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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.
Thank you.
But the restaurant industry can be ruthless.
Oh, crap. Oh, crap.
Son of a [bleep]
Don't be stressed about that chicken, George.
I'm Tyler Florence, and I've been
in the restaurant business 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.
[ Cheers ]
This could set us up for life.
FLORENCE: Each week, two new teams
will have three days to prove to me
that they have a solid concept
along with a concrete marketing plan.
[ Bagpipes play ]
FLORENCE: But, ultimately, the winner will be determined
by who brings in the most cash.
Team Weasel. Let's go.
Ooh-ooh!
Opening a restaurant is no easy task.
We got our first problem.
[Bleep]
Eighty-six the gumbo!
FLORENCE: But each week, one team will win
the opportunity of a lifetime...
They don't want to let us down.
FLORENCE: ...and own their very own food-court restaurant.
Everybody, come on down!
Welcome to "Food Court Wars."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
This week we're in Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee, Illinois.
Located just outside Chicago,
West Dundee is a tight-knit family community
that shares the Windy City's love
for deep-dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs.
Let's meet our two teams.
Ooh, yeah!
My name is Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti.
I'm 28, from Chicago, the chef and co-owner of Glutton Force 5.
And I am Tim "Gravy" Brown,
35 years old, from Chicago, Illinois.
We're Glutton Force 5.
We got cheeseburger nachos today, some duck-skin tacos.
Our concept basically is, like, walking tacos.
We started off by putting traditional taco ingredients
in a bag so you can eat it on the go.
It was a big success, so we decided to expand
on that concept and include more than just tacos.
The walking taco is perfect
because you can put anything into it.
It could be just a taco. It could be a pastrami sandwich.
It could be a hamburger in a bag.
You could put anything in a bag.
Thank you.
This is so good.
TIM: We met one fateful day
at a grilled-cheese eating competition in Detroit.
PAT: Competitive eating was our thing for a really long time.
I did it for nine years.
And Tim "Gravy" Brown is one of the closest friends I have.
We have very comparable -- What's it called?
Tastes?
Sense of humor?
Body types.
The longer you cook it, the more red it gets
'cause the fat from the chorizo comes out.
PAT: I've had a lifelong obsession with food,
and I always found myself in the kitchen growing up.
I get great joy
in bringing people together and feeding them.
I went to culinary school. I graduated with a bachelor's.
It's just something I knew I was always good at.
That. Yeah.
[ Laughs ]
I have no idea what's going on, dude. This is gonna be horrible.
I did not go to culinary school.
I am the business/marketing end of Glutton Force 5.
How many of these are we gonna have to do?
A lot. [ Chuckles ]
PAT: Two days ago, I was riding my bicycle,
and I hit some ice, and then this happened,
and I went down, broke it.
He broke his arm.
I'm pretty sure that that's probably
gonna be our biggest challenge.
We can't really support ourselves with the truck.
TIM: We're not even close to being ready to serve right now.
I work at a catering company during the week,
but it's just a job.
At this point in my life,
I'm definitely taking my career more serious.
A lot of people in the food industry don't get a chance like this.
This will bring stability.
This will bring a job that I like and care about.
And what I really want to do is just feed people
and just make other people happy.
There's a long line of customers out there, Tim.
[ Chuckles ] Long line.
Having a successful food-court stall --
that would change everything.
I have three jobs I have to try to hold down my mortgage.
This is not the lifestyle
I necessarily thought I was gonna have at this age.
It's getting crazy. Every day, there's something new.
My dad was a bigwig sales executive.
He just gave it all up just to pursue his dream.
The minute I graduated college,
my parents -- they picked up, they moved to Maine,
and he went and opened a restaurant.
Thanks, Dad.
This is very important because I have
an opportunity right now to do something
that my dad had to wait till retirement to do.
This is a 1987 bread van that we converted.
It's probably the worst idea we've ever had,
but, you know, let's keep going, you know?
And we know that this is the next step for us,
but we dumped all of our money into the food truck.
We got to either start saving again
and spend another four or five years trying to get cash
so we can open a brick-and-mortar,
or we go on "Food Court Wars" and dominate.
I'm Sarah Weitz, one of the co-owners
of The Fat Shallot food truck.
[ Horn honks ]
I'm Sam, the other co-owner of The Fat Shallot,
a food truck in Chicago, Illinois.
We'll start in just a few minutes. Thanks for waiting!
All right, they're melted, so we can open up whenever we're ready.
Grilled cheese and truffled fries.
Two months after we got married,
we decided to open up our very own food truck.
SAM: Our food truck is named The Fat Shallot.
The city of Chicago is The Big Onion,
and we figured "The Fat Shallot" was kind of a play on that,
in that it's a little bit, you know, a slightly gourmet,
more upscale version of an onion.
So, we take, you know, what are
very recognizable classic sandwiches
and try and re-invent it with a slightly gourmet twist on them.
