Hey, there, I'm Guy Fieri and we're rollin' out
looking for America's greatest diners, drive-ins and dives.
This trip...
Bye-bye, folks. Nice knowin' ya.
Goin' to coma town.
...we're gettin' sandwiched...
I will rip that off all day long.
...and stuffed.
It's big-pants eatin'.
"Big-pants eatin'."
Like in a dynamite diner in Milford, Ohio.
You're batting at a different level.
A pierogi playground in Bend, Oregon.
I'm impressed, buddy.
And it's bring-you-buddy-to-work day
in Los Angeles...
Oh, that's crazy, bro.
That is so good. [laughs]
...for a fantastic food truck...
Chef, you have delivered. Outstanding.
...going the extra mile with their tacos and tostadas.
Game changer, 1,000%.
I'm having a tostada revelation.
That's all right here right now
on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
So I'm cruising down the streets of Los Angeles
and you can find a taco truck about every 100 yards.
And I'm doing the same thing you are.
I'm trying to figure out which one do I stop at.
Well, I heard about this truck
that's serving up one of my all-time favorites,
and that's birria.
And I'm hoping it's the bomb.
And I hear it might be.
Welcome to Tacos Y Birria La Unica.
We got a line on Venice Boulevard.
Let's get these plates movin'.
La Unica Birria is the best place you will find.
Birria, 100%.
Tortilla ready.
How'd you find it? Just walked up to it?
Just driving by. Yeah.
On one to ten, where do these guys rate?
They're about a ten for me.
[Guy] That's exactly how Yasmany Mendoza
and his family felt
about their mom Evarista's cooking.
So, they built her a food truck.
Did you ever think this is what you would do?
-No. -It's crazy.
[laughs] Yeah.
[Guy] What's the number one thing on the menu?
Quesatacos. Crunchy tacos with cheese.
That's all me, right there.
-Is that what I'm getting? -Oh, yeah.
Three Quesatacos and chivo con todo.
This one is crunchy tortilla that has the cheese
and then the birria on top.
You dip that taco in the consome
and you make magic.
[Guy] What are we starting with?
-We're gonna do the birria paste. -Okay.
-Chili California... -'Cause these have been steeped in hot water.
-[Guy] Black peppercorns. -All spice.
-[Guy] Clove? -A little bit.
-It gives it-- -Oh, yeah, just a touch.
-Cinnamon? -Garlic.
-The whole garlic? -And onion.
[Guy] A little water and blend that.
-There it is. -Okay.
Really interesting to have the much all spice
and clove in Mexican food, for me.
This is because of the goat.
I goat what your sayin'.
-Yeah. -[sound effect of goat bleating]
[Guy] Strain this.
-So the goat? -We add the birria paste, water...
[Guy] Salt into the pot.
So it cooks for like three or four hours.
[Guy] Then when it's done, we'll pull the bones...
-Yeah. -Pull the fat.
-[Guy] But then we'll save the sauce for the consome. -Consome.
[Yasmany] Correct.
This is the chili de arbol salsa.
Put the oil.
So you got the flattop really hot.
So you can not only cook the tortillas and cook meat,
but you can also get it hot enough to saute on it.
-Correct. -Got it.
Chili de arbol.
-We add the garlic. -[Guy] Toast those off.
[Guy] The oil, the garlics and the chili de arbol all in.
[Yasmany] We add the water.
Salt.
-Yeah. You see him step back? -Try it.
[Yasmany chuckles]
Smooth.
-[laughs] -It's got a great acid to it,
almost like a vinegar acid.
This is delicious. I'm queso-hungry.
Queso, hurry up.
This is handmade tortillas.
[Guy] That's the real key right there,
dipping it in that fat.
[Yasmany] And then we add the cheese,
Monterey Jack.
This is the cooked birria.
We chop it and then we add it to the tacos.
[Guy] Is that a normal portion?
