128 replies to this topic

[TheTInCook]

From the article Erin linked to:

The three restaurants had opened May 2. The two other locations (South Street Seaport in New York City, and Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles) were closed June 14 and 15, respectively, to the surprise of Jamawn, who had found out about the first closing in an email hours after having put in an offer for a home in Lakeville, Minn. He was to have had a year-long management training program at the MOA store. Jamawn first heard that he won the competition about two weeks before the restaurants opened. The three finalists on the TV show had been kept in the dark on who had won, and alternate endings to the program had been filmed.

I did a double take when I read that. Looks like Steve Ells' Chipotle restaurant 'gnomes' took the concept and developed it with out him.

They pulled the plug in 2 months? Seriously? I think that might be a bit soon to judge a place's viability. Any ideas/rumors/facts on what went on? Might be interesting to know why Ells dumped his stock in ANGR Holdings on Chipotle. I keep wondering how they could have screwed up so bad, these are professional and successful restaurant people. Then I remember they brought the waffles, but forgot the fried chicken.

Soul Daddy employees were given referrals to a Chipotle recruiter

heh

[Holly Moore]

Wonder how much credibility the experts will have if the show returns to air next season?

The locations were likely at least a one year lease. The concept, as implemented, must have been a real dog if, after a couple of months, it was cheaper to walk away, pay off the lease and eat the leasehold improvement costs than to try to troubleshoot it.

Please, someone, do an in-depth article on this fiasco.

[mathewr]

im boycotting chipotle. steve ells ruins all!!!!

[ErinM]

Wonder how much credibility the experts will have if the show returns to air next season?

I read somewhere that it wasn't renewed, so we shouldn't be seeing this show again.

[Carlton]

I was just going through old receipts and found my Soul Daddy receipt. I'm considering keeping it now as a collectors item and or kindling.

[Toliver]

If I were Jamawn Woods, I'd be royally pissed. You would think they would have given at least one of the restaurants a full year to make it. Pulling the plug after only a few months is ridiculous. Did the investors really think the restaurant could succeed by just riding the wave of publicity from the television show?
If the food and/or the price point is bad, no amount of publicity will save the restaurant. They really should have given it more time.

[Holly Moore]

According to Huffington Post, Mr Woods is opening his version of Soul Daddy in Detroit. His way. Without the "experts" PC insistence for "healthy" soul food.

What a joke the "expert" panel spending "their own money" to back a restaurant concept turned out to be.

Good luck and great success, Jamawn.

[weinoo]

The new "concept" from Chipotle is called ShopHouse Kitchen. A piece recently ran on Huffington Post, and the following is written:

That said, the overall news coming out of Dupont Circle looks promising for national expansion -- promising enough, anyway, that stock analysts are already starting to include the idea of ShopHouse into their forecasts for Chipotle's revenues.

My question: Isn't this similar to one of the concepts that was originally on the show? Or perhaps a combo of 2 of the losing concepts?

[Werdna]

My question: Isn't this similar to one of the concepts that was originally on the show? Or perhaps a combo of 2 of the losing concepts?

I don't think so. The concepts were sort of train wrecks, there was a lady who wanted to put things in woks, a lady who wanted healthy asian food... I don't recall anything in the way of a bhan-mi-n-friends idea.

I see Nate Appleman behind the counter in one of the photos. Don't see him mentioned though.