The Great Food Truck Race (2010–…): Season 5, Episode 5 - St. Louis Upsell - full transcript
The final four teams arrive in St. Louis and are greeted with a challenge involving a premium food product. The next day, they are given the chance to double their week's till.
Previously on
"The Great Food Truck Race,"
eight teams
of food‐truck rookies
embarked on a mad
cross‐country journey.
The prize ‐‐ their very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
The prize ‐‐ their very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
Last week, in Oklahoma City,
we focused on time management,
and Madres Mexican Meals
simply ran out of time.
Definitely gonna miss
our truck.
The four remaining teams
are Beach Cruiser,
who is serving
fresh California cuisine.
Fried avocado.
Since they lost
in their hometown in Week 1,
these three surfers
have come back
to dominate
almost every other city.
All of our food rocks.
There's the pork‐loving
Cleveland boys
from Let There Be Bacon.
Who wants them?
They almost went home in Week 1
but now have started to move up
in the pack.
Bacon will always live on!
The Texans
from Lone Star Chuck Wagon
started this journey
in the number‐one spot...
The Lone Star Chuck Wagon.
...but they almost went home
last week in Oklahoma City.
I don't want to go home.
And then there's Middle Feast.
This brother‐and‐sister duo
spent weeks trying to figure out
the fine art of prep time.
Look at all these orders.
It finally paid off last week
when they took top honors.
Now the race comes here,
to St. Louis, Missouri.
Only four trucks remain,
but not for long.
Who will go home next?
I'm Tyler Florence,
and this is
"The Great Food Truck Race."
Let's get rolling.
Food truck road trip!
‐‐Captions by VITAC \ ‐‐
Closed Captions provided by
Scripps Networks, LLC.
So, I think the biggest
competition this week
is like every week.
It's Beach Cruisers, right?
I think Bacon
has a really good chance here.
We're getting closer
to their territory.
We're leading the pack
right now,
and I hope we can work hard
and not fall from that position.
I want to smoke everybody out
just like last week ‐‐
not, like, by a few
couple hundreds of dollars.
I want to smoke them out.
Oh, my God!
It's the arches!
St. Louis!
Let's hope St. Louis
is as good to us
as some of these
other cities.
I came up with an idea
to have a surf food truck
about a year ago,
and I didn't make that happen.
I want to win this because
I want this dream to come true.
I mean,
the pressure is on.
I don't think we should feel
overly confident.
This is the epicenter
of barbecue.
Lots of people eating meat
all over the place,
and from what I can tell,
everybody loves bacon.
People in the Midwest
love their bacon.
That's great news for us.
We should stick
with what we've been doing
as far as partnerships.
It's really helped us
in the past ‐‐
being able to lean
on that business,
bring their
regular customers in.
I think we should raise
all of our prices.
I agree with that.
We're gonna have
a lot of customers,
but so is everybody else.
So as long as our prices
are a little higher,
that means
we're making more money.
Being at the bottom
makes my blood boil.
This is a fresh start.
It's a new city.
It's time for us
to take the lead once again.
And locations
have been our Kryptonite...
Yeah.
...this whole time.
We need backup plans and backups
for our backup plans.
Middle Feast! Beach Cruiser!
How you doing, man?
Good.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How you doing, man?
I'm well.
How are you?
How you guys doing?
Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri,
the Gateway to the West.
So, guys, I really want you
to take a look around.
Not only are we standing
under the Gateway Arch,
but we are down
to our final four teams,
and one of you will win
your very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
Can you feel it?
Yeah!
Yeah!
Only three teams
will survive this city,
and one team will hand me
their keys and make
the long, lonely trip home.
It's not like it was
in the beginning of the race
when there was a bunch
of different teams
doing a bunch
of different stuff.
Everybody's cooking
on a high level.
Everybody is competitive,
and good teams
are gonna go home.
Teams, so far we've focused
on branding, marketing,
partnerships,
and time management.
Well, here in St. Louis,
it's all about the food.
I'm so excited, I just
want to get right into it.
Here's some seed money.
Yay! I love seed money!
How much?
How much?
Oh.
Wait. What is this?
I don't want no stinking
business card.
Uh‐oh.
That's not money.
What's the matter? There's
no money in your envelope?
So, do you think, every day
in the food‐truck business,
someone's gonna walk up to you
and hand you an envelope
full of money to get started?
This is your first speed bump.
I'm not gonna give you
seed money.
You're gonna have to earn it.
What you've found
in your envelope is an address
to Mama Toscano's
Ravioli on the Hill,
and they make the freshest,
most delicious
toasted ravioli in St. Louis.
I'm not too worried
about the speed bump.
We always rock it out
on challenges,
and we've been hearing
about these toasted raviolis
since we got to St. Louis, and
now we're just gonna sell them.
Toasted ravioli was invented
here in St. Louis.
It's a crunchy,
meat‐filled pasta
dusted with Parmesan cheese
and often dunked
in marinara sauce.
Guys,
you are gonna go there
and ask
for either Nick or Patty,
and they're gonna hand you
three large boxes of ravioli.
It is up to you
to turn this St. Louis favorite
into your seed money
for the weekend.
Are you guys ready
for the speed bump?
Yeah!
Yeah!
Yeah! Yeah!
Let's get rolling!
Come on, girls.
The hardest part about
selling this toasted ravioli
is the fact that we're
Let There Be Bacon,
and we're not gonna have bacon
in the ravioli.
Essentially,
we're starting off with nothing.
We don't even have our brand
to sell to our customers.
I'm not incredibly thrilled
right now.
But we are gonna have
delicious ravioli.
We are gonna have
fantastic ravioli.
This is not the first time
in my life
where I've had zero dollars
in the bank
and had to be creative
and come up with a strategy
to get ahead.
Hi! I'm Patty Toscano.
Hi, Lance.
I'm Andrea.
Nice to meet you.
Andrea,
nice to meet you.
Come on back.
All right.
This is my husband, Nick.
Hey. How you doing?
Nick Toscano.
Get one of those
containers there.
And this is what
you're gonna be serving.
Deep fry them for like 360
for about 3 1/2 minutes.
Sprinkle a little grated cheese
on there.
Oh, those are good.
That's delicious.
Come on. Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Look at that crap.
How much do you
usually sell them for?
$5.49.
Restaurants sell them
for a lot more.
I went ahead and asked,
what's the market price?
We're gonna price them fairly.
We need people to buy our food.
Do you have any ideas
maybe how can I give it
a Middle Eastern twist?
Or, "Don't mess
with my ravioli"?
I really don't know how fast
we're gonna sell those raviolis
because everyone is expecting
to get Middle Eastern food.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Opa!
Hi.
Is this Blueprint Coffee?
We're partnering
with two different businesses ‐‐
Blueprint Coffee,
because we want to have
beverages to match our food,
and they're right next door
to Mission Tacos.
Is Mission Taco
gonna be a good idea?
'Cause we're selling tacos.
They're super busy
all the time,
and they're willing
to help us out,
so I think
it's gonna be good.
There's this
relatively new brewery.
It's called Heavy Riff.
Should I call them?
Yeah, give them a call.
I find a place online.
It's called Heavy Riff
Brewing Company.
They've only been open
a few months.
They don't sell food,
but they're very popular
and getting
a lot of nice reviews.
I think that this is where
we should be this weekend.
I think
that it would be great, too.
Okay. Bye.
Let's get these raviolis out
as fast as possible.
Let's just sell them all.
So, I was doing a little
research on the way out,
and I found this really hip
little spot of town
called The Grove,
and there's this place
called HandleBar...
HandleBar, huh?
Like, bicycle handlebar?
In Oklahoma City,
we had a strong partnership
with a brewery, and now
we're gonna try and do
the same thing here.
Find a hot spot in the city
and start the lines.
Think we could work out
to where
we could maybe park out front
and sell our food?
I think we could do that.
Mm‐hmm.
Awesome.
Sweet.
We never teamed up
with local food trucks before,
and I think that's a good idea
'cause they have
a really good idea
about what's going on
in the city.
They know
where all the hot spots are.
It's the first time for us
to try to team up
with a local food truck.
Yeah, that could be
definitely a good idea.
People are really nice here,
you know?
Maybe they want to help,
like, for real.
David from Seoul Taco
food truck,
one of the biggest here,
is hooking us up
with a really nice location.
It's a brewery.
I hope we're gonna kill it
over there.
I'm going the right way, right?
No, we've totally missed ‐‐
Just take the next exit
right there.
Did you not see the exit
for Stinker?
There wasn't one.
I'm so frustrated.
I'm on the phone trying to get
our plans organized for the day,
not paying attention to the fact
that Nicole is driving
10 minutes
in the wrong direction.
We don't have this time to lose.
Okay,
can you in the truck
try and take 64 West
to the left?
'Cause that's really where ‐‐
That's where ‐‐
'Cause that's really where ‐‐
That's where ‐‐
Sucks.
It's a horrible start
to the day. The vibe's off.
We're all frustrated,
and we're still not at location.
How's it going, everybody?
Day 1 in St. Louis
has just begun.
Golden nuggets.
Our teams
are already in the midst
of their first speed bump.
Two orders for Rob.
I gave them no seed money
to start the weekend.
Two raviolis.
Instead, I provided them
with a local dish
called toasted ravioli
to earn their cash.
$18, please.
Beach Cruiser got sidetracked
en route to their location
and have lost valuable time.
We're just waiting
for it all to heat up.
Meanwhile, Let There Be Bacon,
Middle Feast, and Lone Star
all have huge lines waiting
to buy their toasted ravioli.
I have an order up
for Marian.
Shannon!
Our Tex‐Mex toasted ravioli ‐‐
We're gonna deep fry,
then we're gonna sprinkle it
with our Tex‐Mex seasoning.
What are we doing?
$15 or $20?
The raviolis? $20.
$20, please.
It's risky serving
toasted ravioli for 20 bucks,
but risk/reward.
We're gonna take that chance.
Thank you so much.
An empty cash box.
Not what I like to see.
We're in the, like, hip,
college part of town.