[Yasmany] Yeah. Wait a little bit for them to get crunchy.
It's good to go.
-[Guy] Okay. -The limes.
[Guy] Cilantro and onions.
[Yasmany] Chili de arbol.
[Guy] Gotta put lime on tacos.
Lime and hot sauce.
Bye-bye, folks. Nice knowin' ya.
Goin' to coma town.
Without question, one of the best birria tacos I've ever had.
Thank you very much.
It's not gamey. It's not too spicy.
It's not too salty. It's in balance.
And then you get a great mixture of the onion and the cilantro.
You've gotta come down here and do that dunk.
If I could figure out...
how to get in the consome in a kiddie pool...
That is kind of weird, huh?
The goat is wonderful. It's the best.
This is tender and delicious.
And have you had birria before?
-I have not. -Never had goat.
-No. -You just goat for it and...
[laughs] Yeah.
Whatever that sauce they do, it just has that juicy flavor.
It's the consome for me.
Consome is top-notch.
One quesadilla.
[Guy] When you think about Mexican food,
what is the difference between
the good, the bad and the ugly?
Definitely the sauces.
But also the rice and beans.
[Guy] And how'd these guys do?
Excellent.
It lived up to the hype.
I've got a really good friend of mine.
He's gonna come down here.
What would we make next and give him?
[Yasmany] The Vampiros is a crunchy tostada
with melted cheese and meat.
-Fantastic. And he'll be hungry for sure. -Yeah.
I'll finish these. Don't go anywhere.
I'll be asleep on the lawn outside.
-See ya in a bit. -Bye-bye.
Oh, my God.
Sterling, you're late.
I'm late, but I'm hungry.
-I'm here to eat. -Let's go.
Ah!
Welcome back. Triple D hanging out
on some side street in Los Angeles
at Tacos Y Birria La Unica.
Which means tacos and birria unique.
And unique it is. And, by the way,
I had to bring in my buddy.
This is my buddy, Steelo Brim.
-Pleasure, man. Pleasure. Pleasure. -Hey, how are you doing?
[Guy] My favorite show is Ridiculousness on MTV.
It's hysterical.
This guy has eaten all over LA.
Let's do it up right for him.
-Okay. Yeah. -Okay?
Birria ramen.
I live in Long Beach and I drive all the way to LA
to come a La Unica.
De res. Vampiro de res.
[Yasmany] Vampiro de res.
[man] The Vampiros are great.
You have a crunchy shell tostada
and you get all that meat on top.
Oh, my gosh, they are delicious.
[Yasmany] So, right now, we're gonna cook the birria de res
-for the Vampiros. -"Res" being beef.
-Yeah. -What's "Vampiros" mean?
A tostada with melted cheese and meat.
All right, let's see it, Chef.
Beef goes in and this is probably like beef shoulder.
Yeah. So we add the water.
Sauce on top. And this is the same sauce
-that we made. -Yes. This is a birria paste.
Season it with some salt and let this go for...
Three, four hours.
So what else comes with this?
Beans and rice.
-I love beans and rice. -You don't look like
-you eat beans and rice. -I eat beans and rice.
[Yasmany] We're gonna make some Mexican rice.
[Guy] You fry the rice a little bit.
-And while it's toasting? -The tomatoes,
-garlic, onion-- -Chicken base.
Yes. Water.
-Are you a spicy guy? -I love spice.
-Ready to go. -Spicy.
[Guy] So the rice is nice and toasted,
so we pour the mixture in and stir it up.
-[Yasmany] You gotta cover it. -And let it steam.
-Correct. -Cooking beans from dry
is the way to go.
-It's pinto. -Yeah, always pinto.
[Yasmany] Yes. Water, salt.
[Guy] Just one big chunk of onion.
They'll be ready to go like in an hour and thirty minutes.
-Great. -We're gonna make the salsa verde.
[Guy] Oh, tomatillos.
[Yasmany] Jalapenos, water.
