Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[millennium]

I hate Guy Fieri with the heat of a thousand Habanero chili peppers.

[ohjoy]

Discuss the host here!

[Victor the Crab]

I was in Chicago last weekend and went to the White Palace Grill because it was mentioned on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Does that make me a bad person?

[Victor the Crab]

Was at the White Palace Grill in Chicago last weekend for breakfast. Had Chicken Fried Steak, three eggs over easy and hash browns. Food was great, especially the coffee. Soooo...thank you Guy Fieri?

[Skyfall]

On 8/26/2017 at 1:41 AM, Victor the Crab said:

Was at the White Palace Grill in Chicago last weekend for breakfast. Had Chicken Fried Steak, three eggs over easy and hash browns. Food was great, especially the coffee. Soooo...thank you Guy Fieri?

All hail Guy! Premature? Heh.

[Skyfall]

On 8/26/2017 at 1:36 AM, Victor the Crab said:

I was in Chicago last weekend and went to the White Palace Grill because it was mentioned on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Does that make me a bad person?

Not at all!

[Jellybeans]

On 8/25/2017 at 11:36 PM, Victor the Crab said:

I was in Chicago last weekend and went to the White Palace Grill because it was mentioned on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Does that make me a bad person?

Was it good?

[Skyfall]

4 hours ago, Jellybeans said:

Was it good?

Check the past experience thread for his thoughts ;)

[Victor the Crab]

5 hours ago, Jellybeans said:

Was it good?

Oh yeahhhh! :)

[hula-la]

On 2017-08-25 at 10:36 PM, Victor the Crab said:

I was in Chicago last weekend and went to the White Palace Grill because it was mentioned on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Does that make me a bad person?

My sister and I travelled to Tacoma, Washington for a concert in the spring and specifically looked for a place to eat that was on the show. Plus, it was southern food, and there's no southern food in our neck of Canada. 

[gingerella]

Guy Fieri is a disgusting pig. I hate watching him stick his fingers into the food the cooks are making then lick his fingers. I hate watching him shove food into his face, slopping it in like a pig. I hate this guy. But I like the places he goes (I feel dirty and ashamed with myself for saying that). I feel like there are a lot of restaurant owners who, after he leaves their establishment, shake their heads and say ' What a schmuck...'

[Skyfall]

Or they know going in that they batch they are making won't go out to customers. No way they film the cooking while the restaurant is open for most of these places. They likely film the cooking while closed then when it's open they film the rest of the segment.

[Aunt Catfish]

Hubby and I travelled to Cleveland and visted the Parkview Nite Club.  The owner came out and talked with us.  He was impressed that we journeyed all the way from central Kentucky and could not have been nicer.  Good food and good times.  Old Guy has probably done more to boost business for the establishments on his show than anything short of an act of God could accomplish.  I'm thinking these entrepreneurs really appreciate it.

[Skyfall]

3 hours ago, Aunt Catfish said:

Hubby and I travelled to Cleveland and visted the Parkview Nite Club.  The owner came out and talked with us.  He was impressed that we journeyed all the way from central Kentucky and could not have been nicer.  Good food and good times.  Old Guy has probably done more to boost business for the establishments on his show than anything short of an act of God could accomplish.  I'm thinking these entrepreneurs really appreciate it.

Just base on the fact there are quite a few he brings onto his other shows, he must be friendly behind the scenes as well.

[SPLAIN]

We have visited several places that were featured on DDD. Every single person who owned the businesses all said the same nice things about Guy. I kept expecting someone to just spill something about him that wasn't not-so nice. He even made two appearances in our area for two segments in two different seasons. I had planned to show up to check out the filming but, I had to work and wasn't able to make it on time. One of our first places to visit was this joint in Las Vegas. It was a dive that Guy visited often when he was in college nearby, I believe. Great food!

[RealityCheck]

Guy Fieri is heading back to some of his all-time favorite Diners, Drive-ins and Dives spots on new series Triple D Nation, beginning on Friday, July 13th at 9pm ET/PT.
 

Quote

 

On this all-new spin on DDD, Guy checks in on some of the most memorable joints he has previously visited to see how they have been doing, and to get a taste of some of the new and classic recipes they are dishing out.  It’s a walk down memory lane in each episode as Guy showcases four of his favorite spots to catch up with his chef buddies he’s met along the way and see what they have been up to since they last appeared on DDD.

