(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 6 | View All Season 6 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: February 22, 2013
Nino's Italian Restaurant Address: 3853 Atlantic Ave Long Beach, CA 90807
Episode Recap
Nino’s Italian Restaurant was a Long Beach, California restaurant featured on Season 6 of Kitchen Nightmares.
Though the Nino’s Kitchen Nightmares episode aired in February 2013, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place much earlier in mid-2012.
It was Kitchen Nightmares Season 6 Episode 9.
Nino’s Italian Restaurant was a restaurant in Long Beach, California featured in season six of Kitchen Nightmares.
The restaurant was originally opened all the way back in 1958 by two immigrants, Inge and Vincenzo Cristiano.
After that, the couple’s children helped to run the restaurant as employees – Carina, Michael, and Nino.
Eventually, Nino took over the restaurant as his father had some health difficulties.
This transition started the slide for Nino’s and led to them calling in Gordon Ramsay and the Kitchen Nightmares team for help.
Things were really going downhill, and Inge even had to take money from her retirement account to help keep the restaurant afloat.
That’s never a good sign…
When Gordon Ramsay arrived, he noted the restaurant’s dated decor, along with hygiene issues such as gum stuck underneath the table and cobwebs on the walls.
Nino refused to admit any responsibility, even saying he regularly cleaned the place. Sure – it just magically got dirty, I guess!
The food wasn’t much better than the hygiene, as the meat was gross and slimy.
Gordon ordered a variety of classic Italian restaurant dishes, including chicken piccata and eggplant parmigiana.
Gordon felt like it was definitely old food, but Nino refused to admit any fault and even shouted profanity at Gordon.
Things were so bad that Gordon Ramsay even refused to take a bite of the eggplant parmigiana.
When Gordon came back to watch a dinner service, his worst fears were confirmed as he observed five-day-old lasagna and sauces.
That’s not exactly the “fresh” cooking that you’d expect from a place like Nino’s Italian Restaurant.
There were also issues with the ingredients, with rotten mushrooms, pasta sitting in water, improperly stored fish, and more.
Though there were certainly issues between Nino and Gordon, Gordon put it aside and helped the restaurant.
To give Nino a shock, Gordon Ramsay boarded up the restaurant so that Nino could see a preview of what might happen.
Inge was also on board with Gordon’s ruse, telling Nino that she is done with the restaurant and wants to shut it down.
Gordon Ramsay also met with Carina and Michael.
While they were happy that Gordon Ramsay got through to Nino, they still don’t really believe that the changes will last.
Beyond trying to improve Nino’s attitude, Gordon Ramsay also made physical improvements at Nino’s Italian Restaurant.
He completely redid the interior with more bright, modern design and new long family-style tables.
He also improved the operations so that meals came out quickly and the food quality was good.
There were some issues with Michael and Nino, but they eventually got things figured out and the relaunch was a success.
So was the Kitchen Nightmares Nino’s Italian Restaurant episode a success? Keep reading our update to learn what happened to the restaurant and how it’s doing in 2023 and beyond.
Nino's Italian Restaurant Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Nino’s Kitchen Nightmares episode, let’s talk about what happened to the restaurant after Gordon Ramsay and his crew left Long Beach, CA.
After being featured on Kitchen Nightmares, Nino’s had some difficulties.
Their regular customers didn’t like the new decor, which cause Nino’s to go back to the original dated design.
Beyond that, reviews of the restaurants were generally mixed.
To make matters worse, Vincenzo passed away in 2014 at the age of 90, so the original founder of the restaurant was gone.
Nino’s did manage to keep things going for another couple of years, but things would not last.
Is Nino’s still open?
Nino’s Italian Restaurant closed in August, 2016, a little over three years after the Nino’s Kitchen Nightmares episode aired on TV.
To announce the closure, the Nino’s team posted a lenghty announcement on Facebook that the restaurant was closing its doors for good on August 14, 2016.
You can still see the full announcement here – but here’s an excerpt:
It’s Time to Say Good Bye – Nino’s celebrated its 58th Anniversary on July 31, and will be closing its doors on August 14, 2016. This is my family business and I was born into the restaurant family.
…
For us it isn’t the same without Dad. My mom is 82 years old and as a family, we have decided to close the doors and retire this family business. I personally feel it is the right time for us to enjoy more meals and outings together than to work serving meals.
We had a wonderful life and met so many wonderful customers now considered friends, but I think it is a good time for us to move forward in life.
The Cristianos listed the restaurant for sale, but had trouble selling.
Either way, Nino’s Italian Restaurant from Kitchen Nightmares is, unfortunately, no more.
However, the Nino’s Italian Restaurant Facebook page is still active if you want to keep up with the family, despite the restaurant being closed.
For a time, the old Nino’s Long Beach, CA location was occupied by a new restaurant named MIXX Kitchen, which served Asian fusion and Chinese food.
However, that restaurant also closed.
As of 2022, the old Nino’s Restaurant Long Beach CA building is now a coffee shop and wine bar named SALA Coffee & and Wine Bar.
Why did Nino’s Italian Restaurant close?
In the Facebook announcement when Nino’s Italian Restaurant closed, they said they closed the restaurant because it “wasn’t the same without dad”, who passed away in 2014.
They also wanted to spend more time together as a family.
In the announcement, they said that they were very business, so it doesn’t seem like they closed for business reasons.
Overall, I think Nino’s closed entirely for personal reasons, at least if the family’s closure announcement is active.
Final thoughts on Nino’s Italian Restaurant
Overall, Nino’s Italian restaurant seemed to be doing good after the Ninos Kitchen Nightmares episode, though they didn’t keep all of the changes from Gordon Ramsay.
Sadly, Vincenzo, the original founder of the restaurant, passed away in 2014.
This led the family to eventually close Nino’s Restaurant in 2016, around three years after the Kitchen Nightmares episode aired on TV.
As of 2022, the old Nino’s Long Beach CA location is occupied by a coffee shop and wine bar.
If you want to see some other Long Beach, CA Kitchen Nightmares episodes, you can check out these posts:
- Zayna Flaming Grill update (Redondo Beach)
- Luigi’s D’Italia update (Anaheim)
- Lido di Manhattan update (Manhattan Beach)
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/ninos-italian-restaurant-long-beachhttps://www.facebook.com/ninoslongbeach/
What did you think about the Nino's Italian Restaurant episode of Kitchen Nightmares? I'd love it if you shared your thoughts on the episode in the comments below!
You can also click the buttons below to share this post!
And don't forget to check out all of the other Kitchen Nightmares updates.
Watch Kitchen Nightmares Episodes at Amazon
Last updated: 2022-08-07 08:41
It’s a shame what happened to Vincenzo. Nino needs to keep his attitude in check, though.
Unfortunately Inge passed away in June 2021.
The problem with this restaurant was brand confusion to the customers. With an obviously Irish name like “Nino,” you’d expect the restaurant would serve Irish food. It didn’t and that upset the patrons.
Or the family should have changed the name to Dino, after the pet dinosaur of the Flintstones. Everyone likes Dino and that would have improved sales. That plus not serving crappy food.
I found Carina’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CarinaCristiano