S06.E05: Roadside Attractions

[cooksdelight]

When the top three teams arrive in Tulsa, Tyler Florence takes away their phones and internet abilities: All of their research, outreach, marketing and navigation have to be done the old-fashioned way. He then challenges them to build roadside attractions to pull in customers. On their second day, the teams sell at one of the last drive-ins on Route 66. They race from car to car, knowing that each lost sale could be the one that sends them home.

[Skyfall]

I have a feeling the Burgers Bro are going home this week. Waffles and dumplings can be cooked mighty quickly while burgers have to be cooked longer and you have to have various preferences (medium, medium well, well done, etc) cooked which slows down the process as well.

[BW Manilowe]

I have a feeling the Burgers Bro are going home this week. Waffles and dumplings can be cooked mighty quickly while burgers have to be cooked longer and you have to have various preferences (medium, medium well, well done, etc) cooked which slows down the process as well.

But are the burger guys actually cooking their burgers to order (customer preference), or just cooking all of them to the same degree of doneness (i.e. medium well)? Some burger joints (other than fast food places) will just cook their burgers to the same degree of doneness (usually as a way to ensure no issues with food borne illnesses, like from underdone meat).

[Calamity Jane]

I would have been interested to see what happened if the teams had to give up their social media presence for the whole weekend.  It was a clever way to take away the advantage of having already made contacts ahead of time (as Waffle Love acknowledged they have done at every stop) for that first challenge, but I really would like to know what would happen if they had to do without for the entire time in a town.  I think the two best teams came out on top, though.  I would love to try both!

[DeLurker]

I was really hoping it would be Waffles last ep, but when they did so well at the car show I knew it was not to be.

Go Pho!

Pronunciation be damned.

[Janimo]

I am not feeling the Waffle love,and really hope Pho wins. They are much more deserving, but that's just my two cents.

[LittleIggy]

I hope Pho wins, too. I just don't like the Waffles.

[cooksdelight]

I'm from NC and totally pulling for the Pho team to win.

[xaxat]

Waffle Love has played the game really well (holding out the chicken and waffles until late was really smart), but I am so tired of them proclaiming "We stick chocolate into our waffles and top it with nutella/strawberries/bananas"  as if their slight variations are something brilliant.

 

Everyone was talking about their social media strategy, but how does that work? None of the remaining trucks has more than a thousand followers of Twitter, and that's after the exposure on FN. Is their presence on Facebook that much bigger?

 

Team Pho!

[nitzerebbgirl]

Did Team Pho actually make pho? Or dumplings for that matter?

[mlp]

It was really interesting to see all those young people flummoxed by having no phones.  Quite astonishing to me.  I couldn't believe that one girl had never used a phone book.  Good grief.  It's not like they're found only in antique stores.  

 

I do not believe that those trucks just drive around and park wherever they want and sell without running into trouble with the local authorities.  All municipalities have regulations and permits and so on.  That stuff has to have been pre-arranged by the show.  I don't get why they persist in showing what I'm sure must be fiction.  

[Lnmop]

Dear GD Bro:

Cali is a city in South America. California is a state in the United States.

That is all.

[JenMcSnark]

Dear GD Bro:

Cali is a city in South America. California is a state in the United States.

That is all.

 

You "Friscans" are so particular!  (I'm totally joking...please don't kill me.)

[Lnmop]

You "Friscans" are so particular!  (I'm totally joking...please don't kill me.)

Just don't call it Frisco! (That's a city in Texas.)

[Calamity Jane]

Dear GD Bro:

Cali is a city in South America. California is a state in the United States.

That is all.

I have lived in California since 1965, and I have never once heard anyone call it Cali.  GD Bro being from Orange County makes it all the more mystifying.  You will hear people talk about SoCal and NorCal, but again, I've never heard Cali.  Maybe it's something new with the kids in OC? 

[Skyfall]

The way they left was wrong because it was a different set up than I was expecting but I still called who left.

[Lnmop]

I have lived in California since 1965, and I have never once heard anyone call it Cali.  GD Bro being from Orange County makes it all the more mystifying.  You will hear people talk about SoCal and NorCal, but again, I've never heard Cali.  Maybe it's something new with the kids in OC?

I'm hearing it all the time now. Probably because it irks me so much.