So good.
SARAH: Sam and I first met each other back in high school,
and then we were attending the same culinary school
and started dating, so --
And then we got married.
There you are. He's really cute in that picture.
SARAH: Once I met Sam,
my dad was already, like, scheming up a plan
for us to start our own business.
I mean, he didn't know that we would start a truck,
but I think he knew that we would definitely
open something together.
That's looking good.
All right, you're on arugula duty, my dear.
My dad was diagnosed with sarcoma,
and my father passed away a week before the wedding.
You know, it was just sad.
But it was also an incredible day.
We took all the money that we got from our wedding
and invested it in the truck.
It's really stressful finding a parking spot every day.
It's not like owning a space in a food court
where you don't have to worry about location every single day.
Now is the time.
We eventually are hoping to have kids soon.
But we're not making enough money with just the truck.
We need this restaurant.
I think maybe next year we'll start trying.
Think about long-term goals.
SARAH: If we win this, it could really make a difference in our lives.
We could start a family,
be able to start saving money, buy a home.
MAN: Best BLT I've ever had.
Thank you.
Thank you for making us all lunch.
Oh, you're welcome, my cutie. Mwah!
TIM: If we win a spot at "Food Court Wars,"
my life would change drastically.
I wouldn't have to work three jobs anymore.
I could concentrate on my business.
SAM: We want to be able to step back
and not be tied to the food truck.
Having a brick-and-mortar space
that was a really great source of revenue
would make everything a lot less stressful.
Hey, guys. How are you?
Good. How are you?
Welcome to Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee, Illinois.
Fat Shallot, Glutton Force 5, one of you will be opening
your restaurant in one of these two spaces.
Over the next three days, you will be tested
on the three key elements of running a profitable restaurant.
First we'll test your restaurant concept,
and then on day two, it's marketing.
And on day three, it's opening day.
This is when your fate will be decided.
Your restaurant will be open for business
right here in this very food court.
The restaurant that earns the most money on opening day
will win their space rent-free for one year.
It's a lease worth over $100,000,
and as a restaurateur, I can't tell you how important that is.
Today you'll be tested on the first element
of running a restaurant -- your concept.
You will be making your signature dish, plus a side,
for the students of the Elgin Community College
Culinary Arts program.
The culinary students will be determining
the winner of this challenge.
The winner will get extra prep help
from one of the top culinary students in class
Awesome.
Pat and Tim, I would say, without a question,
an extra set of hands is exactly what you need.
Exactly.
You do not want to lose this big advantage.
Yeah.
Let the food-court war begin! Let's do it!
All right.
Today we are making our signature item,
which is The Big Jim, or a taco in a bag.
It's a chorizo gravy, homemade tortilla chips,
onions, green onions,
tomatillos, sour cream, and pepper jack cheese.
It is definitely a winner.
I guess I'll start working on the sauces, Tim.
PAT: Also, we're gonna do corn on the cob.
It's boiled corn rolled in chipotle mayo,
finished with a light dusting of Parmesan and cheese curls.
[ Chuckles ]
TIM: There's no way I'm gonna be able to do 15 of these.
It's gonna take me an hour to do all these.
I don't cook on the truck. I don't know how to chop an onion.
And especially now that he's got a broken arm, it's crazy.
Just man up. Make it happen.
And the rosemary's done?
SAM: Yeah, once it stops bubbling,
all the water's out, and it's gonna be ready to puree.
Today we're making The Fat Shallot --
signature grilled cheese with spinach and onions
and some of our house fries with rosemary salt and truffle aioli.
[ Chuckles ]
All right, I'm gonna start frying the rosemary.
With time at a premium,
we're gonna turn up the heat a little bit.
Tim, if we win this,
that is a huge thing with having that extra --
We need someone who can chop because this is not working out.
We just got to make it through the night.
Got to be something better we can use.
All right.
It's ridiculous. I look over on the shelf.
And there's a speed chopper.
There was, like, a halo. It was beautiful.
What about this?
Yeah, use that.
Ugh. I can't hold this.
No, dude. Just keep going.
Do you even know how to use that thing?
All right.
Actually, I think I'm getting the hang of it. This ain't bad.
Okay!
Open the chipotle for me.
Can opener.
[ Chuckles ] Can opener.
SARAH: Our fries are not cooking fast enough.
We can't cook, yeah.
Should I up the temperature or no?
Yeah. You know what? You can do that.
Well, it's actually at the hottest it can be.
I hope it heats up in time.
It's such a small fryer that, when you put fries in,
like the temperature of the whole fryer
drops down to like 200.
The temperature isn't staying as hot as we need it to,
and the fries are taking much longer to cook.
You want to have a backup plan
because if the fries aren't crispy,
Right.
We're gonna have to reconsider fries.
I'm getting really nervous
that they're not gonna be perfectly crispy.
And I don't know what we're gonna do.
We gave it like four to five times as much time as needed.
