By way of background, Hell's Kitchen is a Fox TV reality show broadcast in the US. It features chef Gordon Ramsay--a famous English chef. The program starts with 10 or so aspiring chefs, one of whom is eliminated each week.

Now, the restaurant, Hell's Kitchen, is featured each week on the show. I think it's a mock up in the Fox studio. Some friends told me that Fox gives out tickets for the restaurant, but I think it might all be entertainment insiders. Has anyone actually eaten in that restaurant? It looks like you won't get much food, but I wonder if the experience is fun.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/315844

A few years back, we at at the original Gordon Ramsey in London.

We stood outside the restaurant in Jan after supposid opening time while GR dressed down the waite staff.

The menu set up sucked. could not choose food items, only 3,4, or 5 courses.

food was nothing special when compared to a michelin 2* in france, or one of the better restaurants in NYC, or DC.

Prices for food were half again Paris or NYC prices.

wine prices were double NYC and triple Paris prices.

Has been checked off list.....been there, done that.

*gasp* It IS real. I thought it was a mockup in a studio, too.

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.

With the huge amount of TV work GR does I find it difficult to believe he actually ever cooks a meal for a customer anymore

The UK version was filmed in an old warehouse on Brick Lane that was turned into a restaurant for the programme.

And the main Gordon Ramsey restaurant in Chelsea is still in pretty much every list of the top 3 restaurants in Europe. Last time I looked he ran 3 of Zagat's top 10 in London.

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!

The chowhound link is for restaurants in Hell's Kitchen, aka approximately the west side of midtown Manhattan. The linker must have been confused.

The one in LA is a mock up. I lived a few blocks from that studio and drove past the place every day. It had the HK decor for a while, when things returned to normal.

Try Matamori's in Philly. Iron Chefs TV fame.
Sit at the Sushi bar and order the approx $100 pre fix.
Worth the cab fare for sure.

It's actually Morimoto's and there's one in NY now too.

Well.....it could just as easily been Matahari

You ContinentalFans sure have a funny sense of humo(u)r, Gordon Ramsey is Scottish, not English. For anyone who thinks they are the same, take a trip to Toronto and call everyone 'American', or NZ and call them 'Ozzies'.

Regards from Scotland -northern part of the UK, but definately not part of England.

But you weren't in NYC or Paris - you were in London. The only prices which are comparable are other London restaurants. If you want to eat at NYC and Paris prices, shouldn't you have gone to NYC or Paris?