The Great Food Truck Race recap: Nashville hot chicken, it’s a good burn
Making it to the final three would be music to their ears. But, Nashville hot chicken and smart promotion makes the difference between a win and going home.
With only four food trucks left in The Great Food Truck Race, the food trucks need big sales to continue to the finale. Nashville is a culinary town. The downside is that these food trucks can struggle with finding their audience. The difference between moving on and going home will be the Nashville hot chicken challenge.
Nashville hot chicken is unique to Music City. This fried chicken isn’t for the meek. Nashville hot chicken is fire burning in your mouth. Topped with a pickle, this type of fried chicken can clear your sinuses for a day.
The four food trucks had to create a Nashville chicken inspired dish, but they couldn’t use chicken. Each dish had to have the same flavor profile, but it had to incorporate a different protein. The key to a successful dish would be the heat.
Braised in the South, photo from Food Network
Three of the four food trucks created a shrimp focused dish. Braised in the South created a Nashville hot version of their shrimp and grits. This dish had a good amount of heat, but the burn wasn’t to an extreme level. Southern Frenchie made a shrimp on a hot cake. The addition of the pickle garnish was a nice touch but it too lacked some heat. Mr. Po Boy kicked the spice level to extreme. Their shrimp po boy had everyone’s mouth on fire.
The Breakfast Club was the only food truck that didn’t use shrimp. Their chorizo hush puppy didn’t have the heat. It was a sweeter dish. While this food truck does brunch items well, their culinary ability can be limited.
Mr. Po Boy won the Nashville hot chicken challenge. Their dish had the extreme heat that was needed to win. The extra $500 made a huge difference to their final totals.
Overall this week, the food trucks struggled with finding patrons. In a larger city, the food truck idea isn’t going to bring in the crowds. With so many amazing restaurants in a small area, the competition for patrons is great. Sometimes it isn’t about delicious food. Good promotion is a big factor to success.
Breakfast Club, photo from Food Network
The second challenge focused on promotion. The food truck with the best promotion would get immunity. With only four food trucks left, the immunity benefit is a huge win. But, some food trucks didn’t understand the idea of good promotion.
The promotion challenge gave the edge to the Breakfast Club. With three millennials, this food truck understands the idea of self-promotion and social media. Their dance and discount promotion was a hit. It brought in an audience and created a connection with the food truck.
Personally, my favorite promotion was Braised in the South. I loved the idea that they gave away their spice rub. For foodies, this giveaway is a great idea. While no one could exactly recreate Braised in the South’s recipes, it is a perfect way of creating a connection with the food truck.
Southern Frenchie’s song was cute, but it is more of a long term promotion. They needed to tie the promotion back to their patrons or get them more involved. It would have made a cute video, but it wasn’t necessarily the best fit for this challenge.
Mr. Po Boy’s failed at the promotion. Their Po-le man was sad. Luckily, they won the Nashville hot chicken challenge. They weren’t winning this challenge.
When the final results were tallied, the outcome was quite shocking. Braised in the South won the Nashville stop. Their final tally was substantially more than the other three trucks. Mr. Po Boy took second place, with the help from its Nashville hot chicken challenge.
Southern Frenchie, The Great Food Truck Race, photo from Food Network
The bottom two teams were Southern Frenchie and the Breakfast Club. Although Southern Frenchie had more sales than the Breakfast Club, Breakfast Club won immunity from the promotion challenge. Southern Frenchie went home.
I’m really disappointed that Southern Frenchie went home. Their food truck is better than the brunch food truck. While I understand that the show needs a few twists, I don’t think that this outcome is a good one.
Southern Frenchie understands food. When it comes down to it, food trucks are about producing good food. If I were choosing a place for food, I would pick their food truck over the brunch food truck any day. No one needs another iced mocha or a donut.
Sorry to see you go Southern Frenchie. Hope you find a restaurant or a food truck that I can visit one day.
Next: Lord honey, Jason Smith to host baking competition show
The second to last stop takes The Great Food Truck Race to Athens, Georgia. What will happen in this second to last Southern city? Check back next week to find out.