Toasted and Roasted ‐‐
Buy our $10 raviolis
and head next door
for $2 coffee.
We have T‐Ravs or T‐Ravs.
Okay, we'll take your T‐Rav.
Amazing.
Two orders.
Two orders of T‐ Ravs.
Awesome.
These raviolis have zero prep.
You're heating up
marinara sauce.
You're dropping toasted raviolis
in a fryer. It's gonna be cake.
- Can we get three orders?
- Yeah, absolutely.
We're gonna have two.
Two.
I got two orders up
for Jeff.
These people are buying raviolis
very, very quickly.
We're gonna have
our seed money fast.
We're gonna be able to go shop
and get our bacon food.
Bacon! Bacon!
Music to my ears!
I think this location
is jackpot.
One, two. Enjoy.
Raviolis are flying
out the window.
They're looking good.
They're easy to make.
This is the last batch.
324 bucks in half an hour ‐‐
That's it.
We already got the seed money,
and we're going shopping.
Okay, guys.
We sold our raviolis.
You guys are awesome!
People are being
really supportive.
We blew through those raviolis
in about an hour,
and now it's time
to go get the bacon
and bring it home to St. Louis.
Gretta, you might have to stop
taking orders.
$270.
The line's thinning out.
Let's just pack up
and go to the store.
Let's go to the store
and shop as quick as possible,
get back, and start selling.
We ended up selling 32 orders
at $20 a piece, making $640.
This is a great start.
We can spend some of that money
and keep the rest.
All right,
so this is what we're gonna do.
We're gonna have two items.
We're gonna do fish tacos
and then our steak tacos.
We're gonna keep it $10
all around.
Today, we're stepping
our food quality up.
Any kind of kale?
Any kind of blend of any kind?
But I can't find cilantro.
I can't find jalapeños.
I can't find everything
that makes our food amazing,
so we're gonna have to cut out
some ingredients
and just really use
the bare minimum.
If you guys see
queso fresco, too, grab it.
Chicken ‐‐ $1.50.
That's 30 bucks.
On the menu this week,
we have beef shish kebabs.
We have spicy
Moroccan fish tacos,
chicken shawarma,
and the world‐famous nachos.
We need to buy flank steak.
Seven pounds, please.
Thank you so much.
Seven pounds?
So that's only 100.
Let's go
with maybe one more bag.
We're not gonna change our menu
that much.
The only thing
we're gonna change
is making everything
a little bit more expensive.
Supply and demand.
If we have a long line
out there,
they're going to pay
more money.
Come on, big boy.
Our menu is really sorted out
and figured.
Today, we're gonna stick to
our guns and sell our same food,
which is
bacon‐chili‐cheese nachos.
We're gonna put our
Mother Trucker on Texas toast,
and we're gonna do a green‐chili
bacon jam on our burger
and our Buckeye bacon pancakes.
$268.04.
Hi. Christy?
That's gonna be $40 altogether.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Holy schnikes.
This is crazy.
I prefer this over
sitting around doing nothing.
St. Louis,
you have really shown up.
This is the busiest
we've ever been.
We're cranking out food
faster than we ever have.
We are rocking this town.
I paid $15, which, in St. Louis,
is probably a little expensive.
If we have a big line out there,
and they're all gonna buy
whatever we have,
we might as well
set the price high
and make as much money
as possible.
That's gonna be $55
altogether, sir.
Thank you so much.
Look at all these people, man.
We're pulling up to the truck,
and this line
has doubled in size.
And people are rushing up
to the car.
They're helping us get our
groceries inside the truck.
This is perfect.
I've never seen people
that love bacon so much.
We are moments away.
We got this line out front,
and we want to start
selling to people,
so we're gonna open
a little earlier
than we're comfortable with,
and we're just hoping
it doesn't shoot us in the foot.
People are wanting to order
the fries ahead of time.
If you guys
don't mind hanging out,
I don't mind taking orders
for fries.
At this point,
we just need to really just fire
a ton of burgers, dude.
We've got a lot on here.
I'm ready to work even harder
than last week.
I'm all pumped up.
We'd like
one of everything.
One of everything?
The nachos
and the snachos?
Yeah.Sure.
We came across the snachos
by mistake
when we started
to run out of food.
Snachos.
I had an idea to just put
the steak on the nachos
with the spicy sauce
and with the feta cheese,
and it worked out pretty good.
I'm having a great time,
baby. Having a great time.
Beautiful people.
Beautiful food.
What else do you need
in life?
St. Louis is treating us right.
We got a nice, long line.
We're super busy.
There's a huge line out front.
It's exactly what we need,
as long as we keep it going.
Middle Feast is charging
$10 per taco, not for two.
Why are they doing tacos
in the first place?
They're
a Middle East truck.
You can't think
of anything else?
Your food sucked that bad?
It's because
we've been number one.
Now we know
how they got ahead of us,
and that's how they made
more money.
Random people are coming
to our truck and telling us
that our competitors' prices
were so high.
We're from Texas, so we're like,
"We'll support Texas,"
but it was like $15
for three of their items,
and then one item
was $25.
We have operated with integrity
and quality food
this entire time.
We need to raise our prices
to be competitive,
but I can't sell two tacos
for $20.
We'll hit it at $15.
One fish and one steak.
Claire?
Matt, BBMT.
Give me that back.
Dylan, I need another one
of these on the fly.
Not prepping out our menu
entirely before we started
is starting to kill us.
Food is taking way too long
to come out.
We're waiting on fries.
I'm taking an order,
and I see
a white chef coat appear
out of my peripheral vision,
and it doesn't take me
more than a second
to know exactly who it is.
More than a second
to know exactly who it is.
Tyler's here
at the worst possible time.
Hey, Tyler.
This is what we call
controlled chaos.
Day 1 is in full swing
here in St. Louis,
but our teams are finally
selling their own menu. Whoo!
Middle Feast had a great lunch
and have moved to Busch Stadium,
where they are anxiously
awaiting the dinner crowd.
Let's be patient.
Lone Star started out
with a bang this morning
but are now finding themselves
in an afternoon lull.
Let's keep it rocking
and don't give up.
Beach Cruiser
has raised its prices
to compete with the other teams.
It's gonna be $15.
But the negative feedback
from the customers
has them changing prices
once again.
So, you get two tacos
for $10.
And I'm about to take a tour
of the trucks
to evaluate their food.
First stop,
Let There Be Bacon.
Dude, I did not expect
to see you today.
How you doing?
- What's up, fellas?
- Busy, brother.
I came to taste your food,
but you guys seem way too busy.
Let me help.
You got me
for a half an hour.
We got you to cook with us
for a half an hour?
I'm here, baby.
What can I do?
The foil
looks really sloppy.
Let's put everything on plate
like this, all right?
Walking in.
All right, yell it out.
All right?
Look at me right now.
"Order in." From the diaphragm.
It's a little unnerving
having Tyler on the truck.
I wasn't expecting
anything like this.
Three cakes, one taco,
and a grilled cheese coming up.
He had us stacking plates
just like we would
if we were cooking at
a brick‐and‐mortar restaurant.
You know, he changed the way
that food was flowing
through the kitchen.
I think your food, for what
you guys are working on is fine.
I want to see hard numbers
on these tickets.
I want to see you
with a watch on.
I want to see you
with a clock right here.
Food is moving
out of the kitchen now.
This is gonna help us
get to where we need to go.
Everything comes out of that
guy's mouth makes us better.
One more chicken shawarma
for David.
Hey, Tyler's here.
Chef Tyler!
Hey!
This is crazy.
Tyler's actually
stepping into our truck,
and I have no idea
what he has in mind.
Can I try some stuff?
Do you mind?
Absolutely.
I'm gonna make you
a chicken shawarma.
Chicken shawarma.
Okay.
I think this is tasty.
I think it's really tasty.
Lone Star Chuck Wagon uses
tortillas in their quesadillas,
and it feels more appropriate
to the food they're working on
because it's sort of Texas,
Tex‐Mex kind of stuff.
I understand that.
Like, I'd like to see
some pita bread just because
I want to feel an authentic
touch out of you, right?
We're not actually surprised
about what Tyler said
about being authentic
with our food.
This is the choice that we made
not to go and search
for our special ingredients,
'cause we want to win
this thing.
I think that we are well on
our way to a great day today.
What's up, team?
How are you?
I turn around, and it's Tyler,
and it's like, "Oh, crap.
What is he doing here?"
Can you guys make
me a plate?
We're doing our Tex‐Mex
steak quesadilla.
You want to put a little extra
fat on the back of that knife
to help it brown evenly
so it doesn't look dry?
You got it.
It's really dry.
Okay.
So, a couple more things.
I'd put some more cheese
on the inside
because cheese
is gonna give you
a big mouthfeel
of that fat that you want.
And how much you charging
for this?
$15.
15 bucks, brother?
For 15 bucks, I think you
could afford some scallion.
You know what I mean?
I think
this is kind of amateurish.
So I think you need
a fresh scoop of salsa,
some fresh cilantro,
some fresh scallion,
something to make it
kind of unique
and really
kind of special.
While I think our quesadilla
tasted like a $15 quesadilla,
it didn't look like it.
Well, good luck, guys.
We need to make sure
that we are putting out
a beautiful product.
I feel like it was
pretty negative,
but
you know, what are you gonna do?
Hey, good looking.
Hey.
What's up, guys?
What's up, Tyler?
I'm excited but nervous
that Tyler
is in our truck right now.
Can you make me
a fish taco right now?
Yeah.
And I'm hoping to taste
the most authentic thing
I've had all day.
I got you.
No problem.
Okay, great.
Give me five.
You got it.
I am freaking out.
I am sweating.
I am about to cook
for Tyler Florence.
Let me tell you
what my palate's saying
what's not there,
all right?
I'd like to have
something in here
that is not
necessarily spicy.
I think you need to put
maybe a little more salt
and pepper on the fish.
Salt, specifically, right?
And I really want
some cilantro in here.
Some kind of big flavor.
All right, Chef.
I think you got the base
of what I think
is the best thing
I've tasted all day,
but it still could be better.