[GaT]

People really don’t know how to use a phonebook?

 

I thought giving them back their phones as Tyler visited them was unfair, the waffle guys got their phones & were accessing social media way before everyone else. Also, going to the dumpling truck’s customers & telling them to go around the corner for waffles was bullshit. I hope Pho beats them next week, the waffle guys have gotten on my last nerve. I think it's very telling that I don't see one post rooting the the waffle guys to win, they seem to get on everyone's nerves.

[Pallida]

I think I'm far too sarcastic of a person to root for a wholesome team, but I do appreciate that Waffle Love appear to be genuinely nice people.  I kind of hate twitter, but I've been looking each week since the Spice Girls shit-talking-Postcards episode, and Waffle Love seems quite supportive of the other teams.  They have a fun banter with Pho as well.

[spiderpig]

Boo waffle guys.  There's just something about them that bugs.  Plus I don't know who would pay $15 for a waffle in a sit-down establishment, let alone a truck where you stand up eating from a paper tray with plastic utensils.

 

Team Pho.

[HunterHunted]

I have lived in California since 1965, and I have never once heard anyone call it Cali.  GD Bro being from Orange County makes it all the more mystifying.  You will hear people talk about SoCal and NorCal, but again, I've never heard Cali.  Maybe it's something new with the kids in OC?

California Love by Tupac briefly calls California Cali and calls San Fransisco Frisco. It's possible that you've never heard Cali used because it might be more commonly used in rap and hip hop circles and in a younger generation.

[In Pog Form]

Go Pho!

Pronunciation be damned.

I hope they go pho on their journey.

Edited September 21, 2015 by In Pog Form

[In Pog Form]

Just don't call it Frisco! (That's a city in Texas.)

I thought it was a Polish rabbi.

[TimetoShine]

I have lived in California since 1965, and I have never once heard anyone call it Cali.  GD Bro being from Orange County makes it all the more mystifying.  You will hear people talk about SoCal and NorCal, but again, I've never heard Cali.  Maybe it's something new with the kids in OC? 

You're probably not talking to the right people (this is coming from someone who lives in CALI). I hear Frisco all the time as well.

 

I'm pulling for Waffle love. In terms of who plays the game the best? It's pretty clear. Also, I've been craving waffles since the show started.

Edited September 21, 2015 by corinne

[NewDigs]

Groan.

Glad to see Pho make it through. Their flavor and texture combinations almost always sound really good.

And I think it would have been a more even competition w/ GD instead of the Wafflers.

Mainly because of this, from xaxat:

Snip...

but I am so tired of them proclaiming "We stick chocolate into our waffles and top it with nutella/strawberries/bananas" as if their slight variations are something brilliant.

...snip

Didn't they buy their waffle batter pre-made? If I am remembering that correctly it speaks to their lack of actually, well, doing much of anything. They're more a dessert truck than a food truck.

And I think they really kind of slouched off the whole build-a-roadside-attraction part of the challenge. Their oh-so awesome wholesomeosity sometimes seems to come across as smug. Or, holier than thou?

But at the end of the day it's all about the benjamins and whoever Tyler et al deem worthy of participation.

Sorry to see GD go. I'll take a burger, esp. one of theirs, over a waffle any day.

[cooksdelight]

Didn't they buy their waffle batter pre-made? If I am remembering that correctly it speaks to their lack of actually, well, doing much of anything. They're more a dessert truck than a food truck.

 

I have been watching them, and they use some type of dough that they use their hands to mash into place on the waffle iron. Not the usual batter that you pour. I've made thick Belgian waffles using a batter. I've never used something that looks like Pillsbury biscuit dough to make something besides a biscuit. Well, except to make doughnuts....

[DeLurker]

Just don't call it Frisco! (That's a city in Texas.)

I thought it was a Polish rabbi.

I have a flashback to my General Hospital watching days of Frisco and Felicia.

 

Their oh-so awesome wholesomeosity sometimes seems to come across as smug. Or, holier than thou?

But at the end of the day it's all about the benjamins and whoever Tyler et al deem worthy of participation.

I have no idea of their background other than they are Mormons from Utah, but I keep thinking they embody white privilege (not a term I throw around a lot).  Maybe it is the holier than thou aspect... the disturbing thing to me is I have 4 older brothers and we are all very close in age.  The boys have a strong physical resemblance, but very distinct individual personalities.  The Waffles seem almost interchangeable personality-wise.

