I have a new Travel Channel love. His name is Adam Richman, his show is called Man Vs. Food, and all Adam does is travel around the country partaking in any and every eating challenge he can find. He swears, he flirts, and he acts like a complete goober and I find him to be utterly charming. Plus, he likes food! He’s attempted (and in some cases succeeded) to down anything from a 72 oz. steak in Amarillo to five giant milkshakes in St. Louis to a 12-egg omelette at Beth’s.

Swoon!

Megan Seling is The Stranger's managing editor. She mostly writes about hockey, snacks, and music. And sometimes her dog, Johnny Waffles.

54 replies on “Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern Can Suck It”

  4. You haven’t lived until you’ve had a Primanti’s sandwhich. I know other places put fries and coleslaw on sandwhiches, but there is something special about theirs.

    Of course, Primanit’s is also a big part of the explanation of why the obesity rate in Pittsburgh is higher than the rest of the city…not to mention the rates of coronary artery disease, etc….

  6. Oh god, I miss Primanti’s n’at. I used to live right around the corner from the one in the South Side. Best drunk food ever.

  8. Adam can suck it! My husband saw Adam filming a segment of the show at Pikes Place and said he was a total douche when the camera’s weren’t rolling.

    No one beats Anthony Bourdain, no one.

  9. That show kind of grosses me out a little… but, I would watch if he went to my hometown to eat the 4-pound hamburger (“The Ethyl”) at the local truck stop. Eat it (plus bun & toppings) in under an hour and it’s free. Several of my friends have tried — only one succeeded and he immediately threw up…

    Hmm. Maybe that memory is why I’m grossed out by this show…

  10. I saw that on TV at the bar last night and started to imagine starving people in africa being filled murderous rage if they saw that. Good thing they probably don’t get that show in the refugee camps.

    I’m ashamed to be an american.

  12. That kind of dining–12 egg omelets, foot-long fish sandwiches–all-you-can eat diner crap with 1,000 calories or more per meal, it’s immoral. People who prepare food like that and people who eat food like that are all that is wrong with food in the United States.

  13. Doesn’t Beth’s also have a 24 egg omelet?

    @10: What if those same starving Africans watched a TV show of you at the bar last night spending a week’s (or month’s) salary on a couple of drinks? Wouldn’t they also be “filled with murderous rage”? Or maybe they’ve got bigger things to be angry about.

  21. Picksburgh! They shoulda gone dahn to Da O, where a “small” order of fries feeds like 4 people, n’at. Wit cheese!

  23. I love how at the end of every challenge he’s all greasy and has this horrible “oh my god, this is how I advance my career?” look on his face.

  26. megan, i’ve never thought low of you before, but seriously, think about what your promoting. this guy is clearly a lame douche bag and he is providing none of the cultural insight that bourdain offers. finding food that is absurdly excessive is the lowest common denominator, do you really want to swoon over that?

  27. @8, where is “Pikes Place?” Is that in Seattle?

    Bourdain and Richman are both tools. Andrew Zimmern is clearly the least douchey of all Travel Channel food show hosts.

  30. I’m with 15: Limbaugh. Richman is a douchebag, and his consumption frenzies are an embarrassment to the human race. He’s exactly what is wrong with the American male in this day and age.

    The punk rock fuckhead on the diner show is just as bad.

    Bourdain goes to REAL PLACES and examines REAL FOOD CULTURE. He’s the only travel guy on TV who’s not afraid to say something negative, too; the scene where he ate in the inane Dracula’s castle restaurant was hilarious. But he’s at his best when he’s really exploring. His segment on Medellin, Colombia was riveting.

    He’s the best thing on TV right now. If he comes across as a bit of a jerk with his tough-guy NYC Ramones watch-me-smoke attitude, he’s earned it.

    Adam Richman has earned a face-plant on a red-hot hamburger grill. People like him make me ashamed to be American — and I can eat most people under the table. But not at fucking Beth’s. Would you rave about a guy who ate handfuls of his own shit?

  33. @30 Really? Bourdain? He of the “I manage to travel the world and stay in incredible locales in beautiful hotels, eating insanely expensive versions of street food one second then proclaiming its excellence only if someone’s recently puked on the floor, the waiter keeps interrupting our service to shoot passersby, and it’s a distinct possibility the chef dropped a hair net in my tripe stew while acknowledging no hint of cognitive dissonance” hosting?

    Give Rick Steves a show on Travel Channel and box the rest of the tools. He doesn’t eat 12 egg omelets or boar rectums but who in their right mind does?

  34. Fnarf said it: Bourdain kicks this guy’s ass all over the place. And in the future, never say a bad thing about my beloved Andrew Zimmern. For whatever reason, I think he’s adorable.

  35. Swoon all you like, but realize that Richman’s performance in bed would likely consist of a few paltry strokes… Then a massive coronary thrombosis would leave him twitching in a sweaty, burger-scented heap on top of you.

