TV Restaurants

What Happened to South Brooklyn After Kitchen Nightmares? (Brooklyn, NY)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, South Brooklyn has closed — confirmed via brooklynpaper.com, August 2024.

Primary source
brooklynpaper.com ·
Secondary source
brooklynreporter.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Brooklyn Paper published an on-record interview with co-owner Kelly Agnes confirming the restaurant's closure after nearly nine years, and a companion report from the Brooklyn Home Reporter covers the same closure; the two accounts differ slightly on the exact month (reported variously as June and July 2024), bridged here as "mid-2024."

  • Season / episode Season 8, Episode 8
  • Original air date
  • Address 6909 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209

Interactive map — loads when you ask for it.

Everything on this map is also in the list below.

© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO

What happened after Kitchen Nightmares?

South Brooklyn Foundry, on lower Third Avenue in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge neighborhood, was opened in 2017 by Kelly Agnes together with Sam Dabbas and Rey Martinez; Dabbas was bought out of his stake within about five years, while Martinez remained as head chef, according to an on-record interview Agnes gave to Brooklyn Paper. The restaurant, known for a New American menu spanning breakfast, brunch, and dinner and for hosting community events such as jazz nights, drag shows, and paint-and-sip evenings, was featured in Kitchen Nightmares Season 8, Episode 8, filmed in 2023 and airing November 27, 2023. Agnes told Brooklyn Paper that she and Martinez applied for what they understood to be a general kitchen-renovation program aimed at helping pandemic-strained businesses, without realizing they had signed up for the high-drama "Kitchen Nightmares" format; she told the paper she came to regret the decision to apply more than any other business choice she had made. Agnes said mounting debt from the COVID-19 period, including a federal EIDL pandemic-relief loan and liquor-license renewal fees for a period when the license went unused, had pushed her to seek help. The episode's central focus was the working relationship between Agnes and Martinez rather than food-safety problems; Agnes told Brooklyn Paper that inspectors "didn't come into the kitchen" and that the restaurant had six consecutive A health ratings from the city at the time. During the episode, Ramsay told the two that their business is going nowhere, and Martinez walked off the production; the show states he returned as head chef about two months later, though Agnes and Martinez told Brooklyn Paper their working partnership actually ended for good the day production wrapped. Production renovated the restaurant's front-of-house only, in a style Agnes said did not suit the space. Brooklyn Paper reported that South Brooklyn Foundry's closure came shortly before what would have been its ninth anniversary on September 1, with Agnes calling the run a success story despite early doubts from others that the Bay Ridge location, situated below the neighborhood's main commercial strip, would survive its second year. Agnes told the paper that separate reports the restaurant was relocating, rather than closing, were incorrect, and said she hoped to open a new restaurant in Bay Ridge.

Featured on Kitchen Nightmares

Season / episode
Season 8, Episode 8
Original air date
Episode title
South Brooklyn
What was featured
New American restaurant; strained ownership partnership, pandemic-era debt
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
South Brooklyn

Frequently asked questions

Is South Brooklyn still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, South Brooklyn has closed — confirmed via brooklynpaper.com, August 2024.

What happened to South Brooklyn after Kitchen Nightmares?

South Brooklyn Foundry, on lower Third Avenue in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge neighborhood, was opened in 2017 by Kelly Agnes together with Sam Dabbas and Rey Martinez; Dabbas was bought out of his stake within about five years, while Martinez remained as head chef, according to an on-record interview Agnes gave to Brooklyn Paper. As of September 2026, South Brooklyn has closed — confirmed via brooklynpaper.com, August 2024.

Is South Brooklyn permanently closed?

As of September 2026, South Brooklyn has closed — confirmed via brooklynpaper.com, August 2024. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is South Brooklyn located?

6909 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Kitchen Nightmares featured South Brooklyn?

Season 8, Episode 8 of Kitchen Nightmares, first aired November 27, 2023. The episode is titled “South Brooklyn”.

Did the makeover last at South Brooklyn?

The episode first aired November 27, 2023. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 3 years later —: As of September 2026, South Brooklyn has closed — confirmed via brooklynpaper.com, August 2024.

What do reviews say since Kitchen Nightmares?

The episode's central focus was the working relationship between Agnes and Martinez rather than food-safety problems; Agnes told Brooklyn Paper that inspectors "didn't come into the kitchen" and that the restaurant had six consecutive A health ratings from the city at the time. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is South Brooklyn still using the Kitchen Nightmares menu or branding?

The restaurant, known for a New American menu spanning breakfast, brunch, and dinner and for hosting community events such as jazz nights, drag shows, and paint-and-sip evenings, was featured in Kitchen Nightmares Season 8, Episode 8, filmed in 2023 and airing November 27, 2023. 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.

More from Kitchen Nightmares

  • Bel Aire

    Astoria, NY

    Open reported Checked

  • Black Pearl

    New York, NY

    Closed verified Checked

  • Classic American

    West Babylon, NY

    Closed verified Checked

  • Dillon's

    New York, NY

    Closed verified Checked

  • Diwan

    Port Washington, NY

    Open reported Checked

  • El Cantito

    Yonkers, NY

    Unknown unverified Checked

Every Kitchen Nightmares restaurant we track

Other TV restaurants in New York

All New York locations

Nearest tracked restaurants

  • Tanoreen

    Brooklyn, NY · 0.3 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate

    Open verified Checked

  • SomethinGreek

    Brooklyn, NY · 0.4 mi away

    Food Paradise

    Open verified Checked

  • Robicelli's

    Brooklyn, NY · 1.2 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate

    Closed verified Checked

  • Now: Piattini Ristorante (formerly Piatianni Ristorante)

    Brooklyn, NY · 1.5 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate

    Closed verified Checked

  • Korzo Klub

    Staten Island, NY · 2.6 mi away

    Food Paradise

    Closed verified Checked

  • Hometown Bar-B-Que

    Brooklyn, NY · 2.8 mi away

    Best Thing I Ever Ate · Food Paradise

    Open reported Checked

Visit info

Address
6909 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
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

  • brooklynpaper.com — https://www.brooklynpaper.com/south-brooklyn-foundry-closes-kitchen-nightmares/
  • brooklynreporter.com — https://brooklynreporter.com/2024/07/south-brooklyn-foundry-closes/
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/south-brooklyn-foundry-brooklyn

See something wrong?

We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.

See something wrong? Tell us →

Share this page

Record kn-085 · last verified .