Love On The Blu - Kitchen Nightmares Update

On this week's episode of Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay is in Blue Island, Illinois to help out the restaurant Love On The Blu.  While Gordon is there, he finds that the owner may be the main problem, so he will need to help her out to turn the restaurant around.

Kitchen Nightmares visited Love On The Blu in May 2025 to film the episode, and I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Love On The Blu to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Gordon Ramsay visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Kitchen Nightmares):

Positive Reviews:

• "I just went recently since they changed the decor and I actually like it. The chairs are not as bulky and easier to mover. Service is always on point. I also go during the week so it's not as busy. My go to are the fried chicken wings and French toast. You can not go wrong w either."
• "Cozy neighborhood spot. The owner is passionate about the food quality. She can be spicy but she is also sweet. Check it out!"
• "This was my second time at LOTB and it was another enjoyable experience. Valencia (please don't be mad if I spelled your name wrong 🫣) was so nice and hospitable. The food was great and my watermelon 🍉 mimosa was delicious! If you're in the Chi, it's a must do!"
• "The ladies and I took a family member to brunch here for her birthday and everything was amazing! The owner came and talked to us for a while our host Cj was Awesome. The bartender was bartending the drinks were great. All I mean all the food was breathtaking."
• "I just went recently since they changed the decor and I actually like it. The chairs are not as bulky and easier to mover. Service is always on point. I also go during the week so it's not as busy. My go to are the fried chicken wings and French toast. You can not go wrong w either. They don't have a meal with the wings and French toast so for 3 wings it was about $6-7. Not too bad but everything is expensive."

Negative Reviews:

• "The owner obviously cannot accept constructive criticism. Instead of accepting accountability she places blame on customers. Servers should anticipate a customers needs and not wait to be corrected by the customer. A spoon with coffee and flatware with your entree should be an expectation not a request. Your acceptance of poor customer service will ruin you and your business. Be professional"
• "This Is not A good place of business, the owner of the restaurant she's highly rude and disrespectful,"
• "Just note the prices on the menu will not be the same price on your bill. Apparently they had a price increase but can't afford to print new menu. Why the servers don't give you a heads up seem suspicious. They are probably hoping most people don't look closely at the bill, just pay it."
• "Everything was horrible. Order chicken and fish . My chicken was bloody. Manger was rude and didn’t come to say anything. Won’t be back . Don’t waste your time or money"
• "The owner is a very DISGUSTING person. She has a NASTY attitude. She is rude to her OWN EMPLOYEES. I witnessed her being rude to the hostess and making her cry. She provides a HOSTILE work environment and makes her employees have attitudes the way she speaks to them. She yelled and cursed at my party for giving her constructive critical. If you are looking for a black owned business to support this is NOT IT"
• "I won't take away from the staff and food for their efforts but it's the actions and behavior of the owner that moved me to leave a review. During a group visit the owner noted that she "doesn't like dealing with our people", amongst other nasty and unprofessional comments/statements. | wouldn't be surprised if this places shuts its doors soon. Reading previous comments leads me to believe that this is common behavior from the owner."

*Reviews from Yelp, Google

Other News and Links:

• The makeover for Love On The Blu happened in May 2025, so more than a year before the episode first aired.
• Here is the Love On The Blu Facebook page, but they have only posted a few times and aren't active.
• Love On The Blu does not have a website.
• Here are the reviews for Love On The Blu on Yelp and Google.
• Owner Valencia responds to a lot of the reviews online and attacks some of the people leaving them. 
• In 2019, owner Valencia Love posted a $100,000 bail for singer R. Kelly and received a lot of backlash online. The restaurant Yelp page was flooded with negative reviews after this. (Link)

Conclusion:

The reviews for Love On The Blu since the Kitchen Nightmares makeover have been somewhat negative. The positive reviews seem to compliment the makeover and decor while pretty much all of the negative reviews have something bad to say about the owner. The owner Valencia also responds to a lot of the negative reviews online by attacking the people leaving them. Love On The Blu also doesn't have a website or any social media presence, so they might want to work on that after being on a popular television show.



*To see updates on all the restaurants from Kitchen Nightmares and to see which ones are open or closed, visit the Kitchen Nightmares Update Page. Plus Follow on Twitter to keep up to date on closings.