How Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives Completely Changed Guy Fieri

In 2023, "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" entered its 45th season. While this is an incredible feat in and of itself, even more impressive is that after all this time, the show remains well-liked. It was the fifth most popular show on Food Network during September 2023 and had more viewers than both "Chopped" and "Beat Bobby Flay."

A large proportion of these viewers tune in for one thing and one thing only, the show's host Guy Fieri. This was all but admitted to The New York Times by Jordan Harman who helped to develop "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" back in 2007: "It's been super-hard to rip off, and I've tried numerous times. You can redo the same beats, the same kind of places, the same kind of food. But there's a magic that he brings that is really not replicable."

While Fieri has undoubtedly worked his magic on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," the show has done the same for him, transforming his life beyond recognition. Of course, there is the money and the fame, but the show has given Fieri so much more including an ability to explore other ventures as well as help those in need. 

"Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" was not Guy Fieri's first Food Network show. In fact, it was his third. The first was "The Next Food Network Star" which Fieri featured in after he submitted an audition reel. In the reel, Fieri poked fun at Sonoma County's stuffy food culture. The producers loved it and Fieri went on to win the show's second season. After his victory, Fieri was awarded his own show on the Food Network "Guy's Big Bite." It first aired in 2006 and ran until 2016.

While "Guy's Big Bite" was successful, it was "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" that cemented Fieri's position at the top of the Food Network. The show, which involves Fieri traveling the United States and sampling food from the titular restaurant styles, has become an integral part of both the Food Network and cable television.

Fieri's enduring popularity has led the Food Network to invest heavily in the host. The network has given him numerous benefits including a number of shows, huge salaries, and primetime slots. Fieri has returned the favor, using his influence — and own money — to create other Food Network shows like "Tournament of Champions" and "Rachael vs. Guy: Kids Cook-Off."

One of the most obvious ways "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" changed Guy Fieri's life is the money it brought him. The most recent contract Fieri signed with Food Network's parent company Discovery Inc. was for $80 million over three years. That's a far cry from the less than $6,000 he made for Season 1 of "Guy's Big Bite."

Although $80 million was enough to make Fieri the top paid cable TV chef, Discovery Inc. was still getting the better end of the deal. "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" earned the company $230 million in 2020 alone.

Fieri was not unsuccessful before "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" aired. On the contrary, he was the owner of several restaurants. It would, however, be foolish to imagine that the millions of dollars earned through "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" has not transformed Fieri's life. For one, it has allowed Fieri to invest in his passions. He boasts an impressive collection of classic and modern cars spanning from a 1968 Pontiac Firebird and a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo. As a big Golden State Warriors fan Fieri, often sits courtside for NBA games. He also has several properties including a 290-acre ranch.

Although the money from his TV career has made Guy Fieri more than comfortable, he has continued his direct involvement with the hospitality sector. In September 2022, Fieri estimated that he was involved in around 90 restaurants. Add to this a ghost kitchen line with over 170 locations and a burger chain located on over 20 cruise ships and the scale of Fieri's culinary empire quickly becomes apparent.

Unfortunately for Fieri, the money and fame brought on by "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" has not always translated into successful, respected, restaurants. The biggest flop of his career came in the form of the 500-seat Guy's American Kitchen & Bar located in Times Square, New York City. This restaurant opened in 2012 and was almost immediately lampooned by New York Times' restaurant critic Pete Wells. In his defense, Fieri suggested Wells had always planned to criticize the restaurant and accused the critic of sensationalizing. Guy's American Kitchen and Bar closed in 2017.

Thankfully, Fieri's other ventures have been better received. In the summer of 2023, Fieri opened Guy Fieri's Flavortown Sports Kitchen located in the Horseshoe Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. This restaurant serves a host of Instagram-worthy, indulgent dishes such as The Quesa-Birria Mexican Pizza and ever popular Trash Can Nachos. Initial reviews have been positive.

With a regular audience of nearly 650,000, "Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives" has made Guy Fieri incredibly famous. This is not due to the show alone, Fieri's fun-loving persona and unique style — including bleached blonde, spiky hair, tattooed arms, and rectangular sunglasses — also helps by making him instantly recognizable. What's most surprising is that none of this was the producer's idea; Fieri came to Food Network with his style and persona already fully developed.

The success of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," and Fieri's subsequent shows, mean he has attained a level of fame few chefs in the world can rival. It has been reported that 73 million viewers watch at least one of Fieri's shows per quarter. He was also the third chef to ever be awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

That being said, Fieri's unique brand of fame is not best exemplified by Hollywood stars or viewership numbers but rather through FieriCon, a Guy Fieri-themed bar crawl and convention that was held in New York City in 2017 and 2018. During the crawl, participants mimicked Fieri's iconic style while drinking and shouting one of his many catchphrases. The idea has since taken hold across the country and there are now several versions of the event including Buffalo FieriCon and FieriCon Louisville. It's hard to imagine any other chef being celebrated in such a way.

The premise of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" is to spotlight restaurants across the nation. Although the show looks spontaneous, a great deal of research and thought occurs before a restaurant is featured. The process involves multiple phone interviews with the owners, trials of the food, and a period of closure while the episode is shot. Ultimately, this can end up costing a restaurant thousands of dollars in missed business, spoiled stock, and cleaning bills.

