What Happened To Barefoot Bob's Beach Grill From Kitchen Nightmares?

Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares" has seen no shortage of disastrous restaurants in its multiple seasons. After a decade-long hiatus, "Kitchen Nightmares" has returned, leaving us curious about the fate of the restaurants and their owners depicted in the original series, such as Barefoot Bob's Beach Grill. After opening its doors in 2004, this beachside establishment was the subject of "Kitchen Nightmares" Season 5, Episode 5 in 2012.

Barefoot Bob's calls the small town of Hull, Massachusetts, home. Hull sees a large tourism influx in the summer months. Owners and spouses Marc and Lisa Cara Donna explained that they opened in warmer seasons and saw early signs of success with full dining rooms every night. When winter hit, the couple was flabbergasted by how much business declined, resulting in a major loss of customers and profit. As a result, Marc and Lisa's marriage suffered as well. Lisa stated that there was an imprint on their couch from her husband sleeping there each night. Many of the servers said that Lisa was an inefficient and erratic owner, only showing up intermittently, leaving too much pressure on Marc to keep everything afloat. 

Another issue for the restaurant came about when Marc, seeking to cut back on the overall budget, fired the head chef and stepped into the role himself without any formal training. The quality of the food suffered, which made the few paying customers deeply unhappy with their experiences. 

As always, Gordon Ramsay started his evaluation of Barefoot Bob's by ordering several items from the menu. Straight away, he was disappointed in the food and balked at an overflowing lobster roll. Ramsay added that the giant portions of underseasoned food were a big reason the restaurant was losing money. After finishing up a disappointing lunch, Ramsay observed the kitchen during a dinner service. During the service, he found filthy kitchen appliances that hadn't been cleaned in months — if not years — and food safety red flags, such as storing warm cooked chicken alongside raw pork on the floor of the walk-in fridge. Ramsay was especially irked when he asked the owners what their break-even was. They were clueless. 

Ramsay took an unexpected route and brought in an accountant to kick off his changes. In doing so, Ramsay intended to help ease Lisa's stress when doing the books. Ramsay also drastically cut back the menu and did a cooking tutorial with Marc and the cooking staff. Finally, in what would turn out to be the most controversial change, Ramsay took down the divey tiki bar decor and replaced it with a New England blue and white yacht club theme. Marc, Lisa, and their staff initially seemed excited but Lisa's brother and bar manager shot down the changes, saying the look was not authentic to the restaurant's atmosphere. "We get people drunk, and we feed people. We're not a 5-star restaurant," he added. 

Barefoot Bob's seemed poised for success with its new look and menu along with a mostly positive outlook from the owners at the end of the episode. A follow-up segment showed the owners happily working in the renovated restaurant which suggested the restaurant was fully Gordon Ramsay-fied and on the right track. However, the outburst from the disgruntled bar manager about the restaurant's new look planted a seed of doubt. That sentiment extended far beyond the episode's end. It seems the changes Ramsay made were not permanent according to reviews. 

One Yelp reviewer wrote about their experience in June 2012, months after the episode aired, and asked a busboy about filming with Ramsay. "He told me that Gordon Ramsay screwed everything up so they had to switch the menu back," the reviewer writes, adding, "I am baffled as to how a famous chef's recipes could possibly be worse than the crap I just ate." 

The menu wasn't the only thing to revert, either. The yacht club chic decor was discarded for the most part and the tiki-themed decorations were thrown back onto the walls. Another 2012 reviewer wrote, "Some new items are there but old decor (like the horrible thatched matting on the wall and cheesy flip flops) have been put back up and it just looks horrible." 

Many "Kitchen Nightmares" restaurants close mere months after appearing on the show. However, Barefoot Bob's wasn't one of those cases. It went on to serve Hull for several more years before finally closing. NBC Boston reported on the closure in April 2017, adding that an investigation found the restaurant was locked up and dark. The restaurant's Yelp page lists it as closed and there are no social media accounts connected to the Hull-based restaurant. 

The owners did not release a statement to declare the restaurant as permanently closed so there were initial suspicions that the restaurant would reopen after a brief closure. It was not to be, however. Barefoot Bob's Beach Grill is officially closed for good. 

Marc and Lisa don't appear to have ever commented publicly on the restaurant's closure or the ultimate cause for finally closing doors. It remains unclear what the duo is up to after the closure of the restaurant but we think it's safe to say they aren't dwindling their days away in a yacht club.