You know, people are asking me all the time,
"Hey, Guy, that one joint you checked out
in that one city when you were doing Triple-D, how they doing?"
You know, I don't know, we should check it out.
Over the years, I've seen and tasted it all
This is ridiculous, dude.
But it turns out, it was only the beginning,
'cause Triple-D joints have been blowing up
and we're going back to see what's cooking,
like on this trip.
Breakfast...
[woman] Porchetta egg and cheese, in the window.
[Guy] ...lunch...
-Do you like yours dipped, drowned or dry? -[Guy] I'll take it dipped.
...dinner...
-That's fresh and funky, dude. -Oh, yeah.
...and drinks.
Chocolate martini.
Can you bring some more over here?
[Guy] Gyro meat, any way you want it, in Columbus, Ohio.
Tell me that this is gonna be available in my frozen food selection.
Two gyro rolls, up!
[Guy] Creative cocktails and a jam and turkey burger in Edison, New Jersey.
Mmm!
And in Lansing, Michigan, rocking and rolling...
All right, 300 in one hour, I'll be back.
...Middle Eastern must-haves
Chicken shawarma.
Is that how you do it?
Wow, that's good, bro.
Familiar faces, new places and more off-the-hook flavor
This is Triple-D Nation.
So I live in Northern California, but I was born here in Columbus, Ohio.
And I'm here to check out a joint that's owned
by two Greek dudes that are from Chicago.
Wait a second, that confuse you yet?
Don't worry about it.
Beef is coming up.
[Guy] And considering how much traffic
these guys have got since I was there in 2017,
there's still nothing to worry about.
You looking for some real-deal gyro?
It's right here, at Loops, just good food.
I got a meatball sub for Pete.
It's Chicago with, like, a hint of Greek.
Two gyro rolls, up!
I just really like it.
Absolutely the best sandwiches in town.
By far, the best gyros in town. My favorite.
Fetafire chicken and fries.
I've been coming here for, like, eight or nine years
and to see these guys on Triple-D, it's something they deserve.
[Guy] And they still do, because brothers Jim and Andrew Constantinides
are serving up the meals they miss the most
from their hometown of Chicago.
Growing up, going downtown, you'd find the place
that had the best chicken or the best gyro.
So when we were coming up with the menu, we're, like,
"These are the things we're gonna do--"
-We'll take the best from this one. -Exactly.
-The best from that one. -[Andrew] Exactly right.
Awesome.
[laughing]
How long ago has it been?
Four years.
-It seems like 14 years. -It does.
I tell you, the Italian beef, I still talk...
It's one of my favorite things.
We thrive on that, it's probably our biggest seller right now.
Italian beef, extra hot.
So let's talk about breaking down Italian beef.
Trimmed eye of the round, great piece of meat to work with.
We have to make our dry rub.
We start with onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt
-and last, but not least, pepper. -Okay.
[Andrew] Put the beef into the pan with some stock,
season the beef heavily,
take another quart, 'cause you want some more juice in there.
So we're going to roast and steam this at the same time?
[Andrew] Exactly right.
Just a little over medium rare.
-[Guy] Bring it out, let it cool, slice it thin. -[Andrew] Correct.
We toast our hoagie.
Now, that's not a typical Chicago thing.
No, it's not, we like to toast it,
-because it just adds a little bit more flair. -I'm with you.
Elevating the program.
[Andrew] You take the beef and you just add into the au jus.
Just to warm it up.
[Andrew] The idea is not to stack it as one big clump.
You wanna ribbon it when it goes inside.
That's a good word, I like that.
[Guy] Layer it up.
Do you like yours dipped, drowned or dry?
[Guy] I'll take it dipped. [exclaims]
-Next up is, uh, giardiniera with the peppers. -[Guy] Okay.
-The question is you like hot or mild? -Oh, I'm hot.
-[Andrew] There's your Italian beef. -[Guy] Okay.
Have to get a big breath. I'll be down for a while.
That's so good.
The meat cut perfectly thin, light and delicate, right amount of jus.
The bun doesn't die.
I think the toasting thing is what everybody
in Chicago should be learning from.
That right there is exactly what it tastes like in Chicago.
