Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes!

322 Pages·2008·10.43 MB·English

by  Guy Fieri

Dedication
I could never do this without your love and support. It’s for our benefit that I
pursue this adventure, but you’re also the ones who pay the greatest price when
I’m away on the road.
So missed and so appreciated.
Thanks for encouraging me to think outside the box.
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Introduction
NORTHEAST AND MID-ATLANTIC
A1 Diner
Blue Moon Café
Chap’s Pit Beef
J.T. Farnham’s
Red Arrow Diner
Bayway Diner
Brownstone Diner and Pancake Factory
White Manna
Tick Tock Diner
Eveready Diner
MoGridder’s
The Dining Car
Silk City Philly
Evelyn’s Drive-in
SOUTH
Panini Pete’s
Benny’s Seafood
Keegan’s Seafood Grille
Scully’s Tavern
Ted Peters
Marietta Diner
Rivershack Tavern
Penguin Drive-In
Harold’s Restaurant
Pizza Palace
Tom’s Bar-B-Q
Dot’s Back Inn
Virginia Diner
Hillbilly Hot Dogs
MIDWEST
Hackney’s on Harms
Smoque
South Side Soda Shop and Diner
Triple XXX Family Restaurant
Joe’s Gizzard City
The Fly Trap
Al’s Breakfast
Psycho Suzi’s
Iron Barley
YJ’s Snack Bar
Franks Diner
WEST AND SOUTHEST
Chino Bandido
Joe’s Farm Grill
Thee Pitts Again
Baby Blues Bar-B-Q
Duarte’s Tavern
El Indio Mexican Restaurnt
Emma Jean’s Holland Burger Café
The Original Falafel’s Drive-In
Hodad’s
Ramona Café
Squeeze Inn
Taylor’s Automatic Refresher
Four Kegs Sports Pub
Monte Carlo Steakhouse
Louie Mueller Barbecue
Mac and Ernie’s Roadside Eatery
Maria’s Taco Xpress
DeWese’s Tip Top Café
Bobby’s Hawaiian Style Restaurant
Mike’s Chili Parlor
Voula’s Offshore Café
Recipe Index
List of Restaurants
About the Author
HOW I GOT MY WHEELS
Take a Trip to Flavortown
Meet the Crew
Copyright
About the Publisher
Introduction
Several years ago, if somebody had told me I was going to win Next Food
Network Star and do all of these shows, my dream show might’ve been, What do
Rock-and-Roll Bands Eat? I didn’t dream up DD&D, but when I was given the
chance to come into these restaurant owners’ lives and share them with America,
that was truly a gift.
So this is how it came together: producer David Page is the creative genius
who pitched DD&D, and Food Network recommended he try me out as host for
a special. So, I canceled some events and flew out on a red-eye to this little diner
—Bayway Diner in Linden, New Jersey. I stumble out of the limo like, “So,
what’s up, guys?” and David, Bunny, and Chico (see “Meet the Crew”) looked
at me like I was naked. I say, “What’s this about, what are we going to shoot?”
So they tell me to go in and ask these questions—like I’m going to listen. So I’m
rockin’ and rollin’ and doing my thing. Twenty minutes go by and David pulls
me outside and says, “What was that?” And I say, “I don’t know, I thought I was
doing what you wanted me to do.” And he says, “Can you do that again?” And I
say, “That? Yeah, that’s what I do at my restaurants,” and he goes, “Oh my god,
this is going to be out of control.” Talking about it now with Chico and Bunny,
they say they were like, “Oh yeah, some jerk-off from California with bleached
hair and flip-flops is going to come and make television—we’re dead. This is
going to be a one-shot wonder.” This show was their baby. (And Mike Guinta,
the owner of the Bayway, has now become a friend of mine.)
The show is about capturing Americana, and it embodies what the food
business is in the United States. Some of the greatest chains originally started as
mom-and-pop restaurants. I’m a small-restaurant owner myself; I know their
marketing budgets are small. So, to have a chance to recognize these family
institutions, these cultural epicenters, is unbelievable. I’m more honored to be in
their presence. They say thank you so much for coming, and I say thank you so
much for existing, because this is what America is about, the opportunity and the
cultural bridges.
I recently went back to six of the diners, more than a year after shooting. I got
goosebumps listening to the stories about how their business has improved and
the successes they’ve shared—I’m just going, you’re kidding me! I don’t think I
could be more passionate about it.
We’ve visited and continue to visit some of the greatest places across the
United States, and this book is just a very brief introduction to some of those
great places.
NORTHEAST AND MID-
ATLANTIC
A1 Diner
EST. 1946 (AS HEALD’S DINER), RE-EST. 1988 * THE GOURMET DINER ON STILTS
This diner in Maine is up on stilts, and the food is on another level, too. In 1946
the Worcester Lunch Car Company built diner number 790 and delivered it right
here, to Gardiner, Maine. Now under its fourth owner, this local legend is
serving up way more than traditional diner fare.
* TRACK IT DOWN *
3 Bridge Street Gardiner, ME 04345 207-582-4804 www.a1diner.com
They’ve got the basics like eggs sunny-side up, chili dogs, or meatloaf with
gravy, but then they’ve also got specials like Szechuan beef sauté, lamb tagine
with couscous, or chicken Marbella. Co-owner Mike Giberson says you can
blame that on Kenneth. Kenneth Harrison is a Seattle transplant who’s given free
reign by the owners to do what he’s feelin’ in the kitchen. (Being an owner
myself, I can say this is a sweet deal.) He does a Greek flank steak roulade
stuffed with garlic, spinach, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, and
feta. It’s bananas. And as Kenneth notes, “Bananas is good.”
The locals have responded well to the new dishes, and at a diner that’s been
running for sixty years, they’ve got some serious regulars. In revitalizing the
diner they had to attract a younger clientele, plus they wanted to make the food
they liked. Like mojito-glazed duck, for example. Kenneth lets the fresh mint
leaves settle into the sugar that makes the rum glaze. We’ve all had moments
when duck has gone wrong; but this is ducklicious.
But don’t think they ignore the diner classics. Mike tells the waitstaff to get a
menu into people’s hands immediately, lest they think all the diner serves is