The Great Food Truck Race - General Discussion

[Yeah No]

This episode actually didn't bore me to death for a change, but how is it possible that in southern Florida they can't find a good location?  With all the bustling tourist attractions they end up at some loser of a classic car garage with nobody there?

I lost my respect for NOLA after this episode.  They were originally in my top two with Rolling but now, feh, after acting the way they did about "owning" that spot.  What I want to know is why couldn't the other trucks just park across the street up the block and hawk their food from nearby?  Even if NOLA acted like they owned that spot, they didn't own the street!!

Brunch Babes for the win.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Yeah No

[biakbiak]

I don’t usually mind a little bit of trash talking in a competition but I like it to be based somewhat in truth so I was turned off by NOLA saying that the Brunch Babes didn’t make their own doughnuts since they did do it from scratch Lots of people have cut corners in this comp so would have no trouble with telling people about shortcuts the other teams were taking if they were true but that just felt really shitty to me. 

[bobbyjoe]

Quote

but how is it possible that in southern Florida they can't find a good location?  With all the bustling tourist attractions they end up at some loser of a classic car garage with nobody there?

I was thinking in exactly this same direction.  So how limited a geographical area do the producers give the contestants to choose from behind the scenes?  Because in a city as big as Miami, there’s no way they all ended up that close together and stayed there, particularly when the area seemed that dead.  I’m slow I guess, but since we always see them driving around all the time looking for places to set up, I thought they genuinely had full choice of place in whatever city they’re in, and that so many of them end up next to each other because it’s strategy.  Tonight though is the first night it clicked for me that the producers probably tell them “you can choose a place, but it has to be in this specific range of streets.”  That makes sense, I guess, for the logistics of their camera crews, but to me the show has always made it look like they could pick wherever they wanted from the full city they’re in.  Does anyone know if they’ve ever been specific about explaining what the rules are on this?

Edited July 22, 2019 by bobbyjoe

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, bobbyjoe said:

I was thinking in exactly this same direction.  So how limited a geographical area do the producers give the contestants to choose from behind the scenes?  Because in a city as big as Miami, there’s no way they all ended up that close together and stayed there, particularly when the area seemed that dead.  I’m slow I guess, but since we always see them driving around all the time looking for places to set up, I thought they genuinely had full choice of place in whatever city they’re in, and that so many of them end up next to each other because it’s strategy.  Tonight though is the first night it clicked for me that the producers probably tell them “you can choose a place, but it has to be in this specific range of streets.”  That makes sense, I guess, for the logistics of their camera crews, but to me the show has always made it look like they could pick wherever they wanted from the full city they’re in.  Does anyone know if they’ve ever been specific about explaining what the rules are on this?

Yeah, I figured that out too, that they're told to stay in a certain area for filming logistics or perhaps just to level the playing field somewhat.  But then they go and send them to a deadsville neighborhood, which doesn't seem quite fair either.  I thought this show was more like others I've seen where the trucks are all parked together in one busy spot and have to outdo each other with the same audience.   That would seem more fair to me.  Or at least they should send them to a better neighborhood.  When they were headed to that classic car garage I originally thought it was one of those scheduled classic car gatherings that attracts crowds, not just some little garage with no planned event tucked away in a light industrial neighborhood.  How stupid was THAT?  If I were on the show I would have known that would be a dud of a location.  I'm older, well traveled and good with maps, though.  Is it that perhaps people today don't know how to do that?  Sit me down with a map, even Google Maps, and I'd find a fantastic location.  It makes me wonder whether they're even allowed to do that or just rely on apps that tell them what's near them with ratings and nothing to indicate whether the neighborhood has anything going for it in terms of foot traffic.

[Pepper the Cat]

Brunch Babes for the win. I have never liked NOLA and the trash talking just reinforced that. Unfortunately, I think Tyler wants them to win so they probably will.

[chessiegal]

I wonder how much influence Tyler has on who wins vs the producers? I follow him on Twitter and would ask, but doubt he would answer.

[suebee12]

After watching this year's shows, I wonder how teams from previous years won so much money? Every week, they won bigger and bigger money. This year, not so much. Has interest in the show fallen so much? Are the trucks not able to use social media as much or as well? Are TPTB controlling locations more? I know that the show isn't as much fun and the  "stunts" they are requiring are basically stupid and have nothing to do with cooking! What the heck did any of the stunts have to do with cooking or running a food truck. All and all this season is just not fun! I will finish the  year out but not so sure about next year if there is one.

[xaxat]

The typeface on the Brunch Babes' truck annoys me. It's blurry and makes me feel like I need to clean my glasses.

