The Great Food Truck Race

[IndyRob]

Nom Nom is looking pretty unbeatable. I was expecting others to steal their ideas like calling the media. But I didn't see anyone doing that this week so I wonder if that tactic was quietly 86'd by the producers.

Must've been rough for the crepe folks to get sent home by Ft. Worth before they could get to New Orleans.

[Chris Hennes]

I find the "truck stop" thing annoying: the prize is too big. It's one thing to have it give a losing team a shot at not getting sent home, it's another thing to guarantee it. I mean, they had HALF the sales of the next worst team!

[Holly Moore]

Moderator guy boasted, "We going to have the craziest, most outrageous truck stop ever." Haven't there just been two other "truck stops" in the history of the show?

[IndyRob]

I find the "truck stop" thing annoying: the prize is too big. It's one thing to have it give a losing team a shot at not getting sent home, it's another thing to guarantee it. I mean, they had HALF the sales of the next worst team!

I think it just got more than annoying. A sandwich truck beats French cuisine and then gets sent home for not being able to create a great catfish dish using a panini press?

Leave it to the Food Network to come up with a good concept and then screw it up trying find a way of getting Tyler Florence his face time.

Ah, well. At least it caused me to visit Austin Daily Press' web site where I got a chuckle...

How do you improve on a killer grilled pastrami with cheddar and horseradish mayo? Or a gyro sandwich with Israeli salad and Tabasco tzatziki? Austin Daily Press knows how. Wrap the sammy in The Onion newsprint and sell it at a bargain to late-night downtown revelers. Oh, and add a catchy little motto to the side of your trailer: “As toasted as you are."

[Chris Hennes]

I agree completely, last night's episode is the last one I watch, that was just stupid.

[Kat Tanaka Okopnik]

I agree completely, last night's episode is the last one I watch, that was just stupid.

You won't miss much - my prediction is Spencer leaves next week, and then it's a cakewalk by NomNom. (I could be wrong, and Spencer on the Go might rock the next town, but unless NomNom blows TN, it's a lock. Booooooring!)

[mcohen]

Nom Nom is clearly going to win this thing. Yet, when you go online to look at what people have to say about them, it appears that their food really isn't that great. You can find tastier and cheaper banh mih in Little Saigon and San Gabriel Valley.

It will be interesting to see if some of the trucks get axed because of location...

For example a couple of people serving crepes, decked out in frenchie gear, in texas or similar.

I live in Texas. Crepes and other "French food" seem to be, to me anyway, although not so popular as Mexican, perfectly fine.

Have you spent any time in Texas?

___________________________

LOL.

Despite your protests, the Crepes truck got screwed over when they got sent over to Texas and finished last. This was a team that had consistently finished near the top, where they had been in second place to Nom Nom in all the previous stops.

[Jaymes]

Nom Nom is clearly going to win this thing. Yet, when you go online to look at what people have to say about them, it appears that their food really isn't that great. You can find tastier and cheaper banh mih in Little Saigon and San Gabriel Valley.

It will be interesting to see if some of the trucks get axed because of location...

For example a couple of people serving crepes, decked out in frenchie gear, in texas or similar.

I live in Texas. Crepes and other "French food" seem to be, to me anyway, although not so popular as Mexican, perfectly fine.

Have you spent any time in Texas?

___________________________

LOL.

Despite your protests, the Crepes truck got screwed over when they got sent over to Texas and finished last. This was a team that had consistently finished near the top, where they had been in second place to Nom Nom in all the previous stops.

Perhaps we saw different episodes. In the one I saw, the problems with the crepe truck were not due to Texans being a bunch of ignorant, redneck, provincial, bigoted Francophobes, the implication of the initial post that began this discussion.

In fact, as I recall, the actual Frenchman and his food were very well received.

And if Texans did follow true to form to this stereotype, I'm not sure the Vietnamese would have been all that well received, either.

But whatever...

If you prefer to believe in negative stereotypes, no amount of factual information is likely to sway you.

[HungryC]

Hey, I made it into the NOLA episode, eating a lemongrass chix taco in the rain. Cool.

[Doodad]

Grill Em All worked a car show and still could not make enough? That is terrible. Oh and the truckstop thing was ridiculous. What does a food truck have to do with that other than the lame chuckwagon analogy?

