24 Hours to Hell and Back – South Boulevard | SoBo – CLOSED
In this 24 Hours to Hell and Back episode, Gordon Ramsay visits South Boulevard in Little Rock, Arkansas.
South Boulevard is also known as SoBo and sits on a busy main road in Little Rock.
Owner Jermaine opened the restaurant a year ago to pay tribute to his Korean mother to serve Korean infused american food but he is $200,000 in debt.
He has no restaurant experience but thought if he put the staff in place it would run itself and avoids issues in the restaurant.
Head Chef Tarsha has no restaurant experience and has no idea about Korean food whilst waitress Victoria runs the restaurant.
Jermaine’s girlfriend Whitney doesn’t believe he knows how to run the restaurant.
She has quit her job to help him in the restaurant but it is causing a strain in their relationship.
Gordon arrives undercover as an audio crew member and sends in Alex Hall, a chef from his Hell on Wheels truck undercover in the kitchen.
The kitchen is unorganised chaos and Gordon annoys everyone with the mic!
The food is sat on the pass and goes cold.
There is cross contamination as everything is cooked on a dirty grill, the food is reheated and the food is sprayed with a chemical.
Gordon goes into the dining room and asks the waitress to gather the staff before removing his disguise.
He shows footage from his hidden cameras showing a filthy kitchen, rotten produce and clueless management.
Gordon reveals that Alex is from his team and she goes into the kitchen and brings back a rancid tub of prepacked salmon and very old asparagus.
Tarsha is defensive and Gordon asks the customers to return in 24 hours for a relaunch.
Gordon asks to meet the staff and they are loyal but embarrassed.
Victoria admits she has had to pay for ice out of her own pocket.
Whitney reveals that she had tried to talk him out of opening the restaurant and he admits he has no idea of running a restaurant.
In the kitchen, Tarsha admits that the kitchen hasn’t been cleaned in 8 months and the fridge doesn’t work.
Despite this there is produce stored in it including rancid pulled pork and slimy chicken strips.
Tarsha is struggling and admits that they don’t get paid on time, sometimes they are paid late or by cash and the cheques bounce.
Gordon takes Tarsha and Jermaine out to the Hell on Wheels truck to show them the new menu.
He speaks with Jermaine about the restaurant and he admits he is scared of failure and bringing shame to the family.
Gordon shows him footage of his mother who has been supporting him financially by investing in the restaurant and paying his child support.
She says she would have been able to retire if she didn’t have to help him.
He brings in his parents to try and help as he is struggling.
They tell Gordon he can’t cook, is happy to stand back an let others do the work and they want him to sell the restaurant.
Gordon asks them to stop funding the restaurant and returns to check on the progress of the renovation.
At the Hell on Wheels truck Gordon talks to Alex about Tarsha and she needs support to relaunch the restaurant.
Gordon brings in three local chefs to audition for the Head Chef position and reveals the range of new kitchen equipment to Jermaine.
All three dishes are excellent but his favourite is Michael’s duck dish and he is hired.
Prior to relaunch Jermaine doesn’t know the special and struggles to describe the special to the staff even after being told what the dish is.
On relaunch, Jermaine is nervous speaking to the customers and has to be coached by Gordon and doesn’t know where the tables are.
The customers love the new decor and the kitchen is off to a good start.
Jermaine is sent into the kitchen to expedite but struggles in this role too.
After a few hiccups the relaunch is a success and the customers love the new food.
Gordon’s parting advice to Jermaine is to consider selling the restaurant.
What Happened Next at South Boulevard / SoBo?
Three months later, Jermaine reports that customers are up.
Tarsha has embraced the new changes to the menu and new dishes have been added.
Jermaine and Whitney are happier and she reveals that Jermaine has been more hands on in the restaurant.
South Boulevard is closed.
South Boulevard closed in February 2020.
They closed the weekend before the show aired to prepare for the episode being aired but never reopened.
According to the landlord the rent was rarely paid on time.
The unpaid rent forced them to change the locks on the property after trying to keep the restaurant open until the episode aired.
SoBo had lost their liqor licence in January over unpaid dues to nonpayment of taxes.
South Boulevard reviews were mostly very positive after the episode was filmed.
South Boulevard Yelp Reviews are positive with compliments to the new menu, atmosphere and service.
South Boulevard is 24 Hours to Hell and Back season 3 episode 9, was aired on February 25 2020 and the episode was filmed in November 2019.
More 24 Hours to Hell and Back
Next episode – Phoenix Upper Main, Little Market Cafe & Jaxon Edwin
Previous episode – Bear’s Den Pizza
This post was last updated in February 2022.