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FLORENCE: Food courts bring in high traffic and big sales.
And owning a food-court restaurant could
make you a multimillionaire.
Whoo!
But the restaurant industry can be ruthless.
[Bleep] I burnt this.
Only got a few seconds.
You guys are working slow today.
I'm Tyler Florence,
and I've been in the restaurant businesses
for over 25 years.
My job each week is to help two teams
of aspiring food-court entrepreneurs get
one step closer to their dream.
Ooh! Yah!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Over the next three days,
our entrepreneurs will prove to me
that they have a solid concept
along with a concrete marketing plan.
Whoo!
But ultimately, the winner will be determined
by who brings in the most cash.
I'm just gonna cook from the heart right now.
ALL: R.D.!
Opening a restaurant is no easy task.
We're screwed.
[ Clatter ]
But each week, one team will win
the opportunity of a lifetime...
I don't want to screw up.
...and own their very own food-court restaurant.
Come to me, masses. Let me feed you.
Welcome to "Food Court Wars."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
This week, we're at Bonita Lakes Mall
in Meridian, Mississippi.
This classic Southern town is known
for its railroad heritage, love of music,
and food that is heavily influenced by Cajun cuisine.
Let's meet our two teams.
Can you reach that big knife?
Can I watch you try first?
I'll get this thing myself!
My name is Erika, and I'm a line cook.
STEVO: I'm Steven, and all my friends call me Stevo.
And we are best friends.
STEVO: I've known Erika since I was 3 years old.
Our families were very good friends growing up.
Good deal.
ERIKA: Stevo's like a brother to me.
I'm the big sister, and he's the little brother.
He's kind of just like my right-hand man.
Bread looks good, Boss.
That's "Miss Boss" to you.
[ Laughs ]
STEVO: About six years ago, I was moving back into town.
And Erika called me and said, "Hey, do you need a job?
I've got a dishwashing position open in my kitchen."
And I said, "Sure."
Once I got into the industry, I really fell in love with it.
Five po' boys.
ERIKA: So, I came up with Po' Boy Station
because the railroad history is very important to Meridian.
That's where the name came from.
It was a railroad crossroads, the Meridian.
These po' boys are getting the hurricane sauce, correct?
Our po' boys are special because they all have
special sauces on them that were custom-created
for the po' boy with Cajun seasonings.
It is a super-secret recipe.
And also, we're using french bread
from a bakery in New Orleans.
It's our favorite. We've used it before.
I got beautiful shrimp coming up.
I mean, who doesn't like a big, juicy, sloppy sandwich?
ERIKA: What's the word?
I was a young girl, 20 years old,
when I went to New Orleans.
I did a 9-week intensive cooking externship
at a restaurant on Magazine Street.
It was amazing. It changed my life.
And then Katrina hit, and I lost everything in that house.
[ Sniffles ]
Like a lot of people from New Orleans,
I had to leave and start a new life somewhere else,
which, luckily for me, was back home in Mississippi.
So, I decided to move back home and start from scratch again.
I took a low-responsibility job.
I'm just a line cook right now.
But cooking's my thing. It's what I do.
It's what I love to do.
It's the only thing I'm ever going to do.
[ Laughs ]
Oh, that's good.
THOMAS: I know how to cook -- the best cook in the house.
I'm Thomas Jordan.
And I'm Mary Jordan.
Mary and I have been married 46 years.
We met in 1967 in Chicago.
She used to hate my guts.
But eventually, I won her over with my cooking.
Well, that's good, honey.
Mm-hmm.
See, if you listen to me, it's gonna be good.
Okay.
Our signature dish is Mississippi Delta Tamales.
All right. Them babies are ready to go now.
I've been making tamales for 45 years.
It's a lot different from the usual Mexican tamales.
They're smaller than the Mexican hot tamales.
Also, they've got cornmeal around it.
Most of the Delta tamales are done by machines,
but they're hand rolled.
And seasoning is the key factor.
Has to be seasoned to perfection.
We put chili powder in there and garlic.
We might put a little cumin in there
and a lot of other recipes.
I don't want to say everything,
but that's the basic ingredients that we use.
Suck the Shuck Hot Tamales --
tamales so good, you want to suck the shuck.
We used to own a restaurant in the '80s in Chicago.
It was not very successful. We had a bad location.
So we had to close the restaurant down.
We felt like we had failed.
[ Grunts ]
But we've always been fighters.
We've never had it easy.
[ Horn honks ]
Right now, Thomas and I sell
our hot tamales out of a gas station.
How you doing today?
They're not charging us rent.
That's a big incentive for us to stay there.
That's a big incentive because we are on a limited income.
You want a dozen?
Okay.
What I do to earn my keep at the gas station is
I clean the bathrooms every day.
Three tamales and some cheesy corn.
Owning a food court eatery,
it'll be a validation that we didn't give up.
Good.
There's not gonna be a second chance for us.
