S08.E01: Battle for the South: The Big 'Not So Easy'

[Joe Blow]

Every time that lady talked about putting things "on a stick", I kept waiting for Jose Jalapeno to make an appearance..

[lh25]

11 hours ago, Joe Blow said:

Every time that lady talked about putting things "on a stick", I kept waiting for Jose Jalapeno to make an appearance..

LOL- I was too!  I could hear the voice in my head.

I'm not sure "food on a stick" is that great of a concept.

[Amarsir]

On 8/23/2017 at 9:05 AM, Rachel RSL said:

I was confused about that too. The way it was worded, it sounded like the winner only gets $50 000 because I remember thinking that the winner should get the money and the truck.

How many of these teams even want a truck? The premise in the early seasons was trying to help legitimate startups. But now I feel like it's just a reality game show to many. Presumably the ones who take it seriously are more likely to win, but I am curious.  So I tried to look up a few past winners.

• Grilled Cheese All-Stars (2016) hasn't been within 100ft of a truck since the show ended. They're trying to be blog celebrities so far as I can tell.
• Pho Nomenal Dumplings (2015) opened a brick&mortar called MOFU Shoppe and doesn't seem to run the truck anymore. (Although they might still use it to support catering once the store is established.)
• The Middle Feast (2014) is still working the truck.
• Aloha Plate (2013) seems to use the truck part-time or assist in catering, while focusing on a Hawaiian Style food and video series.
• Seoul Sausage (2012) has two brick&mortar and uses the truck for catering.
• The Lime Truck (2011) is still working the truck.
• Grill 'Em All (2010) after running two trucks for a while switched to brick&mortar.

So I don't know if it's a trend or not. Maybe I'm just not taking it so seriously myself after last year's winners.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Amarsir

[meowmommy]

One thing I've never understood about this show is the screaming at passersby to drum up business.  I stay far, far away from kiosk hawkers at the mall, handbill handers on the street, and I sure as shit wouldn't go up to a food truck staffed by people screaming at me to buy their shitty food.  But then I wonder about people in bizarre costumes who get paid to stand on street corners and twirl signs.  Do they also really bring business in?

[Simon47]

Shona (Stick 'em up) bugs me/gets on my last nerve. Lord honey, is Jason one of her kids?

The other interesting thing was how the breakfast club guys kept wearing brunch squad shirts instead of breakfast club shirts. How cool. They can leave anytime.

[mauras]

On 8/21/2017 at 5:24 PM, candall said:

Okay, I will assume responsibility for supporting the Breakfast Brunch Club Squad.  Dude With Eyebrows seems least likely to drawl about buttering his butt and insisting he's a biscuit. 

I'll join you there. I like a lot of southern food and enjoy most southern accents, but in this episode, the teams that annoyed me the least were the ones from the Northeast (where I'm from). Wicked Good Seafood were obviously going to be the first to go, with their $35 in the beignet challenge, but I was hoping against hope that Stick 'Em Up would somehow lost instead. The cornpone mom and her "Ah'm jes' a li'l ole country girl" crap can't get off my TV fast enough.

[candall]

On ‎8‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 3:48 PM, Amarsir said:

How many of these teams even want a truck? The premise in the early seasons was trying to help legitimate startups. But now I feel like it's just a reality game show to many. Presumably the ones who take it seriously are more likely to win, but I am curious.  So I tried to look up a few past winners.

• Grilled Cheese All-Stars (2016) hasn't been within 100ft of a truck since the show ended. They're trying to be blog celebrities so far as I can tell.
• Pho Nomenal Dumplings (2015) opened a brick&mortar called MOFU Shoppe and doesn't seem to run the truck anymore. (Although they might still use it to support catering once the store is established.)
• The Middle Feast (2014) is still working the truck.
• Aloha Plate (2013) seems to use the truck part-time or assist in catering, while focusing on a Hawaiian Style food and video series.
• Seoul Sausage (2012) has two brick&mortar and uses the truck for catering.
• The Lime Truck (2011) is still working the truck.
• Grill 'Em All (2010) after running two trucks for a while switched to brick&mortar.

So I don't know if it's a trend or not. Maybe I'm just not taking it so seriously myself after last year's winners.

This was very interesting.

Thanks for doing the investigative reporting!  Good job.