On the premiere, Guy finds things have changed a lot for his poke buddies at Big & Littles in Chicago.  In Denver, it’s a second serving at a unique ‘triple threat’ location that is part bar, part pizzeria and part biscuit shop, where they are dishing out breakfast biscuit sandwiches and a couple of new late-night Italian options.  Over at The Shanty, in Wadsworth, IL, the owner reminisces about how DDD changed his life and his menu with new dishes, including braised pork shanks and goat cheese wontons.  Finally, in Seattle, a return to Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives first, and only, Trinidadian joint reveals their new take on an old staple – fry bread.

 

[fonfereksglen]

This may be the wrong place, but the lack of hygiene when the ridiculous overgrown teenage acting host is tasting the huge batches of food is cringe worthy.  Especially all the pretend  jewelery around the food.  I don't understand why he hosts so many programs.  Probably a nice guy, but his act is ridiculous.

Also, all the unprotected facial hair on many of the diner men dragging too close to the cooking food!  I am sure much of this is producer driven, but .......

We have been to several Food Paridise places.  However, no matter what the show or place, it is all sponsored one way or the other.

Edited July 8, 2018 by fonfereksglen
More stuff mo one will care about.

[Skyfall]

5 hours ago, fonfereksglen said:

This may be the wrong place, but the lack of hygiene when the ridiculous overgrown teenage acting host is tasting the huge batches of food is cringe worthy.  Especially all the pretend  jewelery around the food.  I don't understand why he hosts so many programs.  Probably a nice guy, but his act is ridiculous.

Also, all the unprotected facial hair on many of the diner men dragging too close to the cooking food!  I am sure much of this is producer driven, but .......

We have been to several Food Paridise places.  However, no matter what the show or place, it is all sponsored one way or the other.

Pretty sure most times they film the cooking segments when no diners are there. Also if you don’t understand why he has so many shows you haven’t looked at the ratings. Even the reruns pull better ratings than a ton of new episodes of the non Guy shows.

[Simon47]

13 things you didn’t know about Guy:

1. He was an entrepreneur at age 10.

2.  He knew he wanted to be a chef since he was a kid. 

3.  He doesn’t believe in kid friendly recipes. 

4. He’d take a wok over the grill any day.

5. His son Hunter is a better baker than he is.

6. His parents were hippies.

7. He’s got a man crush on Masaharu Morimoto.

8. He’s a fierce canner.

9. He loves Asian cooking.

10. He’s a cilantro fan.

11. He watches FN.

12. He hates eggs.

13. He won’t leave the store without two leaves of bread.

14. He’s crazy about kale.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Simon47

[Skyfall]

On 8/10/2018 at 7:42 PM, Simon47 said:

13 things you didn’t know about Guy:

1. He was an entrepreneur at age 10.

2.  He knew he wanted to be a chef since he was a kid. 

3.  He doesn’t believe in kid friendly recipes. 

4. He’d take a wok over the grill any day.

5. His son Hunter is a better baker than he is.

6. His parents were hippies.

7. He’s got a man crush on Masaharu Morimoto.

8. He’s a fierce canner.

9. He loves Asian cooking.

10. He’s a cilantro fan.

11. He watches FN.

12. He hates eggs.

13. He won’t leave the store without two leaves of bread.

14. He’s crazy about kale.

I beleive everyone knows he hates eggs, and that’s 14 things.

[Fostersmom]

RIP Carl Ruiz. I could be mis-remembering, but I believe he got his TV start on this show. 

[Gramto6]

Another new Carl Ruiz episode tonight on GGG. Bittersweet to see him, but sad to know he is gone. I wonder how many more new episodes with him they have in the can??

Edited February 6, 2020 by Gramto6

[meep.meep]

They're making "Take Out" episodes of DDD to benefit a charity that helps restaurant workers who have lost their jobs because of COVID, and as a reminder that you can help out restaurants by getting take out meals during the crisis.

There are four restaurants featured.  Each ships a box of ingredients to Guy's home, gets on a Zoom call, and Guy and Hunter make it in their outdoor kitchen, while the youngest son acts as second camera man.  The episode yesterday (May 1) featured Catelli's, a restaurant in Healdsburg, CA that's a favorite of my brother.  