Let them boil for a couple minutes.
Aah! You're getting it all over Steelo's hockey jersey.
And we add the garlic, salt and blend.
There. Let's try it.
-I mean, come on. -Oh, that's crazy, bro.
That is so good.
-Can we please make the Vampiros? -Yeah.
Either that, or I'm gonna eat his hat.
Put the hand-made tortilla on the flattop.
It takes about 30 minutes. The tortilla cooks slowly
-until it gets-- -[Guy] It dries out
-versus fries the water out. -Correct.
Got it.
[Guy] With the Monterey Jack on top of it.
[Yasmany] Then we add our shredded beef.
-This is the Vampiro. -[Steelo] That looks so good.
[Yasmany] Rice and beans, onion and cilantro.
-[Steelo] Ah, yeah! Thanks, Chef. -[Guy] There you go.
[Yasmany] You add a little bit of hot sauce.
Add some limes.
Bro, we're being quiet for a reason. Oh, my God.
It is amazing. Something I've never tasted before.
It's messin' me up. And the hot sauce is so fresh.
-I needed this. -Mmm!
[Guy] The drying out of the tostada
is the game changer, 1,000%.
And the rice and beans are so honest.
I'm having a tostada revelation.
Vampiro.
The beef was really good. It was juicy.
The tomatillo sauce added just the right acidity to the meat
and it cut right through.
Hot tacos coming up.
This is the spot to come.
And you just keep on coming back.
[Guy] Chef, you have delivered. The food's outstanding.
You're trying to show off with my buddy over here.
-Amazing, dude. -Thank you.
-[Guy] Right? -Sincerely amazing.
-Huh? -Thank you.
[whispering] This might get me back on Ridiculousness.
-[laughs] -That's what I'm workin' on.
Up next, in Milford, Ohio...
Bro, that is delicious.
...an elevated diner going wild with their sandwiches...
You have more herbs and spices in this
than anything I've ever seen.
...and adding a slam-dunk spin to their soup.
It's got the funk. It's got the sting.
A destination dish.
So, welcome to downtown Milford, Ohio,
population 6,709.
And after today's show,
well, it'll probably be like 16,000-plus
because, I'll tell ya, this is a great one.
Two brothers, they've always watched Triple D
and they got the inspiration and said,
"You know what? Let's open a diner.
Not just any diner, though.
Let's open up a modern diner."
This is The Governor.
I got four grilled cheese about to come off the flattop.
The Governor is everybody's favorite.
Plating up John Dandy.
When you heard about the diner opening up,
what did you think?
I was super-excited.
It's a classic diner but it has some modern feel to it.
It's so unique.
It's big flavor. It's big portions.
It's big-pants eatin'.
"Big-pants eatin'."
And it seems like everything's a little bigger
when it comes to brothers Paul and Neil Barraco.
Is everybody in your family of the sasquatch size?
Sister's 5'11", Mom's 5'11", Dad's 6'3".
So give me the rundown.
For me, as a chef, I've been watching your show since it started.
When you think of diners, man, you get lasagna,
you can get, you know, Greek food,
you can get a club sandwich.
And we wanted to have this menu
that had zero boundaries to it.
A couple of Governor Tso's Chicken Sandwiches here.
Governor Tso's is phenomenal.
Paul takes 20 or 30 spices and combines 'em.
It's an amazing chicken sandwich.
-What's our first dish? -Szechuan dry rub
for the Governor Tso's Chicken Sandwich.
Dark chili powder here, toasted caraway.
He gets carried away with that.
[Paul chuckles]
Cinnamon, a little MSG, 5 spice, brown mustard,
cayenne, onion powder, comino...
Listen to you, with your Spanish.
[Paul] Garlic powder, black pepper and salt.
Give this a little whisk.
That's a normal-size whisk for everybody at home.
It's just he has a monster hand.
[Guy] Now to the chicken breast.
