Guy Fieri's new NY restaurant is getting murdered by the critics

[preslove]

http://gawker.com/5960379/here-are-...-of-funny-review-of-guy-fieris-new-restaurant

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/guy-fieri-times-square-skewered_n_2129152.html

First up, the cocktail list, which is a glorious piece of white trash ephemera—a love letter to food coloring and sugar. I go for the El Azul Watermelon, a mix of Tequila Blanco, watermelon, pineapple, and blue curacao rimmed with shocking-pink sugar. It's not so much a drink, as it is a cup of diabetes that tastes like a crackhead with a sweet tooth melted down blue raspberry Dum Dums, gum balls, and Sour Patch Kids and put it on ice.
– Talia Baiocchi, Eater

So: service at Guy's place is great. Loved Kathleen, our server. Food is many rungs below Applebee's yet 70% more expensive. *sigh*

 

[Ns1]

NY times ripped it to shreds, read this yesterday

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/d...merican-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html?_r=0

How did nachos, one of the hardest dishes in the American canon to mess up, turn out so deeply unlovable? Why augment tortilla chips with fried lasagna noodles that taste like nothing except oil? Why not bury those chips under a properly hot and filling layer of melted cheese and jalapeños instead of dribbling them with thin needles of pepperoni and cold gray clots of ground turkey?

What accounts for the vast difference between the Donkey Sauce recipe you’ve published and the Donkey Sauce in your restaurant? Why has the hearty, rustic appeal of roasted-garlic mayonnaise been replaced by something that tastes like Miracle Whip with minced raw garlic?

Is this how you roll in Flavor Town?

 

[PricklyPete]

Has he ever done something decent?

 

[KeithTalent]

Yeah I posted this yesterday. That review was freaking awesome. :awe:

KT

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Has he ever done something decent?

Everyone once in a while he shuts the hell up. That's great.

The place is going to be closed in 4 months with that kind of press. I wonder what the rent is for a space that large in Times Square.

 

[trmiv]

That's some dynamite flavor!

 

[FelixDeCat]

 

[Printer Bandit]

actually this bad publicity is good for the restaurant. i wonder how many people will visit now.

 

[FelixDeCat]

actually this bad publicity is good for the restaurant. i wonder how many people will visit now.

He probably spits in the food if you dont tip well.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Times square food sucks. So damn expensive and touristy.

 

[OutHouse]

i saw he has own bbq sauce in kroger now. I got a bottle of the KC sweet sauce. i was not impressed, really sweet even for a KC sauce and the liquid smoke taste was way way too much. it was more money and less sauce than my favorite off the shelf bbq sauce KC Masterpiece. honestly i can make a much better scratch made BBQ sauce that what he is selling.

 

[KaOTiK]

I never knew his name till I clicked a link in the OP. I can't stand that guy.

 

[Sinsear]

Times square food sucks. So damn expensive and touristy.

Pretty much this

 

[Juddog]

I can only imagine Gordon Ramsay going in there, holding up a piece of food and saying "THIS LOOKS LIKE DOGS DINNAH!" :biggrin:

 

[sjwaste]

It's in times square. It doesn't have to be good. In fact, I'd argue anything built to seat 500 is going to be fairly bad. I'd be surprised if he's even been in the place more than once or twice. It's a tourist revenue generator.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

The judges on shows like Chopped or Iron Chef can be grating, but at least they can cook. Even guys like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern can throw down a solid meal. I think it's fitting that the most obnoxious host on those networks also apparently has the culinary sense of a 15-year-old who just got drunk for the first time. Why does this man have a show where he judges food (even cheap, white trash food)?

 

[Ns1]

It's in times square. It doesn't have to be good. In fact, I'd argue anything built to seat 500 is going to be fairly bad. I'd be surprised if he's even been in the place more than once or twice. It's a tourist revenue generator.

+infinity

 

[torpid]

Why does this man have a show where he judges food (even cheap, white trash food)?

Because he won Food Network Star and is more charismatic than most of the other people who did?

 

[OutHouse]

The judges on shows like Chopped or Iron Chef can be grating, but at least they can cook. Even guys like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern can throw down a solid meal. I think it's fitting that the most obnoxious host on those networks also apparently has the culinary sense of a 15-year-old who just got drunk for the first time. Why does this man have a show where he judges food (even cheap, white trash food)?

because he won the next food network star?

i do like his show, its the only one that makes me hungry. i have eaten at several of the places he has had on his show and the food was really good.

 

[PowerYoga]

He's a fun guy to watch for sure. I've never heard anything good about his restaurants though.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I actually like his show Triple D. I consider him more of an entertainer than cook. I don't think I'd have any interest in going to that restaurant.

 

[thegimp03]

There is a Johnny Garlic's not far from where I live. Still haven't been there and don't plan on visiting.

 

[Zeze]

I'm not a fan of him either, but I also don't understand those who have rabid hatred towards him.

So what if he knows nothing about cooking, comes across douchey, and has frosted tips?

It is rather obvious the reviewers are already hating the restaurant because of the owner. I bet it wouldn't be near scathing or brutal if it was same bar but with a random owner.

 

[sjwaste]

He comes off as douchey, but he cares about food and isn't awful himself. But don't lie to yourself and say that this restaurant is about the food. It's not. It's going to make him a ton of money based on his celebrity and location.

I'll say it again: You don't open up 500 seats and expect it to be Minibar. Hell, you don't seat 500 and expect Applebees. You open 500 seats to fill them as many times as you can in a given day.

 

[Ns1]

It is rather obvious the reviewers are already hating the restaurant because of the owner. I bet it wouldn't be near scathing or brutal if it was same bar but with a random owner.

From the reviews it just sounds like terrible tourist trap food, a la hard rock cafe.