Handlebar

What happened after

Dive bar and restaurant closed in 2009 with no stated reason; Ramsay reportedly revisited a second time and found it doing well shortly before the closure.

Closure date on record: 2009

What happened on the show

Ramsay called the filet mignon fondue rancid and pointless, dog food dressed up as a dish, and that pretty much captured Handlebar, a dated Mount Sinai dive bar where the bar itself carried the whole operation. Former construction worker Bill Leroy and his wife Carolyn had bought it; Bill swung between moods, and their chef Melissa flatly said she had never had a passion for food and did not consider herself a chef. He did, surprisingly, like the clam chowder, a compliment that stunned even Melissa, but the seafood crepes hid imitation crab and the fondue was beyond saving. When Ramsay pressed Bill simply to admit the food was not good enough so his staff could follow, Bill shut down, muttered that he would not talk to his own dog the way this jackass talked to him, and drove off, leaving Carolyn to keep the visit alive.

After the cameras left

Handlebar closed in 2009 with no reason given, and oddly Ramsay had revisited not long before and found the Mount Sinai bar doing well, which made the shutdown at 23 Route 25A a surprise even to the show. Whatever briefly worked did not last, and Bill, who had walked out mid-episode threatening to return to construction, ultimately let the place go.