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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.
Hey, everyone, thank you so much.
But the restaurant industry can be ruthless.
Oh, crap. Oh, crap.
Don't burn your hands.
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.
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.
Who wants to win a bandana?
FLORENCE: But, ultimately, the winner will be determined
by who brings in the most cash.
Team Wingzza. Let's go.
[ Both cheer ]
Opening a restaurant is no easy task.
We got our first problem.
God[Bleep]
86 the gumbo!
FLORENCE: But each week, one team will win
the opportunity of a lifetime...
I don't want to let us down.
...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 travel to Valley Hills Mall
in Hickory, North Carolina.
Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains,
this all-American city has a rich history
that includes traditional southern cooking
and world-famous barbecue.
Let's meet our two teams.
Mr. Larry, what pieces are we having today, sir?
We're rolling with cheese, pepperoni, and buffalo chicken.
LARRY: My name's Larry.
I'm the owner of Wingzza --
Charlotte, North Carolina's, most popular food truck.
All right. I'm gonna drop my wings.
HC: My name is HC.
I'm the manager
of Charlotte's most popular food truck -- Wingzza.
Pizza time!
Wingzza stands for wings and pizza,
so those being my two favorite two foods in the world,
that's how I came up with Wingzza.
Got two minutes on wings, folks.
Two minutes on wings.
We're really good friends, colleagues,
and we've been working together for the last year.
What can I get for you today?
I'll have those mambo wings,
and I like them extra crispy.
All right. I got you.
Our mambo sauce is our most popular flavor on the truck.
It's our best-selling wing.
Took years to perfect that recipe.
Mambo!
My mambo sauce is a sweet, sticky red sauce,
a little tangy, not spicy at all.
That's the magic dust right there.
Nobody in the world knows that recipe
except for me -- not HC, not my wife.
That sauce is bangin'.
Take it easy.
My love for wings and pizza came about when I was in college.
I spent so much money on them
that I decided that I needed to figure out
how to make them on my own.
As I worked on my recipes and got really good,
I realized that I had something special,
so I opened my first food truck in October, 2010.
Eight months later, it was totaled by a fire,
and there was my dream and my life savings down the drain.
I was really devastated.
I went out and bought a new truck,
started all over again.
It was actually a blessing in disguise.
My new truck was bigger, it was better,
and it felt amazing.
HC, you pass me a mild?
Yes, sir.
I started cooking when I was 16 years old,
and ever since then, I've just been amazed with food.
I've worked in five-star restaurants
as well as upscale sports bars.
No fries or nothing, right?
No sir. Just bleu cheese.
I went through some very, very hard times
when the economy went really bad.
I lost my house, you know,
spent a lot of years telling my kids,
"No, I can't do this for you. No, you can't have this."
I don't want to tell them that anymore.
I want to be able to tell them and say,
"Yeah, whatever you need.
Get ready for college 'cause you guys are going."
So, it's been a really, really hard road for me,
but I've never given up on my dreams.
My kids are definitely my motivation, every day.
HC: So, how does this feel to be a brand-new dad?
Feels great.
Me and Robin are really excited about it.
LARRY: I just found out that my wife and I
are expecting our first child,
so this is something that can really put Wingzza
in a position to be something that I can pass on to my child
and have it as a family business.
Is that the sonogram there?
Oh, bring that over here!
Now that I have a baby on the way,
I've got to be a provider.
That's really important to me.
I want to win this for my family.
And that's your mambo with ranch.
All right. Enjoy now.
HC: It's gonna be hard, but we're gonna give 110%.
He's being humble right now.
I say we got it in the bag.
Throw it in the bag. Larry said it.
[ Laughs ]
Chicken's in, and we need to go ahead
and make some salad because we ran out yesterday.
I am Deedee Mills, and I own The Mayobird.
Dang, George, these things are hard to peel.
GEORGE: I'm George Depaulo.
I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina,
and I'm manager at The Mayobird.
I'm gonna go ahead and get this chopped.
The Mayobird is a fun name for chicken salad.
I created The Mayobird because I love chicken salad,
and growing up in the South, chicken salad was just a staple.
I think we're ready to start loading the truck.
Okay. Good.
Chicken salad is personal for me.
It's very comforting.
So, I just want people to love it like I do.
The thought is, is that chicken salad is just chicken salad.
Well, it's not.
It can be almost anything you can dream it to be.
Yeah, that looks good.
It can be savory, sweet, spicy.
You can come every single day of the week,
and you can literally have a different experience
every time you come.
Let's roll.
DeeDee: I met George through a friend
who knew that I was looking for a chef,
and she's like, "You know what? I think I know one."
We met,
and a chicken-salad-Mayobird marriage was born.
You're welcome.
