TV Restaurants

What Happened to Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room After Kitchen Nightmares?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room has closed — confirmed via gazettereview.com, June 12, 2023.

Primary source
gazettereview.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Gazette Review reported that Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room closed for good in 2014, citing family disputes and financial struggles, with the location now home to a different restaurant, Copper Still Grill; a Yelp listing for the address remains marked permanently closed as of a September 2026 update.

  • Season / episode Season 6, Episode 9
  • Original air date
  • Address 608 S Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016

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What happened after Kitchen Nightmares?

Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room was a family-run restaurant in Old Town Monrovia, California, opened in 1997 by Sam Najjar. As the business slowed over the years, Najjar came to rely entirely on his wife and children as unpaid staff, and the Monrovia Patch reported, in a piece published the day after the episode aired, that the family said they worked seven days a week without pay to keep the restaurant open. The Kitchen Nightmares episode, which aired February 15, 2013, showed Ramsay finding overcooked steak, bland boiled-tasting lamb, and a menu with the word "meat" misspelled as "meet"; Najjar's children described feeling trapped in the business, saying their father did not seem to notice how unhappy they were, and family arguments played out in front of customers. Ramsay redesigned the restaurant's decor and menu, moving away from frozen ingredients toward fresher, Mediterranean-forward dishes, and worked to ease tensions between Najjar and his children; Najjar told the Patch afterward, "Chef Ramsay opened my eyes to cook the right way."

What has happened since: Gazette Review reported that Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room's closure came in 2014, citing continuing family disputes and financial strain the relaunch had not resolved. The Patch's original coverage, filed the weekend the episode aired, cautioned that it remained to be seen whether the redesign would help the restaurant survive, and did not canvass customer reaction to the changes. Gazette Review's later report noted that as of 2026 the Myrtle Avenue space is occupied by a different restaurant, Copper Still Grill. Sam Najjar's seven children were shown collectively confronting him about the unpaid, unrelenting work schedule, a conversation Ramsay facilitated separately from his sit-down with their father. Gazette Review noted the restaurant sat in Old Town Monrovia, less than a half-hour drive from downtown Los Angeles. A Yelp listing for the address remains marked permanently closed as of a September 2026 update.

Featured on Kitchen Nightmares

Season / episode
Season 6, Episode 9
Original air date
Episode title
Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room
What was featured
Monrovia Mediterranean kabob restaurant run on unpaid family labor and frozen meat
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room

Frequently asked questions

Is Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room has closed — confirmed via gazettereview.com, June 12, 2023.

What happened to Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room after Kitchen Nightmares?

Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room was a family-run restaurant in Old Town Monrovia, California, opened in 1997 by Sam Najjar. As of September 2026, Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room has closed — confirmed via gazettereview.com, June 12, 2023.

Is Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room has closed — confirmed via gazettereview.com, June 12, 2023. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room located?

608 S Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Kitchen Nightmares featured Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room?

Season 6, Episode 9 of Kitchen Nightmares, first aired February 15, 2013. The episode is titled “Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room”.

Did the makeover last at Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room?

The episode first aired February 15, 2013. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 13 years later —: As of September 2026, Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room has closed — confirmed via gazettereview.com, June 12, 2023.

What do reviews say since Kitchen Nightmares?

Ramsay redesigned the restaurant's decor and menu, moving away from frozen ingredients toward fresher, Mediterranean-forward dishes, and worked to ease tensions between Najjar and his children; Najjar told the Patch afterward, "Chef Ramsay opened my eyes to cook the right way." What has happened since: Gazette Review reported that Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room's closure came in 2014, citing continuing family disputes and financial strain the relaunch had not resolved. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room still using the Kitchen Nightmares menu or branding?

The Kitchen Nightmares episode, which aired February 15, 2013, showed Ramsay finding overcooked steak, bland boiled-tasting lamb, and a menu with the word "meat" misspelled as "meet"; Najjar's children described feeling trapped in the business, saying their father did not seem to notice how unhappy they were, and family arguments played out in front of customers. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
608 S Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
None found

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • gazettereview.com — https://gazettereview.com/sams-mediterranean-kabob-room-update-what-happened-after-kitchen-nightmares-update/
  • patch.com — https://patch.com/california/monrovia/kitchen-nightmares-monrovia-restaurant-reborn-after-t743e9b995c
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/sams-mediterranean-kabob-room-monrovia

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Record kn-065 · last verified .