BAM!

/is that the guy? yeah, that's him, I think

kombat_unit: So let me get this straight, tourists don't know where the best local restaurants are?

Yeah, if only there was a way for people to look things up before arriving in town. Or helpful people at the hotel desk who I'm sure would not suggest eating at Olive Garden or Guy Fieri's High Density Tourist Feed Lot.

Paris1127: Is it just me or was every sentence in that article a question? Oh god, am I ending my sentences with question marks now? Jesus H. Christ, WTF do I do now?

You sound Irish?

Lets talk frankly about internal cleanliness: Guy Fieri or Nancy Grace? Wait... those are two different people?

Yes. Guy Fieri looks like he stuck his wiener in a light socket. Nancy Grace looks like she wants to put someone's wiener into a light socket.

The Third Man: It is a source of bewilderment to me that Buffalo Wild Wings has locations in Buffalo.

For the same reason Dominos and Papa Johns have locations in NYC. Some people are too stupid to even feed themselves fast food properly.

ColSanders: LockeOak: At least Jimmy Buffet doesn't pretend to be a chef.

No, but he pretends to be a song writer. And it's a hell of a lot easier to avoid Guy Fieri's restaurants than it is to avoid Jimmy Buffet's music. Ugh.

I work in the Florida Keys. Believe me, I know.

Why does the reviewer not follow his rating system?

WHAT THE STARS MEAN Ratings range from zero to four stars and reflect the reviewer's reaction primarily to food, with ambience, service and price taken into consideration.

Then he rates it POOR?

So whats a poor? 3 1/2 stars?

I can haz questions too?

FTFA Guy's American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square

And I stopped right there. Its in Time Square - so of course its going to be a tourist trap for middle aged housewives from Cleveland with god awful food.

pute kisses like a man: that's how toursits are. come to new orleans, a place visited for its food, and you see the tourist traps brimming over the top with out-of-towners savoring the worst food the city has to offer. and getting charged for it. and there are good restaurants within walking distance. sometimes, just next door. but they don't have "Best gumbo in new orleans" on a poster and picture of really big drink specials

Partly that's because in New Orleans, about 12 square blocks of the city are safe, and the better restaurants are typically wedged between two strip clubs.

\what a festering shiathole of a city. I don't understand what the nutria see in the place

They just described every chain restaurant within 3 blocks of Times Square.

I tried watching his show, it gave me a seizure. Now I black out whenever I see blinking lights.

fark you Guy Fieri.

While we have our dander up about how lousy chain resturaunts are, is there a GOOD droid app for finding good non chain resturaunts? Apart from YELP, WHERE, and the other big 'uns. It seems like there should be one, but I haven't found a good one yet.

It would do a lot toward my eating better when I travel.

I always get a chuckle with Red Lobster commercials and their 'this pricing doesn't count in Times Square or Hawaii'. WTF would go to Times Square and eat at Red Lobster?

The Third Man: AngryPanda: fireclown: WTF Indeed: Anyone that walks into that place thinking it's not a money trap for middle-aged couples who DVR his show, then they are dumber than the Guy Fieri's persona.

Great. Now can we do something about the various Jimmy Buffet restaurants?

Or Buffalo Wild Wings?

It is a source of bewilderment to me that Buffalo Wild Wings has locations in Buffalo. It can't be for the tourist trade, because Buffalo has no tourists. And every local knows that even the local sub shop will have wings twice as good for less than half the price. How the hell do they stay in business?

We don't. The only locations in the city of Buffalo closed a couple years ago, and the new one that replaced them is in Williamsville.

I don't dislike BWW, and the place that keeps winning 'awards' for its subs in Buffalo...is Wegmans, FFS. My local pizza place makes wings that suck hard, and the last "sub shop" I saw was in 1990 or so.

I just like more choices in my 'flavors' than margarine+franks red hot or margarine and A LOT of franks red hot....but BWW is a "restaurant" like Dunkin' Donuts is a "restaurant." You go there because you can get a few dozen wings for a party in about 30 minutes, as opposed to waiting hours for LaNova.

The_Fuzz: Why does the reviewer not follow his rating system?

WHAT THE STARS MEAN Ratings range from zero to four stars and reflect the reviewer's reaction primarily to food, with ambience, service and price taken into consideration.

Then he rates it POOR?

So whats a poor? 3 1/2 stars?

I can haz questions too?

Do you see any stars? Then it's zero stars.

NashMcNash: On my first trip to New York (I was 12 or so), my family ate at a McDonald's. We're from West Virginia. Tourists don't know any better.

I found stopping into a McDonalds and a Burger King in Germany to be fascinating.

1. Really popular (the free wi-fi helped)
2. It's educational to observe the differences

TheGreatGazoo: I always get a chuckle with Red Lobster commercials and their 'this pricing doesn't count in Times Square or Hawaii'. WTF would go to Times Square and eat at Red Lobster?