What do we do?
SARAH: They're taking a lot longer than I thought.
The fryer's a little small, and it's taking a little bit longer
to cook our fries than normal.
This batch of fries that we have is gonna be ready to go.
Perfect. So these will be ready.
So, worst-case scenario, we'll just have to use
all of the fries there for the whole order.
[ Chuckles ]
...'cause that would be horrible if our fries weren't ready.
All right.
Corn's in the water.
Onions. Prep the bags.
All right, start prepping the bags, dude.
TIM: Cooking is hectic.
I'm desperately worried that we do not have enough time
to prep all our food before these culinary students arrive.
You really think we should start rolling them, dude?
All right, all right.
I think the corn's perfect, dude.
It's too hot.
Three, two, one.
SAM: Boom. Go.
Two seconds.
I am so relieved that the French fries came out okay.
I think the students will really like them.
You got one minute to do the rest.
PAT: I'm stressing out. There isn't enough time.
And it just doesn't seem like you can finish things.
Start serving, there, gorgeous.
All right!
SAM: It would be great to win
the culinary help on the opening day.
We got so much prep to do.
Every little bit would be a big advantage.
How's it going?
Hold on one sec. Let me get you some trays, okay?
It looks very good.
Ohh! What do we have?
Today we have our grilled cheese sandwich.
Inside, we have muenster cheese, sautéed spinach,
caramelized onions on a rustic sourdough.
And, then, as our side, we have our truffled fries.
We make our own truffle aioli.
Homemade rosemary salt.
We fry rosemary. We grind it up.
Some kosher salt.
You fry the rosemary?
We fry the rosemary first to make the salt.
Chef, will you be first?
[ Chuckles ]
SARAH: Culinary students can be really critical.
They've got good palates, and we're hoping to impress them.
So nice to meet you, too.
Hey, how you doing, man? How are you? How's it going?
WOMAN: I think that the sourdough bread
is a good complement to the ingredients.
Plus, I love grilled cheese.
The fries are good,
but I don't taste enough truffle flavor.
Here you go. Thank you, guys. Hope you enjoy it.
We're excited.
Right here is corn with spicy mayo.
It's rolled in Parmesan and cheese curls.
The other thing is the walking taco.
It's homemade chips with chorizo gravy, verde crema,
pepper jack, and green onions.
PAT: Serving culinary students is a little bit different
than our regular customers.
It's either gonna be great for us or they're not gonna get it
and they're gonna be overly critical of my food.
I like having that little bit of crunch
on the outside of the corn
'cause the corn itself is sort of soft.
Yeah.
This doesn't look as pretty as I'd like it to.
We want to thank you so much for coming and trying our food.
Thank you.
FLORENCE: Okay, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you.
This walking taco is good.
Yeah, it's a little spicy, though -- maybe the peppers.
Could have cut back on those a little bit.
The chips are at the bottom.
And everything's on top, so you get the --
You need to, like, mix it around more
'cause they put like one thing here, one thing on the bottom.
I think we made a good grilled cheese. We'll just see
if they prefer it to whatever Glutton Force 5 made.
FLORENCE: What do you guys think about The Fat Shallot?
Do you like a good grilled cheese?
Yes, it was very good,
except the cheese was a little bit more mild.
It wasn't as sharp as what it probably should have been.
Truffle fries -- Did you guys like those?
They were very good, except they were a little bit too salty.
If I wanted something unique, something different,
I would go to the Glutton Force 5.
Cool. Thank you.
Hey. How's it going?
Yeah.
I was able to relax, and we did a good job.
Thank you.
PAT: We need to win because we have no chance of prepping
for opening day without that extra set of hands.
Obviously, it's not traditional, but does that bother you?
A little bit. I kind of liked it, and I kind of didn't.
The Cheetos one blew me off. Like, I didn't like it.
But the spicy mayo -- that's what I really liked the most.
I'm sure we did good, dude.
[ Laughs ]
So, what do you think about the tacos in a bag?
The chip that they made in the bottom, the tortilla --
you have to really get down in there.
You have to really fight for it, and that's one thing I didn't like doing.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
You had to cook your signature dish and a side
for the students of the Elgin Community College
Culinary program.
Sarah and Sam, the students loved your French fries,
but they felt it needs more truffle oil in the sauce
because the truffle got lost.
The culinary students felt
your sandwich was a bit underwhelming.
They all loved your pure and simple concept
and, most importantly, your very inviting customer service.
But your food needs some refining and some excitement.
Pat and Tim, Glutton Force 5, without a question,
all the students felt that you had a fun and unique concept.
While most enjoyed the cheese-curl-crusted corn,
they all thought that it was a little messy to eat.
The walking taco is a great idea,
but all the chips are on the bottom of the bag,
and they felt like once you got down there,
all the good stuff was gone.
I've gathered the balance, and I have the results.
And the winner of the extra prep help on opening day is...
