Kitchen Nightmares - Kati Allo Update

In the second part of tonight's Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay is in Flushing, New York to help out a Greek restaurant called Kati Allo.  The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife whose marriage is falling apart due to problems at the restaurant.  The husband bought the restaurant about 14 years ago without consulting his wife first and they have been struggling recently.

Kitchen Nightmares visited Kati Allo back in July 2013 to film the episode, and I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Kati Allo 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:

• "We were blown away the food was amazing. Very fresh and tasty. Reminded me of my moms cooking."
• "Yay! They deliver again!  From the new menu I have tried the chicken kabob and it is delicious! The Mediterranean salad is yum and the gyros are now made fresh and sort of a cross between donner and gyro. The spinach pie is still the best I have ever taste"
• "Haven't been here in a while and boy was that a mistake. The food is fresher and better than ever..Was never a fan of big menus unless I'm in a diner. Glad they shortened it....Good service, good food and very nice owners...Will be back"
• "We've visited Kati Allo in the past and never thought it needed help! But we were pleased to see how far it's come with the upgrades. We will be returning (we were going to anyway) and recommending to family and friends."

Negative Reviews:

• "The food is delicious - I was very pleased. However, their delivery time is very long (expect an hour wait) and they occasionally forget items....Their food may be good, but between forgetting items and their erratic schedule, it might not be worth it."
• "The menu's changed and it's a REAL disappointment!!!!..Bring the old menu back!!!!!!"
• "Kati Allo was once my favorite greek restaurant. Now that It was revamped by Gordon Ramsey and half the menu is missing its starting to fall off my list of healthy go to spots in Bayside."

Other News and Links:

• Here is the Kati Allo website, which is a flash site with annoying music...
• Here is the Kati Allo Facebook page
• Their takeout and delivery menu states, "We are proud to introduce some authentic Greek dishes exclusively created for Kati Allo by the world famous chef Gordon Ramsay."  It also seems like they have kept the scaled down menu.
• If you look at the Yelp reviews for Kati Allo before Gordon Ramsay came, there are A LOT of complaints and 1-star reviews regarding Groupon and restaurant.com deals.  Seems like the owners were adding the tip amounts on bills, refusing to honor deals, and giving different menus to people who had coupons.  This seemed to make a lot of people angry, and made them not want to come back.  I am not sure why you would offer deals like that and then not want to honor them.
• They currently don't have any deals on Groupon, but there are some reviews there. (Link)

Conclusion:

It seems like there are a lot of positive reviews about the food and that some people like the new menu.  Others (probably regulars) do not like the menu being smaller, which usually happens with these makeovers.  It seems that the owners have kept the advise of Gordon Ramsay to keep the menu smaller.

There were a few complaints about long delivery times, and a complaint about the restaurant not being open on a Tuesday despite the menu saying it was.  Couple this with the Groupon deals in the past, they may need to work on their customer service a bit.  If they can improve that, and they keep serving good food, they may have what it takes to turn around their restaurant.

UPDATE - Kati Allo closed in late April 2014 for renovations and never re-opened.  They closed shortly after their episode aired.

*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