-We're not in Chicago, are we? -No.
Typically you have to go to Chicago to really get it,
but you guys did, in my opinion, the best Ohio version...
-I mean, it's a legit version, it is what Italian beef is. -It is, it is.
-It just happened to be in Ohio, right? -Well, yeah.
What's this monster?
That is our meatball sub, we make that from scratch.
We start with our ground meat, browned and ready to go.
Next we use an Italian sausage, some pureed onion,
bread crumbs, we also use two eggs Greek olive oil,
salt, onion powder, oregano, basil, garlic powder
and last, but not least, we use pepper.
Now we start to ball them.
We throw them in the oven at 375.
Now we're gonna make our marinara.
We're gonna start with our crushed tomatoes that go right into the pot.
Add our salt, basil, garlic powder, black pepper, Greek oregano,
some sugar and last, but not least, we're gonna add a bit more Greek olive oil.
Marinara on the grill.
We take our meatballs, place them right on top.
We give it a bit of a steam.
After that, we add our provolone cheese.
Hoagie goes on the grill.
We hit it with a little bit of parm.
And there's Loops, the meatball sandwich.
Just a traditional, Greek meatball.
Really nice and light, not heavy and dense.
That meatball is extremely tender, not bready, not over the top, delicious.
Nice and hearty, sticks to your ribs, it's awesome.
Mmm. That's delicious, by the way.
But hold on to your spit, because these guys
have a few more surprises to unwrap.
-[Andrew] Ready? -Oh, gosh, I can't wait.
Can we go to commercial?
All right, gentlemen, let's rock and roll.
Welcome back, we're hanging out at the Loop in Columbus, Ohio.
I need a beef with hot.
The menu's a little eclectic.
You're looking at Chicago fo and you're looking at Greek food,
so it's kind of a combinatio of the two.
Chicago is, without question, one of my favorite food towns.
Where'd the Greek influence come in?
Well. [scoffs]
Come on, bro, gimme. Gimme, gimme, gimme.
Coming, coming, man.
Andy and Jim, they just know everyone here.
When you walk through the door, they already know what you want.
And they always know that I want my gyro.
You get them every single time.
-Are you gonna try something else some day? -No.
This is an authentic Greek gyro, the way they do it in Greece.
So, trim it up, freeze it up, slice it thin, season it and build a spit.
Let's see it.
Start with garlic powder, basil, oregano, paprika, onion powder,
salt and, of course, some pepper.
-[Guy] Okay. -[Andrew] Mix it up.
Spreading it on top of the meat.
Another layer, so it gets the seasoning from the top and the bottom.
-[Andrew] Exactly. -Let this set overnight.
Let the flavors work all the way through it.
-Then we'll throw it on the spit? -[Andrew] Correct.
What, do you get your hoof on there
-and you hold that with one leg and... -No.
...then you start stacking?
Somebody will hold this, somebody will slice it, somebody will stack it.
You have to interrupt somebody's job to have them hold it?
Well, there are a lot of overpaid people here, so it's usually not a problem.
-Start stacking, homes. -Like I said.
-A lot of overpaid people... [laughs] -Overpaid people.
There's a lot of smack talking goes on between you.
I should apologize for some of the comments that I--
Hey, if you hadn't done what you were doing,
-the show wouldn't have been as great as it was. -Thank you.
[Guy] All right, so you load this thing up.
But you gotta have this.
[Guy] Oh, that's the key.
[Andrew] Throw it on the rotisserie,
about 30 minutes after it's running hot,
you'll be able to shave it off the sides.
[Guy] What is that thing?
The most expensive knife I've ever owned.
If you drop it, I fire you.
Don't have to worry about dropping it,
I'm gonna drop it in the glove compartment of my car.
Dude, that is legit.
Start with the pita.
Little bit of meat.
You gotta have a little Greek tzatziki.
And that's your Titan.
Wow, incredible crust.
But tender, outstanding.
I might like that more than the Italian beef.
Don't ever come eat one of these.
[laughs]
You will be disappointed if you eat one anywhere else after that.
What happened after Triple-D was there?
Coming up, coming up, coming up.
[laughs] It got crazy.
I was actually here the day after it aired.