[Nessie]

Wow...lots of hate for the Southern mama (I have no idea of anyone's name's yet).  I guess I get it after FNS, but neither she, nor Jason annoy me, as they both remind me of my grandmother, who was born and raised in the hills of Kentucky, and talked just like that, "Lord Honey" and all.  Truthfully, I'd rather hear Southern accents all day rather than the harsher sounding Northern or Midwestern accents...good thing I live in the South (although I'm in Virginia, and according to some, that's just barely the South).

Am I to understand that the Brunch Bunch/Breakfast Club guy has been on multiple cooking shows?   So then it's not his lifelong dream to own a food truck, he just want's to be famous?  As far as I'm concerned, he and Matthew Grunwald can go be famous together on some corner of the interwebz where I never have to see either one of them again.

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, Nessie said:

Am I to understand that the Brunch Bunch/Breakfast Club guy has been on multiple cooking shows?

He has been on 2, he was 14 when he was on one that he won so at least he has been cooking for awhile.

[AmandaPanda]

This is going to be one of those seasons where it's not who I want to win, it's more just who I don't want to win. Topping that list right now are the Millennials (they're a great example of why people hate my generation, ugh) and the Southern Sticks. The sooner they leave, the better.

[HappyDancex2]

On 8/26/2017 at 6:00 PM, meowmommy said:

One thing I've never understood about this show is the screaming at passersby to drum up business.  I stay far, far away from kiosk hawkers at the mall, handbill handers on the street, and I sure as shit wouldn't go up to a food truck staffed by people screaming at me to buy their shitty food.  But then I wonder about people in bizarre costumes who get paid to stand on street corners and twirl signs.  Do they also really bring business in?

Oh this.

Frankly this show hasn't made me want to eat from food trucks after seeing the cramped compartments, low ventilation, sweaty people and specific to this show, low food budgets and questionable "tasks".  

The road screaming is otherwise annoying and jarring.   And if someone was holding a boat of food and shoving it at my face offering me a discount I would wonder what was wrong with it, how long it's been in your hand, how many times have you spit coughed sneezed on it yelling at passersby.   LOL!!!

1 hour ago, AmandaPanda said:

This is going to be one of those seasons where it's not who I want to win, it's more just who I don't want to win. Topping that list right now are the Millennials (they're a great example of why people hate my generation, ugh) and the Southern Sticks. The sooner they leave, the better.

Snicker

[Marvin]

On 8/27/2017 at 9:28 PM, biakbiak said:

He has been on 2, he was 14 when he was on one that he won so at least he has been cooking for awhile.

His parents own a cooking school !!

[Whimsy]

14 hours ago, Marvin said:

His parents own a cooking school !!

What cooking school?  It is reputable?

[biakbiak]

On Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at 5:24 AM, Whimsy said:

What cooking school?  It is reputable?

They used to run one The Young Chef Academy  franchises. 

[Whimsy]

3 hours ago, biakbiak said:

They used to run one The Young Chef Academy  franchises. 

A quick google makes it look like it's basically a paint-your-own-pottery type place but with food. While a cool concept my daughter would've loved when she was younger, it's not really a culinary school. I admit that Diva probably got a lot more out if it as the son of the owners of one of the franchises. But, the average kid probably didn't really learn actual chef-level cooking skills from there.  I do like the concept though. Really wish we had one of those about 10 years ago here. 

[Nessie]

On 8/27/2017 at 4:28 PM, biakbiak said:

He has been on 2, he was 14 when he was on one that he won so at least he has been cooking for awhile.

Thanks @biakbiak.  So interesting that he doesn't seem to be the cook on the truck.  

[spiderpig]

On 8/23/2017 at 5:47 AM, Jersey Guy 87 said:

I was wondering about this - is the prize just $50,000 or does the winning team also get to keep their truck?  Because it seems like after taxes $50K wouldn't be enough to even buy a truck.

Mr. pig and I were talking about this.  We paid $34,000 for a Mini Cooper two years ago, and wondered how much one of those behemoth food trucks would cost - especially since the 50k is before taxes.

We also wondered about splitting the pre-tax 50k among three people, be they family or friends.

Then there's the ongoing discussion of how anybody makes a dime on a food truck with the initial outlay, fuel, limited hours of operation, wages, insurance.  We wondered who on earth would spend $10-12 for a truck sandwich* in New Orleans when you can walk about 50 feet in any direction and get something better indoors.

*This does not apply to Lucky Dog.

While I still like the show, Mr. pig and I spend our viewing time wondering a lot.

Edited September 12, 2017 by spiderpig