THOMAS: Someone once said you have to get your scars
before you get your stars.
We've gotten our scars.
Now it's time for us to get our stars.
Take care. Have a great day.
[ Dramatic music plays ]
ERIKA: What I have here in front of me
is an opportunity to seriously change my life.
I can go from living in a rental house
and working as a line cook
to being a small-business owner.
I mean, that's dream-come-true stuff right there.
MARY: I am so nervous. My heartbeat is racing.
I feel like I'm gonna pass out.
Teams, good afternoon. How are you?
Good, Thank you.
Welcome to "Food Court Wars."
And welcome to Bonita Lakes Mall,
right here in Meridian, Mississippi.
Teams, you have an opportunity of a lifetime --
the chance to open your very own restaurant
right here in the food court.
Over the next three days,
you'll be tested on the three elements
that it takes to operate
a successful food-court restaurant.
First, you have to have a solid concept.
Secondly, you need to have a concrete marketing plan.
You've got to get your name out there
to draw customers in.
And last and most importantly, you have to make money.
Two days from now is opening day.
The team that makes the most amount of money will
win their space rent-free for a year,
and I can't tell you
how valuable that is as a startup.
To kick things off, we're gonna test your concept.
You are gonna make 50 samples of your signature dish
and 50 samples of your favorite side dish.
You've got one hour to cook.
Only 7% of shoppers that come into the mall
actually seek out the food court,
so there's an untapped market
of 93% of the shoppers that come here.
I'll be collecting the comment cards from the tasters,
and the team that wins today will get the chance to reach
thousands of potential customers for opening day.
More to come on that.
So, hit the halls of the mall, and let these wonderful people
here in Meridian, Mississippi, know you're alive.
Let's go.
Good luck.
Our signature po' boy is a fried green tomato BLT
with pimento cheese on it and a basil mayonnaise.
That's some kind of good, yeah.
We're gonna be making classic Southern sides,
like crawfish mac and cheese.
It's a family recipe that came from my grandfather.
Just tons of crawfish, tons of veggies.
You got your celery, your onion, your bell pepper,
garlic, hearty tomato broth, Cajun seasonings.
It's so good!
Okay, let's get some water on.
When that clock starts to tick, I'm very nervous.
I'm getting butterflies.
I can start cutting the wings.
Mary and I are preparing hot tamales.
It's kind of a family secret recipe,
but it's mostly beef,
and then the cornmeal's got the seasoning salt,
chili powder in there, and garlic.
And the Cheesy Corn Supreme,
we consider that a part of the tamales.
So, some things we put in there are obviously cheese, corn,
tomatoes, peppers, and onions,
and a lot of spices that give you the kick.
People just love it.
And we have a side dish
of Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings, which is really nice.
It's harder than I expected, Mary.
It's gonna be all right. We've got this.
38 minutes left.
An hour's not much time, but there's no doubt in my mind
that we can pull this off because we're good cooks.
I got 20 minutes to get this mac and cheese in the oven.
Erika is very creative. She's a great cook.
I put the bacon back in just so it's a little bit crispier.
She's been to New Orleans and learned
a lot of really interesting things.
I'm not worried about the other team at all.
THOMAS: How are the wings coming, Mary?
You cut the wing tip off, and it looks so much better.
I'm starting to panic a little bit.
They're looking good.
My biggest concern is probably gonna be the hot tamales.
'Cause I don't usually cook them this fast.
Making 50 tamales in one hour is very difficult.
I have to make them, put them in the corn husk,
have to tie them to boil them.
It's a time-consuming process.
I don't think we got quite enough.
We don't have time to make 50 tamales,
so what are we gonna do to get those 50 people
to taste our tamales?
Oh, boy. We got to cut these in half.
We're not gonna have enough time.
I'm worried that these tamales are
not up to my usual standards.
I'm so concerned about this.
And I know this is supposed to be our signature dish.
Oh, man.
How many you got?
I don't think we got quite enough.
THOMAS: We don't have time to make 50 tamales.
So, what are we gonna do to get those 50 people
to taste our tamales?
Oh, boy. We got to cut these in half.
We're not gonna have enough time.
Thomas and I decide we're gonna cut the tamales.
We got no choice.
I mean, we're up against the clock right now.
This way, if we cut them in half,
then we'll have enough.
Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut.
But we know that we're gonna sacrifice in appearance.
I'm very worried about that.
We got about five minutes before we need to start plating.
STEVO: Erika and I live by this motto in the kitchen,
and it's, "Proper preparation prevents poor performance."
Is the mac and cheese ready?
If you properly prepare yourself for any situation,
you can succeed.
This last five minutes gonna go by real quick,
so let'*** it.
MARY: Oh, honey?
We only got a few seconds.
Well, put some more cheesy corn in there.
If this is as good as it looks, we've got a winner.
I don't know.
Uhp.
