Taylor said, ‘I’ll only give you the meat if I can come cook it.’ And Taylor Sheridan shows up to cook.” Guy Fieri is reminiscing about a 2023 fundraiser he held for Maui fire relief that made $1.7 million for restaurants, service workers and the local Salvation Army. He has endless stories as fascinating as the powerful “Yellowstone” showrunner parachuting in with his ranch’s beef, but he’s always quick to move the spotlight away from himself. Although Fieri has an eye-catching appearance, he’d much rather talk about the generosity of friends, the skill of the team that helped to build his Flavortown empire, and the restaurateurs who serve up creative meals on his longstanding Food Network show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” It’s no surprise that when asked to reflect on the show, which has earned him his ninth executive producer Emmy nomination this year, he immediately wants to share the wealth.
That’s the truth of it, and I want them to get the trophy and celebrate the moment after all this time that I think is well deserving of them.” For the uninitiated, “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” is a travel show with Fieri dropping in on mom-and-pop spots to showcase the special dishes and local color that make these hole-in-the-wall joints unique. The team is about to film the 20th season of “Dives,” and Fieri isn’t kidding when he refers to the crew as a family affair, given he’s been with them for so long. For example, Anthony “Chico” Rodriguez has been Fieri’s DP since day one of “Dives”; he still works on every show that Fieri does.
I’ve got two or three that were PAs that now operate cameras. They came on as PAs because they wanted a chance to be on the team, and you never know when that break is going to happen.” When it comes to the creative vision of the show, Fieri admits he’s not looking to fix what ain’t broken but rather uses new seasons to nip and tuck the show’s presentation. His first-ever lesson on this came during the early days of the show, which he affectionately calls “Triple-D,” when he had a light bulb moment of how to better profile the business owners.
That’s all the stuff that we need to be talking about in current time,’” he says. Now it’s very limited.” More recently, the changes have been to spice up an already successful formula. You’re going to stick with what’s been done.
But do we play some games? Do we mix things up a little bit? My son Hunter does quite a few with me.
I’ve started to bring some other chefs that we know from the network, from ‘Tournament of Champions’ or ‘Guy’s Grocery Games.’ I’ve highlighted some celebrity chef restaurants. So we do little things, but never move off the mark of what is the principle of ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’, and that is what I call ‘the fabric of the community.’” That community aspect has always been the beating heart of the show, one that seems more urgent in 2026 than ever before. Yeah, the deep-fried pizza, burger, milkshake, monster-fried things.’ And I look at them, and I go, ‘You really must not watch the show that often,’” Fieri says.
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