10 Things You Didn't Know About Bobby Flay

That's right — he dropped out of high school at the age of 17 and started working as a busboy at Joe Allen in NYC.

Bobby didn't remain a busboy for long — he started working in the kitchen, and it didn't take him long to realize he wanted to go to culinary school. He graduated in the very first class of the French Culinary Institute in 1984. "The person who owned the restaurant I was working in told me about it, and on the first day of school, he handed me a check for the admission. I was 18. It was the first time I had found something that really interested me," Bobby said in an interview with Tasting Table.

Bobby opened Mesa Grill in 1991 in NYC, and that location was open until 2004. After that, the Southwestern-inspired restaurant moved to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where it still operates today.

Bobby Flay is known for his grilling tips, and he even gave President Obama a few pointers when he grilled with him in the Summer of 2009.