America's Next Great Restaurant is an NBC reality television show featuring contestants pitching restaurant ideas to a panel of judges, where the winner receives financial backing for their restaurant concept.MacIntyre, April. (2011-12-26). NBC Previews for Perfect Couples and America's Next Great Restaurant Monster and Critics. Retrieved 2010-12-28. Three locations were opened across the nation — Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York—on Monday, May 2, 2011, the day after the May 1 season finale.O'Connel, Mikey. (2010-01-13). 'America's Next Great Restaurant': It's not fast food, it's 'fast casual' Zap2it.com. Retrieved 2010-01-18. The judges included chefs Curtis Stone, Bobby Flay, Lorena Garcia, and Chipotle Mexican Grill founder Steve Ells,Best, Jason. (2010-12-23). 'America's Next Great Restaurant' Video Sneak Peek Slashfood. Retrieved 2010-12-28. who were the investors in the winning concept.Vestal, Shannon. (2010-01-13). Yumsugar.com. Retrieved 2010-01-18. The production company behind the show was Magical Elves, the same company that produces Top Chef.Vlessing, Etan. "Busy Magical Elves Headed to Banff for Keynote". The Hollywood Reporter. May 2, 2011 The show, which has been described as a cross between The Apprentice and Top Chef, premiered on March 6, 2011.Gorman, Bill. (2011-01-18). NBC Keeps 'Parenthood' @ Tuesday 10pm; 'Law & Order: LA' Return & 'Marriage Ref' Delayed; 'Next Great Restaurant' To Sunday Zap2it.com. Retrieved 2011--1-19. The first-season finale aired on Sunday, May 1, 2011, with Jamawn Woods' concept, a soul food restaurant concept called Soul Daddy, judged the winner.
The season finale, which drew a 2.0 viewership rating, was rebroadcast on May 6, as viewers in the Pacific Time Zone did not learn the winner during the original broadcast, due to the breaking news of the death of Osama bin Laden.Gorman, Bill. "NBC Announces The Winner Of 'America's Next Great Restaurant' On Last Night's (May 1) Season Finale Episode" , TV By the Numbers, May 2, 2011Gorman, Bill. "TV Ratings Sunday: Bin Laden News Scrambles Ratings, But ABC Likely Tops The Night", TV By the Numbers, May 2, 2011"Bin Laden death announcement preempts NBC programming", KPNX. May 1, 2011MacKenzie, Carina Adly. "TV Ratings: President Obama's address turns Americans to their TVs", Zap 2 It, May 2, 2011
Due to low ratings, on May 13, 2011, NBC cancelled the show after the first season.
The three Soul Daddy restaurants that were opened (in Minneapolis, Manhattan and Los Angeles) closed within two months of their May 2, 2011 grand opening.
Contestants Contestant and AgeHometownOccupationOriginal Restaurant NameChanged NameSloganRestaurant ConceptEliminatedJamawn Woods, 32Detroit, MichiganSelf-employed cookW3 - Woods' Wings & WafflesSoul DaddyCooking With Heart And Soulsoul foodWinnerSudhir Kandula, 40 New York City, New YorkSoftware SalesThe Tiffin BoxSpice CoastEat Flavorfullymodern Indian cuisineRunner-UpJoey Galluzzi, 40Brooklyn, New YorkFinancial servicesSaucy BallsBrooklyn Meatball CompanyItalian Home Cooking, Fresh Is BestmeatballsRunner-UpStephenie Park, 28Chicago, IllinoisAttorneyCompleatHarvest SolFlavor You Can Count Onhealthy meals / Mediterranean cuisineEpisode 9Greg Westcott/Krystal Seymour, 30/29Los Angeles, CaliforniaBartender/Personal TrainerHick'sGrill'BilliesUrban Grill With Southern Attitude; Be The SauceSouthern comfort food / grillingEpisode 8Sandy DiGiovanni, 54Kansas City, MissouriBartenderLimboSinners and SaintsFood For Your Moodchoice of healthy or indulgent dishesEpisode 6Eric Powell, 28Nashville, TennesseeFinancial ManagerMeltworksArtisanal Ingredients, Endless Possibilitiesgrilled cheeseEpisode 5Alex Terranova, 28Marina del Rey, CaliforniaRestaurant ManagerHard 'N Soft A Taco BarRevolution TacosExplore, Discover, Indulgefusion tacosEpisode 4Marisa Zafran, 31 New York City, New YorkDirector of PR/MarketingWokChǎoThe Art of Stir Frystir-fryEpisode 3Fran Harris, 45Dallas, TexasPersonal trainerThe Sports Wraphealthy sports wrapEpisode 2Sarah SchierPrivate chefWhat's Goodorganic and