You know, people are asking me all the time,
"Hey, Guy, that one joint you checked out in that one city
when you were doing Triple D, how they doing?"
You know, I don't know. We should check it out.
Over the years, I've seen and tasted it all.
This is ridiculous, dude.
But it turns out, it always a beginning!
'Cause Triple D joints have been blowing up
and we're going back to see what's cooking.
Like on this trip,
we've got California-created...
We call that a destination dish.
...south of the border surprises.
[Guy] Mmm.
It looks good on TV and it tastes good in real life.
Enchilada for Triple D Nation.
You wanna try this?
There's a jam-packed burrito with homemade salsa in Victorville.
-Yeah. -[Brian] If we ran out of salsa,
we might as well not even open up.
[Guy] Top-notch tampiqueñas in Los Angeles.
Ooh, that's good. I'll take it like that.
And in Garden Grove...
The flavor jets are turning on.
...a family run restaurant...
-What does " sabroso " mean? -Delicious.
-[Guy] Recreating recipes... -Enjoy.
[Guy] ...three generations deep.
She taught my dad, dad taught me.
-Sabroso. -[laughs]
[all cheering]
[Guy] Familiar faces, new places,
and more off the hook-flavors.
This is Triple D Nation.
Nothing gets more diner-esque
than those old-school joints along Route 66.
I mean, it's as Americana as it gets.
So when I heard about this truck stop at Victorville, California
that was cranking out scratch-made everything back in 2007,
you know, I had to hunt it down.
And lucky for me, except for a couple of add-ons to the menu,
this place is, literally, exactly the same.
Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe.
Folks around here say, it's a truckers paradise.
Here I got a French dip.
It's homemade food and when you like it
and it's good, you keep coming back.
[Shawna] How're you guys doing over here?
It's in the name, you know.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. This is it.
Short stack.
[man] Such hard work that Brian and Shawna
have put into this place is just incredible.
[Guy] And what's even more incredible?
That Brian and Shawna Gentry are still at it,
forty three years after Brian's parents bought the place in 1979.
Cheeseburger for Charlie.
It's always been the Holland burger.
-It's always been the Holland burger since '47? -Yeah.
[Guy] And then you just kinda tagline it now the...
-[Brian] Emma Jean's Holland Burger. -Emma Jean's Holland Burger.
Yeah, my mom had it. She put that on there.
- [Guy] Your mom was Emma Jean? - [Brian] Yeah.
-[producer] Rolling. -How're you, brother?
-I'm good. -Nice to see you.
-[Guy] How long's it been? -Sixteen years.
-Has it really? -Yeah.
[Shawna] 2007.
-So who taught you how to make biscuits and gravy? -My mom.
[Guy] Okay, so, a bunch of flour.
[Brian] Put some baking powder in there.
Wow, wow, wow. What is that measuring spoon? [laughs]
Whose gravy boat did you just snag that out of?
[laughs]
-Mom brought it home in her purse. -At the deli.
[Brian] Now we're gonna add some milk.
Okay, that looks pretty good.
-[Guy] That's the consistency we're looking for. -That's it.
[Guy] You have mixed them about as little as possible.
[Brian] Well, you gotta be nice to your biscuits.
Do you want me to show you?
Oh, boy.
[Brian] You gotta get a good twist on it.
Look at him go, folks.
He's going all the way to management.
You ever taken any culinary classes...
-No. -...besides at the University of Mom.
[Brian] Just the University of Mom and the School of Hard knocks.
-The gravy, whose recipe? -My mom's.
Put some oil in it. Adding our sausage here.
-It's regular, old, breakfast sausage? -Yup.
[Brian] Let me put the flour in there.
We're gonna put a little salt in here.
-Some pepper. -[Guy] Now what?
-We add the milk. Whoo! Hot stuff. -Whoa!
[Brian] Give it a whisk or two.
[Guy] That's thick, bro.
If this stands up, it's ready.
Hmm. That's a real-deal biscuit right there.
That's tasty. I don't think I can eat more than six or 12 of these.
[chuckles]
Biscuit and gravy.
The biscuits and gravy, it's very filling.
[Guy] Did it turn into what you thought it was gonna turn into?
-Man, more. It blew up. -[Shawna] A lot more.
Do they just come in and eat biscuits and gravy
-like their heads are falling off? -Yup.