[Calamity Jane]

California Love by Tupac briefly calls California Cali and calls San Fransisco Frisco. It's possible that you've never heard Cali used because it might be more commonly used in rap and hip hop circles and in a younger generation.

My daughter mentioned the Tupac song and speculated that that might be the origin.  She's in NorCal, I'm in SoCal, but we have missed this development.  As you say, must be a younger generation thing.

[Gbb]

I have no idea of their background other than they are Mormons from Utah, but I keep thinking they embody white privilege (not a term I throw around a lot).  Maybe it is the holier than thou aspect...

 

I'm glad you said this because I was mentally composing a post this morning while getting ready for work (it's official; I have no life) and came to much the same conclusion. 

 

My issue with the Waffle brothers comes down to the sense of entitlement I feel from them. I'm not sure if I can articulate the reasons why exactly, but it's a combination of things like half-assing most of the cooking challenges, closing down to go to church, telling people not to order the challenge dish. It's as if they feel like God is their invisible teammate, and that gives them an advantage over the others. I'm sure my status as a former fundie may by influencing my feelings quite a bit on this one, and I'm honestly not saying there's anything wrong with having faith and living by it. It's more a vibe I get from the brothers, that their faith makes them superior.

 

That vibe was reinforced by their TH about the car show and how their method of "shaking hands and looking people in the eye" and coming across as honest people gave them the advantage over the other 2 crews. WTH? We saw the other two crews also going car to car and meeting people individually just like they did. What made them come across as less "honest?" The fact that they had signs with their menu items on it? Do they Waffle brothers actually think they *are* more honest than the other 2 crews? That seems to be what they were saying.

[BW Manilowe]

I have been watching them, and they use some type of dough that they use their hands to mash into place on the waffle iron. Not the usual batter that you pour. I've made thick Belgian waffles using a batter. I've never used something that looks like Pillsbury biscuit dough to make something besides a biscuit. Well, except to make doughnuts....

The waffle guys make a type of Belgian waffle called a liege waffle. It's made with a dough, not a batter like a traditional waffle or the other type of Belgian waffle, & it's "studded" with a special kind of sugar. It's supposed to be really good--though I've never actually eaten that type of Belgian waffle.

[karasmom]

I'm very glad that the GD Bros went home.  I was appalled that one of them was using a handicapped scooter around the store.  Being handicapped myself, I know how difficult it is to find one of those -- there are only a small amount of them in stores and if there is not one available, you either wait for half an hour or you go to another store.  Yet, this young healthy guy thought it would be fun to ride around the store in one, even though he was perfectly capable of walking. Shame!

 

I love coming to this forum -- I am always out of step with everyone else it seems.  I love Waffle Love and I hope they win.  They are nice and friendly to everyone.  And no, I am not a Mormon.  I just like nice people whose every word is not a swear word and who dress nicely.  Yes, I'm old fashioned (and old) but they are a breath of fresh air.

Edited September 21, 2015 by karasmom

[Grandma Saracen]

Their reliance on their phones made me feel really old. I'm not.

Finally saw something I'd order from GD Bros - the chicken sandwich looked good! 

The slaws and salads Pho make always sound super tasty.

 

I heard Waffle Love mention making something in a brick'n'mortar store, did I not? 

 

Go Team Pho! Win it all! (Please?)

They were smart getting connected in Tulsa, loved the idea of the Night Market attraction. 

[Gbb]

I'm very glad that the GD Bros went home.  I was appalled that one of them was using a handicapped scooter around the store.  Being handicapped myself, I know how difficult it is to find one of those -- there are only a small amount of them in stores and if there is not one available, you either wait for half an hour or you go to another store.  Yet, this young healthy guy thought it would be fun to ride around the store in one, even though he was perfectly capable of walking. Shame!

 

Thanks for reminding me of this! I thought that was awful. I have a brother who's paraplegic and I have a visceral reaction to people using handicap parking spaces or scooters when they don't need them. Probably just being young and stupid/unaware, but I hope he catches hell about that when he gets home and learns better.

