(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 2 | View All Season 2 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: November 13, 2008
Fiesta Sunrise Address: 50 N Rte 303 West Nyack, New York 10994
Episode Recap
Fiesta Sunrise was a West Nyack, New York restaurant featured on season 2 of Kitchen Nightmares.
Though the Fiesta Sunrise Kitchen Nightmares episode aired in November 2008, the actual visit from Gordon Ramsay happened in early 2008.
It was Season 2 Episode 10 of Kitchen Nightmares.
In this episode, Chef Gordon Ramsay visits Fiesta Sunrise, a Mexican restaurant based in West Nyack, New York.
If you’re not familiar with New York geography, West Nyack is located just to the north of New York City, right along the Hudson River.
The Fiesta Sunrise restaurant is owned by the trio of Vic, Patty, and Yolanda.
Vic and Yolanda Flores, a married couple, had no money to open a new restaurant by themselves.
As a result, they asked their daughter Patty to use her credit and saving for the business, which is how the trio ended up owning the restaurant.
Patty is Yolanda’s daughter, but Vic is not her biological father as Yolanda remarried.
As you might be able to guess, that was a horrible idea!
Now, the family is going through hard times, not only regarding their money but also because of their family relations.
Thanks to tons of clutter and an astoundingly ugly interior decoration theme.
Yolanda and Patty want to redecorate the restaurant, but Vic doesn’t listen to them.
And to top it all off, Patty feels resentment towards her mother for making her part of all the business troubles and stuff.
I know that I would definitely feel resentment if I invested money in my parent’s business and it wasn’t going well.
When the Gordon Ramsay arrives at the restaurant and sees the sign above the door Grill 303, he thinks that the restaurant is closed.
However, he then discovers that they actually haven’t changed the logo since the restaurant used to be named Grill 303.
That’s so crazy to me!
How are people supposed to discover the Fiesta Sunrise Mexican restaurant if you still have the logo for the old business.
He also discovers the sticker on the front peeled off, revealing the name of another restaurant Fiesta Garibaldi, which he discovers is Vic’s previous failed restaurant.
Fast-forward through the Kitchen Nightmares Fiesta Sunrise episode and it’s now time for Gordon Ramsay to start ordering some food.
When the food arrives, it was like a nightmare on the table (I guess that’s why it’s called Kitchen Nightmares!).
Gordon then inspects the chicken and discovers that he has been served old rice, cooked days ago.
As you’d expect, Gordon was not too happy about that.
Beyond the bad food, the restaurant is also dealing with bad money trouble.
Yolanda tells Gordon Ramsay that they are in $850,00 in debt, which is pretty dang bad as far as debt levels go.
Most people on Kitchen Nightmares don’t have quite that much debt.
I’m honestly not sure how Gordon Ramsay can save the Fiesta Sunrise restaurant when it’s in that much debt.
As things get even worse, Gordon investigates the kitchen and finds the dirtiest kitchen of all.
He inspects the fridge and discovers that all the food was cooked last week.
Also, a customer sends back his food saying that it is like cardboard, and the server puts that back in the tray with other chips.
As Gordon inspects the kitchen he is terrified of the quality of the food.
He gets angry and tells Victor that he wouldn’t trust him to run a bath let alone a restaurant.
Gordon then tells the customers to leave and that the restaurant is closed, while also showing them old rotten beans.
Yolanda then tells the whole situation, also their personal issues.
Don is also in the chat.
The chat turns into an argument, as Don and Vic are not happy with each other.
As Gordon enters the kitchen and moves some plates, he discovers an infestation of cockroaches.
Things just keep getting worse and worse, right?
Vic admits that he knew about the infestation.
Gordon then calls in the exterminator to get rid of the cockroaches, which are a huge health issue.
The night they begin their service with fresh food but failed miserable as the rice were overcooked and customers are left waiting for food.
Gordon realizes that their takings of the evening didn’t even give the cost of their hired staff.
At the end, Gordon saved the day.
The next next day he returns with Chef Juliet a Ballesteros, a top Mexican chef.
He also decorated the entire restaurant to give it a much more pleasant feel.
That night the customers are pleased with the food and the launch was successful.
So was the Fiesta Sunrise Kitchen Nightmares episode a success?
Keep reading our update to learn what happened next and if this New York restaurant is still open in 2024 and beyond.
Fiesta Sunrise Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Fiesta Sunrise Kitchen Nightmares episode, let’s talk about what happened to the restaurant after Gordon Ramsay and his crew left West Nyack, New York.
Sadly, Fiesta Sunrise has one of the shortest updates of any restaurant on Kitchen Nightmares.
See, the restaurant couldn’t even manage to stay open until its episode was aired!
Yup, Fiesta Sunrise closed before its own episode even aired, so there’s really not much to share.
Let’s go through the details, though, along with what happened to the Fiesta Sunrise owners.
Is Fiesta Sunrise still open in 2024?
Fiesta Sunrise closed in September 2008, which is a couple of months before the episode was even aired on TV (though obviously it was after the actual visit from Gordon Ramsay).