And the winner of the extra prep help
from a culinary intern on opening day is...
...Glutton Force 5.
Come here, buddy.
Mwah!
Winning this challenge is great.
I know we need the help because I am just a one-armed chef.
Guys, congratulations. Glutton Force 5,
I would like to introduce you to Amber Philips.
Amber, come on out.
Sweet.
Amber is a star student
at the Elgin Community College Culinary program,
and she will be your intern for the prep period of opening day.
TIM: We get a culinary student on opening day,
and we desperately, desperately need the help.
I will.
Congratulations.
Whoo!
Teams, next you will be tested on the second element
of running a successful restaurant,
and that's marketing.
Tomorrow, the city of West Dundee
is holding a canned-food drive,
and they're expecting a very large turnout.
At a canned-food drive, people usually drop off food and go.
So it will be up to you to make sure that you stand out
and then make sure you nail the message
that you're opening up a restaurant the very next day
because you will need their support.
Tonight you'll have some time
to set up your marketing event and plan your menu.
And I also would like to spend
some one-on-one time with each team.
All right, guys, get planning,
and I'll see you in a little bit, all right?
Congratulations, man.
I'm not gonna squeeze too hard. [ Laughs ]
Yeah. Congratulations.
Thank you, dude. Appreciate it.
The walking taco in a bag -- I think it's brilliant, right?
Awesome.
Like, the one you guys did today --
I think if we can retool the presentation on that,
I think you've got a home run, all right?
We can do so many different things with it.
If it's a walking taco, I want a piece of taco shell
coming out of the top of the bag.
And then you got to garnish it.
It's gonna look like a taco in a bag.
Mm-hmm.
...because you're not in Chicago.
You're in the suburbs, you know?
It's kind of dealing with moms
and kids and stuff like that.
So I think you need a lighter, healthier option on your menu.
And then I'm really seeing something that kids would like.
'Cause at the end of the day,
you want to be popular and you want to make money.
TIM: Basically, we need to take
what we've been doing with Glutton Force 5,
and I need to refocus it for the food-court crowd.
That's what the food is all about.
Now I really want to talk about your brand itself, right?
I think you guys really need to change your name to something
that really appeals more to mall customers.
Got you. And I agree 100%.
I definitely do think that our food court
needs to be branded in a different way.
We don't want to turn off the masses,
and that's exactly what we're gonna get here in West Dundee.
We're excited. It's all good ideas.
All right, guys, thanks so much.
We always had a very distinct vision for Glutton Force 5.
Tyler was very inspiring. He's like a business coach.
Yeah, I agree with him.
He said exactly what I didn't know that I needed to hear.
We got to brainstorm on some names.
Hey, guys. How are you?
Hi, Tyler. How are you?
How do you think you did today?
You know, we're definitely disappointed we didn't win.
Zagat named us one of the 10 best grilled cheese in Chicago recently,
and we get a lot of customer feedback.
It's positive usually.
So we were surprised and upset, of course.
So, my goal would be to take you
from, like, one of the top 10 Zagat favorite sandwich things
to, like, the number-one sandwich concept in Chicago.
I don't want you to think I didn't like the sandwich.
I thought the sandwich was great.
I don't know if I would remember the sandwich.
And, you know, maybe the grilled cheese wasn't the best option,
but we are in a mall, and we want to make sure
that our customers here don't feel frightened by the menu.
Right. If you look around,
there are two other places inside the food court
that also sell sandwiches.
And so you want to have something
that is just incredibly unique that no one else is doing.
Imagine, like, a thick piece of Texas toast
grilled with garlic butter.
And on top of that is fresh roasted turkey,
fresh cranberry sauce, fried pieces of sweet potato,
and crispy sage,
but it happens to be on this,
like, open-faced sandwich profile.
That, to me, sounds like a Fat Shallot sandwich.
So, that's my thought.
You guys can take it. You don't have to do any of it.
You guys can stick with what you're working on.
No, I think we'll talk it over
Absolutely.
This could be the restaurant that sets you apart.
Thank you.
Thank you, Tyler.
It's always good to hear feedback, but --
I don't think open-faced sandwiches is a bad idea.
It's just not for The Fat Shallot.
Sam and I are gonna have to talk about it
and think about, "What are the next steps?"
because we obviously have to step up our game.
Clearly, we have a lot to think about, a lot to plan.
So let's try to figure out a menu that we think will work.
All right. We'll get to it.
So, as far as the menu for the marketing event, okay?
What I do think might be a good idea is, like,
maybe just covering the top of that bag
with toppings, you know?
Maybe we put less chips in the bottom.
It'll be easier to eat.
All right, and then maybe the corn on the cob --
we'll just take the cheese curls out.
And I do like his ideas about doing variety,
and I think we do have to do a lighter version.
PAT: We're gonna try to revise our brand
so it can appeal to more food-court customers.
All right.
Yep.