We ran out of time, and I'm very disappointed
that our signature dish is not gonna have the impact
on the mall customers the way that we want it to have.
What took so long?
They're gonna look at these tamales,
and they're gonna think, "What is this?"
Just take this one for now.
Coming out.
ERIKA: Time is up for prep.
If you like meat, cheese, or bread,
you definitely like our food.
So that covers pretty much everybody.
You want some cheesy corn? Want to test this?
Here's our hot tamales here.
Suck the Shuck Hot Tamales.
Hey, you guys want to try a po' boy?
Erika's in the industry and trained me.
She taught me most of what I know.
I've learned a lot from her.
Fill out one of these.
I do worry about letting Erika down,
but I don't have a doubt that it would happen.
Tamales and the wings is what we're doing here.
I'm literally shaking in my boots.
I am scared to death.
This is the first test, and it would hurt me
for someone to say they don't like my product
after the work I put into it.
Too messy. Too messy.
The shoppers are going to judge us
by scoring our sample on a card from one to five,
five being the best.
I want to see fives all over the place.
Do you like that?
Okay. Good deal.
STEVO: Knowing that the winner of this challenge gets
an advantage,
we really want to win this thing.
You like it? [ Laughs ]
That face didn't lie.
MARY: We're Suck the Shuck Hot Tamales,
and we're gonna be opening up a restaurant here Saturday.
I'm very disappointed that our presentation is lacking
in eye appeal.
We have here Mississippi Delta tamales.
Really?
If we don't impress the shoppers,
then it's a failure.
FLORENCE: Clean up your presentation a little bit.
Okay.
Smile.
Mary and I are fighters, and we realize that.
We've gotten knocked down before.
The way we're gonna get up here is
get back up and stay positive.
Those wings are very good, too.
That's part of Suck the Shuck tamales.
And then you can put that in there.
Mary?
That's awesome. That's awesome.
You know what I really like about this?
I like the idea of you being the face of the brand.
Yes.
Tyler, he knows what he's doing, and I'm gonna listen
to everything that he has to say.
So, I just start being myself.
He's been doing tamales for over 45 years,
and they're called Suck the Shuck tamales.
Just grab one of those.
They taste so good, you want to suck the shuck.
[ Laughs ]
So, a tamale and a po' boy are walking down
a dark alleyway, right?
Gotcha.
And they get into a fight, right?
Tamale!
Tamale.
Absolutely.
What about the po' boy thing? You like po' boys?
That was my favorite.
The po' boy was your favorite?
You liked that one better?
The name?
It doesn't make any sense.
Nobody is going to know
what this whole restaurant is about.
Tell me about the po' boy. You like it? You didn't like it?
I didn't like it.
It was just kind of dry. Like, I needed a drink.
Right.
I feel like I would like it if it was
fresh, hot off the oven or whatever.
How's the bread holding up?
I was a little worried about that.
As it was sitting out after we were done cooking,
it got a little hard.
It got a little *** the outside.
So, this is something you guys want to think about.
You want to make sure
how to make that sandwich hot and crispy.
Okay.
ERIKA: When we hear that the bread is subpar,
we're just crushed because the po' boy is the bread.
And so, right now, I have to be really concerned
about Team Tamale,
if maybe the mall's gonna like their food a little more.
Did you like the po' boy or the tamale better?
The tamale.
The po' boy, the bread was too hard.
So, what did you like?
I loved the crawfish macaroni and cheese.
Wings.
Wings are great.
Crawfish macaroni and cheese,
Yeah.
Thanks so much, guys. Thank you. Thanks.
Hi.
Great.
So, guys, I talked to the shoppers,
and I got some very constructive feedback on both your dishes.
Mary and Thomas, your tamales were falling apart and messy,
but that's because you guys were disorganized in the kitchen.
Erika and Stevo, your fried green tomatoes were
cooked perfectly, but the diners,
they hated your bread.
It was way over toasted.
It was just too hard.
Right.
I tallied the comment cards, and this was very close.
I've tallied the comment cards, and this was very close.
ERIKA: I put my heart and my soul into this.
It's time to find out
if all this hard work is gonna mean anything.
I am so nervous. I need this advantage.
I need to win this.
The restaurant with the highest shopper rating is...
Thomas and Mary.
Wow!
[ Chuckles ]
MARY: Don't hurt me! [ Laughs ]
Wow! We won this!
I am so excited.
Mary, how you feeling?
Very, very happy. Very, very happy.
Hug it out, man.
[ Sniffling ]
THOMAS: The reason this is so emotional for me is
because of all the hard work, the years of struggle.
All of a sudden, it's paying off.
You executed a really good idea today.
Good for you.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
ERIKA: Totally shocked.
I thought we had it,
and this is definitely a swift kick in the pants,
kind of a game changer,
because even with food that I thought looked subpar,
the crowd picked it.
FLORENCE: Tomorrow you'll be tested
on the second element of a successful restaurant,
and that is marketing.