[percival]

It's surprising and telling that the ability to cook has nothing to do with how much money you can make. And this show is up to now all about the money. Noms has never won a truck stop -- they can't cook, period -- but they will sell 2-3-4 times the others. Why? Their cost is the lowest. A tortilla costs a penny. A bun costs 50 cents. Half a pound of chuck/brisket costs far more than 3-4 oz. of pork shoulder. And above that, Nom has superior marketing. Onlyin this last hicktown did the marketing engine fail -- and the gap shrunk down from 100+% to only 15%.

And looking at their menu for 30 seconds would tell you Nom's food isn't that good, or authentic. They buy their bread from the supermarket......

[jsmeeker]

It's surprising and telling that the ability to cook has nothing to do with how much money you can make. And this show is up to now all about the money. Noms has never won a truck stop -- they can't cook, period -- but they will sell 2-3-4 times the others. Why? Their cost is the lowest. A tortilla costs a penny. A bun costs 50 cents. Half a pound of chuck/brisket costs far more than 3-4 oz. of pork shoulder. And above that, Nom has superior marketing. Onlyin this last hicktown did the marketing engine fail -- and the gap shrunk down from 100+% to only 15%.

And looking at their menu for 30 seconds would tell you Nom's food isn't that good, or authentic. They buy their bread from the supermarket......

Earlier, someone made the excellent observation that this is really more of a business competition and less of a food competition. You really gotta hand it to NomNom. They DO know how to run a successful business.

[Kat Tanaka Okopnik]

It's surprising and telling that the ability to cook has nothing to do with how much money you can make. And this show is up to now all about the money. Noms has never won a truck stop -- they can't cook, period -- but they will sell 2-3-4 times the others. Why? Their cost is the lowest. A tortilla costs a penny. A bun costs 50 cents. Half a pound of chuck/brisket costs far more than 3-4 oz. of pork shoulder. And above that, Nom has superior marketing. Onlyin this last hicktown did the marketing engine fail -- and the gap shrunk down from 100+% to only 15%.

And looking at their menu for 30 seconds would tell you Nom's food isn't that good, or authentic. They buy their bread from the supermarket......

In the hicktown, they blew it by not being culturally savvy enough about Middle American habits about post-church food rituals. And they *still* made it through. They owe a lot to the younger generation being fascinated by Asian culture via anime. Hello Kitty is their John the Baptist.

[Holly Moore]

Dumbest ending ever.

[Jaymes]

Dumbest ending ever.

I wonder if they made up that last "Truck Stop" on the spot to give the Nom Noms, who up until now dominated but had a rather bad break on the final lap, at least a fighting chance, in order to generate some suspense.

_________________

Edited September 20, 2010 by Jaymes (log)

[tino27]

Dumbest ending ever.

I wonder if they made up that last "Truck Stop" on the spot to give the Nom Noms, who up until now dominated but had a rather bad break on the final lap, at least a fighting chance, in order to generate some suspense.

_________________

I wondered the exact same thing.

[kalypso]

Dumbest ending ever.

I wonder if they made up that last "Truck Stop" on the spot to give the Nom Noms, who up until now dominated but had a rather bad break on the final lap, at least a fighting chance, in order to generate some suspense.

_________________

I had the same thought. The Grill em All guys were really rocking it out and the Nom Nom gals were pretty lame at Yankee Stadium. They were so far ahead there was no way Nom Nom was going to be able to catch 'em

[percival]

Dumbest ending ever.

QFT.

The show needs to axe some people and rethink their format.

[jsmeeker]

I really have nothing against the Nom Nom crew. But I gotta say, I was thrilled that they didn't win the grand prize.

[heidih]

I had trouble seeing the streets of Manhattan cleared of traffic and parking slots available. Major hokey and so clearly staged. I had only seen parts of a few other episodes but figured I would catch the last one - oh well.....

[IndyRob]

I really thought there wouldn't be a 'truck stop' in the finale. But then Tyler stuck his face in there again. Well, okay, a straight up comparison of the products wouldn't be bad....Oh, wait, no it's not....

Luckily, NomNom's 'truck stop' win only confirmed the magnitude of Grill'em All's win in the final challenge.

But we're apparently left in the dark regarding how NomNom's truck was gone as the Grill'em All truck went by their previous location. Apparently, it came down to the Great Food Truck Parking and Vertigo Race.

[Holly Moore]

My guess is they pulled the truck away at the end to attempt "drama." The whole series struck me as finagled. If the cities visited are half as bureaucratic as Philadelphia, there would have been all sorts of licensing and parking hassles.

Wish Grill 'Em All had stopped by Philadelphia on the way home. Those looked like great burgers and fries.