I eat a lot of breakfast stuff.
And the lunch rush here is consistent.
You gotta know what you want.
Sit down and enjoy it.
'Cause there's people coming in the door. [chuckles]
I mean, that was what the whole premise of Triple D was about,
was, how do we find these places that we all love,
'cause we would talk about a place like this.
"Man, if you want to try the best burrito..." You know? You had those places.
Two redneck burritos right here.
What is in this monster?
-[Brian] Potatoes, bacon. -Steak.
[Brian] Sausage, bell pepper.
Give a little seasoning.
Our cheddar Jack blend.
I'm gonna go in with our tortilla.
Get that nice and hot and bubbling.
Add a little bit of that gravy.
It's still exactly the same recipe as Guy was here.
And we're gonna go in with a little chili.
-You make the chili? -Yeah.
Onions, 80-20 hamburger.
While the meat is browning we're gonna go ahead and start cooking our beans.
Chili blend, a lot of garlic.
A little bit of oregano.
Cumin here.
We're gonna add some water and let that cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
And all the same ingredients go into the browned meat.
Now I'm gonna finish it off with a little bit of salt.
Then add the meat to the beans.
Top it with cheddar-Jack.
Give it a little steam shot.
Some sour cream. Our house salsa here.
Going with our tomatoes,
jalapenos, serranos,
our onions, green onions, habanero,
salt, cumin, garlic and pepper.
All right, it should be good.
-Generally, it's made with eggs, but this-- -Eggs!
But this time it is not.
[Brian] You can get it with eggs if you want.
That is great.
You know what really makes it is the salsa.
-Can I have me the salsa? -[Brian] Yeah.
-Yeah. -[Brian] Oh, if we run out of salsa,
-we might as well not even open up. -Really?
[man] Redneck burrito's very good.
It has a little bit of everything in there.
The steak in there is just delicious.
He makes it really quality food.
-Any changes? -[both] Nope.
-Counter? -No changes.
-Nope. -Counter? No.
Everything, I want it to stay as original as possible.
'Cause when people come in here, you know,
they are stepping back in time.
Ever pave the lot, maybe?
-Probably not. -[Guy] Probably not.
-Did you pave the parking lot or is it still gravel? -Still gravel.
Told you, I wouldn't change anything.
[Guy] And coming up...
It has not changed.
[Guy] ...there's not a single customer that's sad about that.
I think that's what's wonderful about it.
[Guy] Whether they're a local...
Where is town?
...or just passing through.
Trucker sandwich.
Mmm, that's outstanding.
[Guy] I'm here on the California side of Route 66,
just outside of Victorville, California.
It is so hot.
There are tons of truck and I am hungry.
So, I'm gonna stop and eat where the truckers eat.
That was the second season...
-Second episode. Mm-hmm. -[Guy] ...second episode.
I was just watching it the other day and I'm thinking,
-we were in the middle of nowhere. -[chuckles]
Best bacon in town here.
-Best bacon... Where is town? -Best bacon in town.
-Is everything built-up round there now? -Nope.
Not really.
It has not changed.
And I think that's what's wonderful about it,
for the truckers, for anybody stopping off.
Trucker sandwich.
This is the tri-tip that we use for...
-The trucker sandwich. -...for the trucker sandwich.
-So what do we do? -[Brian] I'll might put it in here in the pan.
Then we just chop up carrots and celery.
Salt, give it a little sprinkle.
Little pepper, little season-all.
Little garlic.
Love that measurement style, boss.
Gonna get some, uh, oregano.
Would like to just put a little bit in there for color and flavor.
We need a little water.
Then, pour that in along the side here.
[Guy] So you don't run all that seasoning off the top.
This is gonna go in the oven for 350 degrees?
[Brian] Three hundred and fifty degrees.
-[Guy] Two to three hours? -Two to three hours.
-[Guy] Now we'll let it cool and then slice it? -Yeah.
So I'm gonna start with the cheese and the tri-tip.
-Bacon. -Okay.
So now we're gonna put some Ortega chiles on that.
Now we'll put a lid on it.
Warm it all up.
-That will do it? -That will do it.
-Make it into three slice with the little toothpick. -Little decker date?
Is that Americana or what?
Is that good?
The thing that surprises me about it, is the Ortega chili.
Pretty simple, but pretty tasty.
