I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU ARE. YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW GOOD FOOD.


Amy and Samy Bouzgala, of Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro in Scottsdale, Arizona, appear on Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Aside from the incredibly poor service and food, they lie about baking the cakes they sell, and most of the photos they use on their Facebook belong to other people. Even worse, they verbally abuse customers and staff, and they keep their employees’ tips for themselves. Ramsey gives up on them, saying, “After about 100 Kitchen Nightmares, I met two owners I could not help. It is because they are incapable of listening.”

The owners didn’t listen because they didn’t want help. They only wanted Ramsey's compliments and praise in order to show up the ‘haters’ and ‘bloggers’ on Yelp and Reddit who are obviously out to get them.

Of course, that didn’t happen and the owners had an epic meltdown on their company’s Facebook page.



(All links under the cut lead to threads in the ONTD post about this topic, except for one.) It starts out pretty tame:


* We do not feel the need to make any excuses for our behavior on tonight’s show.
However we would like to make the following statement:
We do not, nor have we ever stolen or taken any of our servers ,waitresses, or waiters tips at Amy’s Baking Company.

We pay our staff members anywhere between $8.00 to $14.00 per hour to ensure that at the end of the week regardless of it being busy or not, that they go home with money and a well paid paycheck. As do many other restaurants.
They are aware of this when they are hired.
I would challenge any of our employees past or present to come forward with proof that we have ever done such a horrible thing.

So please enjoy the show!
Amy & Samy


A complete lie, obviously. Then we get:


* Samy and I will stand strong through the oppression that has been thrown at us. We ask that our supporters keep us in their prayers, through this rough and unjust time in our lives. Thank all of you, and thank God. We will not bend to the will of these haters and sinners.


And then things escalate very quickly:


* I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU ARE. YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW GOOD FOOD. IT IS NOT UNCOMMON TO RESELL THINGS WALMART DOES NOT MAKE THEIR ELECTRONICS OR TOYS SO LAY OFF!!!!


* WE DO NOT NEED THIS. YOU STUPID PEOPLE. AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING, IT IS NOT A BIG DEAL. THE CAKES WE OFFER ARE EXPENSIVE BECAUSE WE HAVE TO REPACKAGE AND SHIP. DO NOT BLAME US BECAUSE YOU CAN NOT AFFORD QUALITY. THE YELPERS, AND NOW THE REDDITS, NEED TO BACK OFF. YOURE NOT RIGHT JUST BECAUSE OF SOME TV SHOW.


[Note: by ‘ressling’, Amy means ‘reselling’.]


* TO REDDIT. I FORBID YOU FROM SPREADING YOUR HATE ON THAT SITE. THIS IS MY FACEBOOK, AND I AM NOT ALLOWING YOU TO USE MY COMPANY ON YOUR HATE FILLED PAGE.


Then Samy rides to the rescue:


* This is Samy. I am keeping note of all names here. We will be pursuing action against you legaly, and against reddit and yelp, for this plot you have come together on. you are all just punks.


It doesn’t help:


* WE ARE NOT FREAKING OUT. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT A "WITCH HUNT" I AM NOT A WITCH. I AM GODS CHILD. PISS OFF ALL OF YOU. FUCK REDDITS, FUCK YELP AND FUCK ALL OF YOU. BRING IT. WE WILL FIGHT BACK.


Especially when Amy does some bad Photoshop to make it look like they sicced the police on Reddit:


* SEE! WE WILL GET YOU

Please everyone we need to stop. The police have called me, they will be calling you too


And then it continues on like this:


* GO TO SLEEP YOU LITTLE KIDS! DREAM ABOUT BEING SUCCESSFULL BECAUSE WE HAVE A MULTI MILLION BUISNESS WITH SUPPORTERS! YOU CANT BRING US DOWN


* I AM WONDER WOMAN. I AM A GREAT CHEF, A GREAT WIFE, AND A GREAT MOM TO MY KIDS. AND WE WILL BE PARENTS TO A HUMAN KID, ONE DAY TO. WE WILL SHOW ALL OF YOU.


[Note: Amy specifies ‘human kid’ because she refers to her cats as her children. That wouldn’t be too unusual, except that she calls them 'little boys trapped in human bodies' and she also speaks feline.]


* YOU DONT KNOW US!! WE WILL THRIVE! WE WILL OVERCOME! WE ARE STARTING OUR FAMILY, AND WE WILL TEACH OUR CHILD EXACTLY WHAT >>GOD<< WANTS IN THEIR PATH. WE WILL TEACH THEM HOW TO FIGHT AGAINST OPRESSORS LIKE YOU PEOPLE! WE WILL START A GENERATION OF TRUTHFULLNESS AND WE WILL FIGHT TO BRING PLACES LIKE, YELP AND REDDIT, AND HORRIBLE PEOPLE LIKE GORDON TO THE LIGHT


* You people are all shit. Yelp shit, Reddits shit. Every shit. Come to here, I will fucking show you all.


