by Guy Fieri
More Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
A Drop-Top Culinary Cruise Through America’s Finest and Funkiest Joints
Food® Network
Guy Fieri
with Ann Volkwein
To all the road-trippin’, off-da-hook eatin’
fans of Triple D—that’s money!
Contents
Map
Foreword by Emeril Lagasse
Introduction
A Q&A with “Guido” Fieri
What It Takes to Pull Off Triple D:
A Day in the Life of David Page
How We Find the Funky
The Home Team
Media Krew Yearbook
DD&D Pranks: Hall of Fame
“The Hunch” in Four Easy Steps
Food Riffs
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
Super Duper Weenie, Fairfield, Connecticut
Valencia Luncheria, Norwalk, Connecticut
Wilson’s Barbeque, Fairfield, Connecticut
Di Pasquale’s, Baltimore, Maryland
G & A Restaurant, Baltimore, Maryland
Kelly’s Diner, Somerville, Massachusetts
Mike’s City Diner, Boston, Massachusetts
Mustache Bill’s Diner, Barnegat Light, New Jersey
Ritz Diner, Livingston, New Jersey
Big Jim’s in the Run, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Kelly O’s Diner, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nadine’s Bar and Restaurant, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
South
Manci’s Antique Club, Daphne, Alabama
Alpine Steakhouse, Sarasota, Florida
Matthews Cafeteria, Tucker, Georgia
The Highlander, Atlanta, Georgia
Casamento’s Restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana
Parasol’s, New Orleans, Louisiana
Darwell’s Cafe, Long Beach, Mississippi
Bar-B-Q King, Charlotte, North Carolina
Beacon Drive-In, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken, Memphis, Tennessee
Midwest
Cemitas Puebla, Chicago, Illinois
Paradise Pup, Des Plaines, Illinois
The Original Vito and Nick’s Pizzeria, Chicago, Illinois
BBQ Shack, Paola, Kansas
Bobo Drive-In, Topeka, Kansas
Cafe on the Route, Baxter Springs, Kansas
Dari-ette Drive-In, St Paul, Minnesota
Donatelli’s, White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Victor’s 1959 Café, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Amato’s Cafe, Omaha, Nebraska
California Tacos & More, Omaha, Nebraska
Dixie Quicks Magnolia Room, Omaha, Nebraska
West and Southwest
Haus Murphy’s, Glendale, Arizona
Matt’s Big Breakfast, Phoenix, Arizona
Salsa Brava, Flagstaff, Arizona
Gorilla Barbeque, Pacifica, California
Hank’s Creekside Restaurant, Santa Rosa, California
Hob Nob Hill, San Diego, California
Pizzeria Luigi, San Diego, California
Schooner or Later, Long Beach, California
Studio Diner, San Diego, California
Tommy’s Joynt, San Francisco, California
Harry’s Roadhouse, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Tune-Up Café, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Magnolia Cafe, Austin, Texas
The Cove, San Antonio, Texas
Lone Star Taqueria, Salt Lake City, Utah
Moochie’s Meatballs and More, Salt Lake City, Utah
Pat’s Barbecue, Salt Lake City, Utah
Red Iguana, Salt Lake City, Utah
Acknowledgments
Recipe Index
List of Restaurants
About the Authors
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Map
Foreword
by Emeril Lagasse
How fascinating are American diners, drive-ins, and dives? I remember eating some of my first family meals with my parents at Al Mac’s Diner in my hometown of Fall River, Massachussetts. It was a proud moment for them, and it’s a special food memory for me. Then I realized that my hometown had lots of great diners and drive-ins, especially between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I cherish the memories of clam rolls and buckets of fried clams, hot dogs from Nick’s, cheeseburgers from King Phillip, chow mein sandwiches from MeeSums. Wow—what memories! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
It’s so refreshing to know that America has so many of these special places from pizza to cheese steaks and po-boys to pulled pork sandwiches. From the East to the West, from the Midwest to the South, we are so blessed with these American treasures each serving their own “food of love.” And that, my friends, is what Guy Fieri brings to you in this book: an American journey of very special food, people, and places that he and his amazing team discover and share with you. It’s a journey of some of America’s finest people, places, and stories—and great food.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that the book has great recipes? So take an adventure with Guy across America with a true gem of a book. Hold on tight as Guy puts you in the zone. The American food zone!
BAM!
I’M CONCENTRATING REALLY HARD…TRYING TO RETRIEVE MY BLING!
Introduction
All I wanted was to be a great dad and a chef—to own a restaurant, cook what I want, feed people, make them happy—okay, maybe I wanted to be a rock star, but I can’t play a thing, so that wasn’t going to happen.