I got an order for a trucker sandwich coming in.
Tri-tip has never changed. It's always consistent.
Good food.
We use this tri-tip for the trucker sandwich, Slap Your Mama,
and whatever else anybody can dream of.
Slap Your Mama.
[Guy] All right, what's the next one?
We got a Slap Your Mama, right here.
Slap Your Mama? What is this monstrosity?
[Brian] It's a half-pound 80-20 burger.
Garlic-pepper rub that we use on all of our meat.
We're gonna go down with that tri-tip.
And we got salsa, bacon.
Little bit of that cheddar-Jack down there.
Some of that tri-tip we were making,
the American cheese.
I'm gonna put this bacon on here.
A little more steam.
Get the bread up here.
Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles.
Thousand Island.
This is a tricky part. Keeping it all together.
Here we go.
And there we go, money.
Who's supposed to get in their truck and drive after this?
-[Brian chuckles] -I'm gonna attack it.
Had a good hunch on that one.
Mmm.
That tri-tip is the bomb.
That's outstanding.
We call that a destination dish.
That's the kind of dish that is worth
getting in your car and driving for it.
Pedal to the medal, man.
Slap Your Mama for you.
The Slap Your Mama, the way he makes the burger
and the tri-tip and all that, it's perfect.
It's very filling. It's got a little bit of spice in the sauce,
which I like.
It's good, very good.
It has more in there than I could handle.
Is this what you thought you're gonna be when you got out high school?
Yeah.
Either that or a truck driver.
Did you think this is where it was all gonna evolve to or--
-No. Not at all. -No, [chuckles] not at all.
You really helped form this great train to Flavortown.
You're one of the OGs of how we started this whole thing
and I can't thank you enough.
Congrats my friend, really happy to see you.
Good to see you.
This is delicious. Can I get this to go?
And coming up in Garden Grove...
Delicious.
A generational joint serving cultural classics...
I followed the rainbow, you're my pot of gold.
...about to make some moves.
Now expanding, I mean, that's just awesome for them.
Please enjoy, guys.
-Thank you. -Of course.
So I'm here in Garden Grove, California,
right off the 22 freeway on Harbor Boulevard.
That's where I found this family-run restaurant back in 2014.
They were creating Mexican classics
straight from abuela's cookbook.
Now the next generation has taken the reigns,
and they're keeping the family recipes rolling out.
This is Sabroso!
[Andy] Chile relleno, table nine!
You need to come to Sabroso! Mexican Grill.
They have the best food in town.
Camarones a la diabla.
[man] Definitely home-style cooking.
That's what makes it so special.
[woman] I saw it on Triple D. It is so good.
It looks good on TV and it tastes good in real life.
Red chicken mole.
The food and the family make this restaurant a special place.
-[all cheering] -[Guy] That's the Munoz family, led by Tito
who's passed the spatula onto his son in the kitchen
and his daughters out front.
-How many kids do you have? -Five. One boy and four girls.
[Guy] One boy and four girls.
This is what the story about Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is,
is we go and find these mom and pop joints, these family restaurants
where all your kids get involved,
and now your family's there to help you.
We have Triple D Nation here, Papa.
They're hungry.
We definitely have, "What did Guy have?" questions on repeat.
[Andy] Pork tamale, table two.
-We're gonna make tamales. -Pork tamale.
So we're gonna put in pork butt that's been just cut up,
cook it in the water.
Put some salt, some onions,
Mexican oregano, garlic and bay leaves.
Now we're just gonna cook it down?
-The rest of this goes in there? -[Tito] Yes.
Mexican oregano, black pepper.
[Guy] Black pepper corns, got it.
-The onions. -[Tito] Onions.
-Garlic, cumin. -[Guy] Cumin seeds, got it.
-All-spice. -Water from the peppers.
-What does "Sabroso" mean? -Delicious.
Sabroso.
[Tito] We're gonna add the peppers.
That's the guajillo, California, chile Diablo.
-There you go. -Now we go to the hot oil?
[Tito] Yes.
Got to strain it a little bit 'cause there's some solids.
The flavor jets are turning on.
How long is that gonna cook, Chef?
-[Tito] Twenty minutes. -And then we'll be ready
-to take it out, add it to the pork. -[Tito] There you go.
-So now we have the masa? -Yes.
