Cafe Notte - Kitchen Nightmares Update

On this week's episode of Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to help out the restaurant Cafe Notte.  Cafe Notte is an Italian restaurant that is danger of closing.  The head chef and his stepson have unresolved tension which is negatively impacting the restaurant and their family.

Kitchen Nightmares visited Cafe Notte in July 2025 to film the episode, and I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Cafe Notte 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 met a friend for dinner this past weekend and we had a really great experience. We shared the arancini which was fantastic and I had the chicken Milanese with mashed potatoes which was great. My friend had the shrimp special and he really enjoyed his. We finished the night with the tiramisu which was absolutely wonderful. I sometimes forget to check this place out because it is easy to drive by it quickly on Ohio River Blvd but make sure to reservation and check it out!"
• "We recently hosted a private event at Cafe Notte for 35 guests, and it absolutely blew away all of our expectations! The food was AMAZING and we all went back for seconds (and thirds!), and the cheesecake for dessert was the perfect finishing touch."
• "We've gone here a couple of times in the past year and it's been consistently good! Staff is always friendly and the food is fresh."
• "Beautiful restaurant and some of the best food you can get without going into downtown Pittsburgh. You can tell the ingredients are fresh and the meals are simple but perfectly prepared, as Italian food should be."
• "Incredible food and drinks. The chicken parm, Fra Diablo, and stuffed peppers are all recommended. The special salmon was incredible. Make the trip, it’s well worth it!! And the martinis are good too!"

Negative Reviews:

• "Sadly, when they renovated, they really went downhill. Prices seem a bit higher relative to other places than in the past. The flooring is horrible. It seems like it's not attached to the baseboards in a bunch of locations and goes up & down a lot. The food was very disappointing - especially with the higher prices."
• "Apparently there has been some change due to the appearance of Gordan Ramsey at this establishment? Total fail. The staff is very friendly. The table and chairs felt...flimsy? With this "upgrade." The entire restaurant reeked like fish and the menu was so limited that we actually just walked out after paying for our drinks. Nothing was appetizing, at all. Very disappointing. "

*Reviews from Yelp, Google

Other News and Links:

• The makeover for Cafe Notte happened in July 2025, so more than a year before the episode first aired.
• Here is the Cafe Notte website and Facebook page.
• The restaurant is advertising their upcoming appearance on Kitchen Nightmares. 
• In the 'About' section of the website, they state, "Cafe Notte is known for award winning Italian food from scratch and locally grown ingredients, sure to please all ages and palates. We’re open for daily dining or private events."
• In a local article about the makeover, Cafe Notte said they were relying on private events before the makeover.  They also said Gordon Ramsay made the menu much smaller and they have tried to keep it that way despite adding some things back. 
• Here are the reviews for Cafe Notte on Yelp and Google.
• The restaurant does respond to some reviews on Google.

Conclusion:

The reviews for Cafe Notte since the Kitchen Nightmares makeover have been mostly positive with people liking the food a lot.  There are a few negative reviews about the quality of the makeover such as the flooring and tables. Cafe Notte has kept the smaller menu, but has also added some of the food items back.  It seems that Cafe Notte is happy with their experience on the show judging by their Facebook comments about their upcoming episode.



*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.