[Jersey Guy 87]

I'm very glad that the GD Bros went home.  I was appalled that one of them was using a handicapped scooter around the store.  Being handicapped myself, I know how difficult it is to find one of those -- there are only a small amount of them in stores and if there is not one available, you either wait for half an hour or you go to another store.  Yet, this young healthy guy thought it would be fun to ride around the store in one, even though he was perfectly capable of walking. Shame!

 

I was pretty surprised by that as well.  I can't believe the store gave them a scooter to drive around and production allowed it.  It was appalling.

[NewDigs]

The waffle guys make a type of Belgian waffle called a liege waffle. It's made with a dough, not a batter like a traditional waffle or the other type of Belgian waffle, & it's "studded" with a special kind of sugar. It's supposed to be really good--though I've never actually eaten that type of Belgian waffle.

And now I remember a liege waffle being mentioned earlier. Here? I've seen so many waffles and waffle contests lately, it seems.

Is the liege dough especially difficult and/or tricky to make? I kind of object to the fact that not only are the Wafflers not always doing the savory challenges as best they could but now it appears that the main ingredient of their main product is store-bought. Hmpf.

[GeorgiaRai]

I'm very happy with the final two - I like all of the members on these teams.  I most want to eat at Waffle Love, so it'd be great if they won.  OTOH, Team Pho seems to need the win more, and it'd be nice to see them get the money & publicity. 

 

Really, though, once the Spice Moms left, I've had no complaints about the remaining teams.

 

ETA: I never saw them use store-bought dough.  In one challenge, they got a head start on the others, so I remember instead of getting on the road, they used the time to shop & mix up the dough, saying it'd be ready by the time they got to the next stop & they'd be able to start selling right away.  I've wondered if that's how they managed to go to church, too - mixing up the dough early & attending services while it sits.   

 

(Just looked up a Waffle Love Copycat recipe and it says to let the dough rise overnight.)

Edited September 21, 2015 by GeorgiaRai

[cooksdelight]

I seem to remember them buying a huge plastic thing of the dough at one of the stops. At a Costco type store.

[akr]

Liege waffles are a yeast dough, and they are definitely making the dough. In episode 2, at 10 minutes in, after they've gotten the advantage in Flagstaff and a one hour lead on the competition to drive down to Sedona, they use it to go shopping and start banging out waffle dough, using massive amounts of flour, butter, eggs, etc. I read up on Liege waffles a little and many companies stateside that make them do buy specialty frozen dough, but you're not going to find it in any random town in the southwest. Also, unless you have a commercial waffle iron that you can set to a very specific temperature (365-370 degrees), you're going to have a hard time making them even if you make your dough. A home waffle iron is much hotter at its baseline (550 one site said, but it also said to heat it to 400 something, then turn it off to make your waffle. I haven't had a waffle maker in years but don't remember them having heat settings that precise. So, they've got it down, but it's not just making waffles like you'd make them at home.

 

At their website, if you click on "about", the backstory for how they got started is interesting. Great way to turn things around after an extended period of un- and underemployment due to the recession.

www.waffluv.com/about/

 

edited to add: I have a memory of them buying big bags of flour but couldn't find the footage where I thought it was going to be (only saw strawberries, eggs, steak, and chicken in the various flashbacks of grocery shopping that I found). I wonder if what I remember as big bags of flour, and what you remember as bags of dough, were the same scene? I remember a conversation where they were trying to decide how many batches to buy - but I thought they were buying ingredients to make the batches, not the dough, pre-made. And we've definitely seen them making dough.

Edited September 21, 2015 by akr

[NewDigs]

Bolding mine

Their reliance on their phones made me feel really old. I'm not.

Finally saw something I'd order from GD Bros - the chicken sandwich looked good! 

The slaws and salads Pho make always sound super tasty.

 

I heard Waffle Love mention making something in a brick'n'mortar store, did I not? 

 

Go Team Pho! Win it all! (Please?)

They were smart getting connected in Tulsa, loved the idea of the Night Market attraction.

Yes they do. Looks like they have one store and 6 (?) trucks. Only glanced at that.

But looking at their waffle selection I see only sweet.

Not sure they should be competing against trucks that really, ya' know, cook.

[cooksdelight]

I have a Cuisinart waffle iron that doubles as a griddle/sandwich maker. It has temp settings, so I may give these liege waffles a try.

