I really enjoyed this week's Kitchen Nightmares. The owner and head chef, Joe, wasn't portrayed as a complete jerk. The other chef, Gene, actually seemed like a nice guy. The main waitresses, Josett and Jessica, seemed like nice women even if they were a little wild. Joe's family seemed normal. What is this universe I stepped into and how can I keep going back?

Campania is a little Italian restaurant in Fair Lawn, NJ, with a fairly new owner named Joe. Joe bought the place 18 months ago but ever since he took over, business has gone down the drain. Of course, Gordon will be coming to save him. When Gordon arrived, he made a couple of remarks to Joe about his finger-pointing (he must have been cranky that day) before the waitress arrived to take his order. He ordered tortellini soup that turned out to be bland, sausage ravioli that had too much garlic, and a crusted chicken that he deemed too sweet and dry. He also had to wait more than 20 minutes for his food to be brought to him and was forced to endure the laughing and other goings on back in the kitchen. Who would want that? Later, he told Joe about how the customers could hear everything and how he found his food boring which led Joe to quip that perhaps it was a mistake to invite Gordon.

The second at Campania, Gordon decided to check out the restaurant's supply of food on hand. He found way too much food going bad just waiting to be served. Before that night's dinner service, Gordon told Joe that he had too many staff members for the place bringing Joe to get rid of a couple of workers named Chris and Katie. Katie was understandably upset in the parking lot but hey, that's the breaks. Girl, if you'd been good enough he wouldn't have let ya go.

At dinner service that evening, customers were left waiting hours for their food. One guy even ordered a pizza (no doubt just because the cameras were there) but we never saw the pizza being delivered. When the food did arrive, many of the customers said it was just average. Average must have been good enough for them though because most of them took home doggy bags. That was another problem Gordon had with Campania -- their portion sizes were too big. When Gordon tried to explain that to Joe later, Joe says that that's what the customers like. He got upset when Gordon kept after him trying to explain to him that it's a waste of money on his part though.

The next day, Gordon visited Joe's wife Melissa at their home. We heard the standard sob story that we hear every week. This is his dream; if we can't bring the restaurant back into the black we'll lose everything; and the bills aren't getting paid. Next, we saw Gordon return back to the restaurant and try to teach the staff more about presentation and then provided them with a special meatball recipe that he thought would be good for the restaurant to use as their signature dish. He even had their delivery van customized with "New Jersey's best meatballs" and gave them shirts and hats to wear with the slogan. Passing out meatballs on the sidewalk to passers-by seemed to make a good impression on those that ate them. That's a good way to drum up some business.

On day 4, the restaurant is re-launched and you know what that means. It's re-design time! The entire outside of the restaurant was painted and styled and they received new signage and lights. The inside was completely redone too and looked a hundred times better than it did before. Why, they even provided them with a new stove to replace an old broken one. I wonder if they fixed their walk-in freezer though. Anyway, everybody was thrilled and excited at the changes. They were even cool with the smaller plates that were provided.

Of course, Gordon had re-designed the menu as well. It was a trimmed down version of its old self except now it had a pasta section. You'd think that would be an obvious section to have on a menu in an Italian restaurant. One hour before opening, Gordon decided to try a little stunt he pulls on his staff to get them motivated for the night's service. The first person in the waitstaff to sell every dish on the menu that night would receive a $100 bill. It's time for the doors to open and Joe doesn't want to let Gordon down.

The reopening was completely booked and the service went very smoothly at first. One table though (an old hag in particular) said they didn't like any of their food. Gordon went out to talk to them to find out what they didn't like but wound up telling the older lady that she was talking out of her rear. When she told him to grow up, he called her an old bag to the rest of the table. I've always loved that about Gordon! Meanwhile, Joe was getting frustrated back in the kitchen and rather than just put his head down and do the work he decided to go schmooze out in the dining area. That just made things worse because then service was really backing up.

A different lady began to complain in the restaurant about the meatballs tasting like Ragu. She really started quite a scene and when Joe's mother heard her complaining, she was upset just like any other mother. The best part was when that lady went out to the parking lot, another female customer (who seemed a tad bit tipsy) got into a yelling match with her on the way out. Why'd you keep eating the food if you weren't satisfied with it? You just wanted a free meal! Luckily, a cop car pulled up and broke it all up. I wonder if there was a breathalyzer involved.

As usual though, Joe got himself together though and the rest of the night finished smoothly. Josette even won the $100 server bingo! Joe really liked the changes that had been made and made it seem like the server bingo would stick around. I thought that was a cool thing myself.

We were told that in the days that followed, customers were still thrilled and profits were increasing. Joe began behaving more like a boss instead of a friend and that Campania was not know for quality more than quantity. Gordon even helped them break the big plates back in the kitchen to celebrate their new start.

Next week's episode is a repeat of Peter's in Babylon, NY. The season finale will be on December 12 and will cover Secret Garden in Moorpark, CA.

What did you think this episode? Does Campania seem like a place you would go and dine? Have you ever witnessed any fights in restaurants like this? Gimme some stories!

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HamsterDame's blogs: Silly Reality and Silly Hamsters.