There was a line out the doo
Whenever I come in, there's always a crowd.
People coming in, lining up.
When we first started doing the Titan,
we would probably do around 25 pounds a week.
Once the show aired, we more than tripled it.
We've been very happy, we have the two food trucks,
we're doing a lot of things with Ohio State Stadium.
This is something that we're the most excited about.
It's called Loops Gyro Roll.
And this is a spicy version of it.
-What is in it? -[Andrew] Gyro, a blend of cheeses and spices.
Spicy gyro rolls.
The gyro roll is more so an eggroll wrapper.
He stuffs gyro in there and feta.
[Andrew] It's wrapped in that wonton and deep-frie
Served with our spicy tzatziki sauce.
I got an order of spicy gyros.
Anything deep-fried is good, but these are just excellent
with the feta cheese and tzatziki sauce.
The gyro rolls, forget it, they're the best.
-And we created these, it is original. -That is dynamite.
-It is phenomenal. -Thank you.
-And it's got good spice, so it's got good heat. -Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Tell me that this is gonna be available in my frozen food selection.
[Andrew] We would love it.
Everybody's coming in for the gyro rolls.
We'll come in here and grab, like, uh,
one of the 10-packs of the gyro rolls,
heat them up, watch a game at the house.
They're portable, it's awesome.
We just love coming in. This has been their true passion and it shows.
Let's go, let's go!
How is everything?
Your energy and attitude is infectious.
-The accents, you know, the thing and the... -The hands.
And the hands.
I like how both of you have talked the entire time
with your hands in your pockets.
-Are you guys getting a little softer now? -We're in Ohio.
You guys might need to go back and get, like, a little Chicago infusion.
-Maybe you're right, I think I do. -I think so.
It's a great idea, actually.
Nice to see you guys again. Thank you, brother.
Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.
[Guy] And coming up, a joint in New Jersey...
-[woman] It's a diner with bling. -Diner with bling.
...serving everything for breakfast...
That's an all-day sandwich for me.
[Guy] ...to bacon-onion jam
When you start something with those three words, you know it's gonna be good.
I'll give it to you on that one.
[Guy] When you're thinking late-night diner menu,
you're usually thinking, like, pancakes or a burger.
But in Edison, New Jersey, there's a place who's doing
the late-night menu their own way.
I hit this place up at the tail end of my 2008 New Jersey Diner Tour.
-This is Jersey, baby. -Yeah.
This is it.
[Guy] But this place has got a scene any time of day.
It's called the Skylark Diner.
Enjoy.
The Skylark is the place. This is a landmark in Jersey.
We're super fans of Triple-D and to have him come somewhere
that we've been going for this many years was really good to see.
It has delicious food. I just love it so much.
[Guy] And who wouldn't love a sleek looking diner
serving scratch-made meals and fancy drinks?
[both] Cheers.
[Guy] Courtesy of Dan Caput and Chris Kakos.
-Did it say Diner out front? -[in unison] Yeah.
-[woman] It's diner with bling. -Diner with bling?
-Yeah. -Bling.
You have the diner, you have the bar.
The atmosphere also adds to it.
There really isn't too many diners like this.
You can come get breakfast, lunch, dinner or even come late night,
get a few drinks with friends.
It's a bar in a diner.
-[woman] Yeah. -[Guy] That make sense?
Yes, it does.
[Guy] Make me something interesting.
How about, uh an orange martini and a chocolate martini?
[Guy] Okay.
[whistles]
Chocolate martini.
Oh, that's awesome. Can you bring some more over here?
[Guy] Tell me about the orange one.
The orange one is more refreshing.
What is the, uh...
-It's orange Tang. -That's Tang.
-You take, uh, orange-flavored vodka. -[Guy] Okay.
Peach schnapps, a splash of orange juice.
Shake it.
Put a little slice of orange.
It's great.
It's a really well-rounded place.
You can hang out, have a meal, stay, have some drinks,
have another meal.
Can I get you guys a drink?
We have a full bar, but being a scratch kitchen,
we have a huge concentration on the food that we're creating each and every day.
You can get breakfast all day, you can get dinner in the morning if you want.
-Porchetta egg and cheese. -Thank you so much.