[Totale]

I was confused at the drive in.  Supposedly each car got a token and there were like 72 tokens in all, but most cars had couples and they were banging out orders of two and three and five, but no money was seen changing hands or prices mentioned.

 

I like a firm handshake as much as the next guy, but I find it hard to believe that three wholesome guys with firm handshakes trumps three cute girls in short shorts in attracting the car fan crowd.  Try it on a weekend without the wives there.

[Monty]

Everyone on this show looks so sleepy during their talking-head interviews. When it's the waffle guys, I assume they're just stoned, but even the heavily religious team had trouble keeping their eyes open.

[cooksdelight]

Everyone on this show looks so sleepy during their talking-head interviews. When it's the waffle guys, I assume they're just stoned, but even the heavily religious team had trouble keeping their eyes open.

Monty, if you read all the threads, especially the first couple of episodes, you'll find that the Waffle guys are Mormon. Highly unlikely they are stoned. Also, one of them has something wrong with his right eye that makes it hard for him to keep it open.

[CraftyHazel]

I'm very glad that the GD Bros went home.  I was appalled that one of them was using a handicapped scooter around the store.  Being handicapped myself, I know how difficult it is to find one of those -- there are only a small amount of them in stores and if there is not one available, you either wait for half an hour or you go to another store.  Yet, this young healthy guy thought it would be fun to ride around the store in one, even though he was perfectly capable of walking. Shame!

 

I love coming to this forum -- I am always out of step with everyone else it seems.  I love Waffle Love and I hope they win.  They are nice and friendly to everyone.  And no, I am not a Mormon.  I just like nice people whose every word is not a swear word and who dress nicely.  Yes, I'm old fashioned (and old) but they are a breath of fresh air.

I agree with you. I'm old-fashioned in some ways, too (and old!), and I like Waffle Love! There is a lot to be said for polite, clean-cut, and genuine people. I'd give them my business at the car show/drive-in movie event, too...I like people who shake my hand and look me in the eye; it makes me feel as if I am being recognized as worthwhile. (My doctor does this, and I appreciate it, after years of doctors who basically run in and out the door.). All the other teams did is pitch their food, and if I feel like all you want is my $25 chip, you likely won't get it! Yes, I'm stubborn, too!

[windfall]

I like a firm handshake as much as the next guy, but I find it hard to believe that three wholesome guys with firm handshakes trumps three cute girls in short shorts in attracting the car fan crowd.  Try it on a weekend without the wives there.

 

I would guess that this stems from differences in regional culture. While that wholesome approach would not resonate much with me, in fact I find that kind of behavior to be shall we say manufactured, I can certainly understand while it would work with that particular group of people.

[needschocolate]

I don't have anything against any of last 4 teams, and I am glad the ones I found annoying went home early.  I wonder how much fo the Waffle Love hate is because they remind people of the Duggars - very large family, religious, very "clean cut" appearance, ultra polite, they look alike, etc. I got a creepy feeling from the Duggars long before any of the actual creepiness became public, but I don't get one from the Waffle Boys.  

 

However, I think their product gives them a big advantage - it is cheaper and quicker to prep and to cook.  Plus, they are the only ones who are more of a dessert truck, Most people I know would eat a burger or whatever it is Pho sells (do they actual sell pho or dumplings?) at lunch time or at dinnertime, but a nutella waffle with strawberries is something you could convince yourself was a meal or a snack or a dessert.  I want Pho to win, not because I have anything against Waffle , but because it is too easy for Waffle to win and I usually root for the underdog when I have no other loyalties.  

 

Poor Tyler, still trying to convince everyone that they should not skip challenges.  Sure, Waffle Love won the drive-thru challenge and ended up winning this leg of the race, but they have won all but one leg, even when they didn't fully participate in the challenge. Besides, there wasn't a realistic way for Waffle not to participate in this challenge - they couldn't go somewhere else, so not participating would mean just sitting in their truck and not trying to drum up business, which would be a ridiculous thing to do.  

  

It was really interesting to see all those young people flummoxed by having no phones.  Quite astonishing to me.  I couldn't believe that one girl had never used a phone book.  Good grief.  It's not like they're found only in antique stores.   