  38. mint chocolate chip @21 has it right. Richman’s trip to Pittsburgh was worthless without a stop at the Dirty O for an order of fries.

    When I was at Pitt, the story we always heard was that more fries fell off their “small” order onto the tray than went into a “large” order at McDonald’s. And that the O went through something like 30,000 pounds of potatoes a month.

  39. I’m more interested when he eats the hot stuff rather than the big stuff. I like the show overall; no it’s not as insightful as No Reservations can be, but the hosts have two different goals. Sometimes it’s okay to indulge in a bit of light gluttony.

    I like both Richman and Bourdain, they have different strengths and weaknesses in their presentations. Whenever Bourdain gets together with other foodies or “fou-fou” chefs on the show, he can get quite pretentious and windy. MvF definitely needs to lose the fake “press conference” at the end of each show. It usually comes off incredibly stilted and unfunny.

    Richman’s also way better than that Guy whatisname on Food Network. Pretty much whatever that dude eats is the “best thing” ever, which, come to think of it, is what Andrew Zimmern also tends to do.

  40. Oh, I was also disappointed that Man vs. Food went to Beth’s. Not just for the fact that no one in Seattle REALLY eats there, and Bourdain and the Spiky Douche already covered it, but also that Mr. Bill’s got overlooked once again. They have some equally insane breakfast plates and that giant hamburger. Missed opportunity, that.

  42. Right, NOBODY goes to Beth’s. In fact, it’s SO EMPTY on the weekends, they force the six people there stand around outside for HALF AN HOUR just to make the place LOOK BUSY.

    Morons.

  43. If you watch enough Travel channel, you start to realize that many of the places you see in MvF happen to be in older “Top 10 places to pig out” and other shows like that. I’m just happy these shows even come west of Ohio (excluding Texas and all its freak-show meal competitions) once and a while, even if it means finding Beth’s on Google and booking a show around it.

  44. @27 I don’t understand what this ‘Pikes Place’ everyone seems to be referring to either! I think they must be talking about Pike’s Peak in Colorado? or perhaps they have “Pike’s” mixed up with “Mike’s” ? Do you know which Mike it is? This is very confusing!

  45. I watch MvF pretty regularly, the guy is funny at times and doesn’t make me wince as much as that blond moron with on “diners n’ dives”. I mostly watch for the places, a few of which i’ve hit up.

    Also, beth’s is good. You’re entitled to your opinion, but until it’s entertaining – make like a sex-switch and fuck off.

    -j

  46. Ben @33: you’ve never watched Bourdain’s show. Literally NONE of the things you mention have ever happened on it. Beautiful hotels? He’s usually in places that barely have hotels; frequently, they don’t. Expensive versions of street food? Just plain street food, in fact — actual places on actual streets. You appear to be thinking of Rachael Ray. Bourdain is the real deal.

  47. Oh, and Rick Steves? He HAS a show, maroon, on PBS. It’s incredibly boring. Boring’s not always a bad thing, and Steves can be informative, but seriously, the most exciting thing Steves has ever eaten is a waffle.

  48. MFV is too stupid to watch. So this jerk tries to eat a lot, or overly spicy food. So what? It’s just not entertainment.

  50. @ 40 Mr Bill’s closed down over a year ago and while it was there, it couldn’t hold a candle to Beth’s. Mr Bill’s stunk like shit (literally) and was a rip off of every other wanna be 50’s diner. Back in the 70’s and 80’s when it was Farrell’s Ice Cream parlour- now THAT place was the bomb! And with regards to Beth’s, of course many locals eat there- at night the place is so packed you have to wait for table usually. I have lived in the Bitter Lake area for decades and Beth’s is well worth the short drive down 99.

  51. I will add to all the other correct opinions and say it: Anthony Bourdain is the ONLY travel/food host worth watching, and probably one of our best food writers out there.

  52. @fnarf: Nah. Watched it. Repeatedly and often. Follow him into Morimoto’s restaurant? Maybe his expose on uni pasta and beluga caviar? At the same time going “this is poor people food!” about the tongue tacos and chilaquiles that cost in excess of $10 a pop. Maybe visiting Lola? So, yeah, I disagree.

    For all his snuggling up in dung huts and eating fried rat intestines off a shaved palm skewer while extolling the “it’s only REAL if poor people eat it!” I can’t mesh it with the $400+ meals he scarfs down.

    Tomato/tomato, eh?

  53. Anthony Bourdain is a real muthafucka! He can be in a 5 star restaurant or in a ghetto with gangbangers eating, and he acts the sames, stays the same. Tony Bourdain is truly a free soul and that my friends, is living.

  54. Rich, Anthony and Andrew are probably my three favorite shows on the Travel Channel. The new ones like Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches suck hard (if I wanted to watch hot naked chicks without stimulating narration, I’d watch porn). Man v. Food is a much more straight forward show – he eats and either finishes or doesn’t.

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