The Great Food Truck Race

The Great Food Truck Race starts tonight on the Food Network!
Will you be watching?
Does anyone know any of the seven participants?
Does anyone know what cities will be visited?
 
The deal is - The truck that sells the least food at each stop goes home and the rest go on to the next city. Last Truck Standing wins $50K and bragging rights. Should be fun----at least better than those damn cupcake cookoffs!

I'm curious about seeing it after an article in our paper today about one of the contestants, Stephen Domingue and his "Ragin' Cajun" truck.  He's a transplant from Lafayette, LA., but now works out of Hermosa Beach, Calif., so I'm rooting for the home boy.

 

Here's a link that gives all the Bios of the Contestants. Gentlemen, Start Your Roach Coach Engines!
 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/the-great-food-truck-race-team-bios/index.html

I wonder why (almost) all of the teams are from California?  I have been to Austin, Texas and Portland, OR - as well as food truck hotbed, NYC - and there are a number of examples of good mobile food vendors besides California.  I wonder if it is a function of the filming schedule more than anything else.

The Travelin Man


I wonder why (almost) all of the teams are from California?  I have been to Austin, Texas and Portland, OR - as well as food truck hotbed, NYC - and there are a number of examples of good mobile food vendors besides California.  I wonder if it is a function of the filming schedule more than anything else.

I think they were looking for more off the wall food and where are the most kooky food places found??? CA of course.
I wasn't particularly impressed with any of them.
Who would leave for a cross country cooking trip without making sure you had a full tank of Propane?

 Sounds like another failed contrived show from that same tired "Food"network Channel.

  If they would find some good local talent in different parts of the country and then help teach us how to cook healthy, nutritious, and relatively easy recipes, the ratings would go up. That is what they used to do. However, they have decided to use "Food" as a generic term to air silly bimbos and overtly sensual men to portray what I do every day.

  What I do every day is so much harder as I actually have to work in my kitchen 8-10 hours a day  or more, as some of you out there can attest. I wonder when the last time Bobby Flay,  TYFLO, Paula, or even Emeril spent an 8 hour day in their own restaurant? Highly unlikely I'd say.

  JMHO

  David O.

Foodbme



Who would leave for a cross country cooking trip without making sure you had a full tank of Propane?

Someone who was following the script.

the food doesn't seem off the wall. TTM is right.
 

I've been to the Ragin' Cajun restaurant a couple of times. 

I love the food of New Orleans.  The Ragin' Cajun didn't deliver.   I can't see it being better from a truck.

My bets are on the Nom Nom Truck.

I haven't seen it yet and will watch but does sound so far like it might be a bit contrived, not unexpectedly for FoodTV.  I was hoping this show was an opportunity to help elevate the credibility and acceptance of street/mobile food in the eyes of a public who view them as health threats, eyesores and unfair competition to brick and mortar stores.  

Ummm, are Bobby, Tyler, Paula and Emeril in this show?  Why were they brought up? 

Mar52 - you lost me, are you saying that the Ragin' Cajun restaurant owners are the same as the food truck contestant?  If so, why would they need a truck?  I thought these were people around the country whose sole business is selling from a truck.  Ragin' Cajun is a pretty common and overused phrase.  I'm sure there's at least one Ragin Cajun restaurant on Bourbon St. 

After seeing the show, I'm surprised these trucks can pull up anywhere and sell like they do.  I thought most cities require special licenses, inspections, etc.  Is that  what's in store on future shows?  Citations being issued to some of the contestants.  

Guess they can reach more people by adding a truck.

The Kogi people added more trucks and not they have a brick and mortar location with a different name.

One finances the other?

BelleReve
After seeing the show, I'm surprised these trucks can pull up anywhere and sell like they do.  I thought most cities require special licenses, inspections, etc.  Is that  what's in store on future shows?  Citations being issued to some of the contestants.  

 
Either by state, county or municipality or all of the above, business license, dot permit, health permit, zoning permit, business tax i.d., sign permit, special assessment district tax, vendor permit...
 
One of two things might be happening here, they get around them claiming it's merely a tv show and they are merely contestants and the food isn't actually "sold" to the public or they mercifully cut out all the red tape that would be involved in the real world.  Otherwise it would be at least an entire season watching them sit in government lobbies all day waiting for their names to be called then find out they didn't have their paperwork in order and will have to return.

RC51Mike

BelleReve
After seeing the show, I'm surprised these trucks can pull up anywhere and sell like they do.  I thought most cities require special licenses, inspections, etc.  Is that  what's in store on future shows?  Citations being issued to some of the contestants.  

 
Either by state, county or municipality or all of the above, business license, dot permit, health permit, zoning permit, business tax i.d., sign permit, special assessment district tax, vendor permit...
 
One of two things might be happening here, they get around them claiming it's merely a tv show and they are merely contestants and the food isn't actually "sold" to the public or they mercifully cut out all the red tape that would be involved in the real world.  Otherwise it would be at least an entire season watching them sit in government lobbies all day waiting for their names to be called then find out they didn't have their paperwork in order and will have to return.

This show is not live. It was previously taped and I'm sure Food Network's producers greased the skids before taping. If Inspections were done, they probably were done prior to the start of taping. I'm sure the production crew and contestants were on site days before the first camera was turned on. I worked with Production crews that filmed commercials. It would take 3 days to shoot a 30 second commercial out of studio. Filming of shows like these take days of preparation, just like Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. Guy F. taped for 18 hours to do the actual 22 minutes of the on-air DDD episode at Chompies in Tempe, AZ---- and that was after the crew had been here several days.