Someone mentioned how the guy from Rolling Indulgence used "I" instead of "we" when talking about the truck activities during the talking heads. I hadn't noticed this before, but holy crap! It's so true.

Another weird thing about the truck locations this episode is the fact that NOLA just happened to pick a spot in front of the coffee shop that supplied the coffee for the challenge. Quite the "coincidence".

I was a NOLA fan because I thought they were putting out the best food. But them lying about the Brunch Babes' donuts really turned me off.

I think the best thing this season is the route. Good theme and lots of good scenery. So much better than the "let's drive around LA" season.

[bluepiano]

5 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Brunch Babes for the win. I have never liked NOLA and the trash talking just reinforced that. Unfortunately, I think Tyler wants them to win so they probably will.

I'm with you. Most of the season I've been apathetic about the winner, but NOLA's behavior in this show was a huge turn-off. I understand that if they feel they negotiated an exclusive deal they weren't happy about Brunch Babes showing up. But then to yell that they were selling Krispy Kremes and frozen food was inexcusable. All season long NOLA has made it clear they feel they deserve this. Then win it with your food if you're that good. Don't tell lies. 

It's funny how on these competitive reality shows there are always contestants who say they want it more than anyone else. Hey, everyone is there to win. NOLA believes they want it more than anyone else, so in their mind that justifies winning at any cost.

I also didn't like the main NOLA guy calling them "Brunch Barbies." Very derogatory. No need to get into personal insults. 

Unfortunately, I think NOLA was the chosen winner from the start. In the interview segments with Tyler, where each team talked about why they want to win, NOLA got the most air time, and they totally played for sympathy with their Katrina story. Do we even know that's true about their getting wiped out by Katrina? I'm sure lots of failing businesses have claimed that, whether it was true or not.

[LazyToaster]

I was really turned off by the trash talk by NOLA as well.  Actually, the fact that they outright lied made me expect some kind of warning or something from Tyler - but no, it was ignored.  It certainly is poor sportsmanship.  The NOLA lady also referred to Brunch Babes as Brunch Barbies.  Stereotype much?  

[Pallida]

I had a bit of a different take on the Brunch Babes going to the coffee shop. The owners of the coffee shop had told them no (BB said they tried to get that spot and couldn't). So, even after being told no, they tried to peddle their wares - which to me, is trespassing. I don't approve of the NOLA comments about their products, but I thought BB did really shady things too. 

[suebee12]

37 minutes ago, Pallida said:

I had a bit of a different take on the Brunch Babes going to the coffee shop. The owners of the coffee shop had told them no (BB said they tried to get that spot and couldn't). So, even after being told no, they tried to peddle their wares - which to me, is trespassing. I don't approve of the NOLA comments about their products, but I thought BB did really shady things too. 

I'm not saying the NOLA guys were right in saying what they said but I agree, the Brunch Babes were being very aggressive after being told no......it was like they figured they would sell there no matter what!

[Yeah No]

47 minutes ago, Pallida said:

I had a bit of a different take on the Brunch Babes going to the coffee shop. The owners of the coffee shop had told them no (BB said they tried to get that spot and couldn't). So, even after being told no, they tried to peddle their wares - which to me, is trespassing. I don't approve of the NOLA comments about their products, but I thought BB did really shady things too. 

The only reason the owners told them "no" is because NOLA made them give them "exclusive" rights to park there.  As far as I recall it was not because the owners themselves didn't want more than one truck there.  It's because they were honoring their promise to NOLA.  I heard the NOLA guy ask them if they could make them "exclusive" to that spot and if they wouldn't allow any other trucks from the competition to park there.  I don't blame Brunch Babes from peddling their wares under those circumstances.  Since when did the rules of the show get rewritten to lay exclusive claim on a spot?  This is my first season watching this show but even others who have watched it have commented that they didn't even know it was allowed to do that.  So the question becomes why was NOLA allowed to do that when no one else on the show so far has been able to do it?  It seems like a double standard.  It's especially bad when that one spot turned out to be the only good one in the neighborhood they were sent to.

[Pallida]

Any truck could have negotiated sole access to private property. We don’t know if any other truck thought of doing so or even attempted to do it though. Just because they are the first to do it doesn’t make it a rule change.  

[Brookside]

The Rolling Indulgence truck should get in touch with the people who do the ad for Peyronie's Disease.  Their logo would be perfect.

Edited July 28, 2019 by Brookside

[Hellga]

People negotiate exclusive rights all the time, there is nothing wrong with it as such.  And anything that is not explicitly banned by the rules, is permitted.  It's a competition.  

