Instagram Has Reached A Verdict In The Case Of Michael Symon's Beard

Michael Symon made his first appearance on the Food Network in 1998, and he is still a beloved and commanding presence on the network today. For as long as we can remember, he has had a distinctive look and personality, with his booming laugh and signature shaved head. While the shaved head has been a constant, the James Beard Award winner has experimented with his facial hair over the years. When the Greek chef competed in "Next Iron Chef" in 2007, he was rocking the soul patch. Did he choose this style because it was an easy way to tell him apart from fellow bald Greek chef Michael Psilakis? It seems possible because the chef told Grub Street that people misidentified him as Psilakis all the time.

In 2021, Symon was sporting the clean-shaven look when he hosted "Works Cook of America" with fellow Food Network star Anne Burrell, as evidenced in an Instagram post. When the chef hosted "BBQ Brawl" later that year, his salt and pepper facial hair was slowly starting to make an appearance, per Instagram. Since then, it appears that the chef has been growing out his beard and recently took to Instagram to poll fans about whether or not he should keep it going.

You can tell by scrolling through chef Michael Symon's social media feeds that he has a very engaged audience, especially when Symon posts a selfie on Instagram. He recently shared the results of an Instagram story poll (pictured above), where he asked fans if he should grow out his beard. A decisive 81% of his fans indicated that they don't want it to get any bigger. And some people wrote in the comments that they want to see it go bye-bye. But Symon begs to differ. "Well it's now obvious ... ZZ TOP it is," he wrote in the caption.

Another fan agreed with Symon and commented, "Yess!!! Those are definitely beard goals." Other fans were supportive of Symon, beard or no beard. "Whatever makes you happy! Love you no matter what," commented @kalyha. One commenter made a solid point, but in a semi-gross way. "If you do, it's going to be hard to eat Cottage cheese," they observed. While that is not the most appetizing visual, they make a good point since Symon's whole job involves eating or cooking on camera. Whatever the chef decides to do, we are sure he will not hesitate to share it with us on social media. So stay tuned for the next episode of the Symon Beard Chronicles.