I'm okay that Tyler gave me
these notes
because it's creative
criticism to me.
It's taking his knowledge
as a chef
and passing it along
to another chef.
I think
we freaking rocked it today.
We made a lot of money.
Just rock it out tomorrow
and hope that it's enough.
Good night for now.
- All right, good job.
- Good job.
I just cooked
for Tyler Florence,
and I'm not pleased with it.
Today,
we were not on our "A" game.
We were not Beach Cruisers.
We were off.
We wasted a lot of time
driving around this morning.
We wasted a lot of time
driving around this morning.
Our prices were jumping around.
It sucked.
Today sucked, honestly.
Hey, guys, come on out.
What is Tyler doing here?
Something's fishy.
So, teams, I popped by
your trucks yesterday
So, teams, I popped by
your trucks yesterday
to check out your operations,
and I got to say,
if your truck
was on the streets right now
in any city in America,
I don't think any truck
would really survive
longer than a month.
Your food is just not there.
Some trucks
were too expensive.
Lone Star, $25 for a plate
of food is insane.
I thought some of you
were too slow.
Bacon, you guys just couldn't
get food out to save your lives.
I felt some trucks
were off‐brand.
Middle Feast, I didn't
know where you guys were
going with your menu.
And I thought some of you
had some bad strategy.
Putting yourself
next to a taco restaurant
was probably a bad idea.
If elimination were right now,
Lone Star Chuck Wagon,
you'd be in first place,
and, Beach Cruiser,
you'd be going home right now.
Tyler's tearing us up
this morning.
Hearing that we
would be going home right now
if it was elimination
is giving me motivation.
We have to go out there,
make as much money as we can.
I refuse to go home.
Teams,
it's all about the food.
I'm gonna have a cooking
challenge this afternoon
at 5:30
at the Botanical Garden.
I want your best dish.
It needs to be
unbelievably delicious,
and it has to be on your menu
all day long.
Best dish wins,
and I'm gonna give away
the biggest prize
we've given away all season.
Finally, we get to do
a cooking challenge.
We are so excited,
and what is this huge reward?
Have a good day.
I didn't get a truck
the first time I tried,
and this is our opportunity,
and we are so close.
I am going to do everything
in my power
to ensure that we win this.
We'll get some grits.
We'll get some shrimp.
We decided to go
with shrimp and grits.
Is there any chance
you could give us a hand?
And the barbecued, seared shrimp
over the top, wrapped in bacon.
No grits? How about, like,
oatmeal and dry goods?
There are no grits
in this store at all.
We decide to change it up.
So, like, a sweet potato,
see if they have parchment.
Bacon‐wrapped shrimp over hash?
Let's do it.
Yeah.
It's gonna be delicious.
I hope that Tyler likes it.
Let's go get
our other veg.
First thing on the list today
is to get fresh ingredients.
The International Market
has everything we need.
Oh, cilantro,
how I missed you!
The quesadilla
is what Tyler worked with us on.
Tyler says the steak needs to be
the hero of the dish,
so I think
if we take his improvements
and make it the best quesadilla
he's ever put in his mouth,
we can win.
Urgency.
Today, we're gonna focus
on food quality.
We're gonna get a bunch of fresh
ingredients, add it to our menu.
Do you have
bok choy anywhere?
Now is not the time
to cut quality.
We've got jalapeños.
We've got the bok choy.
On the pita,
we're gonna put the kebabs,
a salad, tahini sauce,
and nice, fresh parsley.
That's the dish.
Tyler said that we're copycats,
so, first of all, we're gonna
get rid of the tortillas,
and we're gonna do
some pita bread.
60?
Should be fine.
Maybe one more.
We're gonna show Tyler
original Israeli food.
Getting this dish right
is really what it's all about.
Hi. It's Hilla from
the Middle Feast food truck.
We're going to
the Mission Taco Joint.
The owner ‐‐ He set us
a really cool parking spot.
All right,
so we'll see you there.
All right.
See you in a bit.
All right,
let's have a tiki party, baby!
Yesterday,
we partnered with a taco place
that was selling them for $3.
Today, we're partnering
with a taco place
that's taking them
off their menu for us.
It's gonna be a good day.
We're making
the sweet‐potato‐bacon hash,
tricolored peppers
and some onions
with barbecued, seared shrimp.
Let There Be Bacon
is now open!
Today, we're putting
all of Tyler's lessons
from yesterday into practice.
I need cakes, and I need
a grilled cheese, no slaw.
We have a huge line.
We need to step it up,
get these people fed.
One Mother, one shrimp.
I ordered my food.
I mean, not even five minutes,
it was coming out the window.
Tyler ‐‐
I want to blast his mouth
with some really
authentic taste.
It's an Israeli beef kebab,
but the special surprise
that I'm gonna put on it
is I'm gonna rub some za'atar
on the pita bread and grill it,
and then I'm gonna put
the kebabs on it
with some salad
and tahini sauce.
It's gonna be perfect.
I want his taste buds
to go crazy.
The best food in Israel
is the street food.
This sort of mimics that,
and it's nice.
Let's keep pushing along.
Then we'll go to the challenge
and show Tyler what we learned
and give him some food
we're proud of.
Our Tex‐Mex steak quesadilla
is gonna have
Colby‐Jack cheese,
marinated steak,
bell peppers, onions,
corn, barbecue sauce,
and our fresh Tex‐Mex sauce.
There you go.
Thank you.
We added jalapeño
to our grilled salsa.
We also added cilantro
to everything.
Good food
for the price.
Okay,
so it's gonna be $15.
There's the fish ones.
We made
the least sales yesterday,
so today, we're putting
all our chips on the table ‐‐
the higher prices and with
the highest‐quality food.
Two orders of the fish tacos.
Okay, all with avocados?
First thing you taste
is cilantro, then the pineapple,
and then the fish comes in.
Perfect blend of flavors.
We got to get going
'cause Tyler's expecting us
at Botanical Gardens at 5:30.
How can a person not be nervous
to cook for Tyler Florence?
He's got multiple restaurants.
He's been on the Food Network
for years.
I'm nervous.
I don't know that I've ever
really been nervous
to cook for a person before.
Yeah.
The biggest prize!
Yee‐haw!
This whole competition
comes down to this one moment.
This is the true test.
We stand behind our food.
I can't wait to show Tyler
what we have in store.
This is our chance to shine.
If we don't do it now,
we go home.
If we don't get this challenge,
we're done.
We've won challenges before,
but there is no more weak teams.
We've won challenges before,
but there is no more weak teams.
We have to win this thing
to stay in the game.
Let's tidy up
a little bit, maybe.
Let's win it. Yeah.
Let's win it.
Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Hup, hup, hup,
hup, hup, hup.
We need to win
this cooking challenge.
We had a bad day yesterday.
Winning this challenge
Winning this challenge
is the difference
of staying and leaving.
Welcome to the Missouri
Botanical Garden.
This place
is a perfect example of growth.
Everything here
starts as a seed
and grows
into something beautiful,
and that's why I stopped by
your trucks yesterday.
I want to be part of that growth
for you.
It's time for your
Truck Stop Cooking Challenge
here in St. Louis.
When I say go,
I want you to head to your truck
and prepare
that one mind‐blowing dish.
I'll be judging you
on creativity, presentation,
and, most importantly,
the taste of the food.
I want everything
that I taste today
to be way better
than what I tasted yesterday.
Oh, and the prize?
Whatever you made this week
in your till,
I'm gonna double it.
Tyler's gonna double our money?
That's insane.
That's practically immunity.
Is that enough motivation
for you?
Yes, sir.
Grab a plate.
Let's get going.
20 minutes starts now.
Best dish.
We have 20 minutes to cook
the best kebab
that Tyler ever ate in his life.
All right, everybody
knows what they need to do.
Let's do it, guys.
I want to double our till.
Tommy is making the kebabs.
My beautiful kebab.
I trust my brother.
I know he's the best.
Yeah, Chef.
You got this.
You remember
when you burn the tortilla?
Yes.
And he said it was good.
He liked that crunch.
I want to try dipping the pita
here first, then grilling it.
Arkadi is taking care of
how the pita and the vegetables
should look,
and I am taking care of
the sides
that will come with it.
I'm sure Tyler
is gonna be surprised
because we took
everything that he said,
and we put it
into a perfect dish.
Somebody set an alarm
for 20 minutes, please.
Shane has a fine‐dining,
culinary background.
I need to step back and let him
do what he does best.
This is roasted jalapeños
and roasted garlic oil
that I put on the inside
of the tortillas.
What I'm preparing
for Tyler today
is our signature fish tacos ‐‐
baby bok choy
that's been marinating
in apple cider vinegar,
seared fish,
a Sriracha mayonnaise,
toasted coconut
and pineapple salsa,
frosted fried avocados,
and a pinch of fried baby kale.
Yes.
Love that sound, Jon.
I know you do, Bubba.
I know you do.
Out of the three of us,
Jon is the most experienced
and best cook.
He's taken it up on himself
to make this dish for Tyler.
I just hope he likes it.
I've never been so nervous
in my damn life.
I'm garnishing this
the same way that we would
if we were serving
one of our customers.
We hold Tyler
in the highest of regards,
but we hold our customers
in very high regard, as well.
What do you guys think?
Mmm.
I think it's good.
I think
that's delicious, man.
'Cause we're gonna try
the three different ways, right?
Yeah.
We can put out a quesadilla
in five minutes,
but we have 20 minutes.
I think those
are all the best ones.
So, we are going to taste‐test
three steak options so we know
that we're putting out
the best product for Tyler.
Middle.
Middle.
Now that we know which steak
we're using,
I'm gonna make two quesadillas
to make sure we give him
the most beautiful.
So, the middle one is marinated
in hot sauce and our spices.
I want to cook head‐to‐head
with everybody in this contest
and show my best dish.
My vote is this one.
Okay.
We have one minute.
Oh, that's so sexy.
Done. Voilà!
Nice. Perfect.
Squeeze a little
across the fish?
Yep. Go ahead.
Yep. Perfect.
I hope the shrimp
are cooked well.
I hope that the hash
is flavored all right.
