24 Hours to Hell and Back – Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant – OPEN
In this 24 Hours to Hell and Back episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant in Swedesboro, New Jersey.
Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant is owned by Robert Botto Jr and his brothers Vincent, Henry and Domenic and opened in 1998 by their father.
Their sausage business is also owned jointly by the brothers and is keeping the restaurant open but they are currently $850,000 in debt.
The restaurant is run by Robert and Henry. Henry is head chef and Robert is manager.
Sadly, their father passed and the restaurant began to decline leading to arguing between the brothers.
Hostess Judy is fed up of being yelled at and spoken down to by Robert.
She feels she has become as complacent as the owners.
Gordon arrives in disguise after reversing his car into a tree.
He has also placed his head of kitchen Mary and a decoy Gordon at a wedding party table.
Gordon is seated in the corner and they order a variety of classic Italian dishes including veal picatta, meatballs and carbonara.
They find that the decor is drab and the food is awful.
The meatball is cold and impossible to cut, the oysters don’t smell fresh and are spoiled, the veal is disgusting and the flounder is rancid.
Robert asks if the diner would like a different dish and Mary is given the heads up to make a speech.
She asks for the back of the house to come out whilst she points over to Gordon, who removes his disguise.
Gordon asks everyone to come outside to his Hell on Wheels truck.
He reveals hidden footage showing rancid meat, rotten vegetables, flies on food,a fiery head chef and old chicken wings.
Gordon asks the customers to return in 24 hours when he has turned the restaurant off and he asks for the staff to come to meeting.
One server doesn’t think that the front of house and kitchen work together well and Robert argues with Gordon when he tells him he doesn’t know what he is doing.
Line Cook Bryan isn’t proud of the food that comes out the kitchen and Robert blames Henry.
Henry seems like he has given up and doesn’t want to cut his menu down for fear of losing more customers.
Judy doesn’t feel Robert isn’t fit to run the front of house and Line Cook Josh started working at the restaurant due to it’s reputation but it is now gone.
The renovation team clear the restaurant and Robert is conscious of losing the family photo’s that have been on the wall for more than 20 years.
Gordon inspects the kitchen, in the walk in he finds three trays of dry meatballs, trays of uncovered, undated meat and slimy veal.
In the kitchen there is a nacho cheese sauce that both Henry and Robert refuses to eat.
There is a huge vat of marinara sauce and the kitchen isn’t clean.
Gordon moves the hood and oil pours down onto the grill.
This is a fire risk and causes a small fire as some dripped on a lit hob.
Gordon meets with Domenic, who admits he never goes to the restaurant, trusting his brothers and Gordon shows him hidden footage of the restaurant.
Gordon asks Henry out to the Hell on Wheels truck to learn the new menu of updated Italian classics.
Henry tells Gordon the main issue is Robert’s purchasing of food that ends up spoiled as it doesn’t sell.
Gordon tells Henry that he needs to stand up to Robert more and he tells Robert that he wants to make more decisions.
Gordon asks Robert to go home and return for the relaunch evening service and he checks in with Mary.
Mary tells him that there are some bad habits to break and Henry is worried about giving more control to Bryan.
On relaunch night, the staff are given a pep talk and are told that Henry will now be in charge.
The customers love the new decor and Domenic comes to the restaurant in disguise. Bryan looks worried but Gordon give him a pep talk.
Robert will also be dining in the restaurant.
Customers love the new food but Bryan struggles to communicate and the customers are left waiting for food.
The veal is firstly overcooked and on re-fire it is under cooked.
Henry takes over control and communication improves leading to the food leaving the kitchen.
Domenic and Robert both love their food despite the wait for food. Domenic comes into the kitchen and Henry doesn’t recognise him at all!
Domenic commits to helping Henry to keep Robert away from the business.
Robert is happy and believes that Henry has got it.
What Happened Next at Botto’s Italian Restaurant?
Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant is open.
Three months later, Henry reports that the customers love the new decor and food and the restaurant is back to being a hot spot.
Robert is happy that he doesn’t have to be at the restaurant and can focus on the market.
Henry has been able to pass off more responsibility to Bryan and John and is able to be more present in the dining room.
Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant reviews are mixed.
Botto’s Yelp Reviews are mixed. Some diners don’t like the new remodel, calling the chairs wobbly and tables close together. There are compliments and complaints of the new menu, the portion sizes are smaller and there are no longer side salads and pasta provided with entrees.
Botto’s Trip Advisor reviews are mixed with some customers loving the new decor and food and others hating the trimmed down menu. There are also complaints about slow service.
Planning a visit to Botto’s? Check out their website for more info including opening hours.
Botto’s Italian Line Restaurant is 24 Hours to Hell and Back season 3 episode 4, was aired on January 28 2020 and the episode was filmed in October 2019.
More 24 Hours to Hell and Back
Next episode – Seafarer’s Family Restaurant / Halterman’s Eatery
Previous episode – Caneda’s White Rooster
This post was last updated in February 2022.