How Is Freddy’s Steakhouse After ‘Kitchen Nightmares’? We Caught Up With the Owner to Find Out

Jim Kamradt still doesn’t know how his restaurant — that is, Freddy’s Steakhouse in Hammond, Indiana — ended up becoming the subject of Kitchen Nightmares‘ Season 10 premiere, but in the end, he’s grateful that it happened. That doesn’t mean things are perfect, though.

In Thursday’s (July 21) new episode, Gordon Ramsay had his work cut out for him when he descended on the place, finding that his head chef was warring with the manager (who’d also rubbed most of the staff the wrong way with his constant smoking and television watching on the job), and the products Jim himself had ordered weren’t meeting expectations.

By the end, Ramsay had tuned up the place in both the front and back of the house, with a large new stove for the chef, a new supplier link, and some new decor. Plus, Jim let go of Paul right there on the spot, and Ramsay ultimately walked away confident that his efforts could turn the long-lived restaurant around.

Since we didn’t get to see how things turned out, TV Insider caught up with the Freddy’s Steakhouse owner to find out how Kitchen Nightmares has impacted Freddy’s Steakhouse so far … and what might still be to come after the episode’s airing.

How did you end up getting on Kitchen Nightmares? Was it you that made the request, or was it a teammate, or something like that? 

Jim Kamradt: I really don’t know. They kind of found me. They said they were out searching the area, and it came up with me.

Is it true that what they described as the place being “on life support” before the show came along and this opportunity?

Not really. I mean, we weren’t doing good, but we were surviving. Had a lot of problems… The street was tore up for two years, and COVID two years before that, and a bridge before that. So we had about five years of street repairs and problems. So that’s what kind of contributed to it.

But it sounded like, from what I saw in the episode, there were also some personnel clashes with Jose and Paul. Did you know that that was such a tinderbox of an issue for you guys?

To be honest, it’s still a little bit of a tinderbox. Jose is really a tough guy to get along with, and the communication between the front and the back is still a little hard. I’ve got to work on that. But Paul was really, really tough to work with.

Have you talked to him since this filmed, and since you let him go?

No, no, he has never called or anything.

Were you surprised at how he took it? I mean, he kind of held his head up and walked out the door.

He thought he was going to Hollywood. He really did. It went to his head. He just thought he was somebody special. I don’t know.

So you said that Jose is still kind of hard to work with. Has that improved at all with the kitchen upgrades? I mean, I know that was his chief complaint.

The kitchen is better. The kitchen is better. It still needs some work. I wish [Gordon] would have left maybe one of his guys around a couple days… I know on other shows they leave somebody to tutor or whatever. These guys weren’t very experienced. My cooks aren’t very experienced, so a little bit of somebody else’s knowledge might have rubbed off on them a little bit, but it’s better than it was. It’s better than it was.

Another thing that was a big point was the talk about the products. I know he had hooked you up with another supplier. Did you continue to use that supplier?

Yeah, I still use them. Not for everything, but some. We’re in a depressed area, and some people buy by price, and it’s not steaks. It might be something else I could use for a party or something. We do catering, too, and at the time, he wanted me, I think, just to do steaks like a steakhouse. But we’re in a depressed area, low income, and people want to have parties or catering, and I have to buy other things that I still do because it’s survival.

I wanted to ask about the plunger of the month gag. How did that begin, and what was your reaction to when Gordon just chucked it down the street?

Shocked. Yeah, it wasn’t like plunger of the month. It was one of my customers started making these, and there’s a there was a Christmas tree, Halloween pumpkins, a leprechaun, Valentine’s Day, and that was like a summertime thing. We have a fest in the neighborhood called Pierogi Fest. I don’t know if you ever heard of it. Like three or 400,000 people go to it. It’s a Polish thing, and there are ladies called Bucha Ladies, and that was supposed to be a Bucha doll. And it was downstairs, and somehow it got upstairs, and somehow it hit Kennedy Avenue.

Did you go and get it back, or no?

Technically, I sent it back to the person who made it.

You mentioned that the kitchen still needs work, but there were also front-of-house renovations. How have your customers reacted to that?

They really liked it. They really liked it. A lot of people talk about it. I’m sure after the show comes out, I’ll get more customers and people that like it. Keeping it quiet kind of downplays it a little bit. But the people who did come in, they knew he was here anyhow.

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Did word get out that you were having him there and doing all of this?

I think just by regular people coming by… we got a lot of regular customers. So when they couldn’t get in or saw what was going on, I guess they put two and two together. I don’t know.

I just guess they figured it out. There’s somebody put a picture in the local newspaper, and [they saw].

You said at the end that you felt energized by what Ramsay had done. Do you still feel that way?

Pretty much, pretty much. My wife is — not disabled, but a little. She’s got a lot of problems, so I can’t do a lot of things that maybe I want to do because I’ve got to worry about her too. But yeah, I’m pretty energized. I’m upbeat.

Billy is a bit of a standout in the episode. Are you going to be surprised if people become big Billy fans after seeing the episode?

Well, no, not really. Some people like him and some people don’t like him, so you know. I don’t know. He’s special.

Yeah, he’s a character, and he supported your decision, too, with Paul.

Right, right. They they they had a little anger between them.

Do you have a new manager?

I made Tammy, who is in the film, I made her a part-time manager, and I have two other part-time people that work for the city of Hammond that work maybe 15 to 20 hours a week, so they rotate or whatever. So I’m not stuck if I have to go somewhere or somebody can’t make it, I always have somebody here watching.

Since the episode airs tonight, people will probably come and see. Are you guys making any special preparations? Are you having a viewing party or anything like that?

A few of our regular customers are coming by, and I don’t really know what to expect if a lot of people are gonna come or not. But some of our regular customers are gonna come.

Tomorrow, if the doors bust open, are you prepared for that? 

No. No. No. We’ll see. We’ll see, and our kitchen could handle it, I think, pretty much.

Especially with the new stove, right?

Right, right. We needed one. It was a new stove or Paul.

How overall was your experience? And is there anything you wish that you had said or done during this, or any changes you would have made looking back?

You know, I wish I was maybe more aggressive when he was here. I don’t know. There are so many things happening. It kind of puts you in a little twilight zone, I think. I don’t know. I’m watching what everybody’s saying and doing, and I don’t know. It’s it was a tough thing to go through. And the only thing I wish is if he would have left somebody behind a couple days to maybe reinforce that they do it the right way, ’cause they do slip on things. I gotta go tell them, “Don’t do that. Don’t do that.” But it could be like that in every restaurant. Restaurants are hard right now.

Do you have a message for Gordon Ramsay after everything? What would you say to him if you had another chance?

Oh, that’s a tough one without me thinking about it a little bit… I’m glad he came. I’m glad he tried to straighten us out. I know it was a it was an experience. I hope to see him again sometime.

Kitchen Nightmares, Tuesdays, 8/7c, Fox