When I was younger, I worked at my father's pizza business,
which I helped him open.
Ended up being there for 20 years,
so I feel entirely at home in the kitchen.
I don't want to heat that bacon.
You don't?
Build the sandwich, and then throw it in there.
Being part of The Mayobird,
I've been able to come in at the ground floor
or something that I think has potential
for becoming very successful.
It's important for me to still, at this point in my life,
still know that I can put a lot of effort forth
and accomplish things in the restaurant business.
Yeah.
I worked for the Carolina Panthers for 17 years.
The job I had felt like 24/7,
but it was time for me to be with my son more.
So, I started The Mayobird
because I wanted to make my own hours
in terms of being there more for my son.
Okay. This is a do-over.
I'm a single mom, and my son is my life.
Have you been practicing when I haven't been looking?
I adopted Canaan from Ethiopia.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
I'm on a plane and going to pick my son up,
[ Voice breaking ] and just really so thankful
and just feeling so blessed
that I was finally united with him.
I mean, it was my son,
so it was an amazing, amazing day,
to say the least.
Do you want peach or strawberry?
Strawberry.
[ Chuckles ]
[ Chuckles ]
Canaan is my life,
and winning this would give me more freedom and flexibility,
which is a huge thing,
especially when you talk about raising a child by yourself.
[ Chuckles ]
I love you.
I just feel like we just got to go in there,
do the best we can, and we really can't lose.
LARRY: We've done all that we can do in the food-truck business,
and we think that it's time to take a next step
towards being a global brand.
Welcome to Valley Hills Mall in Hickory, North Carolina.
Wingzza, Mayobird,
one of you will be opening up your restaurant permanently
right here in this very food court.
Over the next three days,
you will be tested on the three key elements
of running a successful restaurant.
First, we're gonna test your concept.
On Day 2, we'll work on your marketing.
And Day 3, ready or not, is opening day.
The restaurant that earns the most money on opening day
will win their space rent-free for one year.
That's a lease worth over $100,000.
Wow.
Today, you're gonna be tested on your concepts.
As a restaurateur,
I can tell you, having a strong relationship
with your local farmers is very valuable.
Today, you'll be making lunch for Josh Grant
and his farmhands from Red Wolf Farm.
Red Wolf Farm is a local, family-run farm
about 20 minutes away from the mall.
I would like to introduce you to homestead farmer Josh Grant.
Hey, Josh. How are you doing?
Hey, Tyler. Thanks for having us.
We're thrilled to be here today.
At Red Wolf Farm, we're a homestead farm.
In addition to our pumpkins,
we're known for our free-range chickens,
our grass-fed beef,
and our pastured-pork products.
In your kitchens, you will find sausage,
pork chops, and eggs provided by Josh's farm.
Use any or all of these ingredients
in your signature dish.
Do your best to showcase these local ingredients.
Josh and his farmhands will be determining the winner
of today's concept test.
The winner will get some onstage advertising time
at the marketing event tomorrow,
but more on that a little later.
Right now, we've got to focus on lunch.
Good luck, guys. Can't wait to try your food.
You ready?
Let the food court wars begin. Let's do it!
So, we got eggs, pork chops,
and ground sausage from Red Wolf Farm.
What are we gonna use?
We'll incorporate the sausage to make a sausage pizza.
No-brainer all day.
Let's get it, babe.
Today, we're making buffalo-chicken pizzas
with our buffalo sauce,
some seasoned chicken breast,
mozzarella cheese,
and our famous mambo-sauce drizzle on top of that.
They say it tastes so good it makes you want to do what?
Smack your dang mouth.
We're also gonna have Red Wolf Farms sausage pizza
with our pizza sauce from scratch
and then top it off with some mozzarella cheese,
as well as the sausage from Red Wolf Farms.
All right. Start on the pizzas, man.
And we're also gonna have mambo chicken wings,
season them up with a little bit of flour,
little bit of all-seasoning,
drop them in the fryer,
drizzle them with our famous mambo sauce,
and they're gonna be delicious.
That sausage looks pretty good.
LARRY: We want that advantage really badly
because the more we can offer to that marketing event,
the better off we'll be when we get ready to open.
DeeDee: Let's make the chicken salad first
and then obviously fold in these ingredients.
I am all over this!
I am a country girl from the farm, southern.
Bring on the farm!
GEORGE: That sausage smells so good.
It does. It smells awesome.
GEORGE: Today, we're making our southern melt.
It's a southern-style chicken salad,
which is mayonnaise, chicken,
and hard-cooked eggs, folded with sweet pickles,
cheddar cheese, and then lightly grilled.
We have to make some adjustments here
because of our surprise ingredients.
We also feature a fresh broccoli salad,
which has mayonnaise, raisins, broccoli,
purple onions, and the sausage from Red Wolf Farm.
