Why You'll Never See Bad Food On Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives

Guy Fieri has been tooling around the country in a sweet, sweet Camaro since 2007 for his long-running Food Network favorite, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. That's 32 seasons of everyone's favorite spiky-haired, backward sunglasses-wearing host digging into an array of food trucks, mom-and-pop shops, and burger stands throughout the 50 states — over 1,200 of them so far and counting. Yet, somehow, he never seems to have a bad dining experience. How is that possible? Firstly, for any given episode of Triple D, there is an extensive vetting process. Fans of Fieri can submit their favorite eating spots to Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives by email, while producers reach out to local food writers and grill them about which hometown favorites should be featured on the show. Using this method ensures the cream of any given restaurant scene rises to the top. Keeping Fieri's reviews purely positive is also a win-win for both the show and the restaurants that are featured on Triple D. Cheat Sheet explains that the producers of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives warn owners that their businesses will be forever changed, oftentimes upping profits by 200 percent. But given the sheer number of establishments visited, combined with the innumerable dishes sampled, it seems statistically impossible that Fieri hasn't come across a less-than-wow-worthy dining experience in all of his years of culinary exploration. As it turns out, Fieri is a fan of the old adage, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In an interview with The Sporkful, he told host Dan Pashman point-blank that if a meal doesn't cut it for Fieri personally, the footage hits the cutting room floor and is never aired on the show. Still, some eagle-eyed fans believe there are tells that let viewers know what Fieri really thinks of the food. According to some hardcore Reddit users who parse episodes for body language and speech inflections, you can tell he likes something when he eats the whole thing, and he's also not shy about telling the audience. "'Mother, father, that's good." And conversely, you can tell he doesn't love something when he doesn't eat much and just gives the meal generic non-compliments, and on rare occasions, minor critiques. "'The turtle's a little chewy for me.'" Of course, there's another factor. Chefs are on their best behavior when Fieri is filming, as they want to make sure they get a good review. So as a result, Fieri is likely to get their very best cooking effort, meaning he's more likely to enjoy his meal than you might be if you ate at the same joint. Still, occasionally, Fieri gets a bad burger or some subpar Sloppy Joe's, and though he tries hard to disguise it with generic compliments, he has admitted publicly that sometimes, the chefs can just tell that he didn't really dig their food. In an interview on the podcast The Moment with Brian Koppelman, Fieri opened up to the filmmaker about that uncomfortable experience, saying, We'll go to commercial, and they'll go, "'Well, did you like that?' And I'm like, "'Yeah, it was good.'" Fieri says that many chefs are upset he wasn't amazed by their dish, but that it's an unrealistic expectation for him to be wowed by everything he eats. After all, taste is a subjective thing, whether it's musical taste or actual, literal taste. He said, I don't like every song that's on the Rolling Stones album. Fieri added that he willingly gives advice to anyone looking to improve their dishes, so even if you do notice some less-than-enthusiastic descriptions coming out of the star's mouth, or that Fieri only takes a bite before cutting to the next scene, it might not mean you need to skip the dish on your next visit. The restaurant may have gotten some feedback from Fieri and taken it to heart, creating a new version of the dish that is truly out of this world. There's only one way to find out, of course. So, who's up for a road trip? Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Mashed videos about your favorite chefs are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.