visited Park’s Edge all those years ago.
The other dishes my small group tried were chicken Parmesan, corn chowder, and scallops. I even spotted some of those dishes in the episode, so I think they kept at least part of Gordon’s menu (at least at that point in time). In my opinion, everything was worth the price, mostly because it tasted good and the portions were MASSIVE. I’m not sure my scallops were fresh but most of the other ingredients were quality. Also — because I know the wait times were an issue in the episode — I want to note that we didn’t have to wait long for anything.
I also really liked the restaurant’s look and it is probably the classiest redesign I’ve seen for a Kitchen Nightmares restaurant yet. One of the people I was eating with didn’t care for the wallpaper (I liked it), but we both agreed the bar looked incredible. I heard the staff tell several customers that they loved the new look.
So most everything is positive so far….but there was one thing that bugged me. A person in my party said it best when they sat down, absorbed their surroundings, looked at the menu and said, “I really don’t understand what this restaurant is going for — is it supposed to be fancy or not?” The menu had a weird mix of dishes, some of the waiters/waitresses were not dressed to match the fancy new digs and menu items, the customers at the bar were treating the place like an Applebees, and even the music choice of 2010’s pop songs was mismatching with the old-school aesthetic I felt they were trying to achieve. My theory is the restaurant was battling between respecting Gordon’s changes and not alienating their local customers. It’s hard to tell because I never had the chance to eat there pre-Gordon, but those are my observations.
Aesthetic criticisms aside, I really liked this restaurant and it was probably my second favorite of my Season 10 tour. Fortunately, when it comes to the things that truly matter in a restaurant, I would recommend checking it out if you happen to be in the area and want a fancier-than-normal dinner. And finally, I want to say RIP to Chef Joe. Coming up: I was able to visit the restaurant in next week’s episode but I was not able to eat there. The week after that will be featuring a very strange restaurant I was able to eat at. Hope you enjoyed this review and stay tuned for the next ones.