Originally Posted by dankyone
The link to chowhound describes a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan, which I do not think has anything to do with Gordon Ramsay. At any rate, the TV show is filmed in LA...I am under the impression it is not a real restaurant and that all of the diners are well aware they may not even receive any food.
I am fairly certain that the LA hells kitchen is actually a restaurant (maybe an old renovated warehouse) that has a lot of video cameras and other tv equipment. I am also pretty sure that they had it custom designed for FOX with the split kitchens, dorms, etc...
As for the diners, I am not sure if they know how far along into the season the show is when they show up, but logically it would seem that the further along into the season, the higher the probability of getting good food and possibly a whole meal. I follow this show and at the start of the season when the crappy chefs have not been weeded out, it seems that they can barely get appetizers out, let alone anything else. At least halfway through the season is when your chances of being fed increase dramatically.
One thing I do not know is you get to go to or get invited to each filming/dining service, I would love to go if anybody knew how!