Bask 46 - Kitchen Nightmares Update

On this week's episode of Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay is in Woodland Park, New Jersey to help out Bask 46. Bask 46 has been open for less than a year and Gordon notices that the portion sizes at the restaurant are too big.  The head chef is also confrontational and the menu is dysfunctional.  Gordon will try to provide advice to help turn the restaurant into a success

Kitchen Nightmares visited Bask 46 in May 2023 to film the episode, and I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Bask 46 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:

• "Great food... great atmosphere great staff!! 381's great food is back and even better!! Don't miss out!! Love the blue cheese burger... love shrimp tacos... love the pizza!! They never disappoint!!"
• "Place is great. Plenty of TVs for the games. Diverse menu that hits the spot. Drinks are cold. Pizza is crispy. The atmosphere and hand crafted deco is really cool and interesting, notice more in-depth stuff every time i go. Highly recommend"
• "Nice bar. Outside seating available. Ok staff. Hostess. Tables & sit down bar. The loaded mac & cheese was good but I highly recommend the Cheesesteak egg rolls. Best steak egg rolls I ever had. Shared parking lot. When on NFL opening night so busy but still good service....I highly recommend this joint."
• "The Bask 46 was wonderful and good music and fun and upbeat atmospher. Buffalo wings and Blue cheese burger was awesome. Cocktails made perfect and lots of tv for sports fans."
• "Absolutely fantastic from the service to the food and drinks. Everyone is friendly and professional. I highly recommend bask 46"
• "Everything was Fantastic i had the steak sandwich and wings was beyond my expectations if you haven't been here get here you won't be disappointed"

Negative Reviews:

• "The service was about as good as it got. Our server was very friendly but clearly covered the spread of customers but still did her best to handle our experience. Cauliflower bits soggy, definitely blanched too long. Burger wasn't seasoned at all. Tacos weren't terrible, but the shrimp tacos my girlfriend had was 60% bagged guacamole."

*Reviews from Yelp, Google

Other News and Links:

• The makeover for Bask46 happened in May 2023 and all of the episodes this season will be in New York and New Jersey. Bask46 was closed May 20 - May 24th for the filming.
• Here is the Bask46 website and Facebook page. 
• They have the tagline Bar/Grill/Pizza under the restaurant name on advertisements.
• It seems like most of their advertising is for the bar portion and nightly events at the bar.
• Right after the makeover, Bask 46 let everybody know the restaurant was open again.  Steve commented below saying, "Gordon will not be there ! Thank god ! His food does not compare … and he is a complete asshole."  (Link)
• Bask 46 is having a watch party for the episode when it first airs.
• Here are the reviews for Bask46 on Yelp and Google. 
• The reviews are positive both before and after the Kitchen Nightmares visit. The restaurant also takes the time to respond to reviews on Google.
• In a local article, Steve said the show reached out to him via email about restaurant renovations.  He saw it as a "great opportunity to address some of our challenges, such as food costs, labor costs, and staffing." (Link)
• There is also a Bask Bar and Grill in Woodland Park and Bask 46 was an expansion from that.  Here is the Bask Bar and Grill website.
• Here is an article about owner Steve Baskinger talking about opening Bask46 just down the street from Bask Bar and Grill. (Link)
• The owner of the strip mall where Bask Bar and Grill is wants to tear it down and build a Dunkin Donuts.  Steve obviously opposes the proposal, but doesn't currently have a lease with the owner. (Link)
• Chef Bobby from the show posted he was available for hire shortly after the episode filmed.  When someone asked what happened to Bask, he replied that they couldn't afford him. (Link)

Conclusion:

The reviews for Bask 46 since the Kitchen Nightmares makeover are pretty much all positive, and the reviews before the makeover were also positive.  People seem to like the food, atmosphere (especially for sports), and staff.  Based on their social media, it seems that Bask 46 advertises a lot of events related to their bar.  It also seems that Kitchen Nightmares reached out to them and not the other way around, so this may not be a case of a struggling restaurant.  The restaurant was newer and was also a spin-off of another restaurant.


*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.