healthy Episode 1Aimee Kyriss, 29Denver, ColoradoThe POO Crew, LLC co-ownerSoupZfast, healthy, raw, made-to-order soupsEpisode 1Brianne TeevanEducatorCafé crEATiviinteractive cafe for kidsEpisode 1Kevin Tran/Viet TranNam NamVietnameseEpisode 1Anita CurranRestaurant manager Pot Bellypot piesEpisode 1Joe BarkerBig Wangs Restaurant Chain OwnerLil' WangswingsEpisode 1Jason MaciogeRestaurant ownerBully's Burgers & Wingsburgers and wingsEpisode 1Anastasia AlexanderGiggling Greek TaverniaGreekEpisode 1William "Win" BruceMix It Up SandwichesEpisode 1Farzan FatehiHouston, TexasAbe's Cajun Market ManagerSinaPersian Episode 1Shannon KlepperTiffin, OhioCon GustoSpanishEpisode 1
Episode elimination chart
PlaceContestantEpisode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 JamawnTop 10 INWIN IN INWIN INLOWWINWINNER T-2 SudhirTop 10 IN INWIN IN INWINLOW INRUNNER-UP T-2 JoeyTop 10 IN INLOWLOWLOWLOWWINLOWRUNNER-UP 4 StephenieTop 10 INLOW IN INLOW IN INOUT5 Greg/KrystalTop 10LOWLOW INWIN INLOWOUT6 SandyTop 10 IN IN INLOWOUT7 EricTop 10WIN INLOWOUT8 AlexTop 10 IN INOUT 9 MarisaTop 10LOWOUT 10 FranTop 10OUT 11 Jason OUT T12-21 Sarah OUT AimeeOUT BrianneOUT TranOUT AnitaOUT Joe B.OUT AnastasiaOUT WinOUT FarzenOUT Shannon OUT
Episode 7 was an unaired episode that had contestants create a mini-website.
The contestant was the winner of America's Next Great Restaurant and won three restaurants in three cities across the country. The contestant(s) were the runners-up of America's Next Great Restaurant. The contestant won the challenge for the week. The contestant made it into the Top 10. The contestant was safe from elimination but did not win the challenge of the week. The contestant was in the bottom group for the week. The contestant was eliminated.
Episodes Each episode combines a business challenge with a food challenge.
Opened restaurants ANGR Holdings is the company that ran Soul Daddy's restaurants. It also holds registered trademarks on several of the other restaurant concepts' names (marked ® in the first table above). The Minneapolis Soul Daddy was housed in the Mall of America, while the Manhattan location was at the South Street Seaport, at 189 Front Street.Shapiro, Julie. "'America's Next Great Restaurant' Coming to South Street Seaport" , DNAinfo, April 29, 2011 The Los Angeles restaurant was located at Hollywood and Highland, in the same grand center as the Kodak Theatre. On June 14, 2011, the Manhattan and Los Angeles locations were closed in order for Woods to focus on the Minneapolis location, which itself closed on June 28. Woods was vocal in blaming Chipotle's management team for the failure of the chain, and said that the company owed him a year's salary. He reached a settlement with Chipotle by September 27 of that year.
As of early October 2011 the top three contestants were all working on opening restaurants based on their Next Great Restaurant concepts. While on leave from his job at Chrysler, Woods split his time constructing a Soul Daddy in his hometown of Detroit, while catering from his home and pursuing an associate's degree at Schoolcraft College, a school in Livonia, Michigan known for its culinary arts program. Runner-up Joey Galluzzi intended to pursue his restaurant concept, and enrolled in the Culinary Arts program at Le Cordon Bleu to improve his knowledge of the business.Joseph Galluzzi. America's Next Great Restaurant Official Site at NBC.com. accessed October 8, 2011. Runner-up Sudhir Kandula joined a San Francisco-based start-up called . as their vice president of sales, advised a friend on his software/food venture called GlassCart, and worked with friends on a stealth food project called American Dirt.Sudhir Kandula. America's Next Great Restaurant Official Site at NBC.com. accessed October 8, 2011.
Of all of the contestants, Galluzzi was the only contestant that had successfully opened a restaurant based on his original concept and that business had operated continuously for more than five years.
References
External links
Official site
Meltworks Official website of one of the competitors.