I mean, that guy
picks apart dishes for a living.
Okay. We're ready.
Yeah.
Everyone happy?
Yeah.
It looks delish.
This quesadilla
is the culmination
of our passion
and every note
that Tyler gave us.
It could not be more perfect.
It's ready.
Let's go do this.
Teams,
we have raised the bar.
This is night and day compared
to what I saw yesterday.
Congratulations.
Give yourselves
a round of applause.
All right, Bacon, you're up
first. Tell me about your dish.
Today, for you, Chef,
we've prepared
a barbecued, seared shrimp
with a sweet‐potato‐
and‐bacon hash.
And how much bacon do you have
in the hash?
A decent amount.
Decent amount? Okay.
Visually, I'd want to see
the bacon, all right?
Because that's your story.
That's your brand.
All right, that needs to
stick out loud and clear, okay?
He's right.
The bacon is our story,
and it should be visible
on the plate, and it's not.
I just ‐‐ I'm not happy.
My suggestion for this ‐‐
what could look really cool ‐‐
is actually to weave
a piece of bacon
through the skewer
with the shrimp.
Yes, sir.
Tasty dish.
All right, Lone Star,
tell me what you got.
I have a marinated
Tex‐Mex steak quesadilla
with a homemade
pico de gallo.
The garnish on the side
is a barbecue sauce
as well as our homemade
Tex‐Mex sauce.
A part of me worries
that Tyler might say,
"You could have made any dish,
and you decided to give me
a quesadilla?"
Hope ours stacks up.
It's delicious.
I feel an emotional connection.
There's not a doubt in my mind
you guys are from Texas.
Great job. It's taking my mind
exactly where I want it to be.
All right, Beach Cruiser,
tell me about your taco.
So, we took our fish taco,
and we upgraded it.
Brushed it with
some jalapeño and garlic oil
on the tortilla.
Took some baby bok choy,
chiffonaded it,
and marinated it with a little
apple cider vinegar, lemon,
flash‐fried kale on top.
I'm watching Tyler chew.
My palms were just sweating.
All I can think of is,
"Just, please, stop chewing
and tell me how much
you liked this taco."
Thank you. Right?
And let me tell you why.
When you bite into food,
it needs to have
an emotional connection,
and my mind is taking me
to Southern California.
All right?
In a quick way.
Congratulations. That's
a really good bite of food.
Thank you very much.
All right, Middle Feast,
tell me about your dish.
I rubbed a blend of spices
called za'atar on a pita
before I grilled it,
and there's a spicy sour slaw
with some original kofta kebab
and some tahini sauce.
I'm feeling
really confident about our dish.
We definitely took
Tyler's points in consideration,
and I think we hit every point
that he told us.
It's delicious.
I feel your food.
I feel your passion.
I feel your history.
I feel your cooking style.
It's great.
I don't want this food
to go backwards from here.
This is the bar.
Whoever moves on
to the next city,
this is the food
that we're gonna carry with us.
Well, teams, this is
a real tough call we got here.
We got four
really talented groups.
So, the one dish that I think
really stood out the most...
Lone Star Chuck Wagon.
Yeah!
Yeah! Yeah!
Yee‐haw!
This is what
we've been waiting for.
Tyler Florence said our food
was amazing.
We beat everybody else.
We're definitely going on
to the next city.
Ahh.
This feels fantastic.
You nailed it.
Great beef flavor.
Really deep taste.
Nice spice.
Great presentation.
Worth the money.
And I'm proud of you.
I'm proud of all of you.
Fantastic, guys.
Thank you so much
for doing this,
and I'll see you
at elimination tomorrow.
Nice job, guys.
It feels so horrible
as a chef
to really put your heart
into something that you're
so proud of and then lose it
to a cheese‐and‐steak
quesadilla.
Know that we're only
getting better every week.
This week, we totally nailed it
with our food,
with our happy customers,
with everything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I never feel secure
come elimination time.
I feel the same way, man,
but I'll tell you ‐‐
This time, like, what's gonna
happen is gonna happen, boys.
This ‐‐
I feel like this was it.
Like, if it wasn't this,
we're done.
I don't think we raised
enough money.
I honestly don't.
I don't ‐‐
I don't know if we did, either.
I have been trying to start
a food truck
for a year
before this competition started.
I'm not doubtful.
I'm just scared.
I'm honestly just, like...
Yeah.
I don't know where we're at.
This brand and this vision
that I've had
has been realized.
I need this truck
to make this happen.
I don't want to go home.
I will lose my mind
if we go home.
If we ‐‐ Oh, my God.
It may have come down
to this.
Teams, here we are.
Elimination number five.
We haven't talked much about it,
but right behind me
is the mighty
Mississippi River.
It cuts our country in half,
and on the other side
of this river,
we've lost half our teams.
Chatty Chicken, Gourmet Grads,
Military Moms,
and Madres Mexican Meals.
Who's going home next?
Teams, we had a great first day
on Saturday ‐‐
the best numbers per truck
we've had this race.
You had just over $19,000
in sales
and another $5,000
that I threw in
by doubling Lone Star's till.
That's a total of $24,000
this weekend.
We've been through
branding, marketing,
partnerships,
and time management.
This week, we focused on
the most important thing,
and that's the quality
of your food.
Everybody took my suggestions
and ran with them.
That means you are listening,
and you want to get better.
And, trust me,
your customers will thank you.
What the weekend boiled down to
for me personally
was the Truck Stop
Cooking Challenge ‐‐
a chance
for your chef's best dish
to go against
every other truck.
It came down
to Beach Cruiser and Lone Star,
and it was a brutal decision,
and, Lone Star,
congratulations again.
You had the lead
at the beginning of the day.
You kept your foot on the gas,
and by winning
the cooking challenge,
you shut the door
on your competition.
Beach Cruiser,
you guys have been in the money
on every Truck Stop Challenge
we've had so far,
but on this one,
you came up
just a tiny bit short.
I don't want you
to think for a second
that I don't love your food,
because I do.
But it's not
one challenge
that separates a team
this weekend.
It's a culmination
of a lot of events
that's gonna send
a good team home.
Unfortunately,
with four teams left,
a good team
is gonna go home today.
All right, guys, it's time
to get down to business.
It's time to find out
who made the most,
who made the least,
and which team
will be handing me their keys
and making
the long, lonely trip home.
Good luck to all of you.
Guys, in first place,
with a grand total of $10,418,
and back on top
for the first time since Week 1,
Lone Star Chuck Wagon.
Congratulations, guys.
Yes!
Don't mess with Texas!
You actually won the weekend
without having me
double your till, by the way.
However, I take
cooking challenges to heart,
and you should be very proud
of your victory today.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Now, in second place,
with $5,556,
your first time in second
and best finish so far,
Let There Be Bacon.
Congratulations, boys.
It's been a long road
to get here.
We almost got eliminated
in Week 1,
and we have fought hard
to move up the ranks
in every city we go to.
Guys, I don't know if
it's you three or the product,
but a competition like this
has a way of answering
that question.
Regardless of whatever it is,
people love you.
Congratulations.
Step back.
Thank you, Chef.
So that leaves Middle Feast
and Beach Cruiser.
One of you are about to move on
to the next city,
and the other team is about to
hand me their keys right now.
Being in the bottom two
you can't help
but take personally.
I have put my heart and soul
into this competition.
Beach Cruiser,
you've never been here before.
How's it feel?
It's not where I want to be,
you know?
We were on a cloud
for so long,
and we're back
on ground level
and trying to get back
to the top.
Tommy, what's going through
your mind right now?
Ah, we're used to it.
You guys think you're going home
every week.
Is this the week you're right?
This is not
a good place to be,
and I don't feel good
right now,
but that's the game.
I really don't want to go home.
We're not ready yet.
I want to show people
that we can do it.
This is not our time to go.
All right, guys, it's time.
In third place...
by $160...
Middle Feast.
I thought that last week,
I was happy
by taking the first place,
but this week,
I'm even happier
by staying in the competition.
Beach Cruiser, you guys are
the definition of a great brand,
and the three of you
are an incredible team.
Each one of you
complements the other.
Gretta, it's your sheer
willpower and work ethic.
Shane, it's your creative
and passionate cooking.
And, Nicole,
it's your ability
to bounce between
the kitchen and the window
that makes your team
a success.
You guys
have everything that it takes,
but at this point
in the competition,
teams go home
for margins of an error.
We were first and second
every city, and this city,
we just got too comfortable,
and this is what happens.
You get the cupboard ripped from
underneath you, and you go home.
I don't get my new
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
I'm skateboarding
all the way back to California.
This weekend,
you had a terrible Saturday,
but you had
a really strong Sunday,
and you outearned
everybody here.
But it just wasn't enough.
In my heart, I know you'll take
the lessons from this journey,
go back to California,
and start an incredibly
successful food truck.
Guys, I'm really sorry.
I need your keys.
Shane.
Guys, give them
a round of applause.
Beach Cruiser.
I'm really sorry.
Appreciate it, by the way.
I'm really sorry.
I'm really sorry.
Holy crap.
Beach Cruiser's going home
really changes things for us.
Who's our competition now?
I have no regrets.
Like, We put everything
out there, and I don't...
Don't get me wrong.
I had a blast.
This is one of the best
experiences
I've ever had in my life.
Yeah, totally.
It's very, very rare that
somebody gets to do this stuff.
I'm just upset that I got beat
by a quesadilla.
Now we got three teams left.
One of you will win
your very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
Yeah.
Well, guys, you've got
a 650‐mile journey ahead of you.
We're headed due south
along that Mississippi River
and all the way
to the Gulf of Mexico.
You guys are headed
to Mobile, Alabama.
Let's get rolling!
Next time on
"The Great Food Truck Race"...
Welcome to Alabama.
All right, Mobile,
we are ready!
Ready to rock 'n' roll.
Watch it.
Way too much time to prep.
Yeah, we're trying
to cook as fast as possible.
This is the biggest line
we ever had.
This is crazy.
Tough it out, girls.
This is crazy.
Tough it out, girls.
If we don't win this challenge,
then we're gonna go home.
