Did Gordon Ramsay Change El Greco For The Worse?

The boards over at Chowhound have been quite active over the past week debating whether or not Chef Gordon Ramsay's visit to Austin's El Greco for his Kitchen Nightmares reality program helped or hurt the restaurant. The show filmed there just about a month ago, and the episode will air later this fall.

Bloggers SouthAustinFoodie and AustinIsDelicious both wrote posts about the changes and the new menu, but the commenters on Chowhound argue (and argue again) much more. According to the Hounds El Greco is contractually obligated to serve the new Ramsay-ified menu for a few months. Supposedly Chef Ramsay "dumbed down" the menu offerings, saying that the Greek food was too authentic.

The range in comments is entertaining. No one can agree if El Greco was that good before the filming or now a month after the transformation. According to a follow-up comment on Chowhound, business is still rather slow. Maybe after the episode airs, the tables will be full. Hopefully the kitchen is ready.

· Gordon Ruined El Greco. Can it Be Saved? [CH]
· All El Greco Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]
Gordon Ramsay [Photo: gordonramsaysubmissions/Flickr]