March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 47 F

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives Comes To Davis’ Pub

We already know that Jane Fonda likes Galway Bay. Kevin Spacey loves Metropolitan Kitchen & Lounge. And it seems that Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives also has a thing for Annapolis!

He was in town a while ago filming Galway Bay, and more recently, he was at hometown favorite, Davis’ Pub discovering things that we likely take for granted.  So, how does Guy Fieri roll?  Here are your answers!

Davis’s is not doing a viewing party or anything like that–but we suggest you tune into The Food Network at 10:00pm on August 20th and see a little bit of Naptown broadcast to the world!

How did you get on the show?

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives actually contacted us. YOU, our awesome customers, apparently have been writing for years about Annapolis’ local dive bar. The AACVB recommended several locations for the research department to check out as well. Thank you all!

Once they called, it was a lengthy vetting process, which included two years of perfect Health Department reports, menu analysis, procedures, staff history, undercover diners and 10 plus years of operation in this location.

What is Guy like?

Funny. Actually, really funny. He was a nice, down to earth person, who only had positive things to say. He seemed genuinely interested in our restaurant, food, our lives and continued success. Guy was also very supportive of Jon Mayer and his pursuit to get his tv show the Feasty Boys back on national tv.

Jon’s local cable access show was signed by the Travel Channel, which produced 10 episodes that are now showing on syndication on GAC.

He is also a “guy’s guy” that we could easily relate to. The SF 49ers played the Redskins the night before so it seemed like the 7am filming at the Pub was a little challenging for Guy, the Northern Cali native. It was great, it showed us that he was real!

What was filming like?

Contrary to what you think from watching the show, we were NOT open when Guy was in here NOR when the camera goes around the dining room interviewing “customers.” Even though filmed in a reality tv format, it is still TV and everything was staged.

There was a Producer, an Assistant Producer, two Camera guys, Sound Guy, production assistants and a ridiculous amount of equipment. Guy’s entourage included a driver, his best friend from California and his assistant. (See the dining room photo) You can see there is no room to move because of all the lights and equipment all over the bar and dining room.

“Customers” were assembled outside. The producer then directed them to designated tables. While the interviews were being conducted, the rest of the diners ate in complete silence while mimicking conversation. The result was a super akward dining experience. Even the AC unit was turned off so there was zero background noise. All the restaurant noise you’ll hear during the airing is actually TV magic.  The customers who were background diners probably had to eat 3-4 plates of food because of the numerous shots that were being taken.

Although the film crew was here for 10 hours, Davis’ Pub’s segment will not be as extensive as other locations, lasting about 4 minutes. Our segment will be short but none the less, still representing Annapolis!

We drove one of their camera guys around town for hours getting B roll so we hope that others can see how beautiful our city is.

Each process was filmed over and over to get it right. The producer and crew were ridiculously thorough. Guy filmed the making of one dish with local celebrity Jon Mayer, who works at Davis’ Pub part time. Davis’ Pub chef Darby Butts created the recipe back in 2010 and it has been a favorite since it debuted.

We are just a small local pub, nothing fancy, but the show is named, Diner’s, Drive-Ins and Dives and we hope we represented Annapolis well. Guy’s best friend summed it up best upon seeing the cans not bottles of beer that we serve, “this is the kind of place WE hang out at back home.”

 

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