Someone responds to this comment with, “Are you taking reservations for lunch tomorrow?”

Amy's reply is, “WE DON’T LET IN SLUTTY BITCHES LIKE YOU.”

Way to alienate the slutty bitch customer base, Amy!


And the last comment (for now):

* You are all little punks. Nothing. you are all nothing. We are laughing at you. All of you, just fools. We have God on our side, you just have your sites.



The drama made it to Buzzfeed, where you can find plenty of screencaps in case their Facebook is taken down.

Amy has also been convicted of fraud for using someone else’s social security number and taking out a loan.

People swarm to their Yelp page after watching the episode but most of those reviews are removed. However, it’s easy to see from reviews left before the programme was aired that the owners have always behaved this way.

A poster on Reddit submits the theory that the whole place is actually a money laundering operation. [ETA: Post has since been deleted. I'll try to get it from my computer's cache but if anyone finds a screencap in the meantime, let me know. Found a copy of the text on another Reddit thread, copied to the comments here.]

The full episode can be found here on YouTube. This post on eater.com contains a summary as well as a couple of clips from the show.

And ONTD speculates on the most important issue: what Gordon Ramsey would be like in bed.



ETA: Links should now be working properly. Sorry about that!

ETAx2: The drama is picked up by Yahoo and includes a link to a local news report on the episode.

And in a shocking twist, Amy and Samy report that hackers have totally hacked their Yelp, Twitter, Facebook AND website:


* Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy &Samy



But this isn't the first time they've embarrassed themselves in public. A customer leaves a negative review on Yelp and Amy has a delightful overreaction. My favourite part is where she calls him a 'TRAMP' and a 'LOSER'. Article is here and the tv news report is here.


ETAx3: The hackers strike again! Five hours after their last post, someone using the company Facebook account leaves this comment in the middle of the 15,000 responses to their hacking claims:

FUCK YOU ALL ETA: Apologies, everyone! That comment wasn't made by them. I was taken in by a clever forgery.

Sadly, no news on whether the FBI are any closer to catching the culprits.


Forbes has also got in on the action: Six Things You Should Never Do On Social Media

A reporter from a local Arizona tv station visits the shop and has an interesting encounter.

A selection of fun responses to their hacking claims can be found in the comments below.

ETAx4: There's a petition to get the US Department of Labor to investigate the Bouzgalas and their treatment of employees. And eevee has made some fab icons here!

ETAx5: This is the latest post on their Facebook:

Other Side of Amy’s Baking Company Controversy in Scottsdale To Soon Be Told

SCOTTSDALE, AZ. MAY 15, 2013 -- Amy’s Baking Company will host a Grand Re-Opening on Tuesday night, May 21, following unflattering portrayals on national television.

Customers will be able to decide who is correct: a famous celebrity chef or the marketplace that has supported the small, locally-owned business for six years.

When re-opened, a portion of proceeds will benefit a charity organized to bring awareness to cyber bullying.

Seating is limited. Reservations may be made by emailing sjones@rosemoserallynpr.com.

Diners will also have the opportunity to meet, and judge for themselves the character of owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, who have devoted their lives to and earn their living from their small restaurant. The Bouzaglos have been married for 10 years, after Sammy emigrated from Israel.

The owners will likely be holding a press conference before the Grand Re-Opening and answer falsehoods depicted on a reality television show, including assertions that the restaurant confiscates tips from servers.

In fact, wait staff is paid $8-$14 per hour, two and half to nearly five times the standard hourly wage for servers.

Questions will also be answered about what happened to their Facebook page.

Amy’s Baking Company was recently featured on the hit PBS show “Check Please” and has received A+ reports from CBS 5 for kitchen preparedness.

“We are very upset by what has taken place, apologize about the acrimony that has ensued but now must fight back to save our business. We hope and believe much good can result from what has transpired. We ask the public to keep an open mind as we begin to tell our side of the story,” Samy Bouzaglo said.

For more details, please contact Michael Saucier.

I can't decide whether I want Michael Saucier to be a real person or someone who is just leading them on.


In more pleasant news, Katy Cipriano, the waitress who was fired on the show, has participated in an AMA on Reddit. She does have other employment and is doing quite well.

ETAx6: Press conference is off, grand reopening is still on, and future updates can be found in this post.