The eight minute segment most restaurants get follows a regular format. Fieri arrives, sees how the restaurant's most popular dish is made, and then tries it for himself. Here is where Fieri earns his keep; he always appears to love the food. Because of this, a feature on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" is akin to gold dust. Those who have been featured in "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" describe a tidal wave of new customers; one restaurant reported a 500% increase in sales one month after its episode was aired.

Fieri himself is aware of the impact a feature on his show has. It is one of the reasons why he continues to make the show as he explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter: "Nothing can replace what this kind of recognition, appearing on TV, can do for these people and their businesses ... for their lives. I need to keep doing this because it just needs to be done."

The platform "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" created for Guy Fieri has been put to good use. He has made a habit of raising both money and awareness for charity, most notably through the Guy Fieri Foundation. This charitable organization runs several programs including one that promotes literacy in Sonoma County schools and another that provides scholarships so students can enroll in culinary education programs.

Speaking about his philanthropy with Robert Irvine Magazine Fieri said: "I've had a great opportunity and a great life and I've got a little bit of a spotlight [...] if I can shed light on any of it or help fundraise, then that's my responsibility to do as a member of the community and as an American."

Fieri's finest philanthropic moment came during the Coronavirus pandemic. During lockdown, a time when many of the restaurants that had featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" were suffering, Fieri began raising money for those in the hospitality sector. By directly contacting the CEOs of major companies, Fieri raised over $21 million. The money went straight to employees who were forced out of work by the lockdown.

The following Fieri has built thanks to shows like "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" has opened doors to other parts of the media world. Never one to rest on his laurels, Fieri capitalized on them and hosted a non-food related program "Minute to Win it." This was a game show where contestants had the opportunity to win $1 million if they completed 10 different challenges. The show ran for three seasons and a total of 73 episodes.

Although being a game show host might sound slightly leftfield for Fieri, it was something he had always dreamed of after watching great hosts during his childhood in the 1970s and 1980s. What's more, Fieri found that there was a lot in common between "Minute to Win It" and "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" as he explained to TVGuide.com: "the common denominator of all my shows, particularly Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Minute to Win It, is these people. Whenever you get to change somebody's life or watch it and see it happen, it's amazing."

Fieri has also made his presence felt behind the camera. He was an executive producer of "The War with Grandpa," a film starring Robert De Niro. Fieri performed the same role for "Restaurant Hustle 2020," a documentary about restaurants operating during the Coronavirus pandemic.

If you hadn't realized by now, Guy Fieri is a man who struggles to sit still. Aside from his restaurant empire and TV career, Fieri has also waded into multiple other business ventures. Unsurprisingly, food writing has been one of them; Fieri has released several cookbooks including three based solely on his hit show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."

Fieri has also launched his own winery Hunt & Ryde. The winery produces a small range of wine that is designed with bears almost no reference to Fieri himself. Fieri explained why in an interview with GQ: "This isn't juice that somebody else made that we just put in a bottle and put my name on it, which a lot of people do [...] It'd just be too much about me, not about the wine. The wine will speak for itself. I want it to be appreciated." His approach has paid off, one Hunt & Ryde wine was awarded an excellent score of 92 from Wine Enthusiast.

Aside from wine, Fieri has also released his own brand of tequila in partnership with Sammy Hagar. Santo Spirits boasts a range of two tequilas and one mezquila, a half-and-half blend of tequila and mezcal. The brand's añejo tequila earnt a respectable score of 89 from Distiller's Amanda Schuster.

Outside of food, Fieri has also released his own jewelry collection. A range of cigars completes his eclectic troupe of ventures.

Given Guy Fieri's hilarious persona and distinctive style, it was only a matter of time until he became a meme. Unlike many celebrities, Fieri did not dread this moment. Instead, he precipitated it, sharing numerous, shoddily-made posts to his 2.1 million followers on Instagram. Fieri stated his love for this medium in an interview with Esquire: "I love when the fans get so excited and the emojis start coming out and people laugh at me [...] Man, you've got to be able to laugh at yourself."

It's not only Instagram where Fieri is viral, but TikTok too; the Flavortown account also shares Fieri's beloved memes. Some of Fieri's most viral TikToks are videos of him enjoying heavy metal concerts. One video of him headbanging to Slipknot has been liked by nearly 150,000 people.

Fieri's biggest social media following is found on X, formerly known as Twitter. This account boasts an incredible 3.5 million followers and features Fieri's usual blend of memes and videos highlighting his products and TV programs.

If you're a celebrity for long enough, you'll likely become friends with stars from other industries. This was the case for Guy Fieri who can name people like Drake and Sylvester Stallone as part of his social circle. On several occasions he has even cooked for superstars such as Al Pacino.

It's one thing to become friends with other celebrities and quite another to gain the respect of your peers. Traditionally, this is an area that Fieri struggled in. He was routinely viewed by others in the industry, like Anthony Bourdain, as an easy person to criticize. Fieri felt he was dismissed because of his appearance, persona, and appreciation of middlebrow food as he stated to the New York Post: "People make judgments. They met me and saw tattoos, gold earrings, big chains, California. There's always a way to misinterpret somebody."

Fieri is finally getting his dues from those in the industry. This has resulted from his consistent support of hospitality workers and restaurants throughout his career. What's more, he seems like a genuine, affable person; unlike many previously celebrated celebrity chefs, Fieri has never had a public scandal. So while he was once derided as the Mayor of Flavortown, Fieri is now an essential part of the United States' food culture.