Local Restaurants Boom After Food Network Splash

DELTA, Wis. - There are a handful of Northland restaurants lucky enough to get a visit from Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  It's been a few weeks since episodes featuring local eateries have been featured, and business is booming."We're kind of put it out in the middle of nowhere,” said owner of Delta Diner, Todd Bucher. “Delta is a fantastic place. It's a beautiful drive from anywhere." It was only a few months back when the rural Wisconsin diner was stormed by lights, cameras and a world famous chef."We got to hang with guy as a customer, not as the TV personality," Bucher said. Food Network found out about Delta Diner thanks to the creator of Jimmy John’s who has a family cabin nearby. John introduced his close friend, Guy Fieri, to the diner, and decided to come back and feature it on his show. Filming for the show took 16 hours, and shut the restaurant down for three days. Delta Diner cooked up its famous Jalapeno Pancakes and the Red Eye Biscuits during Fieri’s time at the restaurant. The national exposure has brought a 25-percent increase of customers during the month of November. "It's important that when they do these kind of things so that your story is told so that they get a sense of who you are so that you have people coming not just because you were on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives but because we're going to be successful making their day successful," explained Bucher. He explained for his restaurant to be successful they need a specific customer, and he was apprehensive that national exposure would draw in the wrong type of crowd. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and everything about their Food Network experience has been positive. "We have a lot to offer in this area but it's cool to see that on national TV,” said Bucher. “It's good for the whole area." Delta Diner wasn't the only stop Guy Fieri made on his trip to the Northland.He caught wind of a mouthwatering chicken sandwich and a brick oven pizza with smoked meat on it. Nestled on Superior's historic Tower Avenue, Shorty’s Pizza and Smoked Meat is home to a chicken sandwich that's captured the nation's taste buds."The product I made for Guy Fieri that day, the Hunter’s Chicken Sandwich, we've sold so many of them,” explained Shorty’s executive chef David Andert. “It's crazy how many people come from all over to have that sandwich." For Andert, cooking with Fieri was more than a dream come true."One of my biggest things was someday to say I was able to get to Food Network, be on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," Ardent smiled. Fieri’s name and face now cover the walls of Shorty's as a reminder that 39 years in the kitchen has been rewarded."To have this happen is absolutely the top of the hill for me in my career," Ardent said. For a full list of restaurants visited by Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, click here.