That sausage is good.
Buffalo chicken -- oven-ready.
I'ma line them all right here for you.
We'll do them all back-to-back.
Once I make the pizzas,
HC is responsible for cooking them.
Go ahead and put them in. Go with those first two first.
Oh, my God, it smells so good.
How is the chicken?
Still cooking. Nothing I can do.
GEORGE: In addition to the cooking time,
we needed additional time to cool it down
because chicken salad is cold.
We got to crank the oven up to 500.
500?! Are you for real?
DeeDee: The oven is as high as it can go,
the chicken is not cooking fast enough,
and whether we're finished or not,
these people are coming.
Don't make me stress out about that chicken, George!
Open that freezer door for me, please --
the door on the right.
Are you positive the chicken's done?
GEORGE: As soon as the chicken is done cooking,
we have a large freezer where we can put it.
Put it in there,
finish everything else that we can do,
and then we're going to put it in an ice bath,
chill it off, drain it, and pick the chicken out.
You're stressing me out with this chicken!
DeeDee: So, now that the chicken has been cooked,
there's a whole nother process to this.
Not only do we have to put them together,
we have to grill them. We have not grilled them yet.
Why don't you take them out and start grilling?
You got it.
I feel like we're Hail Mary at this point.
And listen, don't burn them.
[ Chuckles ]
LARRY: I noticed that HC is having an issue
with one of the pizzas in the oven.
That makes me a little uncomfortable.
That looks a little dark.
Pull it out, it's burned in the middle.
Oven got a little hotter than I thought it was.
Make sure we disregard that.
we're just gonna cut around it.
We're gonna try to make it work with what we have
and make sure that no one gets any burnt pieces.
Yeah, I'm cutting out the middle here, H.
The customer won't see that part.
All right. That'll work.
I think this will be perfect.
People are gonna start coming up,
so we've got to make sure these plates are done
and ready to serve in a minute.
GEORGE: Well, these are ready.
All I got to do is pull them and cut them.
HC: I'm putting the final touches on these last plates up here.
Perfect.
I got three more slices going on these plates,
and then we're ready to serve, bro.
LARRY: If we win today,
we get an advantage at tomorrow's marketing event.
We need that advantage really badly
because you can't beat having a microphone
in front of a big crowd.
Hopefully, it goes our way.
JOSH: All right. Hey, guys.
Let's see what you got served for us here.
DeeDee: Today, we're serving the southern melt.
We're also serving our broccoli salad
with sausage that we got from Farmer Josh.
All right. Thanks, guys.
GEORGE: Enjoy.
You're getting a Red Wolf Farm sausage slice
with our buffalo-chicken pizza.
Today, we're serving the farmhands
Red Wold Farm sausage pizza,
our famous buffalo-chicken slice,
and our most popular wing -- the mambo sauce.
Enjoy. You're welcome.
Hey, man, what's up?
Hey, man, what are you gonna set me up with?
LARRY: It's pretty nerve-racking
serving the farmhands food
because they know those ingredients
like the back of their hand.
So, if you mess them up, they may even be offended.
I really like the mambo sauce on the wings.
It's a little bit different.
It's got a sweeter taste than what I'm used to.
We've got a southern melt in our southern style.
Yeah.
I'm gonna grab one of these.
I'm excited to try the broccoli-and-sausage salad.
All right. Thanks.
Hey, sir.
I'm excited to try your product.
Thank you very much. Good.
LARRY: So, the Red Wolf Farm sausage pizza,
our famous buffalo-chicken pizza,
and our award-winning mambo wings.
"Award-winning mambo wings."
Award-winning mambo wings.
That's a mouthful I want to say.
All right, now. [ Laughs ] Thank you, Tyler.
Hey, Tyler.
Dig in, everybody.
What do you think?
I don't know. I'm so torn.
I've got two great plates here, two fabulous jobs.
So, we got through it.
[ Chuckling ] Yeah, we got through it.
Whoa!
Now, is this something
that you would go out of your way for at the mall?
I would go for the chicken-salad sandwich
just because it takes so much preparing at home.
Whenever you do have the craving for it,
you can just come here and get it, and it's a lot better.
Fantastic. And what do you guys think about the pizza?
They really integrated the sauce with the sausage.
It's a really good combination with their sauce.
We each had to do what we had to do.
Knocked it out -- I think we did great.
That's what's up. Awesome, man.
I think we can all agree
that everything is just absolutely delicious.
I think we've got a clear-cut answer
for you for the winner.
All right, fantastic. Well, listen, guys.
Thank you so much for having lunch with us today.
Good work, everybody.
You did an excellent job
incorporating all the ingredients in your food today.