-Salt. -Little baking soda.
-Yeah. -To pop it a little bit.
Vegetable shortening.
Now, we're gonna put the pork stock into the masa.
Then we're gonna mix it up all-together.
So I got the pork.
Hmm, sabroso.
Skins.
-[Tito] The masa. -Okay.
There we go.
-Over? -Just fold it. There you go.
I made a few tamales in my day.
Whoa!
It's delicious.
The masa has great texture.
Pork is delicious, not too spicy.
It's not a bunch of masa and a little bit of pork inside.
This is like a nice 50-50.
[Andy] Pork tamales.
[Paloma] After the show aired,
we went from selling about a dozen tamales to 12 dozen per day.
[server] Camarones al mojo, half diabla.
[Andy] We have the same menu.
It all started with my grandma.
My grandma's from Guerrero.
It's a little town in Mexico.
She taught my dad, dad taught me.
This is all traditional classic recipes.
Chicken breast and the mole sauce.
You can taste the authenticity in every dish.
It's delicious.
Chile verde up!
Our fan-favorite is chile verde.
Tender pork in our tomatillo roasted chile sauce.
To make a verde sauce, we blend in green onion,
roasted poblano and bay leaf,
black pepper and cumin, garlic and serrano peppers.
Some grilled onions with salt and water.
We're gonna add it to the seared pork.
It's halfway cooked.
And then we're gonna add blended tomatillos.
And this is our chile verde.
[server] Chile verde.
It's always so tender. It falls apart in your mouth.
Its green Mexican sauce that makes it really rich
and taste really good, especially because of the heat.
You could just taste the skill that it takes to make such a great dish.
I've got into a lot of restaurants
with a lot of families running them.
The food translates through the family to the tables.
I feel like I'm sitting in your house.
Is this how great you thought things would turn out?
I feel so lucky.
[woman] Guy was here a couple of years ago,
and to see them now, it's so exciting.
We've definitely outgrown this little hole-in the-wall.
So now we're ready to have our own new restaurant,
still here within the same plaza and triple square footage.
They worked so hard and now expanding.
I mean, that's just awesome for them.
Ordering up chile rellenos.
We couldn't be more proud of my father for what he's done for us.
Being an immigrant from Mexico,
he paved the way for us and we're here because of him today.
Today is my lucky day.
I followed the rainbow. You're my pot of gold.
Give me a hug.
-Gotta love this guy. -Oh, get in.
[Guy] Up next...
Mmm, that is so killer.
We're off to Los Angeles...
I wanna get in there.
...where a Salvadorian spot may have changed hands.
Roasted guajillo. [chuckles]
But you'd never know.
It was a legacy of hers.
Thank you.
[Guy] So, here I am on Venice Boulevard
which is a major thoroughfare
between the beaches in Los Angeles.
But it's home to a Mexican-Salvadorian restaurant
that's been owned and operated by the same family for 31 years.
Now I was there back in 2010,
to taste this cultural phenomenon.
And even though Gloria's not the queen of the castle anymore,
they're still following her reign.
This is Gloria's Cafe.
Mixed fajitas for Triple D Nation.
[man] You should always come to Gloria's when you're in LA.
You should come to LA to go to Gloria's.
[man] This is authentic, Mexican, Salvadorian food
and it's fantastic.
So I saw the episode with Guy,
and that's how I actually discovered this restaurant.
Came in, met Miss Gloria,
phenomenal woman.
You're a mother of five, raising them on your own,
opening your own, very successful
Salvadorian-Mexican restaurant here in Los Angeles.
You hear it every day.
And when Gloria retired in 2021,
she sold her namesake to former server, William Avila,
who's making a point to continue what she started.
She said that, to try to keep everything the same way
because it was a legacy of hers.
What do people try here for the first time and become amazed?
Carne adobada.
Okay, so let's get started.
-That's a piece of pork. -I'm gonna cut it.
She knows exactly where that bone is, just cutting around.
-All the pork in there. -Pork in there.
-Now we're gonna marinate it. -Great.
[Gloria] Worcestershire sauce, Tapatio.
-Little hot sauce, granulated garlic. -Granulated garlic.
-[Guy] Some black pepper. -Salt.
-Now we're gonna mix it up. -[Guy] All right.
With the onions in top.
