The Real Grocery Store Guy's Grocery Games Used To Film In
Between grocery games like "Shopstacle Course" and "Musical Carts," along with intense budget battling in every episode, a lot goes down in Flavortown Market, the home of Food Network show "Guy's Grocery Games."
It makes sense why after only one season, filming moved from Fields Market, a real grocery store in Los Angeles, to a custom-built set in Santa Rosa (via Food Network). The main difference between the two — aside from the fact that the set was built much closer to host Guy Fieri's California home — is the size of the aisles. While Fields Market's actual customers probably pay zero attention to the shelving space or aisle dimensions of their local grocery store, it became a growing concern for the show's production staff. After all, the shelving structures at a typical grocery store aren't exactly built to withstand speed shopping or damage caused by carts clashing into each other while contestants grab everything within reach.
To combat the issue, the network revealed that set designers purposely constructed shelves much wider than the ones at Fields Market, "so foods won't come crashing down during competition." Additionally, "It makes it easier for the chefs to shop and see what's on the shelves," Fieri explained in a behind-the-scenes Food Network vlog.
Production staff was initially drawn to Fields Market's food selection
Since it's 2013 debut, "Guy's Grocery Games" has placed a major emphasis on culinary experimentation and creativity, or as Fieri refers to it on the show, cooking with "un-gredients." It's extremely important, therefore, that Flavortown Market is always stocked with a wide range of ingredients (and un-ingredients), and Fields Market has plenty of them — more than 25,000 according to Food Network, or about 5,000 less than the current Flavortown Market.
Beaming about Fields Market's "endless aisles of options," the network at one point considered it the perfect setting for Triple G's scavenger hunts and games. The store's extensive selection made it possible for the chefs to have as much creative freedom as possible, especially when participating in cooking challenges like "World Fusion," the round in which the contestants must combine two different cuisines to create a one-of-a-kind dish.
Though the production team ultimately decided to part ways with the well-stocked store in favor of their own, Fields Market is still open for business, and the thousands of ingredients remain available to those that want to experience their own version of Guy's Grocery Games. Since casting is a long process, it just might be the perfect place to take your grocery shopping game to the next level — that is, if you ever find yourself in LA.