Who would go to Times Square to begin with? Why, the people who eat at Red Lobster, of course!

factoryconnection: Are we still playing this game?

Why would someone on facebook share this article as a RECOMMENDATION to try this restaurant to a mutual friend on travel to NYC near Times Square? Why would they do that when I'd already summarized the article as "Eat Elsewhere?"

Private_Citizen: That the reviewer "asked" so many questions tells me they had moved past giving a bad review, and stepped squarely into revenge territory - as in "Guy Fierri must Pay for this outrage".

Was it too hard to phrase this in the form of a question? Could it be that Guy Fieri's other restaurants are consistently and across the board well above this one?

Private_Citizen: Anger aside, the review describes the exact kind of restaurant I like to avoid: pretentious with crappy food.

Is it too late to completely agree?

It's never too late to completely agree?

BrianGriffin: I used to like Triple D but Fieri's gotten so damn obnoxious lately, All he does is mug for the camera. It's not at all about the food any more, just GF cracking wise. Plus, half the places he goes to now are not diners, drive-ins OR dives. They're just plain restaurants. Can't remember the last drive-in he went to. And stop with wearing the same outfit all the time, esp. the flip-flops. We don't care and making jokes about your own outfit makes you look like a bigger tool than you actually are.

Give me Adam Richman of Man vs Food. He, at least, is genuinely entertaining and seems to love food. And of course, Alton Brown rocks...speaking of which, when will Alton do a new Feasting on Asphalt?

read that as Fisting on Asphault

/So did alton

Food Network hires the worst actors i have ever seen.

Watch the completely fake "Mystery Diners" sometime.

"right there, that guy is STEALING FROM YOU"
"Owner, I know, i know. I am mad."
(camera pans around the place as the manager "empties" the safe)
"He's stealing from you!"

lolz

TheGreatGazoo

I always get a chuckle with Red Lobster commercials and their 'this pricing doesn't count in Times Square or Hawaii'. WTF would go to Times Square and eat at Red Lobster?


WTF would go to Hawaii and eat at Red Lobster?


a little off-topic but still a valid question

tricycleracer: My girlfriend's mom lives on a houseboat in the Bronx (don't ask) and she will only dine at TGI Fridays.

City Island?

If nothing else at least TGI Friday's started in New York. It's not much, but it's something.

I take it back, got nuthin'

Grither: HotWingConspiracy: Why anyone would travel to a food haven and plop their asses down at a TGI Fridays is more than I can comprehend.

Guess what the highest grossing restaurant in Manhattan is!

Yeah, I contributed to it. Wife didn't want to walk any farther, we'd just spent about five hours walking around on the stone floors of the Cloisters and I couldn't convince her to get any farther from Penn Station than TGIF's. Oh well.

busy chillin':

I agree that sucks...but lots of people aren't cool and don't want to be cool. They aren't adventurous and don't want to go into a place they don't know where snobby foodies are going to look down their noses as they mispronounce menu items.

I agree with this 100%. People just want sustenance at a decent price, which is cool.

It's only lame when someone gets pissy about people being cooler than them. If you're cool with eating at Olive Garden then you should be cool with not being cool.

fireclown: While we have our dander up about how lousy chain resturaunts are, is there a GOOD droid app for finding good non chain resturaunts? Apart from YELP, WHERE, and the other big 'uns. It seems like there should be one, but I haven't found a good one yet.

It would do a lot toward my eating better when I travel.

Opentable is a useful starting place.

I love cooking shows, and love cooking. I have no problem experimenting with things like sous-vide.

Guy Fieri is a blight on the landscape. His hyper-caffeinated, pseudo-regular-guy schtick is so blatantly "commercial" that I would never, ever trust his restaurant or his recommendations without some other proof.

He's the cooking equivalent of Jersey Shore. I'm surprised that anyone takes him seriously in any way - including giving him seed money for a restaurant.

/Alton Brown disciple
//Really, Graham Kerr disciple. Genius.

busy chillin': I have felt dumb in restaurants... all of a sudden you realize you don't belong here.

I go the other way. I purposely go to these places. My money is farking green, I belong anywhere I can spend it. And I like trying new foods, for better or worse.

Do not eat in or near Times Square (mostly). That's a rule NY'ers follow, but I can't speak for the tourists...

busy chillin': Grey's Papaya

Grey's Papaya is a New York institution, as long as you get a papaya drink with your hotdog to do it right.

orclover: [thechive.files.wordpress.com image 500x208]
I tried watching his show, it gave me a seizure. Now I black out whenever I see blinking lights.

fark you Guy Fieri.

That farking faker is a farking pig.
When I was a chef, no one ate in the kitchen.
Farking pig.

Also, he's and ass.

Prevailing Wind: /So did alton

LOL

skullkrusher: HotWingConspiracy: skullkrusher: am I the only one who thinks antifreeze looks tasty? Could be due to my childhood love of EctoCooler

/never tried antifreeze

It tastes sweet, which is why it's used to poison people so often. True story.

