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Guy Fieri’s New York ‘zero-star’ restaurant closes after five years
Diners, Drive-ins and Dives star Guy Fieri has bid farewell to his New York restaurant after five years of controversy in the hospitality world.
Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar, owned by US celebrity chef Guy Fieri, has closed its doors on December 31 after serving thousands of locals, tourists and celebrities alike on Times Square since 2012.
The Food Network star did not give an explanations for his restaurant’s closure, but but noted he is “proud” of serving millions of people throughout the years and thanked his team, according to Eater.
Fieri’s venture is infamous for polarising critics and the city’s residents and tourists. In 2012, the New York Times ran a scathing review of the restaurant. The menu itself was “an unreliable predictor of what actually came to the table”, while journalist Pete Wells was compelled to ask Fieri 34 increasingly outraged questions about his venue, such as: “what is going on at this new restaurant of yours, really?”
Other excepts include:
“Were you struck by how very far from awesome the Awesome Pretzel Chicken Tenders are?”
“Hey, did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste?”
“Why is one of the few things on your menu that can be eaten without fear or regret — a lunch-only sandwich of chopped soy-glazed pork with coleslaw and cucumbers — called a Roasted Pork Bahn Mi, when it resembles that item about as much as you resemble Emily Dickinson?”
“When you hung that sign by the entrance that says, WELCOME TO FLAVOR TOWN!, were you just messing with our heads?”
“When we hear the words Donkey Sauce, which part of the donkey are we supposed to think about?”
“Is the entire restaurant a very expensive piece of conceptual art?”
“Why did the toasted marshmallow taste like fish?”
And finally: “Did you finish that blue drink?”
But despite a grilling from Wells, Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar became a popular fixture on Times Square, with even model Chrissy Teigen declaring herself a fan.
Like many, Teigen took to Twitter to share her grief over Guy’s closure.
I’ll swear on anything that I really liked this restaurant. Went as a joke, came out covered in ribs and nacho hybrids https://t.co/7j1nKdc3Rq
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 28, 2017
good night you princes of grilling, you kings of flavortown.https://t.co/ztZE9Ybyoi
— james mckenna (@chillhartman) December 28, 2017
But Fieri’s foray into the hospitality industry is far from over. The TV personality, who already lends his name to several restaurants across the US, launched his latest venture, another Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar branch, in Pretoria, South Africa, last April, which comes complete with its own mechanical bull.