Where would Guy Fieri visit if he were in Boston.

[cheecherz]

Simple- where would Guy Fieri eat if he came to Boston. Perhaps he did but I wasn't able to find any results when I searched. I'm not lookin classy places to chow, just good darn greasy places to eat.

[lergnom]

I know a bunch of the places DDD has hit in Florida, etc. and they're about the story, which is fine. Example: making pies with Mrs. Yoder is more important than the pretty ordinary food they serve (and that the pies are really, really sweet). Same with most but not all of the other joints I know they've visited. But they are popular local places.

My daughter ran into the DDD crew at a BBQ shack in rural Mississippi. Same thing but there the food was better. The crew works pretty hard putting material together. She once worked for a production house that makes stuff like this for cable. We may focus on Guy but the shows revolve around production choices, on scene directing and then a lot of editing. The host isn't involved for most of the production.

[nsenada]

I'm sure that Urkel show had a fine hard working crew, too - it's just that the finished product had a little more Urkel in it than I could stand.

[StriperGuy]

Come on, don't be ashamed that you were a huge Urkel fan.

[nsenada]

I admit it - I could hear "Did I do that???" ten thousand times, and it wouldn't be enough.

[mwk]

In two episodes, he profiled Mike's City Diner, which I thought was appropriate for the show.

[Walthamfoodman]

I'll admit GF is over the top but I love the people he features. Hard working folks who make great food day in and day out. We drove to Tiverton RI to go to Evelyn's Drive in and had some great fried clams. It was worth the trip. Also went to Rocco's in San Francisco while on vacation and had the piccata which was out of this world. The only problem was a huge picture of GF that was right over our table!!

[nsenada]

That is true, he does visit some good places. I just find him to be like nails on a chalkboard, same as most of those FN personalities (Giada with her giant head and heavily stage-managed cleavage, barefoot with her annoying "impromptu" parties, etc., etc.)

[Science Chick]

I thought Evelyn's was HORRIBLE.......similar posts all over the NE board. However, we went to a fish place near Clearwater, FL last year that was featured in one of the first DDD shows and it was simply fabulous.

[ecwashere7]

This thread is OFF THE HOOK! I've been laughing my ass off reading this. I agree with Kenji that "What's good?" and "Where would GF eat?" are two very different questions. At the same time, I'm gonna give GF the benefit of the doubt here and assume its the morons at Food Network screwing up the show and not him. I think the concept of the show is a good one; it's what we write about a lot on this board. I just think they're way off the mark with actually finding the really good places.

My advice to you, cheecherz, is to peruse the board and make some searches for specific foods and restaurant types. You'll find endless options that are diamonds in the rough. Some of my faves in the Boston area is Rod Dee in Brookline (Thai), Santarpio's in East Boston, and the Town Diner in Watertown.

[drewinmrblhd]

He went to the Little Depot Diner in Peabody a few months back.

[tysonmcneely]

I don't know where, but it would certainly be DA BOMB!!! He would drive that bus to FLAVORTOWN to the XTREME!!!!!

[nsenada]

Oh, man [pause while shaking head in exagerrated "blown away" fashion] I gotta tell ya - that post was MONEY!

[hotoynoodle]

reading this thread makes me so wicked killah happy i have never seen this guy's show.

[nsenada]

This thread is pretty much a script for it.

[hiddenboston]

His new episode last night featured Crazy Burger in Narragansett, RI. Looked like an interesting place!

[passing thru]

hey, Crazy Burger is actually pretty good. Poochie gets one right!

[hiddenboston]

He was definitely on point!

[nsenada]

Ugh - I forgot about "on point." WTF does that even mean with regard to food?

[StriperGuy]

He used to be a ballet dancer.

[nsenada]

That just conjured up a very disturbing picture, indeed!

[hotoynoodle]

like the elephant ballerinas in fantasia?

[nsenada]

Yes, with pastrami hanging out of their trunks

[StriperGuy]

Wow, that is an awesome image.

[nsenada]

Good tattoo potential...

[hiddenboston]

You guys are too cool for school! :-b

[Kenji]

Maybe it means that the food has merged with his spiked (pointy) hair?

Misuse of popular phrases by applying them to food seems to be part of Guy's schtick. Does it really make sense to say that a sandwich is "off the hook"? It can be cute when little kids talk like that, but Guy's supposedly an adult. The FN execs have obviously decided that their viewers love one-dimensional, clownish, cartoonish personalities.

