As Seen on TV: 30 Charlotte restaurants featured on food shows
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Cabo Fish Taco
I love to hate Guy Fieri. Or hate to love him. I can’t tell. The Food Network host is over the top and frankly a little unbearable with his bleached hair and bowling shirts, but does he not introduce us to some of the best “worst” restaurants in the country? He does.
Charlotte has gotten its fair share of coverage on Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, as well as on Alton Brown’s Feasting on Ashphalt, Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate and the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food and Eden Eats.
Most recently, Fieri was in town to film at Mert’s, Pinky’s, Pit Road Bar & Grill and The Tin Kitchen. Here’s a running list of all the Charlotte restaurants I could find that have earned their 15 minutes of fame with national air time over the years.
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As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: Butterscotch Ice Cream Sandwiches with Molasses Cookies and Caramelized Pineapple
As seen on: Eden Eats
What they ate: Arepas Reina Papiada (translated as “sexy queen arepa”)
As seen on: Best Thing I Ever Ate and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: BBQ fried chicken
Bollywood Bites (closed)
As seen on: Eden Eats
What they ate: daabeli (sandwiches with mashed potatoes and spices)
As seen on: Burger Land
What they ate: All the Way cheeseburger
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As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: honey wasabi tuna burritos and mango barbecue fish tacos
As seen on: Eden Eats
What they ate: tin mackerel and dumplings
As seen on: Drinking Made Easy
What they drank: TBD
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As seen on: Food Paradise
What they ate: Dynamic Duo, Porky’s Revenge and Granny’s Southern Pimento Cheeseburger
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As seen on: Burgerland
What they ate: Southern style burgers
As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: chicken and dumplings
Dixie Tavern (closed)
As seen on: Drinking Made Easy
What they drank: Queen City Hurricane
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As seen on: Eden Eats
What they ate: Taiwanese pickle sandwich and milk bubble tea
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As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: eggplant musaka
photo via Intermezzo’s Facebook page
As seen on: Man vs. Food
What they ate: 25 pulled pork sliders and the Kobe Mexicali burger
As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: venison quesadilla
As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: gumbo
As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: boiled turkey and fixins and spanikopita
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Loft 1523 (closed)
As seen on: Drinking Made Easy
What they drank: Wakin’ Bacon and Chocolate Cherry Bacon-infused martini
As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: Soul Rolls
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As seen on: Eden Eats
What they ate: fresh-baked bread
As seen on: Eden Eats
What they ate: ddeok (rice cakes) and kimchi jjigae
The Penguin (closed)
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As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Man vs. Food
What they ate: Penguin Double Pounder
As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: Carolina Burger Chili and corn dog shrimp
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As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: Hot Lap Sandwich
As seen on: Man vs. Food
What they ate: fried chicken, livers and gizzards
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As seen on: Drinking Made Easy
What they drank: chocolate-covered strawberry shots and American Pie
As seen on: Feasting on Asphalt, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Burgerland
What they ate: fried chicken and cheeseburgers
Sweet Tea (closed)
As seen on: Restaurant Impossible
What they ate: chicken and waffles
As seen on: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
What they ate: chana masala
As seen on: Drinking Made Easy
What they ate: beer cheese sauce, 10 pretzels and “nearly everything else on the menu”