We're gonna make a brine/dredge.
So we start off with a little bit of rice flour,
a little buttermilk and some dill pickle juice,
-a little bit of rub. -Okay.
Chicken in. These have been jaccarded.
"Jaccarded!"
Let me pick up that word that you just dropped.
It's like the ultimate tenderizing method.
[Paul] Let this sit at least overnight.
What are we gonna dredge that in to fry it?
AP flour, rice flour, potato starch,
and some of our Szechuan spice blend.
Dredge our chickens.
So we deep-fry that. What else goes with the sandwich?
Lemon ginger mayonnaise, kewpie mayonnaise,
Dijon, roasted garlic oil that we make in-house.
-Of course they do. -Lemon juice,
lime juice, ginger puree, MSG, a little bit of salt,
-white pepper. -All right.
Slaw. We're gonna have kewpie mayonnaise,
sour cream, Thai chili sauce, apple cider vinegar,
local honey, salt and pepper.
Green cabbage, red cabbage, carrot ribbons.
Very angry fryer.
[Paul chuckles] "Angry fryer."
Dried apricot, green onion, chopped fresh dill,
sunflower seed for some crunch,
-jalapeno... -Mix up the slaw.
[Paul] Lemon ginger mayonnaise.
We're gonna go on with our quick pickles.
We'll take our chicken breast fresh out of the fryer.
We've got brown butter here, Szechuan rub.
Gonna go onto our bun. Slaw.
Top with the old knife.
The interesting thing is you make food for your size.
That's not the same as every other chicken sandwich.
You have more herbs and spices in this
than anything I've ever seen.
It's got the Southern style chicken,
the sauce, crunchy.
But that brown butter blew the spice.
I will rip that off all day long.
Pulling chicken from the fryer.
It's so crispy, but so juicy.
[man] The Barracos, they have big hands.
So you have to smash it together
to be able to eat it.
[man 2] The lemon mayo with the coleslaw
adds a brightness to the flavor.
-It's my go-to. -So it doesn't matter that
you got some down the front of your shirt.
That doesn't take long.
[man 3] I love this place
and what it's done for Historic Milford.
It's becoming a destination.
I got a grilled cheese and kimchi tomato coming up.
I had the grilled short rib sandwich with the kimchi soup.
It's delicious.
[Guy] What do you got for me?
Short rib grilled cheese that we serve with a kimchi tomato soup.
These are some boneless short ribs.
Season these on one side
and then we're gonna put these on the flattop.
Some salt and pepper.
After these brown up on both sides...
Just shaved red onions. These are gonna kind of melt into the meat.
[Guy] More braising liquid from last time?
[Paul] It is.
Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce...
-And a little red wine. -You got it.
[Paul] We're gonna cover the short ribs.
-In the oven how long? -350 for about four hours.
-[Guy] Until we just... -Shred it.
-Okay, Chef. -Moving on to our kimchi and tomato soup.
A little bit of butter down, julienned sweet onions,
salt and pepper.
Onions are caramelized.
[Paul] San Marzano tomato,
roasted garlic, some basil, gochujang.
So I'm assuming that's where you're getting your kimchi reference.
[Paul] Yes. A little bit of funk.
Veg base, and then we go in with heavy whipping cream
and a little salt and pepper.
And this cooks on medium heat about an hour.
Now you hit it with the pecorino?
[Paul] Hit it with the pecorino now.
Blend. Sourdough bread.
For our grilled cheese, I wanted to have American in there.
We have sharp provolone.
Everything's grated in-house.
Our short rib back on.
Puts a little texture to it.
[Paul] We're gonna hit this with soy sauce
that we just thin out with some water.
This guy's nonstop.
[Paul] And then we got that great crust on the bread.
Kimchi and tomato soup.
And that's it. That's our finished product there.
Bro, that is delicious.
And it is kimchi tomato soup.
It's got the funk. It's got the sting.