As of 2022, the old Fiesta Sunrise New York location seems to be occupied by a construction rental business named Durante Rentals.
Why did Fiesta Sunrise close?
Fiesta Sunrise closed because of issues with the owners not paying taxes.
In 2008, Fiesta Sunrise was seized for not paying back taxes.
Therefore, Fiesta Sunrise’s last open day was actually its air time on Kitchen Nightmares.
In addition, there was a stabbing at Fiesta Sunrise a bit earlier in 2008.
So between a disgusting kitchen, not paying taxes, and, you know, people getting stabbed…this restaurant was always doomed to failure.
What happened to Vic from Fiesta Sunrise?
Vic Flores was one of the owners of Fiesta Sunrise.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much of an online presence so I’m not sure what he’s up to.
If you know anything, please let me know in the comments.
There are some rumors that Vic from Fiesta sunrise died / is dead, including someone in the comments section below saying that Vic died from “obesity”.
I cannot verify these though as I don’t see any information about that.
I can’t definitely say that the Fiesta Sunrise Vic dead rumor is wrong, but I also don’t see any evidence that it’s true.
So I put this one as just that – a rumor. Again, if you know anything concrete, please let me know in the comments.
Final Thoughts on Fiesta Sunrise
Gordon Ramsay never had a chance to save the Fiesta Sunrise Mexican restaurant because Fiesta Sunrise closed before the episode aired on TV.
The restaurant closed because of issues with unpaid back taxes leading to it being seized by the government.
The old Fiesta Sunrise Nyack, NY location is now occupied by an unrelated construction rental business.
It’s hard to tell what happened to the Fiesta Sunrise owners. There are some rumors that Vic from Fiesta Sunrise is dead, but I don’t see any information to verify this either way.
If you want to see some updates for other nearby Kitchen Nightmares episodes, you can check out these posts:
- The Old Stone Mill update (Tuckahoe, NY)
- Bazzini update (Ridgewood, NJ)
- Campania update (Fair Lawn, NJ)
- Sabatiello’s update (Stamford, CT)
And if you want to share your thoughts on the Fiesta Sunrise episode, you can do so using the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/fiesta-sunrise-west-nyackWhat did you think about the episode? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
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Last updated: 2023-06-09 06:00
So sad. How could a mother do that to her own daughter? I hope the daughter bounces back and lands far away from the tree.
I was hoping someone would say that!
Wow dinner and a murder mystery and its closed? I would have paid to see that it would have been great for us Vets. Like having dinner in Iraq without all the battle rattle.
I really didn’t like the owner.
who the Daughter, because Vic didnt own crap, the Daughter put up the money and credit to start this business.
From the first minute of the episode, it was glaringly obvious that it would never succeed the people involved had absolutely less than zero emotional involvement in the business- what surprised me was Ramsay’s continued efforts in a venture that was doomed well before he arrived!!!
To be honest, I wonder if Ramsay did to help the daughter sell it and recoup some losses. I felt bad that she got fleeced by not just a jerk, but basically her own mother as well.
i hope you stay as a nobody. Do you hear what you just said? what does deportation have anything to do with cooking?
How sad I to hope the mother and daughter, bounce back…
The owner was mumbly, selfish, baby man.
Almost 2020 and just watched this episode on YouTube. Schmuck the step dad and the mom, how is the daughter doing? Why no updates over the years?
They should hire the chick from Moma Rita and her BFf to run the place.
Rich Leiberman Bay area Mysogonist
oakland CA BLM
I read that vic the dad passed away and patty and her husband divorced
This is in response to the person aptly named nobody. You are a racist piece of shit, and people like you shouldn’t have access to big boy and girl toys like computers.
Boo Hoo for you, not standing facts being stated.
Vic died of obesity and the other 2 whereabouts are unknown
No he didn’t. Vic opened a restaurant called Cinco de Mayo. Very successful too as it stayed open until 2019, just over 10 years. What he is up to now, I can’t say as that is info to be published elsewhere soon.
Patricia (Patti) O’Neil went to work at Fiesta Mexico, a massively successful restaurant owned by her family for almost 40 years now. Her and Dom are still happily married too, as her Facebook page proves.
https://www.facebook.com/stories/676936167644988/?source=profile_highlight
I don’t know if it’s some joke that I’m missing but I’ve seen multiple people say that Vic died of “obesity”.
Was it the loser owner who got stabbed ?!
You need to have a word with yourself
There is a genre of con man who gets away with everything not because they lie or threaten, but because they play stupid and pretend they don’t know what’s going on. That’s Vic. His lack of emotional investment, lack of concern about anything, suggests not all is right in his mind. Imagine taking someone for 850,000 USD. That’s a con. Most cons aren’t interesting. They have no plan. They just find ways to leech endlessly. This is Vic.
So sad, but the place was goosed from the start. Total waste.. . . full stop.
How can you burn a nacho? I mean, I’ve made lots of Nachos, and if you forget one in the oven, it gets darker and darker until it is completely black. Never ever seen one with open flames on it!😂
…Unless it was made on purpose for the show to add a “dramatic moment” in the climax of the episode…🤔
The address is incorrect; it should be 78 NY-303 West Nyack, NY 10994; by Kitchen Nightmare video at 3:39, you can match the sign and at 3:44, you can match the building.