[cynicat]

John Krasinski had a great segment with Guy Fieri on his Some Good News show.  If you don't want to watch the whole show, you can skip to the 8.10 minute mark

 

[jlc]

I do not understand why Hunter is acting like he is taking over the show. He even said it on one of the shows recently. Why isn't  he getting a job on his own and quit trying to ride his dads name!! I may have to stop watching DDD, and I am a huge fan. I have even traveled to go to some of the restaurants he has been too. 

[Fostersmom]

Other than hearing Guy's restaurants have incredibly crappy food, I've never heard anything bad about him as a person, so good on him for raising money for those in the industry. 

[blueray]

I just caught an episode last night of the take out version. I didn't realize the money was going to charity so I kept thinking I guess he could just drop a few hundred dollars because he can lol. That's great that the money is going specially to support people that lost their jobs at those restaurants. I didn't mind his kids and of course they have a out door fire oven.  I also liked that he mentioned they had lots of left over so they didn't just waste the food or stuff themselves. I will say that I really wanted the pasta from that one restaurant it had a vodka sauce (I think).

Edited May 16, 2020 by blueray

[Skyfall]

On 5/16/2020 at 10:22 AM, jlc said:

I do not understand why Hunter is acting like he is taking over the show. He even said it on one of the shows recently. Why isn't  he getting a job on his own and quit trying to ride his dads name!! I may have to stop watching DDD, and I am a huge fan. I have even traveled to go to some of the restaurants he has been too. 

He graduated college AFAIK so I doubt he's serious but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if Guy was getting burned out or if the wife wanted him home more and he would hand it over.

[Grizzly]

I'm loving these celebrity take out episodes.

[Grizzly]

I've always wanted to see the premier episode. More shows should do this. Show their first season. Not everyone has seen these things from the beginning. Be interesting to watch.

[Vermicious Knid]

Was this new Philadelphia episode the only one they managed to film before shutdown? I've been enjoying the Takeout version too, more than the regular episodes. It's fun seeing Guy actually cook and all the bye-play and mocking between the chefs. They also seem to be competing on who can send the best extra stuff with the food.

[eyesopen]

On 8/15/2020 at 3:54 PM, Grizzly said:

I've always wanted to see the premier episode. More shows should do this. Show their first season. Not everyone has seen these things from the beginning. Be interesting to watch.

I use the search episodes and occasionally chose to watch a few reruns of some earlier episodes.  It's kinda fun.  It's neat how the final game went from find 20 items in 2 minutes to solve 5 food clues and then find the item in 2 minutes.  Both challenging under time pressure.  Like I blanked out at holiday protein that shares name with a Middle Eastern country.  Duh, I could have blanked out because of the time pressure and could have missed out on solving that clue.

I've been watching the various Guy's shows.  They're light entertainment.  The GGG covid edition is ok, some episodes a bit more entertaining than other ones, personal preference only.  The cynical part in me thinks that they try to subtly steer that each GGG judge take a turn in winning.  Recently, it was Antonia's turn.  It's kinda funny she's 

Spoiler

was scared of spinning the money wheel and so she took an amount instead $12,000 I think.  I guess she wanted to make sure she didn't get $0 or $5000.  Even her moderately priced restaurant could need as much cash as possible that she could raise.

 

[magenta]

So we all know what an aversion guy has two eggs 

I don't know if it's just over easy eggs over scrambled eggs or deviled eggs but we all know he hates them

so he is at a pizza joint and the lady is making him a pizza ,homemade crust homemade sauce ,lots of nice ingredients she shoves it in her Stone fired oven but right before it's done she pulls it out and plops to eggs on top and puts it back in for a few seconds.

now I love eggs but those eggs were Raw and the cameraman has got his camera glued on guy.  

 she pulls it out and cuts right through the yolk on both and those eggs just ran all over the place, to make sure it was everywhere she took a spoon or a spatula in spread them all over that pizza.  my husband is falling out of bed laughing.

Guy finally took a bite and said "good crust"

[Vermicious Knid]

Hunter is being features on all the new episodes. I fear this is a precursor to Hunter having his own show. FN could have thrown it in as part of the $80m contract.