But I gotta tell you, I totally dig what I’ve got goin’ on now. It’s taken on a whole new life, and the relationships that I have with the locations we cover is indescribable. I get to shine a light on a real group of people—not the high-end joints with the seventy-five-dollar filet and such-and-such. I get to bring out the kid and adventurer in all of us, and it benefits families, communities, and our country. We’re reminding people to get back to the basics: real food from real people. When I’m on the road, missing my family, I can always bring myself back around because the show has such an amazing impact on the people profiled through more business and expanded opportunities.
Hopefully my industry will say I carried the torch for the mom-and-pop joints. Helping rebuild American culture, one funky joint at a time.
* * *
Yes, this is a real tattoo of me on a real person…I think I’ll let the owner of the ink (Burgermeister Mike Hardin of Hodad’s, San Diego) tell the story:
“I’m covered with tattoos. When I met Guy we hit it off right off the bat—he’s down-to-earth, kinda crazy, and he’s turned out to be a good friend. So my son and I went camping with him and his family, and sitting around the campfire at some point that evening the Guy bobblehead plan was put in motion (and I don’t even drink). And here we are. It turned out very, very well. Credit goes to the artist, Brendon Embrey, at Seth’s Chop Shop, San Diego.”
—Mike
* * *
A Q&A WITH
“GUIDO” FIERI
I’m a Letterman fan, so in honor of Dave and the Top 10…
TOP TEN QUESTIONS I’M ASKED ABOUT TRIPLE D
10) Do you like everything? Uh, no—do you? If I don’t like it, I won’t lie and tell you I do.
9) Funkiest thing you’ve eaten? See “What Funkier Foods Have You Found?,” below.
8) Is the car yours? No. Thank goodness it’s a Chevy, but no.
7) Do you drive the car everywhere? We’ve gone over 150,000 miles the last three seasons. I would be dead and the car would be, too.
6) You’re not as fat in real life as you are on TV—why? Because the camera adds five pounds. (Now do
n’t say, “What, so you have five cameras then?”)
5) Have you ever been to this place, it’s this small place over by this one town by a bridge…? My aunt’s friend’s sisters used to have a place… Okay, let’s take a moment, folks. We’ve done 250-plus shows. Do you really think I’ve been everywhere? Ha ha.
4) What was the place where the guy had on the T-shirt that says “I love ribs”? No idea.
3) Do you really not like eggs? No, I don’t like them just as eggs, but I’m cool with them in dishes.
2) Do you eat it all? No, but sometimes they have to pry it out of my hands because it’s so good. Otherwise I’ll eat so much I’ll go into a food coma.
1) Here’s the number one question everyone asks me—drumroll, please: What’s your favorite diner, drive-in, or dive? IMPOSSIBLE. That’s like asking what was your favorite day of your life! There’s not just a dish, location, or person. I’m happy I’m not able to define one of them as my favorite; that would make it hard to continue on with the show. Instead, I have a ton that go into my top 100 places.
DO YOU EVER BURN YOUR MOUTH SO BADLY YOU CAN’T TASTE ANYTHING? I haven’t burned it that bad, but I’ve burned the top and bottom back of my throat and the side of my mouth, and I had hot cheese smeared under my goatee and burned my chin. Hot grease from a Philly cheesesteak ran down my arm and burned my armpit. I’ve burned my feet because I wear flip-flops like a genius in the kitchen. You see, when I prepare for a show I don’t eat before filming because I want my palate to be fresh. Maybe I’ll have a cup of coffee and a banana. But if I’ve sat back and watched this guy make a chili cheesesteak, by the time he’s done I want to eat it—and it’s the hot center that nails me.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE TYPES OF RESTAURANTS TO SHOOT? The funky, more dive-style kind of place is my favorite, not because they don’t all have great merit but because they’re probably the most surprising. You walk in and they’re completely jacked up—and they end up nailing you with some crazy-good food. There might be no sign out front, or it’s in an industrial area of town, or it may look like a drive-up Fotomat, as Paradise Pup does. Picturesque places you just expect will be good, but expect the unexpected and you set yourself up to have your mind blown. Walk into Hob Nob Hill, an old-school San Diego restaurant, and you feel like you’re going to be eating country club food. It’s comfort food, but legit comfort food. I mean, these people are making their own corned beef. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Slow down; you just have to look around.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE FOOD CITIES? Salt Lake City is definitely one of my favorite cities for food; so is Phoenix, and I love Cleveland, too. We’ve shot some stuff down there that I am just a fan of. One of the things I tell people is if it’s a really hot or really cold climate, it’s likely that people will have good food there. My theory is it’s because you have to spend more time indoors. Now I’m not saying that you can’t find great places elsewhere—I’m just saying the likelihood is high for great eateries in these places.