Josh, how do you think it went today?
Wingzza, overall, the sausage slice was fantastic,
but the barbecue slice was a bit too spicy.
The mambo sauce, on the other hand,
was a perfect change of pace
for an otherwise bland chicken wing.
There are concerns that the market might be oversaturated
with pizza-and-wing places.
Mayobird, although the sandwich was good,
it was a bit bland
and the eggs tended to get washed out in it.
The broccoli salad, though, was an excellent choice
to showcase my sausage into a side dish.
Chicken salad is a unique experience
in a food-court setting.
If you pep it up a little bit,
they just might come to the mall and get your food.
I know it's a tough decision.
Somebody's gonna win the advantage.
Who is it?
Well, the team that gets the advantage is...
I know it's a tough decision.
Somebody's gonna win the advantage. Who is it?
Well, the team that gets the advantage is...
...Mayobird!
Yay!
Way to go, George! [ Chuckles ]
Congratulations, Mayobird.
For your marketing event tomorrow,
you are headed to --
are you ready for this? -- Schmoozapalooza.
[ Both laugh ]
This is a yearly event
designed for small business owners here in Hickory.
You'll have an opportunity to connect
directly to the community.
There will be over 900 people in attendance tomorrow.
Mayobird, since you won the advantage,
you will get to take the stage at the event
and address the entire crowd to promote your restaurant.
Be sure to utilize every minute of that time.
Tonight, I'll have a chance to sit down with each team
and really dial in your message and dial in your food.
All right, guys, get back to your kitchens.
I'll see you later, okay? Thank you.
Larry. HC. How you doing?
Doing good.
So, what I want to do
is actually really kind of dial in the focus of your brand.
You want to get away from a forgettable wing
and move to an unforgettable wing.
The wings I had today I felt were a little dry.
Are you familiar with a concept called "confit"?
They are cooked in this shallow amount of oil
at a very, very low temperature,
which I think we can do in your oven.
The flavor is amazing.
I'm a little nervous about the procedure
of cooking off the whole wing in that fashion.
That's not something I've done before.
But, you know, HC and myself know our way around the kitchen,
so if you can teach us how to do it,
I think we can make it happen.
It'll be a one-two-three, easy step to piece together.
And I would like to challenge you to serve a whole wing,
not just a small piece,
because you want something that's gonna look different.
Tomorrow, your marketing event with Wingzza
are these gigantic, killer wings.
With the technique, right,
and how soft they are and how much flavor they have,
and people can walk up
and start adding their own sauces,
that is a showstopper.
Pizza I wouldn't touch, man.
Honestly, I thought your pizza was really, really great.
I think you guys are gonna kill it.
So I'm really excited. All right.
LARRY: It's tough to think about doing a completely different style,
but we're willing to give it a try
if Tyler thinks it'll work.
It is what it is, right?
Let's go.
George, Deedee, hi. Good to see you again.
You too.
Thanks, thanks.
You got a great brand, you got a good logo.
I think Mayobird is fun.
When I hear that, I immediately think chicken salad.
So you've got a smart brand.
Now we got to make your product live up to that.
So I would recommend trying to poach the chicken
in a court bouillon,
and by that I mean a yummy flavor bath --
water, carrots, celery, onions, thyme, and lemon,
with a little bit of garlic.
[ Laughs ] Sounds good.
It really infuses the chicken
and cooks it evenly and has an amazing flavor.
I want you to try this. It's awesome, all right?
Here's my other thing.
I want you to put your chicken salad
on a warm, delicious bread roll or bun,
and I want to call it a "chicken roll."
Oh, my God.
I'm down.
Yeah, let's do it.
If you're cool with this,
The Mayobird is the new home of the chicken roll.
The chicken roll. I'm like ♪ Ahhh ♪
I am down with the chicken roll!
So, tomorrow is a big day for you.
You have a very key advantage
to go up onstage and introduce yourself.
Have you thought about what you're gonna say to people?
There's gonna be 900 people in the room, and you get a mike.
Yeah, I know. I hate that, by the way.
Don't show fear.
Walk up, it's like, "Hey, everybody, boom, guess what?
We're opening The Mayobird tomorrow."
You got to make this like a world premiere, right?
Home of the chicken roll.
Okay.
That's gonna be the message tomorrow.
You feel good about it?
Not that part, but everything else, yes.
Okay, I will.
Thanks.
DeeDee: I've got a big mouth. I know this.
I love talking to people.
I don't like talking to people
who are not talking back to me.
[ Sighing ] Okay. Let's do this.
All right.
Tyler said we should go with wings.
I'm thinking that we should do
some sort of wing-eating contest,
and after not winning today's competition,
we need a game-changing moment right now.
We need that. That might be it.