Marketing, marketing, marketing.
So, we know it's for a food drive.
All different families are going to be coming with their kids.
It's gonna be family-friendly.
Right.
Like a throw game.
And if they get the ball inside the can,
then you get, like, a giveaway of ours
I think it's perfect.
Okay, you want to start planning on a menu
now that we've gotten some advice from Tyler
and make something a little bit more exciting
than our grilled cheese?
I think we should stick with our brand.
I don't think we're gonna take Tyler's advice
and do an open-faced sandwich.
The BLT is a crowd-pleaser.
Like, everybody loves our BLT.
But what we are gonna do
is make one of our more popular sandwiches.
Well, I think tomorrow we can prove
that we do the best version of a sandwich.
Tomorrow we're gonna make sure
everybody in the community like The Fat Shallot.
We have to put out the best sandwich possible.
Whoo-whoo!
So, at the marketing event,
we're gonna be cooking at a community food drive.
All right!
I grew up two towns away
from West Dundee and Spring Hill Mall,
so it feels good to give back to the community.
Okay.
I'm gonna do peppers, and I'm gonna do the tortillas.
We're gonna stick with the same menu for the marketing event.
We're gonna do The Big Jim taco in a bag,
and we're gonna do the corn,
but we're gonna take out the cheese curls
and add a little spice to the Parmesan.
Is there a trick to husking corn? Am I doing this right?
I'm nervous all over again, with the same concerns
of timing and just getting everything prepared.
This is the worst can opener on Earth, dude.
It's my mortal enemy.
All right.
All right. We can do this.
SARAH: Today's event is really important
because it's essential to know who your customers are
and get to know them
so they come to our restaurant opening day.
Everybody says it's the best BLT they've ever had.
We are going to make our classic BLT and our dill slaw.
The flavors pop in this BLT. It's a little bit more exciting.
It's one of our most delicious sandwiches.
Well, you get started on the bacon,
Okay. Deal.
I'm nervous I'm gonna shred my knuckle here.
It's the one advantage we have right now.
We've got four hands in the kitchen.
[ Laughs ] One of our competitive edges.
How you doing?
I'm good, good, good.
So, what are you making today?
Same thing as yesterday. We're gonna do the taco in a bag.
Taco in a bag is great, man. That's good.
So, what did you do about the branding?
What did you guys think about that?
Well, that's it. It's Taco In A Bag by GF5.
I like that idea the best.
PAT: We thought about it last night
and decided to change our name to Taco In A Bag.
I don't know if people will get it,
but they're gonna remember who we are.
How are you guys cooking that corn?
PAT: We're gonna just boil it.
I would recommend either roasting it in the oven or grilling it.
When you boil, you extract all the flavor,
and you leave the corn flavorless.
When you roast or you grill,
you're gonna condense the flavor, up the sugar,
and it's gonna taste better.
Okay?
SARAH: Hi, Tyler!
What are you guys making today? What's your whole dish?
We are doing our classic BLT sandwich.
Instead of iceberg lettuce, we're gonna do arugula,
add avocado, and then a really good truffle aioli.
Fantastic. So, don't let yesterday get you down.
Right? Because you know what your brand's gonna be, right?
So, if yesterday's sandwich wasn't your best foot forward,
make sure today is your best foot forward.
So make sure you got tons of flavor.
Don't underwhelm anybody today.
Thanks, Tyler.
TIM: How's the chili doing?
Really?
I'm actually really thrilled.
When we finish the cooking, I'm really confident
going into this that we have a shot.
We could actually win this thing.
You want to taste the truffle aioli, this batch?
I do. It's perfect.
I hope that it's just enough to get people to come back.
Everything's coming up Fat Shallot today!
SAM: All of our prep is done for the day.
So, we wrap it up and travel to the West Dundee fire station
for the canned-food drive.
Let's go do it.
[ Bagpipes and drums play ]
[ Indistinct conversations ]
When we walk into the West Dundee fire station,
there's a ton of people already, and the event is in full swing.
Well, we got some really exciting sandwiches.
Today we have our truffle BLT
for you to try, and our dill slaw.
We are opening a restaurant tomorrow in West Dundee mall,
and if you guys all want to take a flyer, that would be amazing.
We really need all of your support.
All right, BLT, ma'am.
Enjoy.
Who wants to win a bandana?
Oh!
You guys want some stickers?
We hope you like the food today, and if you like us,
you come back tomorrow and have some more.
You ever had a taco in a bag before?
We make our own chips. We put a chorizo sauce.
Also gonna be doing it with corn.
So, it's like paprika and Parmesan.
There you go, miss. Enjoy.
Good, Tyler. How are you?
Sandwiches look tasty. Yeah, right on.
Can I grab one of those? I just want to try your sandwich out.
Fantastic.
Enjoy.
So you guys are doing the same thing you did yesterday, right?
Right.
And honestly, it's a little hard to assemble right now.