[chick binewski]

That Rocco Dispirito bit was goofy. But the Butcher Shop isn't too far away and that skirt steak burger sounded amazing.

[eyesopen]

On 8/13/2021 at 9:39 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

Hunter is being features on all the new episodes. I fear this is a precursor to Hunter having his own show. FN could have thrown it in as part of the $80m contract.

Hunter is on a lot, a lot of Guy's shows.  He has a regular spot now on GGG! I seem that it bothers some people and he doesn't bother me as in being adverse to him, but I don't like him either.  He doesn't have to be an imitation of Guy, but he needs to be a charismatic tv host, and he's...not.  Anyway, it seems for sure in about 5 years Hunter will take over hosting these shows like like Ryan Seacrest taking over for Dick Clark's NYE shows.

On another note, I never thought of going to a DDD restaurants.  It'll be cool, but not something on my to do list.  I'm surprised that DDD showcased restaurants get a major boost in business.  I just thought it was foodtainment.  One restaurant was close to me, I did visit it.  Eh they had a schtick, that was fun, but I don't remember the food being great tasting.  Now I wonder if restaurants kinda mentioned on Chopped get more business because a cook/chef competed.  I once looked up a restaurant of a chef competitor.  It was an Asian noodle fusion joint in some town near NYC.  It seemed nice except for the prices $15-$25 a plate for lunch.  For only casual foods, for me, I can't spend that kind of money.  I don't make enough money to do that, it's pretty much the occasional Olive Garden for me.

[chessiegal]

17 minutes ago, eyesopen said:

I'm surprised that DDD showcased restaurants get a major boost in business.  I just thought it was foodtainment. 

I've been to several places that were on DDD. One was a place I wanted to go to because they have a rep for good food. Evidently all the places get a boost.

[Matt cody]

Dude I watched you show on your own restaurant in Mexico. Dude your a piece of shit... You completely took over from the chef of your chain.  Honestly your biased and a stuffed shirt. After watching that episode I lost any respect I had for you as an honest show host... I think spongebob is really more honest that your show.... Really your a real Californian asshat.... 

[lambertman]

^Guy Fieri, stuffed shirt.

[Vermicious Knid]

For once I'm actually familiar with a restaurant before it was featured on triple D. Have been going to Chickpeas for 2-3 years now, originally discovered courtesy of the local NPR station (Hi KNPR!) when they were sending out restaurant gift certificate for being a member. You ranked your choices by preference off a list and got whatever was available when they came to your name. So first, they did a really good job of disguising how tiny it is inside. There are I think 4 tables, with another 4 outside but those can't be used in winter. It's like, a 10'x20' dining room. That owner/chef? I have never seen him there in all this time. Those 3-4 people behind the counter in their crisp black uniforms never happens either. One person only, occasionally with a manager, wearing black polos. Like so many other places, there's seems to be new staff every time we come. 

The food however is really good. So much that we stopped going to a different Mediterranean restaurant altogether. Not mentioned is that they make their own pita and hummus. I've never had the tandoori chicken because I usually only get that at Indian places but they make good samosas. Also have not had the sultani, but I have had the beef barg. Usually we get one of the family platters. The small is supposed to be for 2-3 people but it feeds 4 easily, with leftovers. As you can see they come with generous sides of salad and rice, hummus and pita along with the kabobs. I don't know how they're going to fit more people in there with the usual uptick from appearing on the show. 

[surfgirl]

Guy can be a supreme asshole, he is childish and churlish and do NOT get me started on him always, ALWAYS trying to put his fingers into large bins, trays, and pots of food and touching everything with his fucking hands. "Oh look! Is this special rice *and he picks up a fist full and then drops it back into its huge container, so now his grubby germs are all over that food. It's disgusting, and he should know better. I love when an old auntie or granny type is the cook and he doesn't dare pull that shit with them. And then there's his obsession with trying to preen to the audience and let us know HE knows about cooking when he cuts off the cook and says things like, 'souvide, right?!', STFU dude.

On the flip side, whomever is his scout for places, does a fabulous job because every time we've eaten at a place on his show, it's been really good food. So make of that what you will. I think it's more a testament to the scouting/advance team than Guy.