You need to get the word out to Meridian about opening day.
Thomas and Mary, I bet you're wondering
what your advantage is gonna be.
I was thinking about that, yeah.
Tomorrow, you will do a live radio interview on WMOX,
a very popular local radio show.
That's great.
Love it.
The radio interview will allow you to reach out
to thousands of customers,
and it's worth $2,000 of air time.
It's a very, very valuable prize.
You have a very wide audience to talk to tomorrow,
so make sure you nail the message
and nail the brand.
Absolutely.
Now I'm gonna take a few minutes with each of you separately,
and we're gonna talk about your restaurants.
Okay.
So, I want to say off the bat congratulations.
Thank you.
I think you've got a really solid concept.
I like it a lot.
Thank you. He's worked 45 years on those tamales.
It just means everything to our family.
If we can do this, if we can nail this brand,
this will be successful for you
for a very, very long time to come.
Right?
We've got to think through the name.
So, Suck the Shuck -- I don't think
it really clearly explains your brand in a nanosecond.
And that's how much time people will give you
Mm-hmm.
I would strongly suggest that you change your name,
and I would make it more personal,
about you two as a team.
I want people to know you and associate you
with this particular restaurant.
I was thinking about taking Mary
and then taking the first two letters of Jordan
and calling it Mary Jo's Hot Tamales.
It sounds like soul food. It sounds like Mississippi.
So, Tyler suggested
that would be a great name for us, and I like it.
It's cool.
And I think people like the concept of, you know,
an older lady with the gray hair and that person that can cook.
Eat it up. Eat it up. I want it.
THOMAS: Tyler's help is crucial
because he's been in the business a long time.
He's very experienced.
You got to be an idiot not to listen to the guy.
I mean, you know, you're getting information for free
that someone else might have to pay a lot of money for.
Think through your marketing event for tomorrow.
So, think about your customer base.
That's right.
Who are they?
Where are they from? How much money they make?
All right? I really want you guys to knock it out of the park.
All right?
Take advantage of the radio tomorrow.
You need to dial your message in, right?
At this point, you're sort of down in the competition.
Right.
So, what are we gonna do about it?
We've got to make sure our food is better.
Right.
A lot of people can get po' boys a lot of different places.
So your sandwich needs to be the best,
the most authentic in this whole area.
Let's talk about an authentic po' boy experience, right?
Okay.
I think once you start toasting a po' boy,
it starts to feel like a Cuban sandwich to me.
So, we should can the toasting idea altogether?
I would strongly make that recommendation to you.
Right.
Tyler's trying to help us fix our bread,
and it turns out not toasting it could be the solution.
So, I need to listen to what's going on around me
and make the needed adjustments.
You got two more days in front of you.
I'm gonna have the keys to a restaurant space,
and it could be yours.
Yeah.
Tomorrow is the big marketing event.
We can call the Director of Tourism
and see what we can come up with.
Perhaps they have some ideas
of things that are happening here.
Mary and I decide to call the Director of Tourism
to help us set up
a marketing event for the next day.
We would like to cater an event to generate a buzz.
And maybe make contact with them
and get the word out about what we're trying to do here.
DEDE: How about we throw a luncheon at the Merrehope Mansion?
It's a Civil War era home.
We not only hold tours there. We hold luncheons there.
That might be an ideal location for your event.
Oh, that's a great idea.
Marketing is not something that I'm familiar with.
DEDE: I could try to see
if the mayor's available tomorrow,
maybe some of our influential business leaders.
MARY: Our old restaurant failed
because we had no marketing plan.
So we have to make sure that we nail it.
DEDE: We're excited about having you in Meridian.
We look forward to it. I'll see you tomorrow.
Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.
STEVO: Okay. Let's see.
Is there some music stuff?
Is there a festival or something coming up?
I don't know. What's this flyer?
For the concert hall.
Oh.
ERIKA: Stevo and I are looking for things to do
for our marketing event,
and there's a concert at the Riley Center.
It's Aaron Neville.
I think we can pull it off, you know?
We're not gonna interrupt the concert.
We're not gonna be going up to people
during the concert.
Right. We'll catch them before.
There's a pre-show at 6:00.
So, that's a little early to be having dinner.
Maybe those people will plan on going to dinner afterwards,
so they'll be hungry, and we'll give them something to eat?
That sounds like a great idea.
STEVO: Erika and I are huge music fans.
So when we found out
Aaron Neville was playing in town,
we have to go do that because we're doing the po' boy.
He is from New Orleans.
We know that's what we got to do.
I think it's a great audience for what we're doing --
New Orleans, the food, the music.
Tomorrow, we're gonna do the crawfish stew for sure.
That's very New Orleans. Everybody liked it.
Right. Right.
We're gonna do the roast beef po' boy and do it right.
Yeah, I think that represents us better anyway.
ERIKA: We lost yesterday's challenge.