You all right?
I can't stop shaking.
I can't catch my breath.
"The Great Food Truck Race,"
eight teams
of food‐truck rookies
embarked on a mad
cross‐country journey.
The prize ‐‐ their very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
The prize ‐‐ their very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
Last week, in Oklahoma City,
we focused on time management,
and Madres Mexican Meals
simply ran out of time.
Definitely gonna miss
our truck.
The four remaining teams
are Beach Cruiser,
who is serving
fresh California cuisine.
Fried avocado.
Since they lost
in their hometown in Week 1,
these three surfers
have come back
to dominate
almost every other city.
All of our food rocks.
There's the pork‐loving
Cleveland boys
from Let There Be Bacon.
Who wants them?
They almost went home in Week 1
but now have started to move up
in the pack.
Bacon will always live on!
The Texans
from Lone Star Chuck Wagon
started this journey
in the number‐one spot...
The Lone Star Chuck Wagon.
...but they almost went home
last week in Oklahoma City.
I don't want to go home.
And then there's Middle Feast.
This brother‐and‐sister duo
spent weeks trying to figure out
the fine art of prep time.
Look at all these orders.
It finally paid off last week
when they took top honors.
Now the race comes here,
to St. Louis, Missouri.
Only four trucks remain,
but not for long.
Who will go home next?
I'm Tyler Florence,
and this is
"The Great Food Truck Race."
Let's get rolling.
Food truck road trip!
‐‐Captions by VITAC \ ‐‐
Closed Captions provided by
Scripps Networks, LLC.
So, I think the biggest
competition this week
is like every week.
It's Beach Cruisers, right?
I think Bacon
has a really good chance here.
We're getting closer
to their territory.
We're leading the pack
right now,
and I hope we can work hard
and not fall from that position.
I want to smoke everybody out
just like last week ‐‐
not, like, by a few
couple hundreds of dollars.
I want to smoke them out.
Oh, my God!
It's the arches!
St. Louis!
Let's hope St. Louis
is as good to us
as some of these
other cities.
I came up with an idea
to have a surf food truck
about a year ago,
and I didn't make that happen.
I want to win this because
I want this dream to come true.
I mean,
the pressure is on.
I don't think we should feel
overly confident.
This is the epicenter
of barbecue.
Lots of people eating meat
all over the place,
and from what I can tell,
everybody loves bacon.
People in the Midwest
love their bacon.
That's great news for us.
We should stick
with what we've been doing
as far as partnerships.
It's really helped us
in the past ‐‐
being able to lean
on that business,
bring their
regular customers in.
I think we should raise
all of our prices.
I agree with that.
We're gonna have
a lot of customers,
but so is everybody else.
So as long as our prices
are a little higher,
that means
we're making more money.
Being at the bottom
makes my blood boil.
This is a fresh start.
It's a new city.
It's time for us
to take the lead once again.
And locations
have been our Kryptonite...
Yeah.
...this whole time.
We need backup plans and backups
for our backup plans.
Middle Feast! Beach Cruiser!
How you doing, man?
Good.
How are you?
Good to see you.
How you doing, man?
I'm well.
How are you?
How you guys doing?
Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri,
the Gateway to the West.
So, guys, I really want you
to take a look around.
Not only are we standing
under the Gateway Arch,
but we are down
to our final four teams,
and one of you will win
your very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
Can you feel it?
Yeah!
Yeah!
Only three teams
will survive this city,
and one team will hand me
their keys and make
the long, lonely trip home.
It's not like it was
in the beginning of the race
when there was a bunch
of different teams
doing a bunch
of different stuff.
Everybody's cooking
on a high level.
Everybody is competitive,
and good teams
are gonna go home.
Teams, so far we've focused
on branding, marketing,
partnerships,
and time management.
Well, here in St. Louis,
it's all about the food.
I'm so excited, I just
want to get right into it.
Here's some seed money.
Yay! I love seed money!
How much?
How much?
Oh.
Wait. What is this?
I don't want no stinking
business card.
Uh‐oh.
That's not money.
What's the matter? There's
no money in your envelope?
So, do you think, every day
in the food‐truck business,
someone's gonna walk up to you
and hand you an envelope
full of money to get started?
This is your first speed bump.
I'm not gonna give you
seed money.
You're gonna have to earn it.
What you've found
in your envelope is an address
to Mama Toscano's
Ravioli on the Hill,
and they make the freshest,
most delicious
toasted ravioli in St. Louis.
I'm not too worried
about the speed bump.
We always rock it out
on challenges,
and we've been hearing
about these toasted raviolis
since we got to St. Louis, and
now we're just gonna sell them.
Toasted ravioli was invented
here in St. Louis.
It's a crunchy,
meat‐filled pasta
dusted with Parmesan cheese
and often dunked
in marinara sauce.
Guys,
you are gonna go there
and ask
for either Nick or Patty,
and they're gonna hand you
three large boxes of ravioli.
It is up to you
to turn this St. Louis favorite
into your seed money
for the weekend.
Are you guys ready
for the speed bump?
Yeah!
Yeah!
Yeah! Yeah!
Let's get rolling!
Come on, girls.
The hardest part about
selling this toasted ravioli
is the fact that we're
Let There Be Bacon,
and we're not gonna have bacon
in the ravioli.
Essentially,
we're starting off with nothing.
We don't even have our brand
to sell to our customers.
I'm not incredibly thrilled
right now.
But we are gonna have
delicious ravioli.
We are gonna have
fantastic ravioli.
This is not the first time
in my life
where I've had zero dollars
in the bank
and had to be creative
and come up with a strategy
to get ahead.
Hi! I'm Patty Toscano.
Hi, Lance.
I'm Andrea.
Nice to meet you.
Andrea,
nice to meet you.
Come on back.
All right.
This is my husband, Nick.
Hey. How you doing?
Nick Toscano.
Get one of those
containers there.
And this is what
you're gonna be serving.
Deep fry them for like 360
for about 3 1/2 minutes.
Sprinkle a little grated cheese
on there.
Oh, those are good.
That's delicious.
Come on. Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Look at that crap.
How much do you
usually sell them for?
$5.49.
Restaurants sell them
for a lot more.
I went ahead and asked,
what's the market price?
We're gonna price them fairly.
We need people to buy our food.
Do you have any ideas
maybe how can I give it
a Middle Eastern twist?
Or, "Don't mess
with my ravioli"?
I really don't know how fast
we're gonna sell those raviolis
because everyone is expecting
to get Middle Eastern food.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Opa!
Hi.
Is this Blueprint Coffee?
We're partnering
with two different businesses ‐‐
Blueprint Coffee,
because we want to have
beverages to match our food,
and they're right next door
to Mission Tacos.
Is Mission Taco
gonna be a good idea?
'Cause we're selling tacos.
They're super busy
all the time,
and they're willing
to help us out,
so I think
it's gonna be good.
There's this
relatively new brewery.
It's called Heavy Riff.
Should I call them?
Yeah, give them a call.
I find a place online.
It's called Heavy Riff
Brewing Company.
They've only been open
a few months.
They don't sell food,
but they're very popular
and getting
a lot of nice reviews.
I think that this is where
we should be this weekend.
I think
that it would be great, too.
Okay. Bye.
Let's get these raviolis out
as fast as possible.
Let's just sell them all.
So, I was doing a little
research on the way out,
and I found this really hip
little spot of town
called The Grove,
and there's this place
called HandleBar...
HandleBar, huh?
Like, bicycle handlebar?
In Oklahoma City,
we had a strong partnership
with a brewery, and now
we're gonna try and do
the same thing here.
Find a hot spot in the city
and start the lines.
Think we could work out
to where
we could maybe park out front
and sell our food?
I think we could do that.
Mm‐hmm.
Awesome.
Sweet.
We never teamed up
with local food trucks before,
and I think that's a good idea
'cause they have
a really good idea
about what's going on
in the city.
They know
where all the hot spots are.
It's the first time for us
to try to team up
with a local food truck.
Yeah, that could be
definitely a good idea.
People are really nice here,
you know?
Maybe they want to help,
like, for real.
David from Seoul Taco
food truck,
one of the biggest here,
is hooking us up
with a really nice location.
It's a brewery.
I hope we're gonna kill it
over there.
I'm going the right way, right?
No, we've totally missed ‐‐
Just take the next exit
right there.
Did you not see the exit
for Stinker?
There wasn't one.
I'm so frustrated.
I'm on the phone trying to get
our plans organized for the day,
not paying attention to the fact
that Nicole is driving
10 minutes
in the wrong direction.
We don't have this time to lose.
Okay,
can you in the truck
try and take 64 West
to the left?
'Cause that's really where ‐‐
That's where ‐‐
'Cause that's really where ‐‐
That's where ‐‐
Sucks.
It's a horrible start
to the day. The vibe's off.
We're all frustrated,
and we're still not at location.
How's it going, everybody?
Day 1 in St. Louis
has just begun.
Golden nuggets.
Our teams
are already in the midst
of their first speed bump.
Two orders for Rob.
I gave them no seed money
to start the weekend.
Two raviolis.
Instead, I provided them
with a local dish
called toasted ravioli
to earn their cash.
$18, please.
Beach Cruiser got sidetracked
en route to their location
and have lost valuable time.
We're just waiting
for it all to heat up.
Meanwhile, Let There Be Bacon,
Middle Feast, and Lone Star
all have huge lines waiting
to buy their toasted ravioli.
I have an order up
for Marian.
Shannon!
Our Tex‐Mex toasted ravioli ‐‐
We're gonna deep fry,
then we're gonna sprinkle it
with our Tex‐Mex seasoning.
What are we doing?
$15 or $20?
The raviolis? $20.
$20, please.
It's risky serving
toasted ravioli for 20 bucks,
but risk/reward.
We're gonna take that chance.
Thank you so much.
An empty cash box.
Not what I like to see.
We're in the, like, hip,
college part of town.
Toasted and Roasted ‐‐
Buy our $10 raviolis
and head next door
for $2 coffee.
We have T‐Ravs or T‐Ravs.
Okay, we'll take your T‐Rav.