Currently, Durante Rentals converted the property into a store.
I heard that Patti (that’s the correct spelling) is involved with the Fiesta Mexico restaurant.
Here’s the link:
https://www.fiestamexicoorangeburgny.com/
Thanks! I’ll check it out and then add it to the update.
That looks like Patti in the picture. I wonder if that’s her bio father and brother. What a coincidence would it be that Vic named his restaurant after his wife’s ex’s successful restaurant.
Imagine being white, your sisters waiting for you redneck
Patti? More like Patsy! Hope she recovered from being taken advantage of.
How did he lose 850000 dollars in less than two years? I’m pretty sure he’s just a scam artist and he must have embezzled most of that, there’s no way those cooks and ingredients are worth anywhere close to that.
i found it interesting that the week this episode was to air the place closed for unpaid taxes. the gov’t took it and shut it down. huh talk about a scam artist. i wonder where he spent all the money that ‘mom’ didn’t see it going. 🙁 poor kid
The mother was a bit shady. The daughter seemed too naive to be 30+. It seemed like the mother was not much older than her daughter. I always wondered about that. The real victim was the Husband that was paying for all their mistakes.
None of the owners were likable. Even the step-daughter looked like she had a big attitude, so why did she give Vic money?? Her husband did not disclose what he did for a living, maybe they were laundering money through all these crappy restaurants that Vic was mis-managing??
Wouldn’t you have an attitude too if your mother took her fat lover’s side, and conned you into putting something in your name and then ran it into the ground. You should also shut up your gossipy mouth if you don’t have proof the daughter was doing anything wrong!!!
So are you two still married? She was no prize herself. Fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life!
Lol she screwed her daughter over to the max for some sweaty lazy bum, horrific mother. Disgusting.
Damn, this whole episode was a big ol mess & a waste of time for Gordon too. I can’t stand watching this episode because the mother is a shitty woman & mother for fucking over HER OWN DAUGHTER FOR A MAN. The dude was not even eye candy but she was willing to fuck over her own kid including her marriage & probably family relationships with in-laws. I couldn’t believe it, honestly if the other restaurant failed so bad, why in the hell would you decide to open another. Like it’s madness, I would’ve never agreed to loan big masses of money & fuck up my credit just because my mom said so. Maybe her mother guilt tripped her including vic? Who knows but I felt so bad for her, honestly I felt for her & man, she deserved so much better. For it to be closed was a given that it would fail & it was not worth it. I was rooting for the daughter’s husband to punch vic. I know, I know I sound crazy but vic honestly deserved it full punch to the face & the way Vic tried to talk down on him got me pissed. Anyways, I was really hoping we’d get an update about her. As for the mother, Idc & I’m not bothered. I wish nothing but the best for the daughter & I hope she is living her best life.
AND wondering who called Mr. Ramsey in the first place.
I agree.
Watching the rerun on DABL right now. What I don’t understand is why this guy is using the same menus, recipes, ingredients, chef, etc. from a failed restaurant and expects to succeed. He’s basically doing what failed the first time all over again and expects success.
After seeing that kitchen and that huge bucket of beans, I wonder how many of his customers had to make a run for the toilet when they got home.
I also agree Vic was a conman who took his wife and stepdaughter for a ride. I hope she has moved on and gotten her finances back in order.
Patti is Patrica O’Neill and seems to still be happily married to Dom. Yolanda is Yoli Guzman on Facebook, no sign of Vic…
Hopefully Vic got deported/fucked off back to Mexico after defrauding the US Government for his “American Dream” — he had the gall to actually use that term at the end of the episode!
How beyond disgusting to say that you came here to pursue the “American Dream,” yet hired illegal workers (obviously), paid under the table and defrauded the government of the country that you pretended to respect in the video.
ROFL!!!!
It seems like Patti is now helping with a restaurant called Fiesta Mexico located in Orangeburg, NY. Here is the link to a facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/fiestamexicoorangeburg/posts/559968916132773/?paipv=0&eav=AfbySuQ3pxcdYUL2PUnOm3HaTlcG4NJfOwVERJloDUcW6C4BQZMc8ZDORcKWj_W3Z0s&_rdr.
And according to u/funhappylives in this post:(https://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenNightmares/comments/mrwmxg/the_true_fate_of_fiesta_sunrise/), Vic opened up another restaurant called Cinco De Mayo in Valley Cottage, NY, which closed after being open for 10+ years. It says in their latest Facebook post to “Please visit :Fiesta Mexico in Orangeburg, NY,” so maybe they still have good relations with each other.
I wonder who he took advantage of to get the money to open THAT restaurant! Holy shit… That man is a menace to society. He should’ve been deported after he was caught defrauding the government! He should’ve been deported regardless, but you get my point.
Vic always appeared to be a slob who cared as much about the old or new business as his own appearance. Good riddance to him! The family should have dumped him a long time ago before things went REALLY bad.