It's got some of the depth.
That unctuous short rib, rich and deep.
People are gonna be driving from all over the country.
A destination dish.
Goin' on with the beef for the grilled cheese.
The beef is very tender, juicy.
[man] Dipping it into the tomato soup,
you're getting a little bit something more deluxe.
A lot of texture to it. It's awesome.
I got a lamb French dip.
You gotta go to The Governor.
It exceeded our expectations.
[Guy] Yeah. They're pretty awesome dudes too.
[Guy] This is not a diner.
This is a really dynamite restaurant
that's masking itself as a diner.
-Thank you so much. -Well done.
You're batting at a different level.
Well, that means a lot.
[Guy] Coming up, an east coast transplant
in Bend, Oregon...
-The real deal. -Mmm-hmm.
...putting out polish flavor...
Mmm! That's so good.
...like crazy cabbage...
People must lose their minds.
...and real-deal pierogies.
They really are an experience. Outstanding.
So I'm here in Bend, Oregon.
I used to come up here all the time when I was a kid to go skiing.
And about four years ago, did Guy's Family Road Trip
and we came up here with the RVs.
So we're walking around one day, all the families,
and we see this food court area,
all these trailers, trying to make a decision what to get.
And in the back, I see this red wagon
and they're selling pierogies. And I'm a sucker for a good pierogi.
Little did I know I was getting pierogies
with a side of entertainment.
This is Big Ski's Pierogis.
All right, we're about to pop up.
Out of this world.
What's up, Johnny?
[man] Kind of like a cult following.
Now people just adore this place
and what he does.
Monstahs up.
Nobody makes pierogies like Richie.
-[Guy] The real deal. -Mmm-hmm.
Hey, guys. Have you ever had a pierogi?
You can tell his passion when he starts to talk about
what pierogies mean to him.
[Guy] Which goes back to Rich Winiarski's Polish roots
back when he was living on the east coast
before he was a prison guard
and before he retired to Oregon
to be a ski bum.
You come up here so you can ski,
find out there's no polish food.
I had a Christmas party.
My wife asked me to make some pierogies.
-Right. -And I fed like 12 neighbors.
And the next thing you know is I'm in a pierogi cart.
And how many food trucks are in here?
We got Americana Burgers.
Board. They make cheese boards.
Tacos A Catrina,
Cheesecake truck,
Bigfoot Barbecue,
Thailandia, Juno Sushi,
The Podski Bar,
and Mother Shuckers.
[Guy] But you're the anchor in the back here.
I see you just drawing them in.
Here's your Super OGs.
Super OGs are amazing.
It's a loaded potato wrapped in a dumpling.
S-O-G.
-Why "S"? -"Super."
[Rich] We're gonna make our pierogi dough.
-So AP flour. -Some sour cream,
salt, eggs. We're gonna add some hot water.
Turn the mixer on.
-When it gets tacky... -We're good to go.
[Guy] Got you.
We're gonna make some farmer's cheese.
So for a guy that was a prison guard
is now making his own cheese
in a little truck in snowy Bend, Oregon.
You got that right.
Throw the salt in,
put in our whole milk.
We're gonna bring this up to 180.
While that's happening, we're gonna sour some milk.
-White vinegar. -We just made buttermilk.
[Rich] And then the magic happens.
That just doesn't work that quick.
Look at that. I'm impressed, buddy.
Got a lot goin' on to be makin' your own cheese.
-Let it cool. -[Rich] That's it.
All right. Where we at, brother?
We're gonna make the SOG mix.
Applewood bacon,
pepper it a little bit. And then we have fun.
-[Guy] Chop it in the pan. -We do everything in the pan.
This is your prep table.
-Butter, onions... -And that's the mix?
-And the knives again. -Yes, sir.
This guy's got aces.
[Rich] That's it, buddy.
-We let it cool down for the stuffing? -Yes.