I didn't like how NOLA was bashing BB's foods but I also didn't like how BB were trying to get in after being told no multiple times.  Both teams got lost sympathy points from me on that account, but because I liked NOLA better before, they still come out ahead in my eyes.   And I personally if I had to go buy something off one of those trucks, it would have been NOLA because I just like Creole and Cajun food more. 

One thing that made me wonder - do we know how the previous winners are doing?   How many of them are actually working in their own food trucks (especially since the show stopped using those who already had food trucks and got "beginners"?   The Brunch Babes have been consistently saved by their winning the challenges - in real world, there are no challenges to save you, it's all down to the actual sales and making enough to stay afloat.  Does winning challenges translates to adaptability that would help them adjust - or does it mean they are less likely to make it on bona fide sales?  I don't know...  

[Skyfall]

On 7/22/2019 at 1:27 PM, suebee12 said:

After watching this year's shows, I wonder how teams from previous years won so much money? Every week, they won bigger and bigger money. This year, not so much. Has interest in the show fallen so much? Are the trucks not able to use social media as much or as well? Are TPTB controlling locations more? I know that the show isn't as much fun and the  "stunts" they are requiring are basically stupid and have nothing to do with cooking! What the heck did any of the stunts have to do with cooking or running a food truck. All and all this season is just not fun! I will finish the  year out but not so sure about next year if there is one.

It really feels like they are limiting available selling space. Back in the day there would be a diverse set of parking locations. But once it stopped being nationwide and a more regional route the teams have been more clustered.

[biakbiak]

The selling periods seem a lot shorter this season than in some past seasons.

[Gramto6]

10 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

The selling periods seem a lot shorter this season than in some past seasons.

I noticed that too. Past seasons they were selling way after dark. Now it seems only in the daytime.

[Yeah No]

23 hours ago, Pallida said:

Any truck could have negotiated sole access to private property. We don’t know if any other truck thought of doing so or even attempted to do it though. Just because they are the first to do it doesn’t make it a rule change.  

They've set a precedent with that at the very least.  If I were on another team and saw that I'd attempt to negotiate sole access everywhere I went after that.  It does seem counter to the spirit of this show for them to do this.  For the most part the trucks seem to want to help each other out and win on their own merits, not by engaging in strategies to attempt to put the others at a disadvantage.

After many years of watching "Top Chef" it kind of reminds me of the mean spirited chef that won't share a utensil or grabs all the lobster for themselves in a lobster challenge and won't share it.  Just not nice or good gamesmanship.

[Morgana]

I could have sworn that in at least one of the earlier episodes the Brunch Babes DID buy pre-made doughnuts to use (I think it was when they were making one of their sandwiches).

[luvapickle]

Just going by how it is for food trucks-in reality-they only have certain areas they can park, certain time periods, and that's with permits ahead of time. So I'm sure when FN went into these places ahead of time, it negotiated the time period they could have the trucks out, & them filming. The other thing sis food trucks usually are not allowed to go just anywhere. It could have been those calling places up to find a place were being told no, because there were food trucks there already, or the city would not allow them to park there.

Yes, BB did use pre made donuts on an earlier episode. But the one team Madea used pre made French fires. I don't think it was part of their main dish at the time though.

The coffee shop issue seemed a bit hectic with watching the video. I think BB did not quite believe Nola at the time, because none of them had gone the "exclusive" route up until then. That's why they stuck around for a bit. But then the one employee tells them, & they left. Now they have every right to sell out side of the business. Even on the side depending on if the coffee biz actually owned the property. If they rented it, then they cannot say who is there(on the out side).

[Whimsy]

4 hours ago, Morgana said:

I could have sworn that in at least one of the earlier episodes the Brunch Babes DID buy pre-made doughnuts to use (I think it was when they were making one of their sandwiches).

Not that I pay full attention, but the only thing I clearly remember a team buying is the frozen fries.

[xaxat]

Multiple teams used frozen fries. But I think the biggest offender was People's Fry because fries were their thing.

(Remember when they tried to poach customers from Frank and Slides and F&S pointed out that, unlike PF, they made their own fries?)

[akr]

2 hours ago, Whimsy said:

Not that I pay full attention, but the only thing I clearly remember a team buying is the frozen fries.

The brunch babes use a lot of frozen tater tots. 

[Maya]

While I like the Brunch Babes just fine, I feel compelled to say I really, really hate their name. 