So we put the onions on top, we let it marinate for--
-Overnight. -[Guy] For 24 hours
and then we pop it in the oven,
three hundred and fifty for about four hours
-till it just pulls apart. - [Gloria] Yeah.
[Guy] Look at the deep rich color.
Is that your wallet back there?
-Hmm. -[chuckles]
-[Guy] Okay, now what do we do? -Gonna make adobada sauce.
First green bell pepper and onions,
-garlic, tomatoes and salt. - [Guy] Okay.
We let it cook down.
Now we're gonna take that mixture and put it in here.
Yeah, now we're gonna add some dry arbol chiles.
-Add a little ancho, roasted guajillo. [chuckles] -Guajillo.
-[Guy] Is that good? -Yeah.
Toasted sesame seeds.
Fresh garlic.
You got... One, two...
-Ah, there. -[Gloria] More tomatoes and onions.
-Tapatio. -One of my favorite hot sauces.
-Worcestershire sauce. -There we go.
Granulated garlic, a little salt.
And then some Mexican oregano.
Ready?
-[Gloria] That's enough. Yes. -That's good?
-Can I try it? -Oh, of course.
That's fine, I'll take... Whoa.
I'll take... Whoa, that's good. I'll take it like that.
Now we're gonna take this, cook it.
-[Gloria] We're gonna boil it. Yeah. -To reduce it?
Now we're gonna fry the pork.
Cook the pork one more time.
[Gloria] Put it in the adobada sauce.
[Guy] Then give a squirt of the secret sauce.
That's gonna push that over the top.
Is it good to go? This is a normal portion?
[Gloria] Oh, yeah. Quickly put the onions on top.
[Guy] And this is how we do it, huh?
Look at that.
Hmm, wow. Delicious.
-You pick it up with your tortilla, right? -[Gloria] That's right.
Yeah, that will be a very traditional way to eat it.
My favorite way to eat it would be like this.
[Gloria chuckles]
[William] The carne adobada became famous
after it was featured on Triple D.
[man] The c arne adobada is unbelievable.
It's what I get every time I come here.
The Plato Tipico ready.
I come in here and it's like, "Am I gonna have Plato Tipico again
or do I want the Salvadorian special plate?"
Or "Maybe I'll have the seafood that Guy loved."
The Seven Seas Soup. It's composed of shrimp, octopus and mussels.
Just everything that you would want in a seafood soup.
Mmm, it's so killer.
-I wanna get in there. -[chuckles]
Tampiqueña ready!
[man] Today I had the tampiqueña.
It's a ranchero steak with a cheese enchilada with green sauce,
then rice and beans.
So now we're making the tampiqueña.
This is ranchero. It's a flat meat.
Orange juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce,
cumin, seasoning salt,
olive oil, black pepper and garlic.
Now we'll mix it all together.
Now we're gonna add the meat.
Let it marinate overnight.
While the steak is cooking,
we're gonna make a cheese enchilada.
Jack cheese.
The enchilada sauce is tomatillo sauce.
It has a little bit of jalapenos,
bell peppers, onions, garlic.
And I'll put a little bit of cheese.
Melt the cheese for a little bit,
and then we're gonna finish building our plate.
And there you go, that's our tampiqueña.
[man] It's very tender.
Cuts very nice, chews very nice. Tastes amazing.
It also has a green enchilada sauce
which is absolutely delicious.
Did you ever think the restaurant would be this popular?
No. I knew I can make good food.
Everybody was always telling me.
-Listen-- -[chuckles] How good it is.
You don't make good food,
you make great food.
[man] It was never a sleepy, mom-and-pop place.
It was always popping.
But it really picked up after Guy was here.
[man] And then to see William come
from back of the house to front of the house,
to take over from Miss Gloria
and actually make the place his own has been amazing.
She's very proud of all the crew,
trying to keep everything as the best way we can.
-Thanks for inviting me. I really appreciate that. -Thank you, Guy.
I got some biscuits and gravy for the Triple D Nation.
But those aren't the only joints to journey back to.
Today's special is our red chicken mole.
Seven seas, guys, 508.
Cause the map of these off the hook places keeps growing.
All right. We have the mole ready.
Guy's favorite, the adobada.
And we'll be checking out more
next time on Triple D Nation.
[harmonizes "Curb Your Enthusiasm" theme]
Huh?