If we don't nail it at this Aaron Neville concert,
we're gonna be in trouble.
Got a lot of work to do.
Yeah. Let's go get some rest.
[ Sighs ] Let's do it.
On a roll now, baby.
MARY: Keep going.
You're doing great.
Good morning!
How are you?
It's marketing day, and I'm nervous about, you know,
being on the radio.
However, we will be serving our Mississippi Delta tamales
to the deejay at the radio station.
FLORENCE: So, what are we doing today?
We steaming today, or are you gonna boil?
Well, I would rather steam them,
but I'm not familiar with the technique.
Yesterday, we ran out of time, and I wish I had another way
of speeding up this process with the hot tamales
because it's not working fast enough for me.
FLORENCE: So, what I want you to do is
I want you to take these tamales.
Now, once you get them all stacked up,
put about 3 inches of water in the bottom of this.
Okay?
You're gonna wrap this up in foil and let them steam.
Being able to steam our tamales as opposed to boil them,
this would cut the process easily in half.
Thank you.
STEVO: Team Tamale's going on the radio,
and I'm bummed
because I know they're gonna reach thousands of people.
I guess our banner can go across the top there.
Totally.
But it pushes me to really kill it
at our marketing event.
Let's get these unloaded and get going.
We got a lot of work to do.
DEEJAY: It's a pleasure to have Thomas and Mary Jordan.
You're listening to the afternoon show on WMOX.
MARY: He's actually been doing tamales for 45 years.
Did you do tamales there in Chicago?
Wow. 45 years.
Mary Jo's Hot Tamales.
[ Laughs ]
DEEJAY: It's at Bonita Lakes Mall tomorrow.
Don't miss the opening.
MARY: At this point, nobody knows about Po' Boy Station,
but they're gonna hear about Mary Jo's Hot Tamales.
Thank you.
We want to give them real New Orleans po' boy tonight,
so we do the roast beef.
And we decided not to toast the bread.
I want to have plenty of cabbage,
'cause if Tyler Florence walks up here and has a bite,
I want him to cry.
Oh, look. It's beautiful.
MARY: Our strategy is inviting the VIPs of Meridian.
Let's get started with this.
Perhaps they'll pass the word along
and get other people to our restaurant.
Oh, these babies looking good already.
Okay.
THOMAS: What we're serving is our famous hot tamales
and our fresh Cheesy Corn Supreme.
We're gonna be doing
our spicy and sweet buffalo wings
and friend chicken.
I got this for you to put the chicken in.
We're really excited about this event
at the Merrehope Mansion.
This event is gonna be the talk of the town
for many, many years to come.
Welcome. Welcome. Come in.
My name is Mary Jordan.
When the guests start arriving,
I'm greeting every single one of them,
shaking hands, and I'm having a ball.
They're starting to come in.
ERIKA: So, the doors open, and all of a sudden,
there's a line of people waiting to get po' boys from us.
Is this no lettuce?
Okay.
STEVO: This marketing event could be the game changer for us,
and I know I can build killer po' boys.
And I have my head down,
making sandwiches as fast as I can.
Thank you so much.
We got our rhythm. We got it going. We're feeling good.
They're really good.
Really good.
Good.
How's the food? Do you like the food?
Very much so.
Very much so.
So, what did they tell you?
They told us that they were gonna be at the mall and to come support them.
Oh, fantastic. And did they tell you when opening day was?
Excellent. Good deal.
Six! [ Laughs ] Fantastic.
Thank you.
That one's got some pimento cheese
and corn chips with it.
Oh, good!
Congratulations.
You got a nice, big, long line.
Everybody in the room is happy.
Everybody in the room knows
you're opening a restaurant tomorrow.
When and where.
Thanks!
How's the breading?
I want you to try it, please.
Yeah, cut me a piece. Let me have one.
I still think it's too much bread.
Right.
I think you can pull some of that bread out.
Yeah. Yeah.
We're gonna fix it. There's still some work to do.
I'll see you in a couple minutes.
Perfect. Thank you!
Just coming out to check
and make sure everything is okay.
Is everybody, uh, everything okay?
They loved the food.
One lady had chicken in her pocket.
I'm taking it home.
I do.
MARY: And what's that?
This is the drumstick. This is a tamale.
Oh, wonderful!
[ Laughter ]
THOMAS: I'm feeling really good now.
Every one of the guests that I'm talking to
really enjoyed the food.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Do you guys know what's happening tomorrow?
Opening, all day.
Opening all day.
All right. So, fantastic.
Well, I'm glad the message is sticking,
so thank you so much for your time today.
FLORENCE: Hey, Thomas. How are you, man?
Tyler, good. How are you today?
I'm great. I'm great. You feel good?
I feel excellent.
I had a tamale -- If you can do that tomorrow,
you got a really good chance of winning this.
That's great.
You got a good product and a good story.
All right? Fantastic.
