Six Alachua County restaurants will be featured in a new episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (DDD) premiering on Food Network at 9 p.m. on Friday, March 14.
Bingo Deli & Pub, Fehrenbacher’s Meats & Eats, Germain’s Chicken Sandwiches, Humble Wood Fire Bagel Shop, Uppercrust Bakery and The Paper Bag Deli all made the cut from a pool of contestants. The show’s first episode is titled “African, Sicilian & Sausage” and will highlight Fehrenbacher’s Meats & Eats.
“Collaborating with production teams has been incredibly rewarding,” said Bailey McClellan in a press release.
McClellan is the tourism program coordinator and film liaison for Visit Gainesville, Alachua County, which helped facilitate the show’s filming. “Our goal is to provide seamless support to ensure their projects come to life in Alachua County.”
Filming for the new DDD episode with host Guy Fieri and his crew took place in December 2024. Fieri is no stranger to North Central Florida, as that month he also showed up at The Good Pour in Gainesville for a meet-and-greet and bottle-signing of his and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar’s Santo Spirits tequila brand.
In 2022, Fieri donated 10 pizzas to the Ocala Police Department while visiting a few restaurants in town for his show. He also recently announced that a new location of his chain restaurant Chicken Guy! will open in Ocala later this year.
The Paper Bag Deli owner Richard Sterck told Mainstreet that getting to work on the DDD episode was mind-blowing and felt like living in reality while also living a dream.
“The moment [Fieri] walked in the door, I got all the weird, you know, starstruck butterflies for a second,” Sterck said. “He’s just a normal guy like the rest of us…he was a humble man and fun to be with. We kind of talked trash with each other in a fun way. It was great.”
Sterck said Fieri and his team reached out to him around Thanksgiving last year to notify him that his deli had been selected for the show. The vote came from word-of-mouth recommendations, including one he didn’t know about from his mother.
“My mom kind of randomly threw an email to somebody at Food Network, this you know, mother, son email, and I was like, ‘oh, mom,’” Sterck said. “She said something about ‘check out my son’s deli, it’s authentic, fun, check his reviews.’”
Sterck said the first day of production started with recipe-making practice from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Paper Bag Deli’s downtown Gainesville location with just the show’s film crew. Fieri came for a few hours the next day. He picked the Cuban sandwich and The Man in the Black Hat sandwiches to taste.
Sterck said Fieri picked The Man in the Black Hat after hearing the story of the sandwich’s namesake, Dwayne Elliot. Elliot was a former employee of Sterck’s, known for wearing a black fedora to the deli and passed away from cancer a few years ago.
“We were together for three hours just talking shop and talking sandwiches and talking smack and it was just so much fun,” Sterck said.
Sterck also said The Paper Bag Deli took Fieri’s advice to proactively bump up staff and prepare for demands that will likely come after people hear about the restaurant on DDD.
“[Fieri said] these shows definitely bring a lot of people into the area in a good way, so be ready for it, be prepared, don’t underestimate it,” Sterck said. “So I’m hoping we’ve done enough to kind of ride the wave for a little bit and have fun with it and grow and get new customers.”
Sterck said the downtown deli will host a watch party for the new episode and he will announce details on his Instagram story. For more information on the episode, visit the Food Network’s website.