Don't let them just take your taco
and not understand what you're here for, okay?
I understand.
Good. How are you?
First of all, thank you so much for opening your doors for this.
What do you think about the food?
You get a chance to try everything?
I thought the sandwich was very good.
So, out of all that, anything you felt was the best?
I would probably say the corn on the cob
because it was just different.
It was unique.
Well, fantastic, guys.
And what about you? What did you think?
I am gonna go against my chief and say Fat Shallot.
I like their dill slaw. It was excellent.
Don't ever go against the chief.
[ Laughter ]
Way to climb the ladder.
[ Laughter ]
What do you think about the sandwiches?
Oh, really?
Oh, so you guys went back for seconds already?
And did you guys get a chance to try the taco in a bag?
Not your thing?
Thanks so much. I appreciate your time.
Hey, guys. How are you?
So, what do you think about the food?
Yeah.
That was the first thing out of the gate for me.
And what do you think?
The sandwich was just too big.
I mean, I bit into it. It sort of fell apart on me.
Taco in a bag -- do you like the idea?
Taco in the bag -- awesome.
That was the cleanest taco I ever ate. [ Laughs ]
All right, thanks so much for your feedback. Appreciate it.
All right, thanks. Thanks a lot. Thank you.
Boys, how are you? How's your hand?
Pretty sore, but I'm making do.
You pulled off a good event.
Universally, people like your product.
But a lot of people that I spoke to did not get your message.
People didn't get the fact
that you were opening up a restaurant tomorrow.
I mean, you handed out stickers,
but that wasn't really enough to let people know
how to come support you on opening day.
If it wasn't for the other team saying the same thing there,
not everyone would have gotten your message.
Got you. Yeah, I mean, we definitely
needed to be a little bit more vocal.
What's at stake here?
I realize I could go back into restaurants
or I could do my own brand and I could support myself
and have my dream and I could do that for the rest of my life.
I mean, we've had the truck for 3 1/2 years now,
It's been a struggle.
It's been a total struggle.
And this is an important thing.
Like, I'm following in my father's footsteps.
This is something he always dreamed of doing.
You know, he had a big corporate job.
The minute I graduated college, he went off to Maine
and opened a little chowder hut and loved it.
And that's kind of what's inspired me
to do the same sort of thing.
I want to work for myself.
Right. And when your food is no joke,
then people are gonna take your brand very, very seriously.
All right, guys, listen, get some sleep. Good luck.
Thank you, man.
I've pretty much put every single cent that I have
into Glutton Force 5.
I'm at the end of my rope.
This is all I need to move on to the next level.
We could wake up tomorrow and have our own restaurant.
I know, man. This is absolutely crazy.
Let me tell you -- you guys did a great job
at the marketing event today.
Everybody that I spoke to knew loud and clear
you guys were opening a restaurant tomorrow.
But people found the sandwiches to be a little flat.
This is the point I was trying to bring up to you yesterday.
The culinary students had said
it wasn't particularly interesting, right?
And then today we kind of heard the same feedback.
That's my only thing -- 'cause I'm just a little nervous for you guys.
So, I think moving forward,
we've got to come up with something
that's a little bit more unique
that not everybody can make at home.
Can I tell you what that is?
Sure.
Open-faced sandwiches.
That's your hook. That's your angle.
This thing that looks garnished --
that is genius.
Tyler really seems focused
on trying this open-faced sandwich.
Sam and I are not crazy about doing an open-faced sandwich.
But now we need to not be so stuck
with what we're doing on the truck
and kind of take it to the next level.
That whole concept, we're gonna take from your advice
and really try to incorporate into your sandwiches.
Sam, how are you feeling about this?
As much fun as we have on the truck on a day-to-day basis,
we're looking to take that next step.
Where do you get your drive from?
My dad said, "Always give it 100%.
You have to try your hardest."
He's always been an inspiration for me,
and if there's something I've learned from him,
it's that you have to pursue your passion.
And I think that's kind of why I fell in love with Sam,
is that I've never met anyone so passionate about cooking.
That's great.
Thank you so much for all your help and advice,
and I think we're ready to win this competition.
I hope so.
Right now, all we have is the truck.
I can really visualize The Fat Shallot in this mall.
It's so much more real for me now.
All right, well, we really got to step this up.
Tomorrow's the big day.
It's our last chance.
Hey!
SARAH: We walk into the food court,
and the Fat Shallot restaurant
is all set up, designed perfectly.
I love this background.
Oh, look at the little chicken. [ Laughs ]
That is awesome. I like the frame.
Babes 'N Brushes did an amazing job.
It looks absolutely fabulous.
Yeah, we got the jars of shallots.
So people don't have to ask what shallots are anymore.
You can just point to the jar.
It's great. It's very us.
Sam and I have come such a long way.
But we have a mobile restaurant on wheels,
so we're really only serving three hours a day.
If we were in a mall,
we could be serving from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.,
and it would make us financially comfortable.
