Mike and Nellie’s Kitchen Nightmares Update – Still Open in 2023?

Episode Recap

Mike and Nellie’s Steakhouse was an Oakhurst, New Jersey restaurant featured on season 5 of Kitchen Nightmares.

Though the Mike and Nellie’s Kitchen Nightmares episode aired in October 2011, the actual visit from Gordon Ramsay happened a little early in July 2011.

It was Kitchen Nightmares Season 5 Episode 3.

This episode of Kitchen Nightmares revolves around a family-run restaurant- Mike And Nellie’s Steakhouse in the small town of Oakhurst in New Jersey.

Side note – the correct spelling is “Mike and Nellie’s”, not “Mike and Nelly”. It’s also sometimes abbreviated as M&N Steakhouse.

This restaurant was started in the year 1996 by Nellie Farber and his son Mike Farber.

That means it’s been around for about 15 years at the time of the Mike and Nellie’s Kitchen Nightmares episode.

Nellie used to be the front man, attending the restaurant and the diners, while Mike was the chef.

Nellie’s daughter, Lexi, also worked at the restaurant.

Things were going pretty well until Nellie sadly passed away.

Mike was at a personal loss and was also overwhelmed with responsibilities on all fronts.

He was overworking himself and refused to accept help.

Instead, it was his two daughters who asked for help from Chef Gordon Ramsay.

Right from the moment Chef Ramsay walks into the restaurant, he finds it in deplorable condition.

There was a certain stinky smell around it, the carpet was filthy, in short, the ambiance was awful.

He went ahead and ordered lunch – Linguini with shrimp sauce, Chicken Murphy, and Steak Nellie.

He found each of them equally gross.

The shrimp sauce was bland, the chicken was overcooked while the steak was totally charred.

Not a great start, right? But hey – it’s Kitchen Nightmares. It would be weirder if Gordon Ramsay did like the food.

Chef Ramsay returned at night to help them out at the kitchen end. He found that Mike was the only one cooking.

Why? Because Mike didn’t trust anyone else with the cooking.

Even though he was pretty fast, he had to pay a price for it.

The food quality was horrible with constant complaints from the customers.

And yet another problem was Mike’s drinking habit.

A few hours into the evening and he starts drinking and simply loses control.

As you’d expect, the night fails horribly.

It was then that Chef Ramsay confronts Mike.

Mike admits that things are not going well and that he has a lot on his mind.

He admits that he hasn’t quite accepted Nellie’s death and that is why he resorts to drinking.

Next morning, Mike’s daughters speak to him and make him realize that he needs to let go certain things and accept Chef Ramsay’s help. And Mike agrees to do so.

And thus begins the makeover.

Ramsay finds the kitchen in a mess. The fridge is way too unclean with stale food stored for days.

The first thing the staff does – they mop and clean up the kitchen.

Next, Chef Ramsay teaches Mike a steak preparation with slight changes which they all love.

Next, the restaurant needed a revamp.

The smelly carpet was replaced with a new one, the old décor was changed to a modern look, new chairs and a new sign board were brought in– the place looked gorgeous.

But above all, a brand new flavorful menu was introduced.

Everybody, including Mike and Lexi, was excited about the relaunch.

It was decided that Dan (Mike’s cousin) would take up a bit of responsibility of managing the kitchen and things started off smoothly on the relaunch night.

The customers loved the food, Dan was in control of the kitchen, everyone was working together as a team.

But Mike again started interfering with Dan’s job. With a slight reminder, things were back on track again. That night was successful.

Mike was inspired enough by Chef Ramsay by then. Mike and his daughters really appreciated his help.

So was the Kitchen Nightmares Mike and Nellie’s episode a success? Keep reading our update to learn what happened next and if this Oakhurst, NJ steakhouse is still open in 2023 and beyond.