Do you ever go to restaurants after seeing them on TV?
 

I'm referring to shows such as "Drive Ins, Diners, and Dives", "Man v. Food", or any other show on The Food Network, Travel Channel, or the like? If so, what was your experience like?

Just this past weekend the wife and I spent some time in the NW Suburbs (Chicago) and decided to head to a spot we've seen on a local program called "Check Please". The premise is that three strangers submit their favorite spot to each other, and each person check's out the other two's choices. Then they all sit down with a host and discuss what they had, what they liked about the place, and what they didn't like. The restaurants do not know the people have been there for the show until after the fact, so they get no special treatment or attention. Since it's local (Chicago PBS), we've made it a point to try a few places. We've also made plans when traveling to hit up places we've seen on other shows. Basically every time it's been a big hit.


Last Saturday was Kuma's Corner. It's near Belmont and Elston for you Chicago peeps. It is basically a burger place, but with a heavy metal flair. We saw it on "Check Please", but it was also on the Food Network recently. They declared it the IL representative of "50 burgers from 50 states". It's basically a tiny bar. The fire code posting said 41 people were allowed in the building at a time. While waiting for a table, I counted a little over 80, not including 6-8 workers. :p The place opens (or so the sign and website said) at 11:30 on Saturday. We show up at 11:28 and it's an hour and a half wait for a table. :eek: We decide to do it, and fortunately someone clears out of a spot at the bar just a few minutes after we arrive. We are sitting near the kitchen and can watch them making all the food (it's open to the bar area). Awesome looking EVERYHING. Homemade mac and cheese with a huge list of toppings to mix in, pulled pork over french fries, and massive burgers with very unique combos. Basically every burger is named after a heavy metal band, and they tend towards hot and spicy toppings. You can get everything from bourban glazed pears to goat cheese, to poblanos, to fried eggs on your burger. The servers were very tattoed and very friendly. We had some mac and cheese as an appetizer (took a TON home, huge portion) and each got a burger. Mine had fresh jalapenos, pepper jack, and thick cut bacon. It was awesome. The place has a very unique atmosphere. Most of the customers are 20-30s, but there were some suburban families there. Heavy metal music was cranked, all the servers fit the scene, lots of dark artwork and photos, quite a unique place. Worth the experience, and I'd recommend it for any burger lovers, or even heavy metal music fans (I'm not one, but it wasn't so over the top as to be annoying), who have the chance to stop in.



Some of the other places I've been able to hit up that were recommended from similiar shows are Ben's Chili Bowl (Washington DC, before Obama put Ben's on the map), Peter Luger's (Brooklyn), Charlie Trotter's (Chicago), Lou Mitchell's (Chicago), Superdawg (Chicago), and a few others.

I'd be more than happy to give more detailed descriptions of some of the others if anyone is interested.

What a neat place, thanks for sharing Borla.
I haven't been to any restaurants after seeing them featured on TV - neat idea. Though my family frequently visited obscure state parks and historic landmarks after seeing them on Huell Howser's California's Gold. They were always better in person.

We hit a local hot dog place that was on Diners Drive-ins and Dives. It was OK, but my son (6 at the time) thought it was amazing to be in a place that had been on TV.

We went to a place in San Diego called Studio Diner after seeing it on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It is 24hr diner that is very much like the old 50's diner in style, the food was awesome and worth the road trip in the middle of the night. Why try out a 24hr diner if its not in the middle of the night? :lol:

They have one dish, a lobster roll, that is made from lobster flown in from Maine everyday. This is the most expensive dish but smrt said it was totally worth it.

Everything was delicious and served in very generous portions. We can't wait to go back again. :thumbsup:

I've gone to a place here in Wichita (Brint's Diner) that was on DD&D, and I think I probably had the best chicken fried steak in town. I've also gone to a place I saw on that show just because I really wanted to try what I saw Guy eating on that episode. It was potato crusted salmon at The Broadway Diner in Baltimore, and absolutely worth the drive (haha)!

If there was a google map of all the places featured on DD&D, I would immediately start planning my dream road-trip.

Unpretentious scratch-made comfort food like you see that show is rare in Canada.

start planning...

Google Earth map of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives The Racing Geek

I don't just go to ones I see on TV, but also find in print magazines, newspapers, and books. Word of mouth is the best...

I tried Philippes in downtown LA after seeing it on Man vs Food. Been back many times since.

It didn't find anything in Connecticut, and I know of several Connecticut DDD shows. Also, there's only one location marked in NYC.

We took a trip to New York and made a special stop to go to Lombardi's Pizza in Little Italy that we has seen on one of those shows.

I can't remember which one, but it was a compilation show. Lombardi's is the oldest pizzeria in America.

It was well worth it! We are totally spoiled now and what they pass off here in Florida as pizza is just sad.

I have been to a number of the DD&D"s and others in travels to Tuscon , Phoenix, Albuquerque, OKC (I hit many of these as a College student before there was a DD&D) and a few in Denver. I haven't been dissappointed yet. "She who Must Be Obeyed" got the CD's for all the DD&D shows so I suspect I'll be visiting some more spots, in the near future.

Living near Chicago and having the massive amount of quality choices we have here, and having been to NYC and had NY-style pizza there (though it's second best in my mind! :p ), I often wonder if people in other parts of the country realize what they are missing if their main experiences with pizza are Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's, or other big chains.

I wish they would do a trip up to our area, would love to learn about some hidden gems in the greater toronto area.

nothing posted about it on Chowhound?

I meant more the TV show on Food Network. I do check those sites for sure.

I've been to two places in Phoenix that have been on DD&D, never made it to the third.

Oooo, last time we were there we bought two jars of the mustard. Best stuff ever and makes for awesome grilled cheese samiches.


We need to go back...soon!