The inaugural season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on Fox on May 30, 2005, and concluded on August 1, 2005.

This season was taped at Los Angeles's KCOP, a converted former television broadcast facility that previously hosted shows such as The Joker's Wild and Tic-Tac-Dough in the late 1970s to mid-1980s.

Carolann's chicken parmesan received praise, while Elsie's turkey tacos were deemed "not bad" despite the underwhelming presentation.

He also spat out Jimmy's pan-seared stuffed chicken breast, which was overcooked on the outside and raw on the inside, describing it as a "dehydrated camel's turd", and hated Ralph's seared rare tuna and sesame noodles.

Service: In the red kitchen, while Chris had a strong performance and assisted Elsie on fish, Jeff forgot an order of spinach before burning it, and Dewberry almost walked out after struggling on beef Wellingtons.

In the blue kitchen, Wendy needed Ralph's help to get risotto out, Mary Ellen struggled to assemble Caesar salad, Michael was chewed out by Ramsay for complaining about the heat, and Mary Ellen undercooked Wellingtons while bickering with Andrew over control of the meat station until sous chef Scott stepped in.

When one of the red team's tables, tired of the long wait, attempted to have pizza delivered, Jean-Philippe told them they weren't allowed to, only for a customer to shove him in the chest.

As a tie-breaker, Ramsay deemed that the red team's dishes went together better, giving them the win, while criticizing Andrew for serving peaches with ribeye and Jessica's pineapple and potato tartare.

In the red kitchen, the appetizers were praised despite Jeff needing Michael's help after putting unequal amounts of lobster in two spaghetti.

In the blue kitchen, Wendy filled pasta with cold water instead of hot, causing her to undercook the spaghetti she served to the critics.

In the blue kitchen, while Jessica performed well on meat, Andrew brought up the wrong garnishes, and Mary Ellen had three risottos returned for being bland before forgetting an order of tuna.

Elsie put in a strong performance on meat with Chris' encouragement, helping the red team finish five tables ahead of the blue and giving them the win.

Elsie got confused over what entrees were on order, and Chris was scolded for saying "Oui chef" to Ramsay, but Michael was strong on desserts.

The dishes the blue team served were satisfactory but slow, partially due to Michael convincing the customers to order as much lasagna as possible.

Andrew struggled to give times on his short ribs before overcooking them twice, which Ramsay compared to a dog's dinner.

Jimmy was the worst waiter of the night, as he brought the wrong order to a table while some customers complained about him sweating a lot.

Ramsay called Jimmy a bullet dodger for the second time, but ultimately eliminated Chris for failing to live up to his executive chef position.

However, Andrew tried to cover the latch with masking tape only for sous chef Scott to stop him, as well as confiscate the blue team's needed materials from the storeroom.

The red team had a strong performance, their only problems being Jimmy undercooking and then overcooking scallops before Michael helped him, and later serving bland penne pasta.

Andrew blamed Ralph for insisting on putting halibut on the menu and ignoring his suggestion, prompting Ramsay to eliminate him for his confrontational attitude and inconsistent performances.

In addition, Ramsay chose Ralph to assist him at the hotplate, and gave sous chefs Scott and Maryann the night off.

Jessica had a pan catch fire on the meat station before running out of filet mignon, forcing Michael to retrieve some from the storage room.

Jimmy accidentally threw away a complete lobster dish, forgot to cook risotto, and talked back to Ramsay.

Service: For winning the challenge, Elsie assigned the chefs to their stations; Ramsay reassigned the team twice due to inadequate communication.

Elsie struggled to prepare the penne appetizer and grew more and more lost and uncommunicative as the others refused to help her, so Ramsay sent her for a bathroom break.

Due to the lack of cohesion and teamwork in the kitchen, Ramsay refused to declare a Best of the Worst and stated that would make the nominations himself.

Jessica got overwhelmed on souffles and needed help from Ralph and Michael, but eventually service was completed and every customer was served.

Michael's braised short rib ossobuco won with a 12–6 score over Ralph's porterhouse steak for two.

In the blue kitchen, Ralph left the hot plate to help Wendy on appetizers, and Dewberry put fish stock in spaghetti before getting overheated and nearly fainting, but returned with Andrew's encouragement.

Ramsay praised Michael and Ralph, saying one thing would help him make his decision: the number of customers who would return.