Gordon Ramsay Faces His Most ‘Brutal’ Challenge in ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ Season 10

Good eats get crossed with bad behavior when Gordon Ramsay‘s Kitchen Nightmares hits the road to help another round of restaurants gone wild. Season 10’s theme is “Small Towns, Big Messes,” and according to executive producer Katy Dierks, the rest stops include troubled eateries in places like Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and the Keystone State.

“We are back in Pennsylvania,” she says, having visited a Philly location last season. “We do a little pit stop in Pittsburgh, which is one of my favorite cities. I feel like Pittsburgh is overlooked for how beautiful it is.”

With the country’s 250th anniversary this summer, it seems only fitting that the show would focus on areas usually reserved for John Cougar Mellencamp songs. “I think going in, we kind of wanted to do the heartland angle on this year and really draw it back to the fact that there’s a big immigrant community that started a lot of the hospitality businesses in these cities,” Dierks continues. “And I think that in and of itself is part of the fabric of America, the hospitality that comes with it and the food that comes with it, for better or worse in some of these situations. So I think that’s one of the reasons we wound up in the heartland, if you will.”

Surprisingly, some of these small-town spots served Ramsay a plate of unexpected attitude.

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“What was so funny [is] I think when you think of the ‘Midwest,’ you think of like the tailgating, you think of the outdoors in the summer and that Americana aspect of it,” Dierks laughs. “But when it comes to like down to the wire and you kind of break past all of the stereotypes, it really does come down to good people in a difficult situation.”

She continues, “You start to see that pushback come out when you hold up the mirror to show that some of the problems [in their establishments] are because of their behavior and the things that they’ve let slip.”

And it’s not like Ramsay and the team are ambushing the owners, either. “They know that we’re coming,” she offers. “They are aware of what’s on the show and they know it’s us. They just don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

She goes on the explain that “we’re there for a week, so they get a pretty good chunk of Gordon. We are in their space for a full six days and they get a good four days of shooting with us.”

As for the folks seen at each location, “they all are actual diners,” Dierks confirms. “They’re not paid to be there. They are experiencing it, for better or worse, in those first few days and then for the relaunches, we invite the local community to come out because — going back to that heartland aspect of it — it’s very community-driven and we recognize that we are coming in as like a Hollywood production, taking over everyone’s space.”

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She explains, “So it is really important to myself and to Gordon to make sure that when we leave, we are leaving them in a better place. We’re not pissing off the town. We do come in with open arms and we want people to support these places. They’re on the show for a reason because we think that they are a viable part of the community.”

Things kick off with back-to-back episodes on July 21, first stopping at Freddy’s Steakhouse in Hammond, Indiana, followed by Cortland, Ohio’s 4-Star Diner. Both left a bad taste in Dierks’ mouth. “Freddy’s is an owner violation more than anything else,” she says, adding that the staff was way better than anything on the menu. “We had a server who’s still one of my favorite servers I’ve ever had on any of these shows. His name was Billy and he was amazing.”

And 4-Star Diner? Dierks declares that it “was really one of the worst ones ever,” citing an overall lack of care and standards. “We walked into the walk-in cooler and [there was] raw meat on top of desserts. It was just a whole new level. Even Gordon was like, ‘Oh, this one’s brutal.’”

Yeah, that’s the stuff of Nightmares.

Kitchen Nightmares, Season 10 Premiere, Tuesday, July 21, 8/7c, Fox