Thanks again.
Right now I'm feeling pretty good
about what's happening with this event.
[ Laughs ]
I think it's a success.
All right, so, how do you think it went today?
I think it went very well.
Everything was positive.
I didn't hear any negative things.
You invited 25 people.
So, what are the odds that this one marketing event
will have any impact on your business whatsoever?
That's a lot of time spent on 25 people.
I think this particular event today was
probably a waste of your time.
MARY: I'm really upset with myself
that we did not think this through.
I want to be successful.
I don't want to go back to the gas station
and clean toilets anymore.
Enough is enough.
I'm 64. He's 66. It's time for us.
What's gonna stop you?
Nothing's gonna stop us!
I love that. That's what I want to hear.
Thank you.
Want to start right over here?
You want us to work together?
THOMAS: Mary and I decided to go back to the mall,
put fliers on cars,
because those are the people in the mall
that's there every day.
Why didn't we think of that at first?
Yeah.
I feel like a failure,
'cause it had never occurred to me
that I'm only hitting about 25 people,
and I could have used that time better served
if I had done another marketing event.
We'll put it in the driver's side,
force him to take it off so he can see.
So, I want to congratulate you.
You sold the brand. That was great.
I think your sandwich went from a 2 yesterday
to about a 6, 6 1/2 tonight.
And I want to see it at a 10 by tomorrow.
So, this is a roast beef.
This is an authentic New Orleans sandwich.
ERIKA: Tyler's been real serious about authentic,
New Orleans-style po' boys.
So, he brings a bunch of po' boys
from around town,
and he shows us how the bread is hollowed out
and how it's really packed with ingredients.
That's a good sandwich, all right?
Tyler's making a point that our po' boys are good,
but they're not good enough yet.
This is what I want to see out of you guys tomorrow.
And there's no room to be a 2 or a 6.
You got to be a 10.
I think we can pull this off, though.
Do you really know what's at stake here?
We're broke. We work in kitchens.
We need some money. We need a career.
We need a life.
I want a business. I want to be running it.
I want it to be successful.
This is it. We're gonna do it.
Po' Boy Station is gonna be
the best po' boys in Meridian, hands-down.
All right? I'll see you tomorrow.
Great job tonight.
All right, guys. Thanks so much.
ERIKA: I lost everything in the world once.
I cannot lose this opportunity.
I know it.
ERIKA: For the last few days,
Celia Barrett from Celia Barrett Designs
has been working on our restaurant.
Lookit! This is great!
The space looks awesome.
There's a lot of things in the theme
that have been incorporated.
The corrugated metal on the front,
and then with the train logo, was just awesome.
This is really nice. [ Laughs ]
[ Both laugh ]
Oh, my goodness!
THOMAS: The restaurant is the most beautiful thing
that I've ever seen.
Oh, isn't that awesome?
Yes.
And I'm thinking in the back of my mind, "This is mine."
So, I might as well get used to it,
'cause I'm gonna win this competition.
It was meant for us.
Mary Jo's Hot Tamales.
That is beautiful.
Good morning, teams. How are you?
Great.
Over the last few days, you've worked on your food,
your concepts, and you've spread the word
to get people here today.
Mary and Thomas, how could this change your life?
Our life would never be the same again.
We can erase the past failures that we've had
and take us to the next level.
Erika and Stevo, does that put a little fire under you?
At whatever age, the opportunity's not gonna
present itself again.
This is everybody's one shot.
I like both your concepts a lot.
I've worked with you over the last couple of days.
One of you will walk out of here
with the keys to your own restaurant.
In just a few hours, the food courts will be filled
with people waiting to buy your food.
The team that makes the most money today will
walk away with their restaurant rent-free for one year.
Let's do it!
Yep.
ERIKA: It's opening day. It's do or die.
We're pumped, we're ready, and we're going for it.
Yep.
I'm getting the bacon going.
What do you want to start to do first?
Today is the day that our lives will be changed forever.
Okay, so, now, let's figure out what we're gonna start on.
You're gonna start on the tamales.
We're really fired up because of the fact
that, you know, we want to move forward.
We want to have a successful restaurant.
We're bound and determined that we're gonna do
any and every thing that we need to do
to make that happen.
I will start prepping.
What we're serving is our famous hot tamales.
We got fried chicken.
We got Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings.
And we got the freshly done Cheesy Corn Supreme.
We got potato salad on the menu and also coleslaw.
Oh, this is beautiful.
I'm really hoping and anxious that some of the people
that we passed the fliers on their cars
will come in today.
And I'm hoping that that will make up
for the low numbers at the mansion.
So, menu for today -- Roast Beef Po' Boy,
Fried Shrimp Po' Boy, Green Tomato BLT Po' Boy.
We're gonna do macaroni and cheese,
macaroni and cheese with the crawfish,
and my favorite, coleslaw.
We're firing on all cylinders. We're ready to go.