 

I know a lot of people in their twenties and even though they would all prefer to use their phones, all of them can read a map and use a phone book (teenagers may be a different story).  The first "Smartphone" was in the mid 1990's, but it wasn't something everyone had and it didn't have internet access.  The first iPhone came out in 2007, less than a decade ago, so these contestants were in their early teens at least and it wasn't common for kids to have iPhones back then.  They had to have lived a very sheltered life or have bad shortish-term memories for them not to remember phone books and maps.  

 

That vibe was reinforced by their TH about the car show and how their method of "shaking hands and looking people in the eye" and coming across as honest people gave them the advantage over the other 2 crews. WTH? We saw the other two crews also going car to car and meeting people individually just like they did. What made them come across as less "honest?" The fact that they had signs with their menu items on it? Do they Waffle brothers actually think they *are* more honest than the other 2 crews? That seems to be what they were saying.

 

I would base my decision of what to eat solely on what the food item was - what I felt like eating - not on whether they shook my hand.  (assuming that all the people and trucks look clean - which they all did).  I would passon Pho's item because my tongue is incredibly wimpy and I am afraid it would be too spicy for me.  I would pass on Bros' because their sandwich isn't anything unique to me.  But Fried Chicken and Waffles is something that I rarely eat, so that is what i would have ordered.  I think the Waffle boys are a bit delusional to think they had so many customers because of their winning personalities.  

 

I'm very glad that the GD Bros went home.  I was appalled that one of them was using a handicapped scooter around the store.  Being handicapped myself, I know how difficult it is to find one of those -- there are only a small amount of them in stores and if there is not one available, you either wait for half an hour or you go to another store.  Yet, this young healthy guy thought it would be fun to ride around the store in one, even though he was perfectly capable of walking. Shame!

 

Worst example of this I have ever seen .... I was in a Costco and saw a man using one of those motorized carts.  He had a couple of small children with him.  I assumed he needed the cart, until he got to the checkout, where he got off the cart and let one of his kids play with it.  Then, making them more obnoxious, his wife joins him in line with a cart filled to the brim (he only had 4-5 items in his cart, which is why I picked that lane).  But it didn't stop there - after everything was rung up, they tried to pay with a non-Costco credit card and had no other way to pay.  They went out to the car under the pretense of getting money, but they didn't come back and the checker had to cancel the order.  When I went out to my car, they were still int he parking lot.  Husband and wife were arguing - he wanted to leave and she refused to get in the car while saying "Can't we buy milk?  We need milk."

Edited September 21, 2015 by needschocolate

[Totale]

I'm very glad that the GD Bros went home.  I was appalled that one of them was using a handicapped scooter around the store.  Being handicapped myself, I know how difficult it is to find one of those -- there are only a small amount of them in stores and if there is not one available, you either wait for half an hour or you go to another store.  Yet, this young healthy guy thought it would be fun to ride around the store in one, even though he was perfectly capable of walking. Shame!

 

 

Well, to be fair the store wasn't open for business so they weren't depriving someone who needed the chair of the use of it.

 

I would guess that this stems from differences in regional culture. While that wholesome approach would not resonate much with me, in fact I find that kind of behavior to be shall we say manufactured, I can certainly understand while it would work with that particular group of people.

 

"That particular group of people" being Tulsans in general, or rich car-obsessed retirees?  I've never been there.  The many aspects of the Waffle boys' act which I find highly annoying but can't really talk about here and remain civil I would think would generate the same reaction from a lot of people anywhere in the country. 

[windfall]

"That particular group of people" being Tulsans in general, or rich car-obsessed retirees?  I've never been there.  The many aspects of the Waffle boys' act which I find highly annoying but can't really talk about here and remain civil I would think would generate the same reaction from a lot of people anywhere in the country. 

 

The car group that Tyler had set up for them to sell to. One of them even said they liked the way that the waffle guys approached him.

[cooksdelight]

Let's not try to find things wrong that aren't there. Like them or dislike them, we've got two trucks left and let's just see what happens. Thanks.

[Lola16]

I find the threads more entertaining than the show.  Pretty much assumed that the final two would be waffles and pho based on the edits so far.

 

LL Cool J - Going Back To Cali

 

That's when I first heard California referred to as Cali.  Since I'm a NYer, not sure how many California residents call it Cali but have heard transplants refer to it as such (usually in a joking manner).