[Rich] We start with our backed potato and add pepper,
-salt... -The cheese is money.
[Rich] SOG mix.
I need to smear that all over my body.
This is called Polish butter.
[Guy] Caramelized those onions down nice and sweet.
Lightly mix this.
Here's the pierogi dough.
[Rich] Put it through the sheeter.
We just got that machine, by the way.
You told me four years ago,
"You're gonna need a machine."
Didn't I tell you that?
[Rich] Take our scoopers.
Are we makin' this like we do raviolis?
Pretty much.
Roll it up and over.
[Guy] And that's it.
You get four in an order.
We're gonna boil 'em, air-dry 'em...
-[Guy] Right, and then when it's time for an order... -Time for an order...
...cast-iron fry.
[Rich] Put a little bit of a crisp on 'em.
Oh, look at that little move.
They're gonna be a little hot.
Sorry.
Professional.
Aah!
So delicious.
You really can taste the passion...
and dedication you have to this.
They really are an experience.
It's outstanding.
[Rich] Three orders of Super OG goin' down.
It's just so good.
It's everything you want kind of all wrapped up in one.
I could eat so many.
[Guy] He really goes another level with them.
-Right? -Yeah, for sure.
Every single one's unique
and it's like a party in your mouth.
They're delicious and there's something for everybody.
-What is this? -That's called The King.
It's got dungy, snow crab, blue crab, scallops,
shrimp, some shallots
and a little bit of love.
Steak morel with sauteed onions.
Mmm! That's so good.
I definitely wanna experience more Polish food
after just having this.
We've got golumpkis for Scotty. Let's go.
What's a golumpki?
It'll blow your mind.
[man] It's like a giant meatball wrapped in cabbage.
And you just bite into it and it's amazing.
So stuffed cabbage is what we're making.
Yes, sir. First, we're gonna take a head of cabbage.
-Okay. -We're gonna core it.
Just poach the leaves.
Once it gets water in between the veins,
they'll all start peeling.
We're gonna let 'em cool for a second.
What are we stuffin' 'em with?
[Rich] All-purpose seasoning, uncooked white rice,
ground pork, ground beef.
And then we have a mixing party.
So I'm gonna get about 4 ounces,
-give or take a half ounce. -Right.
Then we take the cabbage leaf and put it in your palm.
You don't wanna squeeze this too hard.
That's it. Badda-boom, badda-bang.
So at the end, we're smear the tomato paste on top.
[Rich] Add my chicken broth.
-Plastic wrap and foil. -Yes, sir.
And then we'll bake it off in the oven.
-Two hours, 350. -Two hours?
And then you're gonna let it rest.
And then you're gonna go for another hour.
That doesn't make any sense.
[whistles]
[Rich] You want your cabbage to come out like butter.
Onions.
Wow, there's a lot in there.
It is butter. The cabbage just melts.
You got the right amount of the pork and the beef in there,
simply seasoned, not overdone.
Great texture inside of it.
People must lose their mind.
Delicious.
Here's your golumpki.
-I call it a yumskis. -It should be called a yumski.
We're signing a petition.
Cabbage changed over to golumpki.
[woman] You bite into it and you're like,
"I just feel like I hugged my grandmother."
You really gotta get it in your face.
Come on down to Big Ski's.
Super next, goin' in.
This is the place to stop by absolutely.
Outstanding.
You cook from the heart, man. It's awesome.
-I'm so glad I came back. -Thank you.
Told you I'd be here.
When I come back next time, I wanna see a bigger trailer.
Next time, we're gonna have an 8-top here.
So that's it for this trip.
But don't worry. There's plenty more Triple D joints
all over the country.
I'll be lookin' for you next week
on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
[in fancy accent] Oh, is that chicken jaccarded?
Well, of course it is!
-We're dandy. -We're at the Governor's mansion,
you dandy!
No clue where the accent came from
because we're in Cincinnati.
But it sounded good for a second.
I liked it.