[Gordough]

Or just maybe they are trying to attract the ever-important 18-34 demographic and they figure that those potential viewers can relate to comments like "off the hook" and are more likely to watch the Food Network if they can relate to the on-screen personality. Obviously someone is watching as I believe DD&D is one of their more popular shows.

[nsenada]

Which is why a want to hurl a brick at the TV every time that phony %^&* Susie Fogelson suggests to contestants on "Next Food Network Abcess" that they should be "less slick and phony."

[dvive]

GREAT place! I've been there many times. The sweet potato fries with the homemade ketchup is awesome. Too far from Boston for this post probably.

[PaulB]

TGI Fridays, one of his clients (I love those ads!!)

[MC Slim JB]

Pretty miserable endorsement deal to choose considering his show's focus, I thought.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[ipsofatso]

Wow tough one - M & M Ribs, if just for the novelty.....not too many Off the Hook places that fit the pitch and fever of the show. A 'classic' thin sliced roast beef sandwich perhaps - as most of the rest of the US don't know from a beef-cheese-and sauce creation. Then again, Barking Crab or No Names might fit the bill even though the food is so so it works well on TV.

[MC Slim JB]

M&M was on my list precisely because I thought it would be good TV, shooting in that construction company lot with the cranes and dump trucks working away at the nearby sandpit, but they favor places with an indoor physical plant of some kind.

I couldn't bring myself to recommend something with food as bad as the Barking Crab, however scenic.

I can't find the email exchange anymore, but I recall recommending a lot of old Chowhound standbys and personal faves: Angela's, Baraka, Chacarero, Speed's, etc.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[passing thru]

given that he came to Attleboro and went to Morin's, which pretty much has no atmosphere and weak food, he'd probably seek out somewhere lame in Boston to hit up. In Attleboro he'd have been better off going around the corner to Tex's Coney Island. At least that place has some charm.

[hiddenboston]

I sent him a bunch of recs, with the only one on my list that he went to being Mr. Bartley's (which I'm sure a zillion other people told him about as well).

A few I think would be nice for his next season include:

Deluxe Town Diner, Watertown
Santarpio's, East Boston
Denly's, Weymouth
Skip's, Merrimac
Suppa, Lowell
Speed's, Boston

[bakerboyz]

I would suggest the Banh Mi at the Super 88 food court...the best sandwich I have ever had.

[Kenji]

Oh, there are lots of good banh mi places in or near Boston. But "What's good?" and "Where would Guy Fieri eat?" are two completely different questions. For example, GF tends to go to places where they serve things that cling to his facial hair after he takes his customary two huge bites and then starts talking with his mouth full.

[StriperGuy]

Ditto, in fact, I think the Bahn Mi at Mei Sum are a shade better than those at the Super88 food court.

[okra]

My barbershop.

Fix up that spiky mess on the top of his head.

[bear]

Pretty sure I remember an older episode at Kelly's Diner in Somerville.

[twentyoystahs]

i think i remember an episode at kelly's too. definitely one of my favorite diners in boston proper..

[nsenada]

The Food Network's "Poochie" would find Chacacero to be "money" and/or "off the hook."

[MC Slim JB]

Was it Bourdain who coined the Poochie comparison? That's really priceless, so spot-on. But it looks like Fieri is just getting bigger and bigger.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[nsenada]

I think it might have been - and inescapably accurate. To be optimally "in your face" he should probably be "10 percent more rastafied."

[tdmort]

He did go to Mr. Bartley's Burgers near Harvard. I went there too and liked it a lot. The burgers were delicious as were the fries and onion rings. The wait for the burger was longer than you would expect but it was a fun place to people watch and I didn't mind. Have fun - I love Boston!

[MC Slim JB]

His people actually reached out to me for recs, but didn't use any of the ones I offered. I thought LaGrassa's was worthwhile (longstanding family biz, they make their own pastrami, and their pastrami sandwich is the best in town), but I wasn't thrilled with the Bartley's pick. I guess I haven't watched the show enough to understand the formula for selecting places.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Based on the host, I assume they're targeting the "complete and utter d-bag" demographic.

[kimfair1]

He has done bits on Sam LaGrassa and Bartley's Burgers. I would think that Gallaria Umberto would be up his alley, but I hope he doesn't go there, an the lines are already long enough!