[Sew Sumi]

I've always wondered who names and designs the trucks. Does production pigeonhole them, or are the contestants coming up with these names (and logos) on their own?

Edited July 24, 2019 by Sew Sumi

[biakbiak]

8 hours ago, akr said:

The brunch babes use a lot of frozen tater tots. 

Even though tater tots have had a renaissance in the last the number of years most restaurants that serve them are using frozen that are given value by added toppings the labor and resources needed to make them from scratch just isn’t economically sustainable on a restaurant level much less a food truck.

Edited July 25, 2019 by biakbiak

[akr]

20 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Even though tater tots have had a renaissance in the last the number of years most restaurants that serve them are using frozen that are given value by added toppings the labor and resources needed to make them from scratch just isn’t economically sustainable on a restaurant level much less a food truck.

That's fine but I don't want to buy a tater-tot based dish from anyone, food truck or not. 

[jcbrown]

On 7/22/2019 at 8:18 PM, Pallida said:

I had a bit of a different take on the Brunch Babes going to the coffee shop. The owners of the coffee shop had told them no (BB said they tried to get that spot and couldn't). So, even after being told no, they tried to peddle their wares - which to me, is trespassing. I don't approve of the NOLA comments about their products, but I thought BB did really shady things too. 

I agree, actually. I thought neither team came out of this looking too great.

On 7/23/2019 at 8:56 AM, Hellga said:

I didn't like how NOLA was bashing BB's foods but I also didn't like how BB were trying to get in after being told no multiple times.  Both teams got lost sympathy points from me on that account, but because I liked NOLA better before, they still come out ahead in my eyes.   And I personally if I had to go buy something off one of those trucks, it would have been NOLA because I just like Creole and Cajun food more. 

I agree on both points. I was not sympathetic to either one but I like NOLA better and would try their food rather than any of the other trucks' food.

On 7/24/2019 at 10:04 AM, akr said:

The brunch babes use a lot of frozen tater tots. 

That's what I thought the NOLA guy was referring to when he was talking about them using frozen products.

On 7/24/2019 at 10:15 AM, Maya said:

While I like the Brunch Babes just fine, I feel compelled to say I really, really hate their name. 

Yep. Me, too. I realized tonight (we were out of town so I'm just catching up) that we do not know the names of any of the contestants. Is that different than past years? I feel like this season has gone out of its way to avoid giving viewers any reason to identify with any particular truck and this is part of it. They may show names in chyrons but this is very much a background-while-doing-other-things show for me so if they do that, I've missed it.

[Hellga]

There were four challenges this episode, and one of them was actually about cooking.  Yeah.  

I am glad NOLA won because I felt like their food was better and I do believe they actually would use money to open a food-related business, which I don't think would have happened with the Brunch Babes, at least not immediately.   Also, beignets vs. cake donuts - c'mon, it's not even a choice.  Beignets hands down, every time.  Now if Babes made yeast-raised donuts, like the little pieces of heaven Beiler's (an Amish bakery in Philly) puts out... 

[Maya]

I’m shocked. I was convinced based on the talking heads that the Brunch Babes won. How depressed would the thinner guy on the Nola team have looked if they LOST?

[LittleIggy]

No freakin’ way would I pay $20 for a hamburger! A hamburger with no fries at that! No $10 beignets either. BTW, does anyone know what an order of beignets cost at the Mecca of beignets, the Cafe du Monde? I haven’t been there in ages.

[magenta]

46 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

No freakin’ way would I pay $20 for a hamburger! A hamburger with no fries at that! No $10 beignets either. BTW, does anyone know what an order of beignets cost at the Mecca of beignets, the Cafe du Monde? I haven’t been there in ages.

$3.00 FOR 3

[Skyfall]

12 minutes ago, magenta said:

$3.00 FOR 3

Yeah I feel like the teams lose money by the inflated prices.

[Brookside]

Thank goodness that's over.

If there's ever another series, the only way I'll be watching is if I come here and you guys tell me it's at least somewhat like the original. 

[mlp]

I wanted the Brunch Babes to win just because I liked them all better but I do feel like the NOLA team needed it more.  If they lost everything in the hurricane, I have to give them credit for fighting back and their food did look good so I'm not really unhappy.

I like this show but the gimmicky challenges that have nothing to do with cooking are annoying.  I'd much rather watch them figure out how to make a dish with, for example, spiny lobster than throw javelins at a target for no reason at all.

[Hellga]

2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

No freakin’ way would I pay $20 for a hamburger! A hamburger with no fries at that! No $10 beignets either. BTW, does anyone know what an order of beignets cost at the Mecca of beignets, the Cafe du Monde? I haven’t been there in ages.