Amazing.
Two orders.
Two orders of T‐ Ravs.
Awesome.
These raviolis have zero prep.
You're heating up
marinara sauce.
You're dropping toasted raviolis
in a fryer. It's gonna be cake.
- Can we get three orders?
- Yeah, absolutely.
We're gonna have two.
Two.
I got two orders up
for Jeff.
These people are buying raviolis
very, very quickly.
We're gonna have
our seed money fast.
We're gonna be able to go shop
and get our bacon food.
Bacon! Bacon!
Music to my ears!
I think this location
is jackpot.
One, two. Enjoy.
Raviolis are flying
out the window.
They're looking good.
They're easy to make.
This is the last batch.
324 bucks in half an hour ‐‐
That's it.
We already got the seed money,
and we're going shopping.
Okay, guys.
We sold our raviolis.
You guys are awesome!
People are being
really supportive.
We blew through those raviolis
in about an hour,
and now it's time
to go get the bacon
and bring it home to St. Louis.
Gretta, you might have to stop
taking orders.
$270.
The line's thinning out.
Let's just pack up
and go to the store.
Let's go to the store
and shop as quick as possible,
get back, and start selling.
We ended up selling 32 orders
at $20 a piece, making $640.
This is a great start.
We can spend some of that money
and keep the rest.
All right,
so this is what we're gonna do.
We're gonna have two items.
We're gonna do fish tacos
and then our steak tacos.
We're gonna keep it $10
all around.
Today, we're stepping
our food quality up.
Any kind of kale?
Any kind of blend of any kind?
But I can't find cilantro.
I can't find jalapeños.
I can't find everything
that makes our food amazing,
so we're gonna have to cut out
some ingredients
and just really use
the bare minimum.
If you guys see
queso fresco, too, grab it.
Chicken ‐‐ $1.50.
That's 30 bucks.
On the menu this week,
we have beef shish kebabs.
We have spicy
Moroccan fish tacos,
chicken shawarma,
and the world‐famous nachos.
We need to buy flank steak.
Seven pounds, please.
Thank you so much.
Seven pounds?
So that's only 100.
Let's go
with maybe one more bag.
We're not gonna change our menu
that much.
The only thing
we're gonna change
is making everything
a little bit more expensive.
Supply and demand.
If we have a long line
out there,
they're going to pay
more money.
Come on, big boy.
Our menu is really sorted out
and figured.
Today, we're gonna stick to
our guns and sell our same food,
which is
bacon‐chili‐cheese nachos.
We're gonna put our
Mother Trucker on Texas toast,
and we're gonna do a green‐chili
bacon jam on our burger
and our Buckeye bacon pancakes.
$268.04.
Hi. Christy?
That's gonna be $40 altogether.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Holy schnikes.
This is crazy.
I prefer this over
sitting around doing nothing.
St. Louis,
you have really shown up.
This is the busiest
we've ever been.
We're cranking out food
faster than we ever have.
We are rocking this town.
I paid $15, which, in St. Louis,
is probably a little expensive.
If we have a big line out there,
and they're all gonna buy
whatever we have,
we might as well
set the price high
and make as much money
as possible.
That's gonna be $55
altogether, sir.
Thank you so much.
Look at all these people, man.
We're pulling up to the truck,
and this line
has doubled in size.
And people are rushing up
to the car.
They're helping us get our
groceries inside the truck.
This is perfect.
I've never seen people
that love bacon so much.
We are moments away.
We got this line out front,
and we want to start
selling to people,
so we're gonna open
a little earlier
than we're comfortable with,
and we're just hoping
it doesn't shoot us in the foot.
People are wanting to order
the fries ahead of time.
If you guys
don't mind hanging out,
I don't mind taking orders
for fries.
At this point,
we just need to really just fire
a ton of burgers, dude.
We've got a lot on here.
I'm ready to work even harder
than last week.
I'm all pumped up.
We'd like
one of everything.
One of everything?
The nachos
and the snachos?
Yeah.Sure.
We came across the snachos
by mistake
when we started
to run out of food.
Snachos.
I had an idea to just put
the steak on the nachos
with the spicy sauce
and with the feta cheese,
and it worked out pretty good.
I'm having a great time,
baby. Having a great time.
Beautiful people.
Beautiful food.
What else do you need
in life?
St. Louis is treating us right.
We got a nice, long line.
We're super busy.
There's a huge line out front.
It's exactly what we need,
as long as we keep it going.
Middle Feast is charging
$10 per taco, not for two.
Why are they doing tacos
in the first place?
They're
a Middle East truck.
You can't think
of anything else?
Your food sucked that bad?
It's because
we've been number one.
Now we know
how they got ahead of us,
and that's how they made
more money.
Random people are coming
to our truck and telling us
that our competitors' prices
were so high.
We're from Texas, so we're like,
"We'll support Texas,"
but it was like $15
for three of their items,
and then one item
was $25.
We have operated with integrity
and quality food
this entire time.
We need to raise our prices
to be competitive,
but I can't sell two tacos
for $20.
We'll hit it at $15.
One fish and one steak.
Claire?
Matt, BBMT.
Give me that back.
Dylan, I need another one
of these on the fly.
Not prepping out our menu
entirely before we started
is starting to kill us.
Food is taking way too long
to come out.
We're waiting on fries.
I'm taking an order,
and I see
a white chef coat appear
out of my peripheral vision,
and it doesn't take me
more than a second
to know exactly who it is.
More than a second
to know exactly who it is.
Tyler's here
at the worst possible time.
Hey, Tyler.
This is what we call
controlled chaos.
Day 1 is in full swing
here in St. Louis,
but our teams are finally
selling their own menu. Whoo!
Middle Feast had a great lunch
and have moved to Busch Stadium,
where they are anxiously
awaiting the dinner crowd.
Let's be patient.
Lone Star started out
with a bang this morning
but are now finding themselves
in an afternoon lull.
Let's keep it rocking
and don't give up.
Beach Cruiser
has raised its prices
to compete with the other teams.
It's gonna be $15.
But the negative feedback
from the customers
has them changing prices
once again.
So, you get two tacos
for $10.
And I'm about to take a tour
of the trucks
to evaluate their food.
First stop,
Let There Be Bacon.
Dude, I did not expect
to see you today.
How you doing?
- What's up, fellas?
- Busy, brother.
I came to taste your food,
but you guys seem way too busy.
Let me help.
You got me
for a half an hour.
We got you to cook with us
for a half an hour?
I'm here, baby.
What can I do?
The foil
looks really sloppy.
Let's put everything on plate
like this, all right?
Walking in.
All right, yell it out.
All right?
Look at me right now.
"Order in." From the diaphragm.
It's a little unnerving
having Tyler on the truck.
I wasn't expecting
anything like this.
Three cakes, one taco,
and a grilled cheese coming up.
He had us stacking plates
just like we would
if we were cooking at
a brick‐and‐mortar restaurant.
You know, he changed the way
that food was flowing
through the kitchen.
I think your food, for what
you guys are working on is fine.
I want to see hard numbers
on these tickets.
I want to see you
with a watch on.
I want to see you
with a clock right here.
Food is moving
out of the kitchen now.
This is gonna help us
get to where we need to go.
Everything comes out of that
guy's mouth makes us better.
One more chicken shawarma
for David.
Hey, Tyler's here.
Chef Tyler!
Hey!
This is crazy.
Tyler's actually
stepping into our truck,
and I have no idea
what he has in mind.
Can I try some stuff?
Do you mind?
Absolutely.
I'm gonna make you
a chicken shawarma.
Chicken shawarma.
Okay.
I think this is tasty.
I think it's really tasty.
Lone Star Chuck Wagon uses
tortillas in their quesadillas,
and it feels more appropriate
to the food they're working on
because it's sort of Texas,
Tex‐Mex kind of stuff.
I understand that.
Like, I'd like to see
some pita bread just because
I want to feel an authentic
touch out of you, right?
We're not actually surprised
about what Tyler said
about being authentic
with our food.
This is the choice that we made
not to go and search
for our special ingredients,
'cause we want to win
this thing.
I think that we are well on
our way to a great day today.
What's up, team?
How are you?
I turn around, and it's Tyler,
and it's like, "Oh, crap.
What is he doing here?"
Can you guys make
me a plate?
We're doing our Tex‐Mex
steak quesadilla.
You want to put a little extra
fat on the back of that knife
to help it brown evenly
so it doesn't look dry?
You got it.
It's really dry.
Okay.
So, a couple more things.
I'd put some more cheese
on the inside
because cheese
is gonna give you
a big mouthfeel
of that fat that you want.
And how much you charging
for this?
$15.
15 bucks, brother?
For 15 bucks, I think you
could afford some scallion.
You know what I mean?
I think
this is kind of amateurish.
So I think you need
a fresh scoop of salsa,
some fresh cilantro,
some fresh scallion,
something to make it
kind of unique
and really
kind of special.
While I think our quesadilla
tasted like a $15 quesadilla,
it didn't look like it.
Well, good luck, guys.
We need to make sure
that we are putting out
a beautiful product.
I feel like it was
pretty negative,
but
you know, what are you gonna do?
Hey, good looking.
Hey.
What's up, guys?
What's up, Tyler?
I'm excited but nervous
that Tyler
is in our truck right now.
Can you make me
a fish taco right now?
Yeah.
And I'm hoping to taste
the most authentic thing
I've had all day.
I got you.
No problem.
Okay, great.
Give me five.
You got it.
I am freaking out.
I am sweating.
I am about to cook
for Tyler Florence.
Let me tell you
what my palate's saying
what's not there,
all right?
I'd like to have
something in here
that is not
necessarily spicy.
I think you need to put
maybe a little more salt
and pepper on the fish.
Salt, specifically, right?
And I really want
some cilantro in here.
Some kind of big flavor.
All right, Chef.
I think you got the base
of what I think
is the best thing
I've tasted all day,
but it still could be better.
I'm okay that Tyler gave me
these notes
because it's creative
criticism to me.
It's taking his knowledge
as a chef
and passing it along
to another chef.
