Strategy: Guy Fieri's massive New York restaurant will close at the end of the year — here's what it's like to eat there

Guy's American Kitchen & Bar will reportedly close on December 31. Here's what it was like in its glory days.

• Guy's American Kitchen & Bar in New York City will serve its last meal on December 31.
• The restaurant has become a cult favorite despite its food being poorly reviewed.
• We visited when it opened in 2012 — here's what it was like.

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"Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" host Guy Fieri has become one of the biggest food personalities out there, but on December 31, one major part of his empire will be no more.

According to Eater NY, Guy's American Kitchen & Bar, located in New York City's Times Square, will close on New Year's Eve.

The food itself has not been well-received over the years. In an infamous zero-star review from 2012, The New York Times' Pete Wells effectively destroyed the restaurant, comparing its Awesome Pretzel Chicken Tenders to "chewy air" and its watermelon margarita to "some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde."

As Fieri's first and only restaurant in New York, the place is totally decked out in everything Guy — everything on the menu is Guy-branded, the decor represents everything that Guy likes, and there's a gift shop with Guy merchandise.

And at 16,000 square feet and with 500 seats, the place is absolutely huge. It's located in what was once The New York Times Building, where the newspaper was headquartered for nearly a century.

We visited the restaurant shortly after it opened in 2012. Here's what it was like:

Kim Bhasin contributed reporting to an earlier version of this article.

Here we are at the three-floor complex in the former New York Times Building. It's located right next to Bowlmor Lanes and Discovery Times Square.

And there's Guy on a screen near the entrance, promoting his Food Network show.

Inside is the gift shop, packed with all sorts of Guy memorabilia.

Right up front is one of the trio of bars, which had some activity even though we went at around 4 p.m.

Classic American brands were touted everywhere. Here's Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey ...

Budweiser (although yes, it's owned by Belgian company InBev) ...

... and up top, Miller High Life and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The restaurant's decor is quite personalized for Guy. This is one of his tattoos — in memory of his late sister.

There are American flags everywhere.

Multiple shots of Guy's red 1968 Camaro SS are up on the wall.

The restaurant features a big bar on the second floor, complete with branded glasses.

In the back is the "Studio," filled with some tchotchkes and everything that Guy likes ...

... like guitars ...

... and Apple and Lennon-Ono.

There's a huge chandelier outside the studio area, next to a giant American flag.

Time to head downstairs. This was actually where they used to load newspapers back when The New York Times was here.

On the way down to the lowest level, you can take a peek into the kitchen, which is "floating" halfway down.

There's a cool wall decorated with a ton of utensils.

The space downstairs is absolutely huge.

The 16,000-square foot establishment can seat 500 people.

Where does this odd door lead to?

The eternally spinning rotisserie is downstairs. As you can see, it can cook 12 chickens at a time.

Though we're in New York, a bunch of other cities are represented downstairs.

This is the media cage — a testament to all the screens, speakers, and other electronics dispersed throughout the huge space.

At the bar, we meet these three tourists who walked in when they saw the Guy Fieri sign. They're from his hometown of Ferndale, California.

Alright, enough looking around. Time to check out the Guy-branded menu.

As soon as you open the menu, you're immediately reminded that the chicken dinner has, indeed, been won.

This is Guy's Big Bite Burger and rojo ring.

And the Cedar Plank Salmon with jalapeno apricot jam.

The bartender mixed us up some drinks.

An El Azul Watermelon ...

... and a Caliente Margarita.

If you're not interested in cocktails, the American mainstays are always available ...

... along with all the top-shelf essentials.

While getting ready to head out, we ran into Guy's culinary team.

They were tasting, of course, a chicken dinner.

Guy's American Kitchen & Bar will reportedly close on December 31. Here's what it was like in its glory days. Read Full Story