For nearly two decades and dozens of episodes, Guy Fieri has been traveling across the country to visit America's best diners, drive-ins and dives.

At each restaurant the spiky-haired chef interviews owners, customers, chefs and staff and samples some of the eateries' greatest dishes, from burgers to pancakes, pie and so much more.

Since the very beginning, "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" has left a lasting impact on dozens of the featured restaurants, referred to by some as the "Triple D" effect. This impact is evident around the United States and right here in North Jersey, including at a beloved old-school diner in Linden that served as Fieri's first-ever stop

In October 2005, Mike Giunta, a full-time firefighter, purchased the Bayway Diner in Linden. It was a beloved but rundown establishment, and the plan was to repurpose the property into a parking facility. However, after the community stepped in and Giunta learned that the building was a cherished city landmark, his mind was changed.

The classic New Jersey diner is a communal gathering spot, singular in design, and an icon of our local cultural history.

Inspired by the small, retro diners he visited as a kid, Giunta made the decision to take on the business and a few months later, with a dedicated staff and remodeled building, he opened his doors to the community.

Not long after, a phone call came in from a producer at Food Network, and the rest is history.

"Full time fireman, I owned a garbage company and never had any food experience, never had any culinary experience, never even worked in a restaurant," said Giunta. "And here I go and buy a diner and low and behold they put me on Food Network as the pilot show."

The show's impact was felt almost immediately and has not let up ever since with Giunta describing the last 20 years as a "whirlwind."

After the episode aired, Giunta had to add outside seating to the nine-stool diner. He said they were doing about 450 covers a day for breakfast and lunch. On top of that, the to-go business skyrocketed. "We had people eating on the hoods of their cars," Giunta said. At the height of the diner's popularity, six people were working within the 10- by 30-foot building.

One day, a regular asked Giunta if he did any catering. Without hesitation, he said yes, and Bayway Catering was born. He also opened a lunch truck to serve the workers at a nearby oil refinery.

Fieri later went back to the Bayway Diner to film an update and show viewers what happens to restaurants after they are featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."

Guy Fieri stopped by Venezia Italian Pizza & Ristorante in North Palm Beach on Tuesday, Feb. 27. It was the Food Network superstar's second visit to the restaurant.

Eventually, it all just got too big, Giunta said. So, about eight years ago, he sold the Bayway Diner to a retired fireman in Linden. Today, it operates as Johnny Prince's Bayway Diner. However, in 2024, Giunta opened a new Bayway Diner location in Elizabeth, a spot which he hopes to get up and running again very soon.

To this day, Giunta continues to run a booming catering business, working between 100 and 120 jobs per month. He also runs two corporate cafeterias as well as a storefront, all of which operate under the original Bayway Diner menu. He continues to serve Bayway Diner favorites such as Philly cheesesteak and the "monster burger," a double cheeseburger with bacon, Taylor Ham, lettuce and tomato, and one that Fieri loved.

On top of all that, Giunta said that him and Fieri remain very good friends. They even worked together to start Feeding Our Heroes, a nonprofit organization that aims to feed veterans and first responders and raise awareness around food insecurity in the community.

"I’m still an active 26-year veteran of the Newark Fire Department, managing 20 employees, two locations and a full-blown catering company ... it's just been crazy," said Giunta. "Just having Guy as a mentor and a guy that I can call at any given time for advice is really special."

He continued, "If it wasn't for 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,' I don't know if I'd still be in business 20 years later ... and I definitely couldn't pay for the publicity that they gave me."

Celebrity chef, Capon with Guy Fieri on Food Network’s "Guy’s Big Game."

Giunta added that the greatest thing that came out of the experience for him was the opportunity to connect and interact with people from all over the country and the world.

"Here I am, I'm just a fireman that bought a diner and now I'm known all over the place because of 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives' and Food Network. They put me on the map," he said. "And the fact that now I can pay it forward and feed veterans and first responders, it's one of the greatest things that I've accomplished in my life."

A Jersey City 'pancake dynasty'

The legacy left at Bayway Diner was just the beginning for Fieri and his crew. Over the years, dozens of eateries around the country, and right here in New Jersey, have had similar experiences to Giunta. Today, they express their gratitude to Fieri and Food Network and continue to form their own culinary legacies with booming businesses, international connections and cherished family memories.

For the owner of Life Pancake Company in Jersey City, the restaurant business is a family affair.

The location has been in Zoe Bournias family since 1968 when her grandfather owned and ran the place as the Newport Pancake House. Eventually, Bournias' parents took over the business and turned it into the Brownstone.

