Check, Please!

Check, Please! is a popular, multi-Emmy Award winning restaurant review program that began on Chicago's PBS member station WTTW in 2001. The show's popularity inspired spin-offs in several other markets. A San Francisco version of the show, Check, Please! Bay Area, began its first season in 2005, airing on KQED. A Miami version for WPBT, Check, Please! South Florida, debuted in January 2008. Check, Please! Kansas City then began airing on KCPT in 2009, and Check, Please! Arizona on Phoenix's KAET made its debut in 2010. A Seattle version, Check, Please! Northwest, began airing on KCTS in 2012.

The format of the show is simple: three people sit down with a host to discuss three local eating establishments, one favorite chosen by each guest. Before the program is taped, each person chooses a favorite restaurant, and everyone in the group is required to visit each person's selection. Afterwards, everyone describes their eating experiences. Although many participants select trendy, upscale restaurants, just about any eating establishment is fair game including hot dog stands and "neighborhood joints". More than 35,000 people have applied to be guests on Check, Please! in Chicago alone.

The first two seasons of the show in Chicago were hosted by Amanda Puck, who is Wolfgang Puck's former sister-in-law. In October 2003, Amanda Puck was replaced with Alpana Singh, who has worked as a sommelier at Chicago's Everest restaurant and as the Director of Wine and Spirits for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. In 2013, Singh stepped down and was replaced by Catherine De Orio, a food writer and former lawyer.

The San Francisco version is hosted by wine consultant and author Leslie Sbrocco. The Miami version is hosted by chef Michelle Bernstein. The Kansas City version is hosted by wine consultant and author Doug Frost. The Phoenix version was hosted by chef Robert McGrath, who was then replaced by chef Mark Tarbell in 2017. The Seattle version is hosted by urban gardener Amy Pennington.

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