Holy cow.
TIM: Seeing our very own restaurant,
I couldn't even believe it.
The flames, the lava lamps, the tiny little robot.
"Eat. Cook. Save the world."
It's Taco In A Bag.
Oh, my God.
PAT: I don't even know what to say, Tim.
They did an awesome job.
This is a great opportunity
for us to get out of the Chicago food-truck business
and into our very own restaurant.
Let's do it, dude. Let's get to work.
Good. Good morning.
FLORENCE: Over the last few days,
we have worked on your food, your concepts,
and you guys have done a great job
getting the message out to get people back here today.
I'm proud of both of you.
You each have your helpers in the kitchen today.
Pat and Tim, since you won the advantage,
you will have a culinary intern to help you out with prep today.
In the next few hours, your restaurants will be open.
At that point, it will be up to you to pull customers in.
The team that earns the most money today will walk away
with their restaurant rent-free for one year.
As a restaurateur, I can't tell you how valuable that is.
Are you guys ready to do this?
Yeah.
May the best restaurant win. I believe in both of you.
Let the food-court war now begin.
Let's go, guys. Good luck.
Let's do it, Timmy.
It's "go" time!
TIM: You know, before, we were just Glutton Force 5.
Today we are Taco In A Bag. It's amazing how far we've come.
The first thing you're gonna do is corn, right?
Wash my hands. Roast the corn.
PAT: Today I'm serving the Big Jim taco in a bag
with cheeseburger nachos, shrimp tacos,
dulce de leche milkshake, and corn on the cob.
Put it on the bottom here.
All right, let's do this.
SARAH: For opening day, we're gonna change some items.
Tyler has advised Sam and I to do some open-faced sandwiches.
So we are going to try and do an open-faced grilled cheese.
Tyler knows what he's doing,
and we're willing to take a risk.
SAM: Today we are gonna make the Fat Shallot BLT,
our open-faced grilled cheese sandwich,
our Italian sausage with spicy bread crumbs,
and our two sides of a mayo-free dill slaw
and our tomato soup with crispy shallots.
I hope the open-faced grilled cheese works.
Hello, guys.
PAT: Hey, Javier.
What's up, man?
Today helping me, I have my boss, Javier Gutierrez.
He's been my catering boss for the past three years.
Good.
Thank you.
We got these onions to start you off with.
A little scary.
Be careful. I need you around for service.
Our strategy for today is to stay focused.
Sam has divvied up all of the tasks,
who's doing what in the kitchen.
Hi, guys!
We've got Tracy, my cousin. She's amazing.
You know how to cook. This isn't anything new to you.
TIM: Hello!
PAT: I think we have a pretty bad disadvantage with my injury,
but it's great to see Amber.
If we didn't have this helper,
I don't think we'd get through the prep list.
Official member of Taco In A Bag.
All right. I'm gonna go get this on.
Yeah, that is done.
SARAH: I'm really nervous.
I have a lot of cooking to finish.
An extra set of hands --
it's a huge advantage to the other team.
SAM: Almost halfway.
It's very stressful cooking in the kitchen today.
We have a whole lot of things to do to put our full menu out
and not much time to do it.
[Bleep] scorched it.
Yes.
I'm trying to keep the gravy warm on the grill,
and I scorch it.
Hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mnh-mnh.
And I don't have a choice. I can't remake it.
I just have to go with it at this point.
JAVIER: Taste it right away, the scorch. Am I right?
[Bleep]
PAT: Javier, I think I scorched it a little bit.
I'm trying to keep the gravy warm on the grill,
and I scorch it.
Little bit bitter.
I can't remake it. I just have to go with it at this point.
Add some sugar, or do you think it's all right?
Honey?
Yeah. And maybe more chipotle, too.
Javier suggests I add more chipotle and some honey.
I smell it. [Bleep]
I mean, I caught it in time, but it's still there.
I can still taste it. I'm not 100% happy with it.
I'm really nervous 'cause I don't know what's gonna happen
when the customers taste it.
TIM: I'm gonna go up front and make sure I'm all good.
Yeah, get up front. That's good.
Ready? Service is starting, everybody.
I do have a moment of panic inside me
because when the first group of people come in,
they go to the other team.
Come to The Fat Shallot! We're open!
Come to The Fat Shallot!
TIM: Yes, sir.
I'm excited to see the crowd start coming in.
I mean, it's crazy. This is what it's all about.
Hello.
Hi. I'll have a Big Jim...
A Big Jim.
All right.
PAT: Today I'm serving the Big Jim taco in a bag,
cheeseburger nachos, shrimp tacos.
For the side, we're gonna do dulce de leche milkshake,
and corn on the cob.
WOMAN: Thank you.
SAM: Today on our menu, we have the Fat Shallot BLT,
our open-faced grilled cheese sandwich,
with spinach and caramelized shallots,
our Italian sausage with spicy bread crumbs.
