The Mayor of Flavortown made another pit stop in Colorado. Or at least his crew did.
On Friday’s episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” dubbed “Ocean Eats and a Chicken Feast,” Guy Fieri’s team checked in on two of his favorite restaurants here, Paravicini’s Italian Bistro in Colorado Springs and The Post Chicken & Beer’s LoHi location, which were both featured on the show previously. Fieri and his famous goatee and spiked hair, didn’t make a personal appearance this time, so his Denver-based production company Citizen Pictures got to feast instead.
The flamed-shirt foodie first visited Paravicini’s in Colorado Springs in 2015. Since then, owner and chef Franco Pisani said he went from making 10 arancini appetizers, which were featured on the original episode eight years ago, to 100 every night. On the new episode, he showcased the restaurant’s Chicken Marco dish, an upscale chicken parm served over fettuccine Alfredo. He’s also opened a fine-dining spot, Ristorante Di Sopra, in the loft above Paravicini’s due to the attention from the show. “We’re stupid busy,” Pisani said in the recent episode.
Fieri first visited The Post Chicken & Beer in 2017. At the time, the fried chicken specialist had two locations; it now has seven. Co-owner Brett Smith said Fieri’s crew contacted him last May and filmed the reunion episode in June.
“At 47 years old, if I still could have done a cartwheel, I would have,” Smith said. “Not that I ever could.”
The new episode showed snippets from the 2017 feature, where Fieri and Smith crunched on the restaurant’s famous bone-in fried chicken and chicharrones — a particular Fieri favorite. “When you fly into Denver, this is worth jumping in a cab and getting down here,” Fieri said in the clip.
This time around, Smith showcased the restaurant’s new “Tower of Love.” The three-tiered tower, which resembles a seafood tower, has eight pieces of bone-in chicken on the bottom with a side of pickles and house slaw, eight chicken tenders and some thigh fries on the second level. The top level consists of wings and dipping sauces. He also showed viewers how to make The Post’s baked oysters with a garlic mojo sauce, whipped garlic butter and breadcrumbs. “It was fun to be able to showcase the opposite of what we’re known for,” Smith said.
Since Fieri first visited The Post in 2017, Smith said business has been up continually, with fans of the show popping in every year. In fact, some of the show’s biggest fans collect signatures at every restaurant Fieri has visited around the country.
“The reach the show has is incredible, and it’s a great opportunity to create some new excitement for the restaurant and our team,” Smith said. “Everybody works so hard in this business, so it’s awesome to have some time to reflect and celebrate.”