HC: We decided that the wing-eating contest
would be the best contest for what we have going on.
This is something that people really like,
so we're gonna give this a shot.
Every person that wins the head-to-head,
Okay.
If they get a Team Wingzza t-shirt,
then they're a part of the team,
so they got to come support us on the big day.
All right. Menu.
So, what are we gonna do for tomorrow?
Tyler thinks we need to focus on the wings, redo the wings.
I'm a little discouraged
because I thought we had the product
that can knock everyone's socks off.
Turned out we didn't.
We sold a whole lot of wings the way we've been doing them.
I'm just not feeling too comfortable with that.
We're gonna go out on a limb, all right?
We're gonna trust Tyler on this one.
I'm nervous. We'll see how it works out.
Okay, so, tomorrow.
Go with the idea of the roll.
Oh, no question we're gonna do that.
And offer two different flavors
since we will definitely have time to do both.
Let's roll with the roll, George!
DeeDee: I'm really excited about this new product that we have.
This chicken roll is sounding like something special.
Let's talk about just in general the marketing.
I'm thinking, everybody loves to tailgate.
And it's fun.
And I'm all about fun.
I think we give them something useful --
a jar opener, but in the shape of a football.
And I will ask them when I'm onstage --
God, that stresses me out.
I cannot stop thinking about the fact
that I have to get up there and speak tomorrow.
I'll be taking care of the food part
while you're talking to the audience.
And as much as I think this is a really good advantage,
I'm terrified.
Oh, God. Okay, that's gonna stress me out.
[ Sighs ]
Okay, George.
DeeDee: Today, we're throwing a marketing event
at Schmoozapalooza,
which is this huge event in Hickory
where there are gonna be a ton of other vendors,
a ton of other people -- all local.
And we got to pull out all the stops
to get people to come to our table,
to get them to come back the next day for our grand opening.
I'm behind you.
We decided to do this tailgate theme.
The brand-new chicken rolls are gonna be perfect for this.
We decided to the harvest,
which is the apples, the grapes, the nuts,
and we're gonna do the loaded.
The loaded has got the bacon, the cheese,
the sour cream, and the chives.
We're in a groove! We're on a roll!
All right.
Yeah.
They got stage time.
So, we got to figure out exactly how we're gonna stand out.
LARRY: The other team has an advantage
'cause they'll be speaking to a lot of people at one time.
We're gonna have to generate some traffic to our table.
So it's gonna be a challenge, but I think we're up for it.
Those wings look great, man.
That's a big wing.
At the marketing event,
we're gonna take Tyler's advice and serve a whole wing,
confit style,
finished off with a deep fry for a crispy outer portion
and drizzle it with some of our famous sauces.
Right.
We'll have our famous mambo, mild buffalo, and Maryland crab.
This takes me back to my roots every time I see this sauce.
Mayobird, how you doing?
Good to see you. Hi.
I'm good.
First and foremost,
we talked about introducing a new technique.
Let me show you what I got over here, okay?
So, this is a stock pot, okay?
So, you've got onions, garlic, lemon peel, carrots.
I've got some chicken breast here,
so we're gonna drop these in.
And then we're gonna let these guys just sit in this,
like, flavor Jacuzzi.
We're gonna cover this,
and we're gonna let this sit here for about 15 minutes --
12 to 15 minutes.
They're gonna be cooked all the way through,
and they're gonna smell amazing.
DeeDee: This is a new way you can cook your chicken.
It's sounding better and better and better.
I'm down with this.
Other than this, this is your chicken salad,
your recipe, everything else.
Do you feel a little less nervous?
My only fear about today
is speaking in front of all these people.
Okay.
You got to walk in the room like you own the place.
All right?
I'll see you later at the event, okay?
That's gonna be awesome.
What's up, guys?
Hey, Tyler. How you doing, man?
Good morning, Tyler.
How are you, brother? Chicken wing.
Got to call it a chicken wing.
So, can we talk about this thing
I was gonna tell you guys about yesterday?
It's a technique called "confit."
What we're gonna do right now in this bowl is,
we're gonna make a little flavor slurry, okay?
So, we got some fresh thyme,
we want some bay leaves,
salt, pepper, crushed garlic,
grape-seed oil,
and then we're gonna pour this overtop of the wings
and then throw it into the oven at 300 degrees.
So you're gonna have an enormous amount of flavor,
not on the surface but all the way through to the bone.
LARRY: We've been doing our wings the same way for a long time,
so to do a whole new process,
a whole new type of wing, it really scares me.
Once we get past this technique,
these wings are still your wings.
Okay?
Yes, sir.
All right. Thanks so much, guys.
Thank you.
Let's put these in the oven real quick.
If we blow it at the marketing event with that new chicken,
I'm gonna be seriously upset.
