TV Restaurants

Who Runs Zeke's Now? Kitchen Nightmares Update (Metairie, LA)

New owners verified

As of September 2026, Zeke's operates under new ownership — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
porterandlukes.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Porter & Luke's, a Creole-and-Italian restaurant under new ownership, occupies the former Zeke's address; a Yelp listing was updated in July 2026 with over 150 reviews including a dated February 2025 visit, and the business maintains its own website, confirming a different restaurant currently operates there.

  • Season / episode Season 4, Episode 13
  • Original air date
  • Address 1517 Metairie Rd, Metairie, LA 70005
  • Current name Porter & Luke's

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What happened after Kitchen Nightmares?

Zeke's, a seafood and Creole restaurant on Metairie Road just outside New Orleans, was featured in Kitchen Nightmares' thirteenth episode of Season 4, filmed in early 2011 and aired May 13, 2011. Founded in 2002 by James "Zeke" Unangst, who, as recounted on the episode, died not long after Hurricane Katrina, the restaurant had since been run by Darryl and Ellen Cortello, who by the time of the episode had raised prices while quietly switching to frozen shrimp and other lower-cost ingredients, a shift staff said had driven away longtime customers. Ramsay's tasting bore that out: the boiled shrimp was frozen, the fried chicken and oysters bland, and the lasagna stale, though he singled out the bread pudding as genuinely good. In the kitchen, cook Emil explained that Darryl had cut corners on ingredient quality to save money and did not make time to buy fresh shrimp; during a staff meeting, the Cortellos responded to complaints about pay and food quality by telling unhappy staff they were free to leave.

Ramsay's changes added a fresh seafood display area, introduced new low-prep menu items such as a seafood bucket with catfish, shrimp, and alligator to ease pressure on the kitchen, and pushed servers to promote the new options directly to reduce back-of-house strain. The relaunch drew a strong crowd, including some of the customers who had been unhappy before, and local news covered the reopening.

Business improved for a period after the visit, but Darryl and Ellen ultimately sold the restaurant in October 2012, roughly two years after Ramsay's visit; commenters on later write-ups have connected the sale to Ellen's cancer treatment around that time, though that detail has not been independently confirmed through a named outlet. The new owners closed the Zeke's concept and opened Porter & Luke's, a Creole-and-Italian restaurant, in the same building. A Yelp listing for Porter & Luke's was updated in July 2026 with over 150 reviews, confirming a different restaurant now operates under new ownership at the Metairie Road address. Darryl and Ellen Cortello later opened a second restaurant, Luca Eats, elsewhere in the New Orleans area.

Featured on Kitchen Nightmares

Season / episode
Season 4, Episode 13
Original air date
Episode title
Zeke's
What was featured
Seafood/Creole restaurant; cost-cutting on ingredients and pay disputes
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Zeke's

Frequently asked questions

Is Zeke's still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Zeke's operates under new ownership — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What happened to Zeke's after Kitchen Nightmares?

Zeke's, a seafood and Creole restaurant on Metairie Road just outside New Orleans, was featured in Kitchen Nightmares' thirteenth episode of Season 4, filmed in early 2011 and aired May 13, 2011. As of September 2026, Zeke's operates under new ownership — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What is Zeke's called now?

Now: Porter & Luke's (formerly Zeke's). As of September 2026, Zeke's operates under new ownership — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

Where is Zeke's located?

1517 Metairie Rd, Metairie, LA 70005. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Kitchen Nightmares featured Zeke's?

Season 4, Episode 13 of Kitchen Nightmares, first aired May 13, 2011. The episode is titled “Zeke's”.

Who owns Zeke's now?

As of September 2026, Zeke's operates under new ownership — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026. We name individual owners only where a source we cite names them.

Did the makeover last at Zeke's?

The episode first aired May 13, 2011. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 15 years later —: As of September 2026, Zeke's operates under new ownership — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What do reviews say since Kitchen Nightmares?

A Yelp listing for Porter & Luke's was updated in July 2026 with over 150 reviews, confirming a different restaurant now operates under new ownership at the Metairie Road address. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Is Zeke's still using the Kitchen Nightmares menu or branding?

Ramsay's changes added a fresh seafood display area, introduced new low-prep menu items such as a seafood bucket with catfish, shrimp, and alligator to ease pressure on the kitchen, and pushed servers to promote the new options directly to reduce back-of-house strain. 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
1517 Metairie Rd, Metairie, LA 70005
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
porterandlukes.com

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