The Great Food Truck Race, Season 3: Behind the Scenes of Episode 3
Get an inside look at the truckers' challenges and relive the most memorable moments from "Even Food Trucks Are Bigger in Texas," the third episode of Food Network's The Great Food Truck Race.
Big Texas Welcome
The six remaining food trucks cruise into Amarillo, Texas, and Tyler Florence is there to greet the teams at the site of their first challenge, a stadium for minor league baseball team the Amarillo Sox. In just hours, the trucks will open for business to hordes of hungry fans and players after the game.
Ballpark Specials
Before the teams finish grocery shopping, Tyler delivers a Truck Stop challenge: Each truck must feature a ballpark special that professional stadium concessionaire John Ciarrachi will judge, and the team with the best dish will receive an undisclosed prize.
Meatball Madness
The women of Nonna's Kitchenette get to work mixing up their grandmas' classic Italian meatballs, which will be the stars of their "Texas-style meatball sliders." What about these meatballs will be Texas-style? Their extra-large size, of course.
Pitching to the Fans
One person from each team takes to the field during the seventh-inning stretch to introduce themselves to the crowd, talk about their menu and encourage patrons to visit their truck after the game. The spokesmen from Seoul Sausage and Pop-A-Waffle prove to be born entertainers, while others deliver a more subdued performance.
Limited Menu
Carlo from Pizza Mike's spreads the word about his team's award-winning dishes in an effort to increase sales. "Everybody's got a line; ours is not so big. I'm a little bit concerned," Mike says. The clever advertising may have worked too well, since Pizza Mike's runs out of its lone product, an Italian roast beef sandwich, before the end of the night.
Alaska Takes Texas
After narrowly avoiding elimination last week, Momma's Grizzly Grub brings its A-game to Amarillo. For their ballpark special, the ladies serve chicken tacos that are homeruns with customers and judge John alike. "There's an actual explosion of flavor coming out of this taco," John says of the team's dish.
Perfect Pairing: Chicken and Waffles
The guys of Pop-A-Waffle are dishing out an all-American classic of buttermilk fried chicken and fluffy waffles that wows the crowd. "The Amarillo love is coming out in droves," Bobaloo says of the line of fans outside his truck. "We have been busy since the word go."
Kimchi Balls
In no time, the Seoul Sausage truck attracts a crowd of customers waiting to try the team's now-infamous "Flaming Fried Balls." But it's the guys' ballpark special — a Korean-style burger topped with an onion ring and pineapple — that most impresses John. He names the team the winner of the Truck Stop challenge, and Tyler awards them $500 and a single key to an unknown lock.
Street Marketing
On day two of the weekend, many of the trucks team up to sell in a parking lot near downtown Amarillo. Despite their prime location, Coast of Atlanta is struggling to bring in as many customers as the other teams, so Tawanaca resorts to roadside advertising to recruit potential buyers. Lena admits that her team is "going to have to hustle" to stay in the race.
Booted in the Park
Pizza Mike's is the only truck to have separated from the group, now selling at a local park with the intention of relocating later in the day. While the team's plan proves lucrative for a while, Tyler's call announces a game-changing Speed Bump: For the rest of the weekend, the teams are prevented from moving from their current locations, thanks to an immobilizing boot that will be locked to each truck's front tire.
Unlocked and Loaded
Finally able to put their Truck Stop win to work, the Seoul Sausage guys use the mystery key to unlock the boot and drive to the baseball stadium, where another Amarillo Sox game is taking place. Fans remember the team's fried kimchi balls and welcome the guys back with sizable purchases. "That key was the best thing that ever happened to us," Chris reflects.
Supply and Demand
Slammed with hundreds of orders, Nonna's Kitchenette doesn't have the product to keep up with the customers, and the ladies are forced to temporarily close their truck so they can shop for additional ingredients. "This is good and bad," Lisa says. "We're selling out of things, but we have to keep going to the grocery store, wasting time."
Sausage Sweep
On elimination day, Tyler announces that for the third straight week, Seoul Sausage has blown away its competitors with earnings of $4,561. While the guys are excited about their triple victory, their rival teams are getting frustrated that they cannot outsell them. "I am over Seoul Sausage getting first place in every competition," Jessica from Nonna's Kitchenette admits. "I need to beat Seoul Sausage."
Back From Behind
After enduring a disappointing bottom-two finish last week, the ladies of Momma's Grizzly Grub shock the competition with second-place earnings of $3,911, enough to prove that they're true contenders. "I think we've found our sleeper team," Tyler says of the Alaskan natives.
End of the Road
Though Pizza Mike's earns $2,764, it is not enough to keep the team in the race, thanks in part to the Speed Bump that prevented the guys from moving to a better location. Still, however, they are proud of their time in the race and leave with no regrets. "It's been a tough race," Mike says, "but I'll tell you what, we gave it all we had."
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