[woman] Enjoy.
It's that perfect breakfast/brunch sandwich.
I got a porchetta for Table 1.
We brine the pork belly for 24 hours.
We season it with salt, pepper,
we stuff it with garlic confit,
add a little bit of thyme and spinach.
Roll it up and tie it off.
Then it's gonna go into the oven, 375, for about 4 hours.
Take it out of the oven let it rest
and then slice it down into our portion.
We're gonna get our eggs going,
toast our bun, add some cheese and some cherry peppers.
Add some mayo, ketchup and onion to the bun.
[woman] Porchetta, egg and cheese in the window.
You can absolutely tell that this is homemade.
It definitely has a rich pork flavor, but it's not one note.
You've got all the different spices.
That's an all-day sandwich for me, I order in the morning and at night.
That's something else, huh?
-Hey, wait, where are you going with that? -Oh, hey, yeah. [laughs]
-You snack while you work. -That's all right, that's all right.
-[woman] White Russian up. -Steak sandwich for the bar.
The food is always good, I love the fact that the diner
does offer creative alternatives.
[man] Cajun remoulade.
-That's fresh and funky, dude. -Oh, yeah.
I'll give it to you on that one.
Bacon-onion jam turkey burger in the window.
[woman] First of all, when you start something with those three words,
bacon, onion, jam, you know it's gonna be good.
The key to the turkey burger is that we grind all the turkey in house.
Once the turkey's ground, we're gonna season it with onions, garlic, rosemary,
a little bit of salt and pepper
and then we mix it all together and form it into our patties.
We'll let them set and we'll make the bacon-onion jam.
Of course, bacon and onions
We add a little jalapeno and brown sugar for some heat and sweet,
some balsamic vinaigrette
and a maple honey mix.
We're gonna the patties off on the flattop,
add some mozzarella cheese
and the bacon-onion jam.
Put a little Dijon and lettuce on the bun,
add the burger and we're ready to go.
Bacon-onion jam turkey burger.
The turkey with the bacon-onion jam is fantastic.
It's that good mix of the salt and the sweet that just gets you.
Super juicy, definitely a hefty burger.
It's a little messy, but definitely worth it.
All right, I got two crispy chickens in the window.
We do a show called Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives you might have heard of it.
After Triple-D came here, we instantly saw an increase in business and sales.
We absolutely see it every day.
[woman] Order up.
There's lines and a wait list.
People want to be here, it's that good.
You girls are out rolling kind of late tonight.
-That's how we roll. -That's how we roll.
So yummy.
[Guy] Next up in Lansing, Michigan...
I little bite of heaven.
[Guy] ...Middle-Eastern staples...
-I need a large fattoush. -Fried kibbeh plate.
[man] Chicken shawarma.
[Guy] ...taken to a whole new level.
I can't reach that. Look at it, look... You know.
Trying to get up like that.
Hummus ready to go, let's rock.
Well I'm here on the west side of Lansing, Michigan
in the middle of the solar eclipse.
I'm here to check out a join that's serving up some amazing Mediterranean food.
That was quite a day in 2017,
a natural phenomenon up abov and real deal cuisine straight ahead.
This is Zaytoon.
Fattoush with chicken shawarma ready to go, let's rock.
Zaytoon is about as authentic as you can get.
Everything is very fresh and very well prepared.
I know why they were aired on Triple-D, because it's great food.
I was on the show.
I like the flavor, the seasonings
and you can tell that there is a lot of love
I love it.
[Guy] In fact, you can practically taste the love
that owner Samy Rashed adds to all of his Middle-Easter childhood favorites.
My mom is a phenomenal cook.
-Where's your mom from? -Syria.
-Where's your dad from? -Palestine.
-This is in your DNA, this is your comfort food. -It is.
Hummus, chick shawarma ready to go.
[woman] The first time I was here, I had the chicken shawarma
and Guy plopped down next to me.
How would you describe this to somebody?
I feel like I'm eating healthy.
Straight out of Flavortown.
[man] Chicken shawarma.
It is our Number 1 bestseller, by far.
Chicken shawarma.
Is that how you do it?
-The word shower... -Shower.
...ma, M-A.
-Shawarma? -There you go.