And he put it in Times Square to collect rube tourist money, in case that was lost on anyone. Of course it's terrible, he only has to compete with the TGI Fridays.

Why anyone would travel to a food haven and plop their asses down at a TGI Fridays is more than I can comprehend.

I used to work in TS and would get tourists almost every day asking for directions to the Olive Garden. You are in the middle of NYC. You are in Times Square... restaurant row is a 2 block walk from where you are. You want Italian food? We have that here. There are literally dozens of little, awesome bistros and cafes and restaurants lining both sides of the street and you are asking for directions to the all you can eat breadsticks?

This is why i do not travel with my wife.

dopekitty74: Lets talk frankly about internal cleanliness: topcon: Who do you love to hate more:

Guy Fieri or Nancy Grace?

It's a tough question.

Wait... those are two different people?

Or are you thinking of paula dean?

Oh no... being from Savannah, I am well aware of the tragedy that is Paula Deen. I just think Guy looks like Nancy Grace in drag.

Review author?

skullkrusher:

it's not like that at all. These aren't 4 star restaurants. They're largely casual little places with good, reasonably priced (for midtown manhattan) food

You live in NYC, so you're generally cool with being adventurous. You don't know a lot of people that aren't. I work with engineers in a suburban office park. There will be a new place and I'll say "let's eat there for lunch today" and someone will say "but we don't know if its good" to which I say "well, let's eat there and find out."

Once another guy (who is really a nice guy and I like) was amazed that I would just order something I'd never eaten off of a menu. He only eats chicken burritos at a Cuban place we sometimes go to.

Another guy thinks I'm a snob because I won't go to Applebee's. I say it's because they microwave their burgers. His wife gives him Applebee's gift cards as a Christmas gift.

So now I mostly eat lunch with the Chinese guys.

Englebert Slaptyback: WTF would go to Hawaii and eat at Red Lobster?


a little off-topic but still a valid question

My mother. When surrounded with new, different, and sometimes confusing environment - people just want something safe and predictable.

/growing up - Red Lobster was the restaurant we would go to for a "nice night out"

HotWingConspiracy: busy chillin': I have felt dumb in restaurants... all of a sudden you realize you don't belong here.

I go the other way. I purposely go to these places. My money is farking green, I belong anywhere I can spend it. And I like trying new foods, for better or worse.

In my experience, you go into a mom n pop place, and theyre much more welcoming than the big chains with bored waitstaff.

It's not that folks feel out of place, they just want to be anonymous.

/there used to be (10 years ago) a surprisingly good sushi place within a douchey bar on TS.

My wife and I ate at the Tex Wasabi's in Sacramento several years ago, mostly because it was a Guy Fieri restaurant, and we wanted to see whether . The food wasn't bad, but wasn't great, but the service was enough to never want to set foot into any of his restaurants ever again.

/Putting it in Times Square is a double no for me

skullkrusher: busy chillin': skullkrusher:


I used to work in TS and would get tourists almost every day asking for directions to the Olive Garden. You are in the middle of NYC. You are in Times Square... restaurant row is a 2 block walk from where you are. You want Italian food? We have that here. There are literally dozens of little, awesome bistros and cafes and restaurants lining both sides of the street and you are asking for directions to the all you can eat breadsticks?

I agree that sucks...but lots of people aren't cool and don't want to be cool. They aren't adventurous and don't want to go into a place they don't know where snobby foodies are going to look down their noses as they mispronounce menu items.

I hate Olive Garden, but as I get older I get it. Sometimes you just want to eat...not be the lame kid sitting at the cool kid table sticking out like a soar thumb.

it's not like that at all. These aren't 4 star restaurants. They're largely casual little places with good, reasonably priced (for midtown manhattan) food

I definitely see where you're coming from, busy, but skullkrusher is right. There are places within just a block or two of the Times Square Olive Garden which serve essentially the same menu but fresher, better, in a more friendly environment and even cheaper, if you can believe it. (those $12 specials or whatever that chains advertise are rarely applicable to their NYC restaurants.)

SERVICE The well-meaning staff seems to realize that this is not a real restaurant.

This was my favorite part?

Now, I would never go to a ridiculous place like this, but I would not be above going to the Costco food court if by some misfortune I found myself in New York City.

Only been to a Buffalo Wild Wings in Corpus Christi, and that was pretty ghetto. Might be the Corpus Christi, though.

I found stopping into a McDonalds and a Burger King in Germany to be fascinating.

1. Really popular (the free wi-fi helped)
2. It's educational to observe the differences

I didn't make it a point to go to a McDonald's when I was in Germany. It just kind of happened. I was in Stuttgart at the Porsche Museum (terrible by the way, the Mercedes Museum is awesome, though) and it was late and the only place open. I agree and I'm glad I went just to see the differences.