Kitchen Nightmares
FOX | Release Date: September 19, 2007
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
2
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 1 Review: Since CBS doesn’t want us to see "Kid Nation" in advance, I guess I’ll just have to declare Kitchen Nightmares the best new reality show of the fall. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: As usual, he's demanding, brutal and fearless. He repeatedly insults egotistical managers and chefs and yells, "Just smell that for me!" And they do. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyAlynda Wheat
Season 1 Review: Mary Poppins it ain't--which is fine because the snooty broad couldn't begin to handle this. [21 Sep 2007, p.74]
80
VarietyPhil Gallo
Season 1 Review: Kitchen Nightmares is shockingly good storytelling and hilarious. This may be the most compelling show of the new season Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicRandy Cordova
Season 1 Review: He is just as blustery and foul-mouthed here as he is on "Hell's Kitchen." But he is also oddly endearing, mainly because he genuinely seems invested in the fate of each restaurant. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: This show is more entertaining than most unscripted series, but that praise doesn't raise the heat high enough. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: It is loud and manipulative and ugly to behold, but it isn't dull. Read full review
70
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 1 Review: The subtext of Kitchen Nightmares is that ordinary middle-class business owners need brash and brilliant moguls to save them from a sad reliance on their own mediocrity. It is an ugly message that Mr. Ramsay makes undeniably hypnotic. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterRay Richmond
Season 1 Review: Kitchen Nightmares pushes all of the proper emotional buttons to draw we viewers in. But we're never for a moment able to suspend the notion that we, the audience, are being played. Read full review
50
Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
Season 1 Review: If you like watching culinary train wrecks, this is your show. Read full review
30
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: Leave it to Fox to take something the Brits did pretty well and muck it up. Read full review
30
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: The show's boorishness is exceeded only by its dissimulation; not one frame of this thing--from the diners who seem not to notice that their table is surrounded by camera crews to the melodramatically villainous managers--is remotely believable. Read full review
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