All right, Larry. Here we go, man.
Ain't got no worries.
But I'm praying. I'm praying.
GEORGE: That looks good.
So, I take the chicken out and taste it,
and it's just absolutely incredible.
GEORGE: Fantastic.
Oh, my God. That is so good!
It's moist, it has a ton of flavor.
I really think it's going to improve our chicken salad.
God, that chicken is good!
It'll be right here. Look.
Wow.
It is good.
LARRY: So, I make my new wings,
taste them for the first time,
and it's like a party in my mouth.
I doubted Tyler.
I didn't know how this was gonna work out,
but I think it was a positive change.
After tasting that, man, that was delicious.
Time to show them what wings is all about.
DeeDee: When we walk into Schmoozapalooza,
there are a ton of people already there.
Time to spread the word.
MAN: What is The Mayobird?
The Mayobird, we specialize in chicken salad.
Tonight, we just have two for you.
The harvest has got the nuts, the apples, and the grapes,
and the loaded has the bacon, the cheese,
a little bit of chives and sour cream.
Thank you.
Today, we're gonna give you a sample of our food.
We have a mild buffalo,
then we have the Maryland-crab wing,
and then our most famous flavor, which is our mambo sauce.
We have a contest where you can win a Team Wingzza t-shirt
like what you see there.
Whoever can get the cleanest wing within 30 seconds
gets the t-shirt.
Go!
The wing-eating contest that we are having today is amazing.
We have the old, we have the young.
Everyone wants to get into this contest,
so that is really, really awesome.
Oh, she's done already!
There's our winner. All right.
We have a huge line wrapped around the room.
Team Wingzza T-shirts are going out like hotcakes.
Hopefully, they'll show up tomorrow for the big game.
You guys can come support us tomorrow
at the Valley Hills Mall.
DeeDee: We hope that you'll come to our grand opening tomorrow
at Valley Hills Mall -- The Mayobird.
Hello!
Thomas Davis is going to be my secret weapon.
I'm hoping he's gonna get people to come to our table
so we can ask them to come back and support us tomorrow.
They might want your autograph,
and if they do, why don't you sign one of these?
The Mayobird.
Thank you.
You're not getting paid for this.
[ Laughs ]
HC, how you doing, man?
How's it going? Is it going great?
Yeah, man. Full of energy.
Yeah.
I'm going for it.
HC: All right.
Good.
How are you? How's the wing?
Cooked nice. It's still very moist.
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate that wing?
I'd go with about a 9, maybe.
Thank you very much.
So, with this particular wing,
is this something you would go out of your way for?
Yeah, we need a good wing place in Hickory.
Chicken rolls! Come on over!
Take that. Thomas will sign them for you.
That's right. Number 58.
How are you guys doing?
DeeDee: Hey! Good!
I feel really good about the product.
Okay, good.
I'm gonna try the harvest.
Okay.
Okay, good.
Did you guys get a chance to try Mayobird?
Incredible.
What did you think?
I did the one with bacon.
I enjoyed that with the chives.
They get a chance to tell you what's happening tomorrow?
Perfect.
How do you feel about going up onstage?
It is what it is!
Stare in the back of the room.
Try not to look anybody directly in the eye.
Okay.
It's time for me to go onstage.
My heart's beating out of my chest,
and I'm just, like,
hoping people don't know
that I'm completely terrified inside.
[ Grunts ]
Hello, Hickory!
My name is Deedee Mills with The Mayobird.
At The Mayobird, our specialty is chicken salad.
Tomorrow, we will be having our grand opening
at Valley Hills Mall.
This marketing event,
we introduced the world to the chicken roll.
Thank you so much for the Chamber
for putting on such an awesome, awesome event.
Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I think I remembered to invite everybody to the event tomorrow.
I can't believe I did it.
I'm just glad it's over.
You did great.
It is over, and now I can breathe.
FLORENCE: How do you think it went today?
Good.
Were you nervous?
I was way nervous.
Like, peeing-my-pants nervous.
Let me tell you, your message was perfect.
You seemed very humble.
You said all the right things,
and most importantly, you dropped the message.
Okay, good.
Why do you want to win this?
Well, I'm a single mom, and the pressure there is huge.
I've got to make it.
I enjoy going to work every day,
and that really says something.
It's important to enjoy what you're doing.
You got a lot riding on this.
Thank you.
Awesome. I'll see you tomorrow.
I want to win this for me and for Canaan for sure,
but I want to see George succeed,
and I feel pressure there.
We got to kill it tomorrow.
We'll kill it.
There's a lot on the line.
There was so much energy coming out of your station today.
Oh, yeah.
I think we got the message out to every single person
that came to our table.
There's not one person
that didn't know what we was doing for tomorrow.