And our two sides are mayo-free dill slaw
and a tomato soup with crispy shallots.
Guys, I'm waiting on a cheeseburger.
Cheeseburger, yeah. And what else?
And a Big Jim.
Okay.
Grilled cheese? You got it.
MAN: Let's do that grilled cheese. See if we like it.
Can I have a grilled cheese and a dill slaw, please?
You got it.
I'm really excited for today. I'm also really nervous.
It's the final day.
All right, $8 total.
We've got a lot to cook and a really short amount of time.
I'll get the soup if you want to crush that next BLT.
I like the idea of a taco in a bag.
MAN: Milkshake, please.
Three milkshakes all day!
I think the dulce de leche milkshake
is definitely a winner.
They're popular.
No problem.
PAT: Damn, those milkshakes are a lot of work, huh?
JAVIER: Yeah, it takes a lot.
The milkshakes are taking a little bit longer
than I would have liked.
I definitely felt like we were slowing down.
Tomato soup, please. [ Laughs ]
Yay!
Thanks for coming back.
See? You got us back.
Sarah's doing great. She's got a big smile.
She's energetic. She's enthusiastic.
Thank you so much. I hope you like it.
Here you go. Those are your cheeseburger nachos.
Sorry. One second.
PAT: We're trying to keep up with the orders,
but it doesn't seem like we're going fast enough.
Big Jim -- uh...
Sorry about the wait, sir. Here's your Big Jim.
MAN: That's all right.
Extra-special.
Extra-special love. All right. Thank you.
[ Chuckles ]
I like these milkshakes. Wow! These are fantabulous.
$13.
Okay.
All right? These are the last people in line.
Let's finish with everybody. Let's finish strong, all right?
All right, this is it.
I need four grilled cheese all day.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
Perfect. Thank you so much.
PAT: Two cheeseburgers, two corn all day.
And three corn all day now, okay?
I'm a little nervous. I'm starting to get tired.
I'm starting to slow down a little bit.
Tim, last big push. This is everybody you got in line.
Finish strong. Competition's almost over.
Got you, man. Got you.
I need one sausage and one BLT for Tom!
SAM: Grilled cheese are all coming up.
Okay.
Perfect. Thank you so much.
Two Big Jims, guys.
PAT: Two Big Jim, all right.
SARAH: Grilled cheese, please!
What else, Tim?
Last call! We got a lot more food!
Thank you, brother. That's a lot of money.
$8 is your total.
May I have your attention, please?
"Food Court Wars" is now over.
Will you please give a warm round of applause
to Taco In A Bag and Fat Shallot?
That's it!
SARAH: Today went really well.
I think this space could be ours.
Team Fat Shallot!
[ Cheers and applause ]
I'm pretty confident that we won,
but in the back of my mind, there's doubt.
Let's celebrate, all right?
Win or lose.
Fat Shallot, Taco In A Bag, great job today.
You've got your family and friends here to support you,
and they're bringing a lot of love.
Fat Shallot, you refined your food.
I'm glad you took a risk
because your open-faced grilled cheese sandwich
was your most popular item.
And, Sarah, your customer service and your smile
brought customers back.
But will it be enough for you to win?
Taco In A Bag,
your culinary intern really helped you
get ahead of the game during prep today.
But once service began, you slowed down,
and you kept customers waiting.
Overall, parents and kids loved your concept,
and the milkshakes were a big hit.
But did you get through your line quick enough to win?
I've tallied up the money.
And the restaurant that has earned the most will win.
With a grand total of $1,037,
the winner of "Food Court Wars" is...
...Taco In A Bag.
[ Applause ]
TIM: Dude.
Yes. Mwah! We won.
I am excited.
Quite ecstatic, and we're ready to start
this new chapter in our life.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
[ Laughter ]
We gave it all we could, and we didn't win.
And of course that's disappointing.
We did our best.
Winning the space would have been
a really incredible opportunity for us,
but we're not gonna give up.
And get back on our truck tomorrow.
SAM: From here, we still plan on having a family,
and maybe we'll even have the baby
on the food truck with us someday.
I would like to introduce you to your new best friend.
Say hello to Amy Prew. She's the mall manager here.
Hello, Amy. Thank you so much.
Hello, guys. Welcome to Spring Hill Mall. Congratulations.
FLORENCE: I have something to present to you,
and I think this is really special.
I don't want you getting taco sauce on it, all right?
Promise.
This is your first dollar that you've ever earned.
Awesome, man.
Thank you, Tyler.
I feel great. This is like the next step,
a step towards maturity,
a step towards being small-business owners.
The whole thing has been hard.
Like, the food truck's been hard.
We had the odds stacked against us.
More hugs!
We have a broken hand.
Our food truck's falling apart.
And we pulled through!
We won "Food Court Wars"!
Whoo!
Yeah. Yay!
PAT: Hugs. [ Laughs ]