I think
we freaking rocked it today.
We made a lot of money.
Just rock it out tomorrow
and hope that it's enough.
Good night for now.
- All right, good job.
- Good job.
I just cooked
for Tyler Florence,
and I'm not pleased with it.
Today,
we were not on our "A" game.
We were not Beach Cruisers.
We were off.
We wasted a lot of time
driving around this morning.
We wasted a lot of time
driving around this morning.
Our prices were jumping around.
It sucked.
Today sucked, honestly.
Hey, guys, come on out.
What is Tyler doing here?
Something's fishy.
So, teams, I popped by
your trucks yesterday
So, teams, I popped by
your trucks yesterday
to check out your operations,
and I got to say,
if your truck
was on the streets right now
in any city in America,
I don't think any truck
would really survive
longer than a month.
Your food is just not there.
Some trucks
were too expensive.
Lone Star, $25 for a plate
of food is insane.
I thought some of you
were too slow.
Bacon, you guys just couldn't
get food out to save your lives.
I felt some trucks
were off‐brand.
Middle Feast, I didn't
know where you guys were
going with your menu.
And I thought some of you
had some bad strategy.
Putting yourself
next to a taco restaurant
was probably a bad idea.
If elimination were right now,
Lone Star Chuck Wagon,
you'd be in first place,
and, Beach Cruiser,
you'd be going home right now.
Tyler's tearing us up
this morning.
Hearing that we
would be going home right now
if it was elimination
is giving me motivation.
We have to go out there,
make as much money as we can.
I refuse to go home.
Teams,
it's all about the food.
I'm gonna have a cooking
challenge this afternoon
at 5:30
at the Botanical Garden.
I want your best dish.
It needs to be
unbelievably delicious,
and it has to be on your menu
all day long.
Best dish wins,
and I'm gonna give away
the biggest prize
we've given away all season.
Finally, we get to do
a cooking challenge.
We are so excited,
and what is this huge reward?
Have a good day.
I didn't get a truck
the first time I tried,
and this is our opportunity,
and we are so close.
I am going to do everything
in my power
to ensure that we win this.
We'll get some grits.
We'll get some shrimp.
We decided to go
with shrimp and grits.
Is there any chance
you could give us a hand?
And the barbecued, seared shrimp
over the top, wrapped in bacon.
No grits? How about, like,
oatmeal and dry goods?
There are no grits
in this store at all.
We decide to change it up.
So, like, a sweet potato,
see if they have parchment.
Bacon‐wrapped shrimp over hash?
Let's do it.
Yeah.
It's gonna be delicious.
I hope that Tyler likes it.
Let's go get
our other veg.
First thing on the list today
is to get fresh ingredients.
The International Market
has everything we need.
Oh, cilantro,
how I missed you!
The quesadilla
is what Tyler worked with us on.
Tyler says the steak needs to be
the hero of the dish,
so I think
if we take his improvements
and make it the best quesadilla
he's ever put in his mouth,
we can win.
Urgency.
Today, we're gonna focus
on food quality.
We're gonna get a bunch of fresh
ingredients, add it to our menu.
Do you have
bok choy anywhere?
Now is not the time
to cut quality.
We've got jalapeños.
We've got the bok choy.
On the pita,
we're gonna put the kebabs,
a salad, tahini sauce,
and nice, fresh parsley.
That's the dish.
Tyler said that we're copycats,
so, first of all, we're gonna
get rid of the tortillas,
and we're gonna do
some pita bread.
60?
Should be fine.
Maybe one more.
We're gonna show Tyler
original Israeli food.
Getting this dish right
is really what it's all about.
Hi. It's Hilla from
the Middle Feast food truck.
We're going to
the Mission Taco Joint.
The owner ‐‐ He set us
a really cool parking spot.
All right,
so we'll see you there.
All right.
See you in a bit.
All right,
let's have a tiki party, baby!
Yesterday,
we partnered with a taco place
that was selling them for $3.
Today, we're partnering
with a taco place
that's taking them
off their menu for us.
It's gonna be a good day.
We're making
the sweet‐potato‐bacon hash,
tricolored peppers
and some onions
with barbecued, seared shrimp.
Let There Be Bacon
is now open!
Today, we're putting
all of Tyler's lessons
from yesterday into practice.
I need cakes, and I need
a grilled cheese, no slaw.
We have a huge line.
We need to step it up,
get these people fed.
One Mother, one shrimp.
I ordered my food.
I mean, not even five minutes,
it was coming out the window.
Tyler ‐‐
I want to blast his mouth
with some really
authentic taste.
It's an Israeli beef kebab,
but the special surprise
that I'm gonna put on it
is I'm gonna rub some za'atar
on the pita bread and grill it,
and then I'm gonna put
the kebabs on it
with some salad
and tahini sauce.
It's gonna be perfect.
I want his taste buds
to go crazy.
The best food in Israel
is the street food.
This sort of mimics that,
and it's nice.
Let's keep pushing along.
Then we'll go to the challenge
and show Tyler what we learned
and give him some food
we're proud of.
Our Tex‐Mex steak quesadilla
is gonna have
Colby‐Jack cheese,
marinated steak,
bell peppers, onions,
corn, barbecue sauce,
and our fresh Tex‐Mex sauce.
There you go.
Thank you.
We added jalapeño
to our grilled salsa.
We also added cilantro
to everything.
Good food
for the price.
Okay,
so it's gonna be $15.
There's the fish ones.
We made
the least sales yesterday,
so today, we're putting
all our chips on the table ‐‐
the higher prices and with
the highest‐quality food.
Two orders of the fish tacos.
Okay, all with avocados?
First thing you taste
is cilantro, then the pineapple,
and then the fish comes in.
Perfect blend of flavors.
We got to get going
'cause Tyler's expecting us
at Botanical Gardens at 5:30.
How can a person not be nervous
to cook for Tyler Florence?
He's got multiple restaurants.
He's been on the Food Network
for years.
I'm nervous.
I don't know that I've ever
really been nervous
to cook for a person before.
Yeah.
The biggest prize!
Yee‐haw!
This whole competition
comes down to this one moment.
This is the true test.
We stand behind our food.
I can't wait to show Tyler
what we have in store.
This is our chance to shine.
If we don't do it now,
we go home.
If we don't get this challenge,
we're done.
We've won challenges before,
but there is no more weak teams.
We've won challenges before,
but there is no more weak teams.
We have to win this thing
to stay in the game.
Let's tidy up
a little bit, maybe.
Let's win it. Yeah.
Let's win it.
Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Hup, hup, hup,
hup, hup, hup.
We need to win
this cooking challenge.
We had a bad day yesterday.
Winning this challenge
Winning this challenge
is the difference
of staying and leaving.
Welcome to the Missouri
Botanical Garden.
This place
is a perfect example of growth.
Everything here
starts as a seed
and grows
into something beautiful,
and that's why I stopped by
your trucks yesterday.
I want to be part of that growth
for you.
It's time for your
Truck Stop Cooking Challenge
here in St. Louis.
When I say go,
I want you to head to your truck
and prepare
that one mind‐blowing dish.
I'll be judging you
on creativity, presentation,
and, most importantly,
the taste of the food.
I want everything
that I taste today
to be way better
than what I tasted yesterday.
Oh, and the prize?
Whatever you made this week
in your till,
I'm gonna double it.
Tyler's gonna double our money?
That's insane.
That's practically immunity.
Is that enough motivation
for you?
Yes, sir.
Grab a plate.
Let's get going.
20 minutes starts now.
Best dish.
We have 20 minutes to cook
the best kebab
that Tyler ever ate in his life.
All right, everybody
knows what they need to do.
Let's do it, guys.
I want to double our till.
Tommy is making the kebabs.
My beautiful kebab.
I trust my brother.
I know he's the best.
Yeah, Chef.
You got this.
You remember
when you burn the tortilla?
Yes.
And he said it was good.
He liked that crunch.
I want to try dipping the pita
here first, then grilling it.
Arkadi is taking care of
how the pita and the vegetables
should look,
and I am taking care of
the sides
that will come with it.
I'm sure Tyler
is gonna be surprised
because we took
everything that he said,
and we put it
into a perfect dish.
Somebody set an alarm
for 20 minutes, please.
Shane has a fine‐dining,
culinary background.
I need to step back and let him
do what he does best.
This is roasted jalapeños
and roasted garlic oil
that I put on the inside
of the tortillas.
What I'm preparing
for Tyler today
is our signature fish tacos ‐‐
baby bok choy
that's been marinating
in apple cider vinegar,
seared fish,
a Sriracha mayonnaise,
toasted coconut
and pineapple salsa,
frosted fried avocados,
and a pinch of fried baby kale.
Yes.
Love that sound, Jon.
I know you do, Bubba.
I know you do.
Out of the three of us,
Jon is the most experienced
and best cook.
He's taken it up on himself
to make this dish for Tyler.
I just hope he likes it.
I've never been so nervous
in my damn life.
I'm garnishing this
the same way that we would
if we were serving
one of our customers.
We hold Tyler
in the highest of regards,
but we hold our customers
in very high regard, as well.
What do you guys think?
Mmm.
I think it's good.
I think
that's delicious, man.
'Cause we're gonna try
the three different ways, right?
Yeah.
We can put out a quesadilla
in five minutes,
but we have 20 minutes.
I think those
are all the best ones.
So, we are going to taste‐test
three steak options so we know
that we're putting out
the best product for Tyler.
Middle.
Middle.
Now that we know which steak
we're using,
I'm gonna make two quesadillas
to make sure we give him
the most beautiful.
So, the middle one is marinated
in hot sauce and our spices.
I want to cook head‐to‐head
with everybody in this contest
and show my best dish.
My vote is this one.
Okay.
We have one minute.
Oh, that's so sexy.
Done. Voilà!
Nice. Perfect.
Squeeze a little
across the fish?
Yep. Go ahead.
Yep. Perfect.
I hope the shrimp
are cooked well.
I hope that the hash
is flavored all right.
I mean, that guy
picks apart dishes for a living.
Okay. We're ready.
Yeah.
Everyone happy?
Yeah.
