Quick Take: The Great Food Truck Race, "Let's Get Rolling!"
Classy food for San Diego.
Quick Take: The Great Food Truck Race, "Let's Get Rolling!"
(S0101) Combining the recent gourmet-food-truck craze with the hit reality-series "Amazing Race," Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race" presents seven food trucks hitting six cities across the USA. At each stop, they are given $500 and then have two days to make as much money as possible with the team that earns the least going home. The winner of the series earns $50,000.
In alphabetical order, the competitors are:
After brief introductions, the trucks meet up in Los Angeles. So as not to give the locals an unfair advantage, the host announces the first location is San Diego and off they go.
On the drive down, the wiley Nom Nom crew calls ahead and learns of a farmer's market they can park at. Once there, they make a deal with a fellow food truck that's not in the competition to encourage customers to visit each other.
Nana Queen's finds the Adams Ave. Festival where 40,000 should be in attendance over the two days. One concern is the $1,000 entry fee that needs to be paid at the end of the event. As they set up, they find they are out of propane, which is stunning. I can't believe they didn’t check before they started the competition. They end up losing a day of business.
Other racers struggle to find locations to set up in different parts of town. Ragin' Cajun sets up downtown in the Gaslamp Quarter, and I anticipated them being shut down by police called by local restaurants in the area. Stephen from the Ragin' Cajun is a character, screaming at folks and dancing to draw attention. They end up leaving this spot because they hear about the Adams Ave. Festival. When they call to inquire, the organizers tell them the one-day fee will be a $675.
At the end of the event, the Ragin' team is somehow able to talk their fee down to $300. Nana gets the same deal and pays $600. The Austin team comes up with a "pay what you want" offer during the last 30 minutes. This is a great idea because they start with an empty truck at the start of the next stop so any food left over is a waste.
Nom Nom came in first with $1078, and from Orbitz they win plane tickets back to SD and hotel stay. In descending order, the teams are Crepes Bonaparte ($940), Austin Daily Press ($727), Ragin' Cajun ($706), Spencer on the Go ($667), Grill 'Em All ($632) and with slightly more than $600 Nana Queen's is sent home. The combination of the lost day and entrance fee really hurt them.
Next stop, 900 miles east to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
From Around the Web: The Great Food Truck Race, "Let's Get Rolling!"
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