So you got your tomato paste, the garlic, dried sumac, crushed red pepper,
-ground black pepper, I got Spanish paprika. -Okay.
Ground cumin, ground coriander.
[Guy] That's one of those flavors that starts to surprise people.
[Samy] Regular salt, oregano, some white distilled vinegar,
you add some water, whisk it all together.
Ah, see nice, ain't it?
Pour this on our chicken thighs.
-[Guy] This is going to marinate for how long? -[Samy] 24 hours.
-[Guy] Bring it out. -[Samy] Yup, filet them open.
-[Guy] Got it. -So you got your vertical broiler here.
[Guy] Onion on top?
How long does it have to cook on the spit before it's ready for service.
[Samy] 25 minutes to a half hour.
I wanna reach in there, but I'll lose a finger.
[Samy] Shaved chicken, garlic sauce.
Really simple, done exactly right, tender, flavorful.
Wow, that's good, bro.
Nice, glad you enjoy it.
[man] Fattoush salad with chicken shawarma.
It's delicious, so much flavor.
[Samy] Before Guy came, I was going through about 2,500 pounds a week,
and after Guy left, we jumped up to 3,200 pounds a week.
See, this is what it is, I understand why you can do it and not many others can,
because I can't reach that, look at this, you know, trying to get up like that.
By Guy coming, I felt like, "Look, Mom, I made it."
Just doubled our traffic.
I got a large fattoush with chicken I'll take care of.
The food is amazing.
[Samy] Garlic shrimp saute coming out.
A lot of different options to choose from.
Lamb chops, 3 minutes.
[woman] All different kinds of meats.
You're getting substance, but it's not heavy.
Fried kibbeh with tabouleh and hummus.
[woman] Kibbeh is ground mea in the center, surrounded
by a delicious outer coatin that's then deep-fried.
A little bite of heaven.
[Samy] The first step is to make the filling for your fried kibbeh.
We're going to brown our ground beef and lamb.
Add a little olive oil.
We'll let that cook down.
Then I'm gonna add my onions,
cumin, salt, black pepper, toasted, slivered almonds, mix that up nice.
So now that we've made the filling,
now I'm gonna make the shell for the fried kibbeh.
I'm gonna add the wheat, ground beef and lamb,
salt, Spanish paprika, black pepper, cumin, ground coriander,
touch of cinnamon, mix this all together.
When Guy came the first time, we made the grape leaves.
I have a young lady, who's actually a machine.
All right, 300 in one hour, I'll be back.
To make our kibbeh balls, I'm going to have to introduce my latest machine.
This is Miss Lulu.
She makes about 100 to 150 an hour,
whereas I will make about 10.
You're gonna fry them for about 2 to 3 minutes.
[Samy] And we're gonna plate them with hummus and our tabouleh.
Put a little bit of tabouleh in there.
This is made from scratch, I actually use quinoa instead of wheat.
It's so fresh, so light.
Fried kibbeh plate, coming right up.
You have the hard, crunchy shell on the outside,
but right when you bite in, it breaks open with the mea and the nut flavor.
It's like an explosion in your mouth, it's amazing.
Tabouleh's nice and light and kind of acidic, so it's a very good flavor.
Most places don't put nearly enough parsley and this is perfect.
I need a large fattoush and shawarma.
It's something that you feel like your mom would make you at home.
If you wouldn't serve it to your mother, I don't want it in my window.
I have a saying that every plate that leaves my kitchen
is as if you're serving it to your mother.
You have such passion.
You've got the street cred to say, "This is legit, this is how you do it."
Hard work pays off.
Loops gyro rolls for Triple-D Nation.
I mean, here's the deal, why even do it if you don't love it?
I love them.
-Cheers. -Cheers.
These guys put so much of themselves into their joints.
I'm just glad the nation has taken notice.
But those aren't the only ones, ladies and gentlemen.
We'll check out more Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives next time on Triple-D Nation
-Maybe just a smudge. -You wouldn't leave me hanging out there, would you?
Just a smudge.
-I haven't got anything in my beard, or anything? -No, no, no.
-No, we're buddies, right? -Of course.
Greek guy, Italian, you know, pals.
Thanks a lot.