Boodles Restaurant - Kitchen Nightmares Update

On this week's episode of Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay is in Madison Heights, Michigan to help out Boodles Restaurant.  Boodles has been open for over 40 years and it is struggling, which is causing the owner and his son to clash over the restaurant's future.  Gordon will need to teach the son how to correctly take over the restaurant in hopes it will succeed.

Kitchen Nightmares visited Boodles Restaurant in June 2025 to film the episode, and I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Boodles 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:

• "This place is really great. It's an old main stay on Detroit East side. We have not come here very often, but we found it when we moved back to the east side. The steak is very good. Perhaps the best saganaki I've ever had. Great waitstaff. The owner's name is Bruno. He's an old Italian guy and a character to say the least."
• "Food was delicious, Ruthann was so kind and offered great Suggestion. We will be going back soon."
• "Good food, hostess was polite, friendly, and knowledgeable about the food."
• "We just love Boodles. It's one of those special places that you just don't see too often anymore. The service and food are just delightful. They have faced a lot of adversity over the years and thankfully are still here bringing their signature service and great food to our community."
• "My wife and I went to try their new weeknight dinner specials, available Tuesday-Thursday, and it was a great experience. The food was excellent (I got the 8oz top sirloin, she got the chicken parmesan), and a fantastic value with generous portions at only $14.95 each. We also added on the table side Caesar for two, and it's probably the best Caesar salad I've ever had."

Negative Reviews:

• "Gordon Ramsey ruined this gem of a place by turning it into a bland, ordinary food provider. I met a friend for dinner but realized all my favorites were removed from the menu. I ordered the fish, but they covered it in some slimy pink sauce and put grainy mashed potatoes on the plate. Food was bad. As for the atmosphere, well, the green walls look like something from a horse stable. The new tables look like portable cardboard stands. The lighting is over-done and way too bright and illuminates the ugly ceiling tiles I had previously not noticed. The menu with specials on the wall is gone. The only good thing that remains is the piano music and some of the staff. Everything that made this place special is gone and Boodles might just be losing all their long-time customers and not attracting any new ones. There were ways to have updated this place, but they really missed the mark."
• "Heartbroken! What was a 35+ year tradition has now turned into a huge disappointment. It has been stripped of its charm and the menu is a 1-page flier of nothing special food. What a shame. Clearly, when this restaurant was re-designed they didn't know the market. We won't be back."
• "Don't bother. Gordon Ramsey redid this restaurant and ruined it. There used to be a 4 page menu of such wonderful selections. Now, if you don't want a tasty lukewarm steak Dianne, made table side, there is nothing left. Ended up with hamburger and fries"
• "Steak ordered med rare...came out burnt n no pink at all. Switched to chicken parm...huge piece of chicken but breading was burnt as well. Fettuccine noodles were nice. Caesar salad maker called us girls n referred to my friend as sweetheart... ceiling tiles were painted over where they discolored n some new leak discoloration was again showing"

*Reviews from Yelp, Google

Other News and Links:

• The makeover for Boodles Restaurant happened in June 2025, so more than a year before the episode first aired.
• Here is the Boodles Restaurant website and Facebook page.
• They describe the restaurant as, "Contemporary Steakhouse with traditional energy - For decades, we’ve been a cornerstone of the Madison Heights community. Known for our prime cuts of meat, live music, and warm, welcoming atmosphere."
• They are having a watch party at the restaurant and said, "TUESDAY, TUNE IN, Watch Kevin and the Gang get yelled at and ripped to shreds!"
• Here are the reviews for Boodles Restaurant on Yelp and Google.

Conclusion:

The reviews for Boodles Restaurant have been mixed since the Kitchen Nightmares makeover with Gordon Ramsay.  People seem to like the food and the nostalgia while there are a lot of people complaining about what Gordon Ramsay did and making the menu smaller. Boodles has stuck with the smaller menu suggested by Gordon Ramsay, so it seems they are following his advice.



*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.