E-money, Stevo, what's up? I'm here to help.
Hey!
STEVO: We get started. Time's ticking.
We were thinking it would really be nice to have some help.
So we call in our friend Lake Dawson...
Team Po' Boy!
...who me and Erika both have
worked with in the kitchen before.
It's an hour and 45 minutes until the food court opens.
Let us be prepared.
We're gonna give how many to an order?
Three wings, right, to an order?
THOMAS: Uh, those wings are small.
Hey, Aunt Mary.
Uncle Tommy.
How y'all doing?
You made it, huh?
We asked our nephew Milton to come in and lend us a hand.
As soon as you're doing that,
we can start putting the tamales in there.
Gotcha.
It's very important that we do what we came to do.
We got to get this done. We got to get it done now.
MARY: Let's rock 'n' roll!
Hey, this taste scorched to you?
I scorched a whole pot of crawfish stew,
and everything that can go wrong goes wrong.
STEVO: All right.
You have days in the kitchen
where you're playing catch-up with yourself.
You feel like you're just walking in quicksand the whole time.
This is one of them.
Hey, Erika,
put some damp towels on that bread
to keep it from getting stale or hard.
Good looking out, Stevo.
Teamwork, baby!
MARY: Now it's starting to get a little crazy
because it's getting closer to opening time,
and it's hectic.
We got to get this stuff out.
We probably don't have but 20 minutes.
THOMAS: I'm starting to get a little bit panicky
because I want to make sure
that we have every product that we are serving
ready for the customers when they're coming in.
And time is ticking.
Take a minute to rinse them.
We ain't got a minute. That's the problem.
Well, we got to have one.
Put that somewhere else.
Hey, guys. How you doing?
ERIKA: Hey, Tyler. How are ya?
It's coming together? How you feeling?
Chicken wing. Boom!
Pretty good.
Good.
Good deal. Good.
So, can I taste some stuff to make sure
you guys are ready to rock 'n' roll?
Fantastic. Good deal.
I'm gonna go in deep, right?
A couple of things.
Okay.
You're very, very close for this to be a 10.
This is it. You ready to do it?
Okay, great.
Service in 5 minutes.
ERIKA: There's no room for error.
It needs to be the bomb-recipe po' boy.
It's really not far off, but it can take some spice.
MARY: Yes?
The main thing is to make sure the tamales are okay.
Does it really matter whether we count them or not?
What good would it do to count it?
You know, you just got to keep making tamales.
You're wasting time counting them.
FLORENCE: Can I talk to you for a second?
Yes.
Huh?
'Cause there's nothing set up here at the counter.
Oh!
Yeah.
Right.
All right? Think it through.
Volume. Volume.
MARY: You know, it's getting a little nerve-racking
because it's gonna open up very soon.
and when you have this much on the line,
you're gonna be stressed.
It's just a fact.
We got 5 minutes.
Okay!
5 minutes!
I'm looking for the trays.
What trays?
There's black trays there! All the black trays!
Settle, settle, settle.
Everything needs to be cleaned up here.
Hey, Lake, you need a T-shirt!
Yeah, girl! Come on, now!
Get the potato salad
and bring it in here quick, quick!
It's in it.
Come to me, masses. Let me feed you.
Give me some garlic, and give me some mayonnaise.
Hi. How are you?
We're fine. And you?
I'm good. Thank you. How may I help you?
We'd like to have six of your tamales.
Okay.
I'm sorry. Let me just get this.
Your my very first customer, so [laughs]
All of a sudden, I look up,
and I see this long line of people.
So, you said spicy? Did I give you your ticket?
And I can't even see the end of it.
Oh, did I mix it up?
I'm stressed out, and I just don't want this
to slip out of our fingers.
I'm trying. [ Laughs ]
I got a Fried Green, no pimento, and a Shrimp.
It's opening day. I see this long line.
I got a smile on my face. I'm thrilled to do this.
Fried Green, no pimento.
STEVO: Today, the menu is Roast Beef Po' Boy,
the Fried Shrimp Po' Boy,
the Fried Green Tomato BLT Po' Boy,
our sides, Crawfish Mac & Cheese,
regular mac and cheese, and coleslaw.
I need another Shrimp real fast.
STEVO: I look up. I see the line is getting huge.
All right. Thank y'all for being patient with us.
I'm freaking out.
How can I help you, sir?
MARY: On opening day, we're serving hot tamales,
Sweet & Spicy Hot Wings, fried chicken,
Cheesy Corn Supreme,
potato salad, and coleslaw.
Wonderful!
Then it worked! It worked!
Yes, it did.
Thomas, on his care windshield!
Seeing people come in with the fliers,
it's a great feeling.
It worked. It worked.
Thank you, sir.
ERIKA: I know that half of the reason this line is so big is
because our marketing event killed yesterday.
Enjoy it.
Here you go, Mary. Tamales, seasoned.