WHAT FUNKIER FOODS HAVE YOU FOUND? There’s food that I probably would not go to a restaurant, look at it, and say, “I will have that, that sounds fun.” Like the turducken at Alpine Steakhouse—hang on a second, you’re going to stuff a chicken into a duck into a turkey and cook it how long? And I’m going to eat it? Sometimes my producers really have to challenge me to take a bite. They’ll say, “It’s okay if you don’t,” and I end up saying, “Give me the lamb’s tongue.” If I say I like it, I like it; if I say I love it, it’s off the hook, then it’s off the hook. If I don’t like it, you’ll never hear me say, “MMMM, this is delicious.”
So I’ve had chicken gizzards; lamb, beef, and calf balls; calf brain; pig ears; pig tail. But at the bottom of my list, unquestionably, not even if hell freezes over or lottery money is offered: I WILL NOT EAT LIVER. You could hide keys to a Lamborghini sports car under a piece of liver, and even if you told me they were there, it would end up being somebody else’s car, even though I really feel compelled, especially when it’s a signature item for these folks, to eat it. And no, I do not like peanut butter or caviar on burgers. One thing we probably won’t see on the show is a liver and egg sandwich or a lot of sweets. This is me, Guy Fieri, and hey, it’s my road trip.
WHAT IT TAKES TO PULL OFF TRIPLE D
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DAVID PAGE: NOTES FROM THE CREATOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
As a native New Yorker, I was probably born to create Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Diners have always been a part of my life. But more than just diners, I’ve always loved all the little places, the mom-and-pop joints, the local favorites that serve up real food made by people who care. When I went to college in Oklahoma that meant the café with the killer chicken-fried steak. When I worked at a television station in Houston it was Greek cooking at a joint on the ship channel. When I worked overseas for NBC News it was weisswurst at the outdoor stand under the elevated train in East Berlin. And the falafel joint outside Tel Aviv. As my daughter, Hannah, said to me, “Every time we talk about a place you’ve been to, you talk about the food there.” She’s right. For me at least, traveling is a chance to search out more local food. And Triple D has proven I’m not alone.
I’m also far from alone in making the show. In addition to having the most talented and remarkable host in the business, I’ve been lucky enough to assemble a staff that’s the best of the best. No one works harder or better than they do. And much of the pleasure of doing Triple D is the constant collaboration—folks in and out of my office all day, others on the phone, reviewing our work together, changing it, improving it, everyone committed to making it the best it can be. And it’s all happening at the same time. While we’re shooting, writing, and editing segments and episodes for seasons three and four, we’re researching segments for seasons five and six, and scouting and scheduling cities to visit for seasons seven and eight. And always double-checking everything to make sure our standards keep going up—that no one becomes complacent.
So, how’s it work? Well, first we have to decide where to go. Not as easy as it sounds. We want as much geographical diversity as possible, but you can’t just throw a dart at the wall map and say, okay, we’re shooting there. Logistically, we ask if the place will work when we want to go. If it’s upper Michigan and our shoot window is December, we have to consider if the Camaro will end up in a three-foot snowbank. Are there any conventions in town booking up the hotels? Can Guy and the crew get there on time from wherever else they are? And the biggest question of all: How’s the food? There are a few cities—sorry, I’m not gonna tell you which ones—that simply have proven unbookable because there aren’t enough places with food and story good enough to qualify for the show. But our research staff is the best. If it’s there, they’ll find it.
Once they do, the producers take over. They digest the research, call the restaurants, dig even deeper, and then talk with Guy and me about the dishes to focus on and the elements of the story that are the most interesting. Once we’ve got a plan, they start preparing in detail for the shoot. What foods do we need, how many steps are involved, how many times will we need to make various parts of the dish to get close-ups. They plan each shoot day down to the minute to ensure that everything runs like clockwork (well, almost everything—you just can’t plan for the restaurant owner who accidentally pours scalding water down Guy’s leg, causing him to jump into the prep sink to avoid a nasty burn).
On location, the shoots start early. Which means my day back at home often does, too, with phone calls from the field, usually questions or new ideas from a producer or crew, sometimes other issues—like what to do when the Camaro suddenly won’t start (and, oh yeah, that happened while Guy was shooting in it, and he ended up stuck in the middle of an intersection). When he’s not in the middle of that intersection, Guy and I will confer as well. He’ll often call with a new item or some other change to the plan now that he’s actually seen the location. And we’ll go over what he’s planning to say in the very beginning of
the segment when he’s driving up and heading into the restaurant. That’s critically important—because Guy has to summarize the reason we’re here and telegraph the great ride that’s to come—and it can’t be changed once the shoot is done and the tapes are back in the office. And the ideas for those are his—it’s essential that what he’s telling the viewers comes from his perspective, his experience, his real reaction to the place. Occasionally I’ll correct his pronunciation of the New York Jewish dishes I grew up with. He’s got Mexican and barbecue down pat.
