Flavortown, Ohio? Thousands want Columbus renamed for native celebrity chef Guy Fieri

Could the new state capital be Flavortown, Ohio?

More than 25,000 have signed a Change.org petition to change the name of Columbus to Flavortown, in honor of native celebrity chef Guy Fieri.

The city has already decided to remove the statue of the city's namesake Christopher Columbus from outside City Hall.

The petition argues that the city should take the next step.

"Why not rename the city Flavortown? The new name is twofold. For one, it honors Central Ohio's proud heritage as a culinary crossroads and one of the nation's largest test markets for the food industry. Secondly, "cheflebrity" Guy Fieri was born in Columbus, so naming the city in honor of him (he's such a good dude, really) would be superior to its current nomenclature," Change.org petition creator Tyler Woodbridge said.

Fieri was born at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus but moved as a baby with his family to the northern California town of Ferndale, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

He even made a return trip to the hospital in 2017

Last year, Fieri, 52, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he's filmed more than 400 episodes of his popular Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."

Flavortown is a phrase coined by Fieri while filming and was completely by accident, he told The Wrap.

“I just, unfortunately, run at the mouth. I just say things. Ten-plus years ago, I’m there in a diner, and I said to the guy — he made a pizza, I think — ‘That looks like a manhole cover in Flavortown.’ Because of how big it is,” Fieri told the outlet.

Since then, the saying has become a staple for Fieri, who has embraced his title of "Mayor of Flavortown" from fans.

Last week, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther announced that the Christopher Columbus statue on the south side of City Hall will be removed as soon as possible and placed in storage, the Dispatch reported.

The move was hailed by groups that say Columbus statues depict the explorer’s genocidal cleansing of the New World and exploitation of Native people, and opposed by Italian-Americans who say the statues are works of art that forge goodwill and should be preserved.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Flavortown, Ohio? Thousands want Columbus renamed for native Guy Fieri