We never had this many customers at our old business.
Fried Chicken and Potato Salad.
And seeing all these customers feels amazing.
And your Fried Chicken.
THOMAS: After a while, we started to get into a groove
and get used to the people coming in,
and it started to flow a little bit smoother.
Come on, everybody!
[ Cheers and applause ]
We've got this! Stay on top!
If we don't hurry, they're gonna go to the other team.
If there's one thing I'm worried about,
it's that the other team is serving
a lot faster than we are.
All right. Let's move it.
What you need, Mary?
Give me an order of wings.
We are fighters. We play to win.
We're determined because this is
what we've been praying for,
and we're not gonna give it up easy.
Thank you very much.
Mary, we're just about out of tamales.
MARY: Almost out of tamales?
Yeah, I got another order left.
We ran out of tamales, and I'm starting to get
a little bit panicky
because people will say you need hot tamales
if you're running a hot-tamale joint.
MARY: We ran out of our signature dish,
but we're not gonna stop
until every single chicken wing is gone.
Here you go.
Your Fried Chicken.
You have a good day.
Here. Wings.
What's next? What's next?
Number 90 for the wings.
You brought all those people. I'll give you extra shrimp.
There's your wings, baby.
All right, guys. That's it. The competition is over.
Give them a round of applause.
[ Cheers and applause ]
We're gonna take the bank of both restaurants,
and we're gonna count the money.
And we're gonna find out who made the most.
At the end of this, we're gonna give away a free restaurant.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I don't know how this is gonna turn out. I'm nervous.
I've got butterflies all over the place.
I don't know what's gonna happen here.
Congratulations, guys. You've done an amazing job.
It's not an easy task, running a restaurant.
You've got your friends and family here
to support you, too.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Thomas and Mary, how do you think you did today?
Everything considered, I think we did a pretty good job.
Erika and Stevo, how do you think you did today?
I think we did excellent.
Yes, I do.
Mary and Thomas, the customers loved your tamales.
They thought they were delicious.
BOTH: Thank you.
FLORENCE: But you should never run out of your signature item.
You're only gonna disappoint your customers.
Erika and Stevo, the people of Meridian were
thrilled that you tied the history of their city
into your concepts.
You made your sandwiches to order, which is great,
but you kept your customers waiting.
You could have served way more people
if you were more efficient.
This is a big deal.
One of you is about to win
a restaurant rent-free for one year,
which is worth $100,000.
I've tallied up the money.
The restaurant that earned the most will win.
This was incredibly close.
It came down to the difference of $29.
With a grand total of $1,049,
the winner of "Food Court Wars" is...
...Po' Boy Station, Erika and Stevo.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I love you, too. [ Laughs ]
We won. [ Sniffles ]
It's emotions I haven't felt before
on such a monumental scale
that I can't really communicate it.
[ Laughs ]
And I'm so grateful to see all the hard work
that people put into it to give us this opportunity.
[ Sniffles ]
Thank you.
[ Sobbing ]
It's okay. Relax. We did good.
We won. We did good.
It hurts a lot because this was an opportunity of a lifetime.
We felt that everything was aligned
and it was finally gonna happen.
FLORENCE: Mary and Thomas, this is not your last chance.
You two are fighters.
Mary Jo's Hot Tamales can still become a reality.
I don't want you to give up the dream, not for a minute.
BOTH: I'm not gonna give up.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Y'all are so amazing.
In 45 years, we've never given up on our dream, never.
And we never will give up on our dream ever.
Till the day we die, right?
That's right. That's right.
Unfortunately, due to personal reasons,
Erika and Stevo were unable to open Po' Boy Station.
So I'm back here in Mississippi
to give Mary and Thomas some great news.
Hi. Oh! Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
[ Laughs ]
How are you?
Tyler! No, you're not here!
Come on in. Come on in here.
This is unbelievable.
Take my favorite seat! Take my favorite seat!
Oh, this is a good chair.
How you been?
Yeah?
So, Stevo and Erika are unable to open their restaurant.
And we want to give the restaurant to you.
We were so moved by your story and touched by your passion,
I want to give you guys the restaurant.
You're kidding.
So, we're gonna give you guys the restaurant space
as the original deal.
You get the whole restaurant rent-free for one year.
You're kidding?!
No, I'm not kidding.
It's all yours.
Wow.
Wait. Wait a minute. I think we're dreaming!
I think we're dreaming!
Well, let me think about it.
[ Laughter ]
All right!
Man, thank you.
Thank you so much!
Mary Jo's Hot Tamales.
Mary Jo's Hot Tamales.
I want you guys to take all this energy
and make the restaurant happen for you.
[ Laughs ]
I can't believe this!
I know.
And I know you are.
MARY: Don't ever give up on your dream,
because amazing things can always happen.
I'm so happy.
Oh, I'm so happy, baby.
Mwah! Mwah!
I'm so happy. I'm so happy.