We're ready to win. This is important.
And this hasn't been an easy road.
You know, it's been tough getting to this point --
a lot of ups, a lot of downs.
My wife and I are expecting a new baby.
You know, I wanted to start a legacy in my family
and wanted to have a business
that I could pass on
and teach my son or daughter about.
I've been telling my kids "no" for so long,
and, man...
it's just something that you don't want to do to your kids.
I'm going to send my kids to college.
We're gonna do this.
We're gonna do it.
This is the beginning of the rest of our lives.
Yep. We're definitely gonna do it.
HC, I'm proud of you, man.
HC: So much is at stake.
I have the chance to provide
for my kids and my family.
Thank you for letting me be a part of Team Wingzza.
As a friend, as a brother, I really truly appreciate that.
I really, really do.
I'm just as thankful for you.
Yep.
[ Laughs ]
Wow!
That's dope.
Evaru Design did an excellent job designing our space.
It's not every day you get to go from a food truck
to your own food-court space.
Check it out -- "Unforgettable Wings," my man.
That's real nice, man.
This is it. This is what we've been here for.
[ Laughs ]
How cool is that?
Oh, my God, that looks so good!
Oh, my gosh, I love it.
DeeDee: It's incredible.
It's a dream realized.
It's gorgeous.
Winning this
and having a bricks-and-mortar location,
I do think it would put me in a position
to be with my son more.
I love it, love it, love it!
George, it's, like, for real!
Good morning, teams.
BOTH: Morning.
Ready.
In just a couple of hours,
your restaurants will be open for service.
The team that earns the most money today
will walk away with their space rent-free for one year.
That's a lease worth over $100,000.
Wingzza, it has not been an easy road for you two.
Larry, your truck burned down,
and you were forced to start over.
HC, you've struggled to provide for your family.
But this could change your lives.
Mayobird.
Deedee, you are the only one
providing for your son Canaan,
and George, this is your opportunity
to get back in the culinary game and find success again.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
Let the food-court wars begin! Let's go!
All right, man.
I'll do the ground beef, I'll do the bacon,
then we'll get going with the sauces.
LARRY: Today, we're gonna make buffalo-chicken pizza,
bacon-cheeseburger pizza,
all flavors of wings --
courtesy of our sauce bar -- and a wedge salad.
Yes, sir, so let's do it.
All right. All right.
Mayonnaise! I love it!
GEORGE: Today, we're making a loaded chicken roll --
which resembles the loaded baked potato --
our heater chicken roll --
it's our original chicken salad with jalapeño peppers in it --
and the harvest chicken roll --
the grapes, the apples, the pecans.
And we're also doing our broccoli salad.
A brand-new way of doing it.
All right.
Hey, y'all.
Hey! What's up, Kay?
Good, good.
Our helper for the day is Kay.
She works on the truck with us.
Kay's a great helper because she is very dedicated,
she works fast, and she follows orders.
Hey, guys!
Taylor! Oh, my gosh!
Our helper is Taylor,
and she helps us in the food truck.
All right, guys, what are we doing today?
I could not have asked for a better helper than Taylor.
I hope you brought your chopping hands with you
'cause you're gonna be chopping, chopping, and chopping.
LARRY: We'll do a display table.
We ain't got nothing that we can waste, though, right?
That's, like, advertising costs.
I know, we have enough, but we can't waste.
Larry's my boss, but we need to make sure
that we don't run out of any wings nor the pizza.
We have to get this right.
I need you to be Superwoman on these pizzas today,
Kay, for real. Super fast.
Do a few more of those,
and then come and work with me, okay?
When we first started, I'm thinking,
"We're gonna have plenty of time,"
but as time is going,
I am starting to wonder if we're gonna finish in time
because whether we're finished or not,
these people are coming.
I'm gonna try not to cry. Love you guys! Thank you.
Let's go do this! Let's go kick butt.
LARRY: The door is open.
People are about to start walking up.
Team Wingzza.
Team Wingzza. Let's go.
Service is beginning,
and I feel extremely nervous.
Hey, how are you ladies doing today?
Welcome to Wingzza, okay?
All right, everybody!
The Mayobird is open for business!
Come on up!
We start service.
Come get your chicken salad, y'all.
Come up to The Mayobird!
Wingzza has a long line,
and I'm thinking, "We need customers or we're gonna lose."
How you doing? Hi. Come on over.
We got more food over [Chuckling] here.
Please. [ Chuckles ]
We start service, and Wingzza has a long line.
So we need customers to win this.
Very good.
Good. Welcome, welcome. You're my first customer.
When I see the crowd start to fill in, I'm relieved.
It's getting ready to be on.
You look hungry? You might need to taste two.
Okay. I'm gonna try it.
