TV Review: Guy’s Grocery Games

By Nathan Young on October 21, 2013

Last night before I watched The Walking Dead, I had a chance to watch the premiere of Guy’s Grocery Games. This new show on Food Network takes over a real grocery store and features four chefs who have to shop for products and cook in 30 minutes. And yes, there are numerous twists involved during the shopping. I easily compare this show to the classic show Supermarket Sweep. You remember that show, where they solved puzzles and riddles, shopped for as many products they could get in the time limit, and solved three puzzles to win $5,000.

I say it was about time to bring back a show that featured a supermarket. And if you are playing in a market full of food, you need to cook as well! In the premiere episode, four chefs enters Fields Market in California, yes it’s a real family supermarket that was taken over for a couple of weeks for taping. Each round features a unique different game the chefs have to endure. In the first round called out of stock, the chefs had to make spaghetti and meatballs. The chefs thought they were off the hook, until Guy Fieri told the shoppers the market was out of pasta and ground meat. The chefs had to find other creative versions to make this classic dish.

From Food Network.

The second round, the chefs had to make a family meal for four, with only $6.35 and coupons. The budget battle had the chefs getting products and they even had to checkout with a cashier to make sure they don’t go over the $6.35 limit. Guy Fieri did help the chefs with specials like bone-in pork chops for $1.91 and chicken breasts for $1.50. I kind of wished those meat specials never happened. Some people have to really shop with $6.35 or less, I wanted to see the chef’s creativity with a tight budget. Once again, one chef ran out of time and was eliminated.

In the third round called the frozen food feud, the last two chefs could make anything they want, and they could only use frozen foods! That’s taking the creativity level to the next level as chefs do not like using frozen food. The chefs had to use the frozen food along with two fresh items from the produce department to make a unique dish. One chef made a strawberry cheesecake ice cream pie while the other chef made shrimp macque choux.

After each round, three culinary judges judged the food and one chef is eliminated to go through those sliding glass doors. The winner gets do something compared to the classic bonus round from Supermarket Sweep. They are given a list of 10 items and a time limit of 2 minutes. For each item they find, they earn $2,000 and if they find all 10 items in under two minutes, they earn $20,000! I thought Guy Fieri was excellent in Fields Market, aka Flavortown Market. He loved talking through that speaker to push challenges and specials to the chefs. One thing I have already learned from this show is 30 minutes to shop and cook is not a lot of time, you need to use that time wisely!

This show is a fun competitive show that the entire family will enjoy. Face it, all of us go grocery shopping. If you don’t, you are one lucky person. The games are going to get crazier in upcoming episodes that will test the chefs on the show. And it is like this in the real world where some people have to choose things on a very limited budget. So you will also pick up some great cooking tips while watching the show. I encourage you all to watch Guy’s Grocery Games, it’s going to be a great hit for Food Network. New episodes air every Sunday night at 8/7 pm central.

Learn more about Guy’s Grocery Games at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/guys-grocery-games