Naples Restaurants See Customer Rush After Food Network Shows

TV exposure hit two Naples restaurants hard when Food Network featured them this month. Before the shows even aired, social media was already buzzing.

Customers lined up outside Molto Trattoria and Cracklin' Jacks after their TV appearances. The Valentine's Day special highlighted Molto, while Guy Fieri's show gave Cracklin' Jacks its time in the spotlight.

"Ever since people started posting about it on Facebook it got shared to this page and shared to that page. And everyone in Naples as of last week has just been flocking here, as you see right now. It's just an absolute experience, and we love every second of it,” Joseph Stone, chef at Cracklin' Jacks, told Wink News.

Local Florida flavors dominate at Cracklin' Jacks. Their kitchen serves up plates of gator, crispy frog legs, and fresh-caught catfish. Each dish showcases traditional Florida cooking.

Meanwhile, Molto Trattoria dishes out Italian comfort food with a modern touch. Every morning, they make fresh pasta and cook sauces from scratch.

The restaurant filled up quickly after the show aired, said owner Francesca Neri. Customers kept requesting dishes they'd seen prepared on TV.

“We had many, many, many people, even today, congratulating with us about the experience. So I guess the exposure was multiplied by a number of viewers,” Neri told Wink News.

Molto Trattoria and Cracklin' Jacks aren't the only Naples restaurants experiencing a boost from being featured on TV. The Rooster Food and Drink was also featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and saw similar results after the show aired in January.