Is Big Earl's Greasy Eats Still Open? Mystery Diners Update

In 'Big Earl's Gone Wild' (aired 2012-06-01), Mystery Diners investigators targeted Big Earl's Greasy Eats, a Cave Creek diner, after the owner suspected a bartender of misusing the bar and the property after hours. Hidden cameras recorded the bartender drinking on shift, pocketing cash instead of ringing sales into the register, and organizing unauthorized after-hours parties on the property, behavior the episode framed as putting the diner's liquor license at risk. Investigators presented the owner with time-stamped clips of the drinking, the skimmed cash, and the party setup, walking through each instance in sequence, and the episode showed the owner confronting the bartender directly with the footage.

According to Wikipedia's article on the series, citing its sources, later episodes carried an on-screen disclaimer noting that certain depicted events may have been staged or re-enacted for dramatic purposes. The diner continues operating at 6135 E Cave Creek Rd, Cave Creek, AZ 85331. This project's own site check on 2026-09-08 could not load bigearlsgreasyeats.com, which returned an HTTP 403 response, so no dated content could be pulled directly from the business's own site. A Yelp listing updated in May 2026 showed Big Earl's Greasy Eats active with 592 reviews and current hours, and a Toast online-ordering page tied to the same address was also located. Google Places separately listed the business as operational as of the same check. Between the Yelp listing and the Google Places record, the diner is treated as currently open.