Yep, $20 hamburger made me gasp.  I live in a very high cost of living area.  A local restaurant well-known for their burgers charges $11 for a basic burger ($0.50 for each topping) - which comes with a big load of fries.  And the burger itself is huge - I tried and I could not finish it (and the leftover fries were my side for not one but two more meals at home).  And that's at a sit-down full-service restaurant, with free water (I am sure Babes charged at least $2 for a bottle of water!) 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Hellga

[GaT]

Well, I didn't care who won, so I guess, yay? 

Was there really $50,000 in cash in that bag?

[Gramto6]

Wait a minute, hurricane Katrina was in 2005, so what was the NOLA group doing all the years until now? I do feel sorry for them, yes they lost a lot, but so did a lot of other people/businesses, that have since rebuilt. What kept them from doing so?  They are professional chefs, so why haven't they rebuilt their business?  Is this  producer driven angst?

It was pretty obvious from the beginning that NOLA was a favorite, but I think Brunch Babes really met the challenges and improved during the competition. I am saddened and disappointed in the outcome, but it is what it is... 

Right now I am at a loss what to think...I think this is probably the last season of this show nI will watch.

[Pallida]

I found a couple interesting articles about the NOLA team. They’ve had restaurants since Katrina, but it seems like they haven’t had success. Opening new restaurants is hard and risky! 

https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/entertainment/dining/2019/06/07/chef-darrell-johnson-crescent-city-bistro-competes-food-network/1366892001/

https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/entertainment/dining/2019/07/26/chef-darrell-johnson-food-network-great-food-truck-race-watch-party-shreveport/1837366001/

[cameron]

Regarding the guest chef judge from Miami, he should have known that you don't order crab cakes anywhere except in the Baltimore, Md. area.  Everywhere else, they don't know how to properly make them.

[bobbyjoe]

Quote

Was there really $50,000 in cash in that bag?

The way this season has been with the stupid non-food-related challenges I’m surprised Tyler didn’t throw the money bag into the ocean and tell the two teams whoever swims fastest and grabs the money wins.

[imnoangel129]

The Lime Truck in season 2 had exclusive rights for a pet adoption fair shutting out the Seabirds.

[akr]

4 hours ago, cameron said:

Regarding the guest chef judge from Miami, he should have known that you don't order crab cakes anywhere except in the Baltimore, Md. area.  Everywhere else, they don't know how to properly make them.

I'm in Dungeness crab territory & disagree that Baltimore is the only place where people know how to make crab cakes. But it's certainly one of the best!

[LittleIggy]

Yeah, I was wondering what the NOLA people had been doing for almost 15 years post-Katrina.

[xaxat]

14 hours ago, Maya said:

I’m shocked. I was convinced based on the talking heads that the Brunch Babes won.

I was too. I wish Tyler would have given us sales totals. 

14 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

No freakin’ way would I pay $20 for a hamburger! A hamburger with no fries at that!

On a Wonderbread bun no less. And twenty dollars for two shrimp tacos.

10 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Wait a minute, hurricane Katrina was in 2005, so what was the NOLA group doing all the years until now?

I was wondering the same thing. But it wouldn't surprise me if their revisiting what happened during Katrina was prompted by the producers. You know how FN loves their sob stories.

11 hours ago, GaT said:

Was there really $50,000 in cash in that bag?

I think it was fake money. At least I hope it was. Because dealing with that much cash can be as much a hassle as it is a benefit.

NOLA was slow and steady. They started out the best and finished the best. The Brunch Babes were right to be proud of how much they improved over the course of the show.

[LexieLily]

3 hours ago, bobbyjoe said:

The way this season has been with the stupid non-food-related challenges I’m surprised Tyler didn’t throw the money bag into the ocean and tell the two teams whoever swims fastest and grabs the money wins.

I know this was in jest but didn't one season do something kind of along those lines, where whoever finished selling out of whatever food first and made it to the end location first got the money?

[Maya]

17 minutes ago, xaxat said:

On a Wonderbread bun no less. And twenty dollars for two shrimp tacos.

Or the most ridiculous of all - $30 for a shrimp po boy, bowl of jambalaya and a third thing I can’t remember. Who needs that much food at once?? How could you even hold it all? 

[lh25]

12 hours ago, mlp said:

I'd much rather watch them figure out how to make a dish with, for example, spiny lobster than throw javelins at a target for no reason at all.

And make them cook the challenge ingredient!  No pre-done pork or whatever else they got this season.