What Happened to Zayna Flaming Grill After Kitchen Nightmares?

Zayna Flaming Grill was a Mediterranean restaurant in Redondo Beach, California, co-founded by aunt-and-niece team Fayza Gerges and Brenda Keroles. Filmed for a two-part episode in August 2013, the visit centered less on the food than on the two owners' relationship: Gerges, distrustful of her staff's abilities, insisted on handling nearly every kitchen task herself, which left Keroles feeling sidelined as a business partner, and the two argued openly along with much of the staff. Ramsay found the restaurant's advertised fresh ingredients were often prepped ahead and frozen, and during one lunch service secretly replaced the kitchen's homemade hummus with a store-bought version that diners said they preferred.

A server named Mark, prominently featured for his poor grasp of the word "dining," underscored broader staffing problems. Ramsay's changes focused on rebuilding trust between Gerges and Keroles as much as on the menu, having Gerges step back during a lunch service so Keroles could run it herself. The relaunch was well received on camera, and Keroles continued to take on more of a leadership role afterward. Two servers featured in the episode, Vanessa and Amel, later left the restaurant as Gerges's need for control persisted even after the show.

Even so, the restaurant earned largely positive Yelp reviews in the following years, and ownership passed in 2015 to Raid "Ray" Younis, who kept the chef Ramsay had trained and leaned heavily on the show's association in his marketing, including selling sauces credited to Ramsay. The restaurant's later years involved a string of legal and financial troubles for Younis. According to a Los Angeles Superior Court filing from June 2016, Keroles sued Younis seeking more than $25,000 over an alleged breach of contract, per Mashed's review of the case record (2026-05-24).

According to a 2021 filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court, Younis sought Chapter 13 protection, and an Instagram post from the restaurant's account in November 2022 stated the business had been unable to renew its lease at its original Pacific Coast Highway location and would need to relocate; it moved to Artesia Boulevard in Redondo Beach. Younis filed paperwork with the California Secretary of State in early 2024 to formally terminate Zayna Flaming Grill LLC, and Keroles's lawsuit was dismissed in October 2025 after two years without activity in the case, per the same court-record review. The restaurant's social-media activity stopped after an August 2023 post, suggesting the business had closed by then even before the LLC was formally dissolved. The original Pacific Coast Highway address is now home to Unico Tokyo Pasta, while the restaurant's final Artesia Boulevard location has since become Mychal's Cafe, a job-training program for people with developmental disabilities, according to Mashed's reporting.