(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 1 | View All Season 1 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: June 20, 2018
The Old Coffee Pot Address: 714 Saint Peter St New Orleans, LA 70130
Episode Recap
The Old Coffee Pot was a New Orleans, Louisiana restaurant featured on Season 1 of Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back.
Though the Old Coffee Pot 24 Hours to Hell and Back episode aired in June 2018, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place earlier in late 2017. It was Season 1 Episode 2.
The Old Coffee Pot is a famous breakfast restaurant in the New Orleans French Quarter.
Dustin is the owner of The Old Coffee Pot and also the main chef.
When Dustin first brought the business, there were lines out the door.
Now, they can barely get the seats filled and the restaurant is really struggling.
Dustin’s wife divorced him and left him with their three children.
After that, the restaurant started to decline and suffer.
Dawn, a chef in the kitchen, works as the manager when Dustin isn’t there, but Dawn is too relaxed and will leave early.
The staff plays around too much and does not take their work seriously.
When Gordon is dining in The Old Coffee Pot as a guest, his servers ignore him.
He’s disguised as one of the many musicians who occupy the French Quarter in New Orleans, so the staff doesn’t recognize him.
He is then served cold, contaminated chicken.
The customers are still being dismissed as the workers play around in their presence.
Gordon had had enough of their playing and pulled off his disguise to give them a surprise.
He immediately shuts down the restaurant.
Dustin is clueless in regards to what is happening at the Old Coffee Pot. He is too distracted by his personal issues.
Gordon brings everyone out to the Hell on Wheels bus to show them the hidden camera footage he had filmed.
Vermin, pests, staff being rude to guests, and even Dawn licking a plate are shown on film.
Dustin has no words. Dawn takes the blame off herself by exclaiming that she was never trained as a manager.
As the staff cleans the restaurant (Gordon noticed the bar was sticky and that there was an opened candy bar), Gordon talks to Dustin.
Gordon noticed the restaurant lost over $300,000 since Dustin took over as owner.
Dustin tells Gordon how hard it has been since the divorce and that he ended up doubling up on meals and cooking in advance to save time.
The exterminator comes in to rid the restaurant of all the vermin and pests.
There was even a dead mouse in the toaster, which continues the trend of Gordon finding dead mice in the restaurants he helps. He also found a dead mouse in the Blackberry’s episode of Kitchen Nightmares.
Gordon is also shocked when he finds out that Old Coffee Pot doesn’t even own any of their coffee pots; they are all rented. That’s so odd!
Everyone begins prepping for the big revival and relaunch.
The new menu has Eggs Benedict, and everyone thinks it will be a hit.
Dawn is let go in a tearful goodbye. But, Gordon said she didn’t belong in the kitchen.
Dustin is stepping up and earning the respect of his staff.
The team begins prepping for the big reveal.
A few orders are messed up, and some of the chicken is sent out raw.
Gordon has to yell back to the kitchen a few reminders, but all in all, the re-launch was a success.
Gordon surprises Dustin with his children and a new mouse-free toaster.
The night went as best as could be expected.
Dustin is very happy to have his children there for this moment.
The Old Coffee Pot Update - What Happened Next?
So – was the Old Coffee Pot 24 Hours to Hell and Back a success? Let’s talk about what happened to The Old Coffee Pot after Gordon Ramsay finished his gumbo and left New Orleans.
Three months after the visit from Gordon, business seemed to be doing better for the restaurant, at least as it appeared on the show.
Additionally, newer reviews were generally positive, though there were obviously a few negative reviews mixed in.
However, Dustin didn’t like all of the changes from Gordon Ramsay, so he brought back some old menu items, as well as some of the old design elements.
However, those changes didn’t last and The Old Coffee Pot was not able to sustain itself for very long after the show.
Is the Old Coffee Pot from 24 Hours to Hell and Back still open?
The Old Coffee Pot closed for good in February 2019, a little over a year after the actual visit from Gordon Ramsay and 24 Hours to Hell and Back. The restaurant closed because of declining business.
Dustin had hoped for a big increase in business after appearing on 24 Hours to Hell and Back. While he did get a small bump, it didn’t last and it wasn’t enough to save the business.
Additionally, the show’s filming and the changes from Gordon Ramsay got on the nerves of some of The Old Coffee Pot’s loyal customers, which didn’t help.
However, while The Old Coffee Pot closed, its tradition lives on in New Orleans.
The old The Old Coffee Pot New Orleans location is occupied by a new business called Café Beignet at the Old Coffee Pot.
While Café Beignet has a few different locations in New Orleans, they’ve chosen to keep the Old Coffee Pot sign to stick with the building’s heritage.
So – the restaurant as seen on Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back is gone, but it does still kind of exist if you want to check it out on a New Orleans visit.
More Information
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And don't forget to check out the full 24 Hours to Hell and Back open and closed list.
Last updated: 2022-01-30 10:04
No surprise it closed, Dustin did not come across well.
While he said he was doing everything for his kids,
there did not appear to be any warmth from the kids to him
or him to his kids.
The employees rallied together but he was on the
sidelines.
A preventable loss, but what can you do.
I agree with you. Even when Chef Ramsay brought him out to see his kids at the VIP table the energy was just off. Chef Ramsay was more psyched about the kids being there than he was.
That was disgusting, really, where was the health dept? Do they inspect these restaurants? I’ve eaten at Coffee Pot😱
The business got the biggest help possible and all Dustin had to do was put in that extra little effort. He could’ve used social media and increase traffic as well as keep the changes and add more if he’d like. It saddens me because he was so young and owned this place which was sitting right in the heart of new Orleans (which in itself was a blessing). When he gets older he will see the value in what he lost.
Amazing how filthy these restaurants are. And the Health board doesn’t do there job and shut them down!
This episode said a lot about the New Orleans health dept. Not a good ad for tourists
Thanks to Gordon Ramsay and his great team. I can’t understand how disrespectful Dustin is. Gordon has created a wonderful shop for him, given super fast, delicious recipes. It’s a shame that Gordon and his team spared such a lazy, dirty person and his team 1 minute of his precious life. Shame on you. What I can’t understand either, it was the existences for Dustin’s kids. Surely they would take it one day, Dustin is a stupid man. He will never learn in his life! Why did Dustin have to make changes from failing before. It’s so logical that he went broke. He had a great chance of getting new customers who loved everything new through word of mouth. What should the old customers still do in this shop. It’s his own bad karma that came back.
Such a shame. I was hoping it was gonna last. Now yet another franchise is in there. Not cool.
I personally hated the style changes because I think they should have lent into the history of the place more. The food seemed good though.
I guess the relationship with parent and kids would be weird just after a sudden divorce and stuff so I’m not gonna comment about the guy as a Dad.
He still could have made the business work though. He really could have.
Did a little snooping. Looks like Cafe Beignet is also now closed. I hated the Ramsay redo of the coffee pot. Painting of the mantle and covering up of that huge antique mirror! Agree with another poster, feel like they should have taken advantage of the restaurant’s history and just did a refresh, not a shabby chic redo. Anyhow, Cafe Beignet did a nice job restoring some of the older elements and bringing it up to date. No matter, its now a place called Fat Boys Pizza. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What a fall from grace haha – Fat Boys Pizza! Thanks for letting me know – I will update this ASAP.