In 2012, Gordon Ramsay made his first visit to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for Season 6 of “Kitchen Nightmares.” His destination? Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine in Wilkinsburgh. Formerly known as Jean’s Soul Food Restaurant, the eatery located in the suburbs of the Steel City first opened its doors in 2000. It was named after its owner, Jean Gould, a former special education teacher with a lifelong passion for cooking who turned to the restaurant business at the encouragement of members of her church. However, after finally taking the leap (and her life’s savings) into the culinary world, Ms. Jean quickly learned that running a restaurant wasn’t as easy as it looked.
“The challenge is just wearing about 10 hats, running all over the place,” she told The Patch shortly before her episode aired in November 2012. The hecticness of running a restaurant wasn’t the only problem when Ramsay and his crew showed up. After 12 years in business, and both a name and location change, Ms. Jean often found herself with an empty dining room and was on the verge of losing her business due to debt.
“I’m really in need of help, to the point I don’t … I don’t know what I would do. I don’t even know where else I would go to seek help,” she says through tears during the episode. “All I know is I put … my whole life savings. You know, to see it go right down the drain. I don’t know what I’ll do.”
What happened to Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine on Kitchen Nightmares?
Before Gordon Ramsay steps foot in Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine, he’s greeted by Ms. Jean at his hotel, where she reveals that the biggest problem with her restaurant is a chronically late and inattentive staff that is more interested in their cell phones. Upon meeting with employees, however, Ramsay is informed that Ms. Jean has “an attitude problem” with not just them, but customers, as well.
After struggling to find menu items in stock, the chef finally gets around to trying Ms. Jean’s pork chops, ribs, macaroni and cheese, and sweet tea, though doesn’t find them appealing. That doesn’t stop Ms. Jean from defending her soul food against Ramsay’s criticism. Dinner service isn’t much better, with several customers taking issue with their food, while the chef takes issue with a staff member after catching them on their phone.
The chaotic evening leads Ms. Jean to have a breakdown, yet Ramsay doesn’t let her off the hook for her wrongdoings. The following day, he gathers the staff at a theater to show a compilation video of customer testimonials about “Ms. Mean.” In response, a tearful Ms. Jean vows to make things right, while the staff collectively promises to make changes, as well.
On his end, Ramsay treats Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine to a complete makeover of its interior and its menu. And though relaunch night doesn’t go without a hitch, the staff powers through thanks in part to the newfound leadership of Ms. Jean.
Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine after Kitchen Nightmares
Unfortunately, some of the changes made to Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine don’t appear to have held up following its “Kitchen Nightmares,” starting with the upgrades made to the facility itself. According to the Patch, the restaurant had to change locations shortly after the episode was filmed in the summer of 2012, which was already known before production.
Still, even with its relocation, the eatery was able to earn a respectable rating of 3.5 stars on Yelp, where several reviews contained praises for the restaurant’s food. In fact, in the most recent 5-star review, which was left in February 2020, the diner claimed that their meal was “spectacular,” and called Ms. Jean’s their favorite soul food place in Pittsburgh. However, there were a few reviews claiming that Ms. Jean’s attitude had returned, with some suggesting that it had also spread to other staff members. Two separate one-star reviews were also riddled with complaints regarding catering gigs, both of which were for weddings.
“Ms. Jean’s catered my wedding last night…it was a disaster,” one person wrote in 2014, noting that the table settings weren’t ready, the food was not served on time, and only included one meat option when there was supposed to be two. “My guests did say the food was good … but it was overtopped by the bad attitude,” they concluded.
The second one-star catering review contained similar criticisms and also alleged that the catering staff was helping themselves to food and alcohol.
Is Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine still open?
Negative reviews aside, Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine made a lengthy run following its 2012 feature on “Kitchen Nightmares.” Though updates to the restaurant’s Facebook page ended in 2019, a second page picked up right about where it left off. Its last post is dated May 1, 2022, suggesting that Ms. Jean was able to keep her soul food spot afloat through the Covid-19 pandemic. However, just a few short months later, the “Kitchen Nightmares” alum closed its doors for good.
According to a Facebook post made by a man named Trevis Gould, who’s presumably connected to Ms. Jean or her establishment, the restaurant hosted its final Sunday buffet on October 23 last year. In the days that followed, he posted several photos of restaurant and kitchen equipment for sale, with the final one coming on October 30, 2022. Gould also stated that information regarding where Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine would be relocating to would be shared by the next week, though by the end of 2022, a new location had yet to be disclosed.
Still, having been open for a decade after Gordon Ramsay’s visit, Ms. Jean’s Southern cuisine was arguably one of the biggest “Kitchen Nightmares” successes — especially since around 60% of the restaurants featured on the show before its recent revamp had shut down by 2014.
What’s next for Ms. Jean and Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine?
Though Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine no longer appears to have a permanent brick-and-mortar location for customers to visit, it does look like the restaurateur has been cooking for her community again. On March 2 this year, Trevis Gould posted a photo to his Facebook page of a business card for Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine Catering Service and encouraged people to “reach out and enjoy the southern food” in the caption.
In June, Gould posted a new business card advertising The Ice Man for Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine & Catering, which, judging by the photos of ice cream on the card, may have been for a dessert catering service.
The final updates on the whereabouts of Ms. Jean and her soul food came this past summer. According to yet another post from Gould, Ms. Jean’s Southern Cuisine catered an event at an American Legion location on August 6 this year. However, in the months since, it does not appear that the restaurateur has provided food for any other public events.