A look inside Guy Fieri's $700 Super Bowl tailgate party

PHOTOS: A look inside Guy Fieri's $700-per-person Super Bowl tailgate near NRG Stadium. Atlanta Falcons fans inside the Guy Fieri Players Tailgate Houston near Super Bowl LI on Sunday afternoon. Browse through the photos for an inside look at the fancy tailgate party outside the Super Bowl. less PHOTOS: A look inside Guy Fieri's $700-per-person Super Bowl tailgate near NRG Stadium. Atlanta Falcons fans inside the Guy Fieri Players Tailgate Houston near Super Bowl LI on Sunday afternoon. Browse through ... more Photo: Matt Young/Houston Chronicle Photo: Matt Young/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 83 Caption Close A look inside Guy Fieri's $700 Super Bowl tailgate party 1 / 83 Back to Gallery

Tailgate parties are generally open affairs. Football fans gather around a grill - or several grills - and grub down on as much meat and consume as many beverages as they can before kickoff. Most times, joining these tailgates is completely free, the only admission being a handshake, a smile and a mutual rooting interest in a football team.

So, what does a tailgate that has a $700 entry fee look like?

We found out before Super Bowl LI when Bullseye Event Group turned the Mike Calvert Toyota car lot about a block and a half from NRG Stadium into the ultimate tailgate experience - The Players Tailgate.

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It earned the name, because it was the meeting spot for several former and current NFL players, including Pro Football of Famers Derrick Brooks and Walter Jones, kick return dynamo Devin Hester and Houston Texans' Jeff Allen and Akeem Hunt.

That's all fine and good, but a few selfies with NFL royalty still isn't worth $700. That's where the open bar and free food comes in.

The food you gorge yourself on at your usual tailgate, probably isn't created by celebrity chef Guy Fieri and his friends. This one was, and Fieri was there to tell you all about everything you were eating.

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The huge canopy on the car lot was lined on one side with all kinds of cuisine, from lobster, Alaskan king crab, shrimp and oysters to burgers and nachos. The main attraction appeared to be ahi tuna poke that Fieri bragged was freshly flown in from Hawaii and the No. 1 grade teriyaki tuna.

The middle of the area was dominated by a huge oval bar stocked with beer and premium liquors.

The other side of the canopy was lined with sports memorabilia up for grabs in a silent auction.Want a New York Giants helmet signed by all the winning players in Super Bowl XXI? Starting bid was $2,500. Or maybe you want to go more conservative and bid on an autographed Earl Campbell Houston Oilers helmet for a starting bid of $800. There also was a Thailand golf retreat up for grabs for $11,000. Early in the day, there had been no takers on that one. The nerve of these cheapskates.

Outside the canopy, there was more food and more booze. This is where the huge grills and smokers were, and they were providing everyone with plenty of brisket, pulled pork and sausage. This also was where Fieri was spending most of his time mingling with fans and checking on the food.

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Oh, and there were giant TV screens everywhere.

"At football games, you tailgate all year, then you go to the Super Bowl, and they don't allow tailgating," Fieri told the crowd after taking the microphone from DJ Irie, and interrupting his set that included some Jay Z. "We didn't like that, so we thought we'd throw the best tailgate party anyone's ever seen."

Those who weren't stuffing their face with all the fancy food, cheered and seemed to agree.

Browse through the photos above for a look inside Guy Fieri's $700 tailgate party near the Super Bowl on Sunday.