Episodes of Gordon Ramsay show featuring Central Arkansas restaurants set to air tonight

At left, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is shown in a file photo. At right, the Hell on Wheels truck from his show "24 Hours to Hell and Back" is parked near South Boulevard in North Little Rock. (Dennis Van Tine/Abaca Press/TNS and Josh Snyder/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
At left, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is shown in a file photo. At right, the Hell on Wheels truck from his show "24 Hours to Hell and Back" is parked near South Boulevard in North Little Rock. (Dennis Van Tine/Abaca Press/TNS and Josh Snyder/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Arkansans will finally see what Gordon Ramsay was up to when he visited the Natural State last fall during episodes of his show “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back” airing tonight.

The finale of the third season will show Bear’s Den Pizza in Conway and South Boulevard in North Little Rock. It is set to air from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fox.

Suspicion arose that Bear’s Den Pizza was set to be featured when it temporarily closed and reopened with a revamped, artisanal menu and trendy interior.

South Boulevard appeared to be Ramsay’s next stop when the Hell on Wheels — a vehicle that serves as a temporary kitchen while a "struggling restaurant" is revamped — truck was seen parked along Counts Massie Road north of Maumelle Boulevard the same week.

Bear's Den Pizza owner Brad McCray could not confirm at the time the restaurant would be featured on the show but said they wound up on the program because they applied to a general casting call looking for restaurants interested in a renovation.

He said no one knew what show or even network the restaurant might appear on, and McCray said the team was surprised to learn it would be Ramsay’s show.

Bear’s Den Pizza manager Shelby Ashmore said the restaurant will have a viewing party to watch the show, and he expects a crowd, especially because it will coincide with a Mardi Gras crawfish boil.

Ashmore said he is among the people actually filmed for the episode, and although he didn’t love being in front of the cameras, he came away feeling good about the experience and Ramsay.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking, but overall it was a good experience for us to learn from him,” Ashmore said. “I wouldn’t call him scary or intimidating — I mean when he’s yelling at you he was — but he’s passionate about what he’s doing.”

Owner Brad McCray said the experience was nerve-wracking for him too but for a different reason: he was kept away from the restaurant, so he knew very little about what the interior or new menu would be like before they were revealed.

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“You don’t know what’s going on in there,” McCray said. “You don’t know if you’re going to like it.”

McCray said he was grateful for Ramsay’s help in the kitchen, particularly the new equipment including a pizza oven. The restaurant now cooks all its ingredients from scratch.

The restaurant mostly received positive feedback on the new menu, McCray said, but Ashmore said there was some initial negative response to the increased prices.

McCray said some specials the restaurant was losing money on were removed, and some old favorites and new creations were added to the menu in the weeks and months following the filming.

He said at this point, prices are also not much different than they were before the makeover.

“We really tried to expand the menu and be true to being a pizza restaurant while adding recipes inspired by (Ramsay),” McCray said.

He said the restaurant has also continued its nighttime specials and events, helping keep the core of the restaurant constant.

“We’re still the same Bear’s Den,” McCray said. “We just improved in areas we needed to improve anyway.”

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