It looks delish.
This quesadilla
is the culmination
of our passion
and every note
that Tyler gave us.
It could not be more perfect.
It's ready.
Let's go do this.
Teams,
we have raised the bar.
This is night and day compared
to what I saw yesterday.
Congratulations.
Give yourselves
a round of applause.
All right, Bacon, you're up
first. Tell me about your dish.
Today, for you, Chef,
we've prepared
a barbecued, seared shrimp
with a sweet‐potato‐
and‐bacon hash.
And how much bacon do you have
in the hash?
A decent amount.
Decent amount? Okay.
Visually, I'd want to see
the bacon, all right?
Because that's your story.
That's your brand.
All right, that needs to
stick out loud and clear, okay?
He's right.
The bacon is our story,
and it should be visible
on the plate, and it's not.
I just ‐‐ I'm not happy.
My suggestion for this ‐‐
what could look really cool ‐‐
is actually to weave
a piece of bacon
through the skewer
with the shrimp.
Yes, sir.
Tasty dish.
All right, Lone Star,
tell me what you got.
I have a marinated
Tex‐Mex steak quesadilla
with a homemade
pico de gallo.
The garnish on the side
is a barbecue sauce
as well as our homemade
Tex‐Mex sauce.
A part of me worries
that Tyler might say,
"You could have made any dish,
and you decided to give me
a quesadilla?"
Hope ours stacks up.
It's delicious.
I feel an emotional connection.
There's not a doubt in my mind
you guys are from Texas.
Great job. It's taking my mind
exactly where I want it to be.
All right, Beach Cruiser,
tell me about your taco.
So, we took our fish taco,
and we upgraded it.
Brushed it with
some jalapeño and garlic oil
on the tortilla.
Took some baby bok choy,
chiffonaded it,
and marinated it with a little
apple cider vinegar, lemon,
flash‐fried kale on top.
I'm watching Tyler chew.
My palms were just sweating.
All I can think of is,
"Just, please, stop chewing
and tell me how much
you liked this taco."
Thank you. Right?
And let me tell you why.
When you bite into food,
it needs to have
an emotional connection,
and my mind is taking me
to Southern California.
All right?
In a quick way.
Congratulations. That's
a really good bite of food.
Thank you very much.
All right, Middle Feast,
tell me about your dish.
I rubbed a blend of spices
called za'atar on a pita
before I grilled it,
and there's a spicy sour slaw
with some original kofta kebab
and some tahini sauce.
I'm feeling
really confident about our dish.
We definitely took
Tyler's points in consideration,
and I think we hit every point
that he told us.
It's delicious.
I feel your food.
I feel your passion.
I feel your history.
I feel your cooking style.
It's great.
I don't want this food
to go backwards from here.
This is the bar.
Whoever moves on
to the next city,
this is the food
that we're gonna carry with us.
Well, teams, this is
a real tough call we got here.
We got four
really talented groups.
So, the one dish that I think
really stood out the most...
Lone Star Chuck Wagon.
Yeah!
Yeah! Yeah!
Yee‐haw!
This is what
we've been waiting for.
Tyler Florence said our food
was amazing.
We beat everybody else.
We're definitely going on
to the next city.
Ahh.
This feels fantastic.
You nailed it.
Great beef flavor.
Really deep taste.
Nice spice.
Great presentation.
Worth the money.
And I'm proud of you.
I'm proud of all of you.
Fantastic, guys.
Thank you so much
for doing this,
and I'll see you
at elimination tomorrow.
Nice job, guys.
It feels so horrible
as a chef
to really put your heart
into something that you're
so proud of and then lose it
to a cheese‐and‐steak
quesadilla.
Know that we're only
getting better every week.
This week, we totally nailed it
with our food,
with our happy customers,
with everything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I never feel secure
come elimination time.
I feel the same way, man,
but I'll tell you ‐‐
This time, like, what's gonna
happen is gonna happen, boys.
This ‐‐
I feel like this was it.
Like, if it wasn't this,
we're done.
I don't think we raised
enough money.
I honestly don't.
I don't ‐‐
I don't know if we did, either.
I have been trying to start
a food truck
for a year
before this competition started.
I'm not doubtful.
I'm just scared.
I'm honestly just, like...
Yeah.
I don't know where we're at.
This brand and this vision
that I've had
has been realized.
I need this truck
to make this happen.
I don't want to go home.
I will lose my mind
if we go home.
If we ‐‐ Oh, my God.
It may have come down
to this.
Teams, here we are.
Elimination number five.
We haven't talked much about it,
but right behind me
is the mighty
Mississippi River.
It cuts our country in half,
and on the other side
of this river,
we've lost half our teams.
Chatty Chicken, Gourmet Grads,
Military Moms,
and Madres Mexican Meals.
Who's going home next?
Teams, we had a great first day
on Saturday ‐‐
the best numbers per truck
we've had this race.
You had just over $19,000
in sales
and another $5,000
that I threw in
by doubling Lone Star's till.
That's a total of $24,000
this weekend.
We've been through
branding, marketing,
partnerships,
and time management.
This week, we focused on
the most important thing,
and that's the quality
of your food.
Everybody took my suggestions
and ran with them.
That means you are listening,
and you want to get better.
And, trust me,
your customers will thank you.
What the weekend boiled down to
for me personally
was the Truck Stop
Cooking Challenge ‐‐
a chance
for your chef's best dish
to go against
every other truck.
It came down
to Beach Cruiser and Lone Star,
and it was a brutal decision,
and, Lone Star,
congratulations again.
You had the lead
at the beginning of the day.
You kept your foot on the gas,
and by winning
the cooking challenge,
you shut the door
on your competition.
Beach Cruiser,
you guys have been in the money
on every Truck Stop Challenge
we've had so far,
but on this one,
you came up
just a tiny bit short.
I don't want you
to think for a second
that I don't love your food,
because I do.
But it's not
one challenge
that separates a team
this weekend.
It's a culmination
of a lot of events
that's gonna send
a good team home.
Unfortunately,
with four teams left,
a good team
is gonna go home today.
All right, guys, it's time
to get down to business.
It's time to find out
who made the most,
who made the least,
and which team
will be handing me their keys
and making
the long, lonely trip home.
Good luck to all of you.
Guys, in first place,
with a grand total of $10,418,
and back on top
for the first time since Week 1,
Lone Star Chuck Wagon.
Congratulations, guys.
Yes!
Don't mess with Texas!
You actually won the weekend
without having me
double your till, by the way.
However, I take
cooking challenges to heart,
and you should be very proud
of your victory today.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Now, in second place,
with $5,556,
your first time in second
and best finish so far,
Let There Be Bacon.
Congratulations, boys.
It's been a long road
to get here.
We almost got eliminated
in Week 1,
and we have fought hard
to move up the ranks
in every city we go to.
Guys, I don't know if
it's you three or the product,
but a competition like this
has a way of answering
that question.
Regardless of whatever it is,
people love you.
Congratulations.
Step back.
Thank you, Chef.
So that leaves Middle Feast
and Beach Cruiser.
One of you are about to move on
to the next city,
and the other team is about to
hand me their keys right now.
Being in the bottom two
you can't help
but take personally.
I have put my heart and soul
into this competition.
Beach Cruiser,
you've never been here before.
How's it feel?
It's not where I want to be,
you know?
We were on a cloud
for so long,
and we're back
on ground level
and trying to get back
to the top.
Tommy, what's going through
your mind right now?
Ah, we're used to it.
You guys think you're going home
every week.
Is this the week you're right?
This is not
a good place to be,
and I don't feel good
right now,
but that's the game.
I really don't want to go home.
We're not ready yet.
I want to show people
that we can do it.
This is not our time to go.
All right, guys, it's time.
In third place...
by $160...
Middle Feast.
I thought that last week,
I was happy
by taking the first place,
but this week,
I'm even happier
by staying in the competition.
Beach Cruiser, you guys are
the definition of a great brand,
and the three of you
are an incredible team.
Each one of you
complements the other.
Gretta, it's your sheer
willpower and work ethic.
Shane, it's your creative
and passionate cooking.
And, Nicole,
it's your ability
to bounce between
the kitchen and the window
that makes your team
a success.
You guys
have everything that it takes,
but at this point
in the competition,
teams go home
for margins of an error.
We were first and second
every city, and this city,
we just got too comfortable,
and this is what happens.
You get the cupboard ripped from
underneath you, and you go home.
I don't get my new
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
I'm skateboarding
all the way back to California.
This weekend,
you had a terrible Saturday,
but you had
a really strong Sunday,
and you outearned
everybody here.
But it just wasn't enough.
In my heart, I know you'll take
the lessons from this journey,
go back to California,
and start an incredibly
successful food truck.
Guys, I'm really sorry.
I need your keys.
Shane.
Guys, give them
a round of applause.
Beach Cruiser.
I'm really sorry.
Appreciate it, by the way.
I'm really sorry.
I'm really sorry.
Holy crap.
Beach Cruiser's going home
really changes things for us.
Who's our competition now?
I have no regrets.
Like, We put everything
out there, and I don't...
Don't get me wrong.
I had a blast.
This is one of the best
experiences
I've ever had in my life.
Yeah, totally.
It's very, very rare that
somebody gets to do this stuff.
I'm just upset that I got beat
by a quesadilla.
Now we got three teams left.
One of you will win
your very own
state‐of‐the‐art food truck
and $50,000.
Yeah.
Well, guys, you've got
a 650‐mile journey ahead of you.
We're headed due south
along that Mississippi River
and all the way
to the Gulf of Mexico.
You guys are headed
to Mobile, Alabama.
Let's get rolling!
Next time on
"The Great Food Truck Race"...
Welcome to Alabama.
All right, Mobile,
we are ready!
Ready to rock 'n' roll.
Watch it.
Way too much time to prep.
Yeah, we're trying
to cook as fast as possible.
This is the biggest line
we ever had.
This is crazy.
Tough it out, girls.
This is crazy.
Tough it out, girls.
If we don't win this challenge,
then we're gonna go home.
You all right?
I can't stop shaking.
I can't catch my breath.