Okay. Perfect.
GEORGE: Today, we made a loaded chicken roll --
it's like a loaded baked potato --
the harvest chicken roll --
it's the original with grapes, apples, and pecans added --
and the heater chicken roll,
which has roasted jalapeños folded into the chicken,
and our broccoli salad.
Loaded and a broccoli salad.
What can I get for you today, ma'am?
I want the three wings.
LARRY: It's opening day.
Today, we made buffalo-chicken pizza,
bacon-cheeseburger pizza,
all flavors of wings, courtesy of our sauce bar,
and a wedge salad.
Enjoy.
It's gangbusters busy.
The line is so long
that I can't even see the end of it.
Glad you could come see us today.
I've been waiting for like 2 hours!
We need to have two people out front
instead of two people in the back.
People are waiting,
and so I'm thinking of losing in my mind right now.
It's really stressing me out.
Let's get them out.
Kay, I'ma put your tickets on this table, okay?
I bring Kay out, and like that, we're back in business.
We're getting orders out 100 miles an hour,
and we're back on track.
Got a bacon cheeseburger and a wedge.
That'll be $8, ma'am. Thank you so much.
DeeDee: Okay. You would like the loaded?
Yeah 'cause I've had it twice, and it's just amazing.
It's that good!
We're getting extremely positive comments
about everything that's going out.
I might get seconds now.
Seconds, yes.
Ooh! These are good.
That's the loaded -- bacon, cheese -- delicious.
Just want to let you know, we are all sold out of wings.
We end up selling out of wings.
So, at this point, I'm looking at the line of people --
we have no wings left.
All we have left is pizza,
and I get nervous again.
A wing place should have wings.
Wingzza should have wings.
I like the roll a lot 'cause it's, like, slightly toasted.
DeeDee: $13. Perfect. Thank you so much.
Enjoy.
All right. Thank you.
They'll call you when it's ready, okay?
All right. What you getting, man?
Hey, Tyler.
All right. This is your line, man.
This is it -- last big push.
You got to get through these people, okay?
All right. We're going.
Hey, guys, this is the last big push.
Okay. Thanks.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
DeeDee: $8 Great. Thank you so much.
This buffalo sauce is really good.
Your dipping sauce and the wing sauces, okay?
DeeDee: You're welcome.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?
The food-court war is now over!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Thanks so much for coming out tonight.
I don't know if we won,
but I think you killed it in the kitchen.
I think we knocked it out as fast as we could.
One, two, three!
[ Laughs ]
Congratulations, Wingzza, Mayobird.
I'm really proud of both of you.
Your friends and your family
and your children are here to support you.
Wingzza, you had one guy out front
and two people in the back.
You were a little slow out of the gate to get the food going,
but you restructured your team and you tried to catch up.
The customers loved your wings.
However, you ran out of wings, and that's half your brand.
But you're quick on your feet,
and you pushed the pizza to make up for lost sales.
Yes.
Deedee and George, the warm bun was a huge crowd favorite.
Deedee, you failed to attract customers
at the beginning of service,
but once your line started to fill up,
George was cranking out food
and you got through your line quickly.
You should pat your chef on the back.
But do you think it'll be enough for you to win?
I've tallied up the money.
Today was a very tight race,
with a grand total of $1,440
with just $24 between the two of you.
The winner of "Food Court Wars" is...
...Wingzza.
[ Cheers and applause ]
We won, man!
Thank you.
Yes!
[ Laughs ]
ALL: Team Wingzza!
My life is gonna change drastically from this point.
I'm gonna have a new baby, a new restaurant,
and it's gonna blow up.
This result was not how I wanted to go out,
but I'm happy for us.
I mean, we're better as a restaurant.
GEORGE: I think we lost but it's still a happy ending,
and we worked as a team.
That's the best we could do.
To have Canaan here, it makes it easier.
I love you. You know what?
All that matters is, we did the best we could, right?
My plans for The Mayobird
is to still be in a bricks-and-mortar location.
The future of The Mayobird is bright.
What do you guys think, huh?
Brand-new restaurant.
Gentlemen, I have someone to introduce you to --
your new best friend.
This is Mike Ruddy, the General Manager of the mall.
HC, Mike. Nice to meet you.
Thank you very much, sir.
And, guys, real quick,
I got something else to present to you.
This is your first dollar you ever earned at Wingzza.
Awesome. Awesome.
You guys ready to sign the lease?
Let's do it, man.
This is what I've always wanted.
I have the chance to provide for my kids and my family.
This is gonna be great.
Boys, you won yourselves a restaurant!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Future plans for Wingzza equals a million locations.
So now it's time to hit the ground running,
open this thing up, and make it a success.
Team Wingzza, all day.
[ Laughter ]