Ultimate Insane Milk Shake from Brownstone Pancake Factory, Englewood Cliffs and Edgewater

Today, Bournias runs the restaurant as Life Pancake Company. Her father owns the Brownstone Diner and Pancake Factory in Bergenfield and her brother operates four Brownstone Pancake Factories around the state.

Across several decades, multiple family members and six locations, the "awesome pancake recipe" and core menus have remained the same, Fieri referring to the spot as a "pancake dynasty."

He first visited the Brownstone in 2008 and later returned to Life Pancake Company in 2021 to film an update. Since the airing of the original episode, Bournias has had the opportunity to serve customers from around the United States.

"It's crazy you have people from Ohio, Florida, California, and they're like 'we stopped by because we saw you on the show and we wanted to try it.' It's great for business," Bournias said. "You can advertise and do whatever, but once you're featured on 'Triple D' you get that audience that you never would have hit ... still after so many years we get people who said they saw us on the Food Network, so they stopped by. It's been amazing."

Fieri even left a mark on the restaurants' menus with a unique pancake wrap that he invented during his first visit. The wrap, listed on the menu as "Guy Fieri's Triple 'D' Buffalo Chicken Pancake Wrap," features buffalo fried chicken, mozzarella cheese, roasted red peppers and bleu cheese wrapped in an oversized pancake.

According to Bournias, this item is a popular across all six of her family's locations. "Huge seller for all of us. It's just mixing that sweet and savory and it just works," she said.

While the publicity is great and of course welcomed, Bournias said that the coolest part for her is having the opportunity to look back at all that her family has accomplished.

"All of us, my father, my brother, my sister, we were all filming for those few days, and it was just great to sit back and be like wow, you know, we actually did this. It’s so good for all of us to know our hard work paid off and to be recognized for what we did, and it just felt amazing," Bournias said. "Since then, my sister has passed away and she was a huge part of Brownstone, even Life and the restaurants, so that memory … just watching it melts my heart. Times have changed so it's nice to remember where it all started from."

She continued, "It just brings me chills thinking about that day and that experience. I mean how many people can say they experienced something like that, so it's just super cool."

The New Jersey diner tour

During Season 2 of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," Fieri focused an entire episode on some of New Jersey's most iconic establishments, visiting several local diners as part of "The New Jersey Diner Tour."

Jimmy Seretis, co-owner of the Jefferson Diner in Lake Hopatcong, said that his business has felt the impact of this episode ever since.

"It's funny because people recognize you no matter where you go, just from a little episode, it became big," said Seretis, sharing that the diner has served customers from Germany, Canada, South America, Australia and more who came just because they saw the show. "People have been here and have said they came because they were doing a tour, going around to diners and ours was on the list. It was really neat."

David Feldman, who runs the Ritz Diner in Livingston with his mother Marion, echoed Seretis, sharing that, even years later, customers come in to try their famous apple pie after seeing it on TV.

"Yesterday a couple came up from Matawan and because they saw the episode they took the drive to come see us," said Feldman. "They [Diners, Drive-ins and Dives] also came out with two cookbooks since, so we were featured in both cookbooks. What people do is they would bring the cookbooks, and they would ask us to sign it. So, that was pretty cool."

Fieri later went back to the Ritz to shoot an update. The restaurant has even added a subcategory on DoorDash and other platforms, detailing the dishes that were featured on the show such as the German apple pancake, vegetable lasagna and a mango barley chicken salad.

At the Jefferson Diner, Seretis' mother Donna's homemade Moussaka is one of their most popular dishes, and one that Fieri loved during his visit. Donna, who has been in the restaurant business for 60 years, said that being on the show was a "once in a lifetime" experience.

"I said to myself that I've lived the American dream, that was the icing on my cake," she said. "I've been in the restaurant business for so long and that, when somebody comes in and recognizes you and puts you on the TV all over the country, that was the icing on my cake."

The Seretis family's business at Jefferson dates back to about 40 years ago, when Donna and her husband first purchased the diner as a little luncheonette. Over the years, several renovations have been made to the building, transforming it into the classic retro diner setting that it is today. It is currently co-owned by Donna, Seretis and his brother Nick.

A little over 10 years ago, Fieri's iconic red 1967 Camaro, seen countless times on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," was put up for sale. The Seretis family decided to purchase it. They are currently in the process of fully restoring the car and have plans to build a display garage just outside of the diner.

"We put it outside and people take pictures and it's great. It's kind of like paying respect to the Food Network and Guy," Seretis said. "Pretty much after that show, Jefferson Township got on the map."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: How does a Guy Fieri visit change New Jersey's diners? Exploring the 'Triple D' effect