Modesto eateries set to air on ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’

Modesto will be on the national TV menu next month thanks to “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

Episodes of the hit series featuring two of the three eateries visited by celebrity chef and TV host Guy Fieri have been scheduled to air in April on the Food Network. A show featuring the Food Fix Truck will premiere April 15 and be followed by one including Bauer’s 66 1/2 Skillet & Grill on April 22, confirmed Food Network publicist Julie Chudow. The episode featuring Modesto’s Commonwealth Gastropub has not been scheduled.

Fieri came to Modesto on Jan. 20 and stopped at all three restaurants to film for the show. For “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” the spiky-haired, tattooed host travels across the country visiting locally owned restaurants and sampling their fare. The Modesto episodes of the show, known by fans as “Triple D,” will air midway through the current 24th season.

The Food Fix Truck program is titled “Succulent Sandwiches” and also will include stops in Oakland and Key Largo, Fla. A description of the episode calls Food Fix “a funky food truck putting pastrami on pretzel bread and cooking pulled pork in root beer.” Chef and owner Hank Olson called the experience of filming the show “a dream come true.”

“Everyone who opens a restaurant and business wants business. And that’s what we’re going to get. We’ve already been really busy,” Olson said. “We had a lot of fun, the production staff were amazing people. Guy was awesome; he was a really cool guy. He was really down to earth, too. We joked around on the truck a lot. You can tell he grew up in kitchens.”

Olson plans to hire two additional staff members to help run his truck and hopes to begin staying open on select evenings later in April. Food Fix is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Fieri was at each Modesto location for around two hours to film. His production crew stayed even longer, shooting largely over two days, to pick up additional footage. In Modesto, Fieri began his day at Bauer’s in McHenry Village. He next went to the Food Fix Truck outside of Warden’s Office Outlet and finished up at Commonwealth in downtown Modesto. The following day, he filmed at spots in Stockton.

The Bauer’s episode is called “Hot Meat and Cool Veg” and also features restaurants in Oakland and Islamorada, in the Florida Keys. Owner and chef Tye Bauer said he prepared the restaurant’s signature “Lamburgherini” lamb burger and “The Octavian” meat lover’s sandwich for Fieri. The episode description calls Bauer’s a “funky spot” serving up a “ lights-out lamb burger.”

Bauer said that in the week after Fieri filmed, business at his restaurant jumped about 30 percent. But he has no plans to increase his hours or capacity now that the show is set to air. The small restaurant has a 40-person capacity and is open only for dinner starting at 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

“I can only do so much food out of this restaurant. And I won’t change my style,” he said. “I’m not that type of person who gets freaked out. I’ll just handle it as it comes in. You can only do what you can do.”

Fieri and his production staff told the restaurant owners they could expect an influx of diners once their episodes air. The show has attracted a large cult following among viewers, some of whom travel around stopping at dining locations featured across the country.

“They said you’ll be pretty surprised the first time someone says we live in Wisconsin and traveled to see you,” Olson said. “I can’t wait for that to start happening. We’ll be ready.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Modesto eateries set to air on ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’."