Ever been to a place featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives?

If you want to check, list of places he has been is here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/guys-diners-drive-ins-and-dives/index.html

Was it as good as he said? Did the show seem to affect the place? I imagine it is good for business.

Guy has been to four places here in my home town. Three of the four are just as portrayed. THe fourth, Joe Tess’s, specializes in fried carp. It is even nastier than it sounds. I have to admit that it does a massive amount of business, but I wouldn’t eat there for any reason at all. The place smells awful.

Dixie Quicks, Amato’s Deli and California Taco are possible even better that they look on the show.

We’ve eaten at several places he’s featured El Indio in San Diego, Baby Blues BBQ in Venice, The Mad Greek in Baker, Hodad’s in Ocean Beach, and maybe a couple of others. All have been excellent to outstanding.

Hubby and I went to Joey K’s in New Orleans. We both had the Jambalaya which was decent enough but it truly had the absolute BEST blackberry cobbler I’ve ever eaten ANYWHERE. I can’t even think about it because it’s so far away from me that it makes me depressed that I can’t get anything even close to it here in Virginia.

bobby flay challenged a richmond, va barbequer and lost. since then the guy has jacked up his prices and is pushing t-shirts that say flay slayer. it’s good but significantly overpriced as far as bbq goes.

I’ve been to Chino Bandido here in Phoenix (well, the Chandler location, specifically). I actually discovered it because of DD&D. The food is excellent and varied, and I love the atmosphere. I’ve found that restaurants, either chain or local, where the employees seem genuinely happy to be there, is exceedingly rare, but the folks are always happy at CB. I love to go there and relax with a book and awesome food, and I’m always taking friends and family there.

I tried to visit another Phoenix locale DD&D featured, a gelato place, but they had unfortunately closed down. They looked really good, too.

I was just going to mention the Chino Bandido - a couple of us went to Phoenix for a long weekend vacation and one guy really wanted to eat there. General take is that it was OK, nothing special.

I’ll admit the entrees can be a little hit or miss, although they’ve got a few good ones, but the pork fried rice and black beans are incredible. It’s not a high-end place, definitely. It’s more like really damn good Chinese fast food.

I’ve been to Tufano’s in Chicago. A friend saw it on DD&D, and we went there (with her & her husband) when we recently vacationed in Chicago. It was pretty disappointing. Out of the 4 dishes we tried, 2 were decent, 2 were just OK. Given that it was very out of the way from where we were staying, it really wasn’t worth the travel time. And for the record, we weren’t looking for anything fancy - just good homestyle Italian. Hubby had spaghetti & meatballs. The red sauce was bland, the meatballs were nothing to write home about. Same with my Veal Parmesan - bland sauce, leathery meat. I’ve been to LOTS better Italian places for the same price, and I’d be willing to guess there are a ton that are way better in Chicago.

The lemon chicken at Tufano’s makes up for all it’s other shortcomings. Truly a world class dish and the only thing I will order there.

DDD did a spot for the Wiener and Still Champion in Evanston but it hasn’t aired yet.

14, apparently.

Hank’s Creekside
Taylor’s Automatic Refresher
Russian River Pub
Willie Bird’s
Tick Tock Diner
Skylark Diner
Hightstown Diner
Tommy’s Joynt
Jamie’s Broadway Grille
Bubba’s Diner
Sol Food
Rocco’s Cafe
Dottie’s True Blue Cafe
La Texanita
Wilie Bird’s and Tommy’s Joynt - bleh, not so hot at all.

Everything else was good stuff, though I haven’t seen his episodes for most of them.
Bubba’s Diner and Russian River Pub were 2 we checked out because we did see the show and both were great.

It’s been like 20 years since I’ve been to the NJ diners though, with the exception of the Skylark, where my sister was a server until a couple of years ago.

Sol Food is the only one I’ve been to both before and after he visited and it’s hard to say if he had an impact on business, there is always a line out the door and down the block. Until recently it was the only place in the area serving Puerto Rican food and was a must stop for me. Santa Rosa’s since got its own with the opening of El Coqui a few months ago. Yay!

And I’m happy to see La Texanita on the list. It’s one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in town.

Funny–I just saw the show where he visited North Pole (and surrounding area). I’ve been to two places featured in that show, The Pagoda chinese restaurant, and The Cookie Jar. Neither were anything special, but both were decent.

I’ve been to Mike’s Chili Parlor in Seattle, and in fact was there when they were filming the episode. It is possibly my favorite place in the whole world, been going for years.

The downside is that if you do the experience right, you’ll feel terrible the rest of the day. That’s why I only go there for workday lunches.

I’ve been to Taste of Peru in Chicago, which will be on an episode on February 1. (It doesn’t appear on the list on the OP’s link.) It was pretty good, but I probably should have ordered something more out-of-the-ordinary. I ordered something that was essentially beef stew. I’d go back, though. Next time I should get some ceviche.

The grilled beef heart at Taste of Peru is good.

I’ve been to The Mad Greek in Baker, CA several times.

People really actually love the Mad Greek? I thought it was blah and then was filled with rage when they charged me $1.50 for what was literally a thimble sized cup of feta.

Didn’t say I loved it. :wink:

But when you’re in the middle of Nowhere and you want something other than burgers, it’s a good place to stop. (And while it’s not the BEST Greek place, it’s not bad.)
EDIT: Speaking of Baker, I heard Bun Boy closed.
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Bun Boy closed?? Say it ain’t so! I thought the food there was pretty good. The hotel, though, definitely qualified as a dive.

My list:

The Mad Greek
Falafel’s Drive-In
Ramona Cafe
Los Tapatios
Duarte’s Tavern
Hodad’s
El Indio
Studio Diner
Pizzeria Luigi
Tommy’s Joint
Santa Cruz Diner

I’ve been to Matt’s Big Breakfast, Chino Bandido, Joe’s Farm Grill, and Haus Murphey’s.