America’s Next Great Restaurant

A judge from the NBC reality competition America’s Next Great Restaurant and a future Top Chef Masters cast member, Lorena Garcia, is responsible for creating new menu items at Taco Bell that aim to take on Chipotle, which was founded by another judge on that very same show, Steve Ells. That’d make for an awkward… continue reading

The saga of America’s Next Great Restaurant‘s not-so-great end continues as Chipotle is getting the blame for killing Soul Daddy, which closed its third and final restaurant in June. Earlier this month, TMZ claimed that winner Jamawn Woods said Chipotle was to blame, although he wasn’t actually quoted in their post, which did more to… continue reading

One of the greatest mysteries of America’s Next Great Restaurant is exactly how much money the show’s four judges actually invested in the restaurant, Soul Daddy, which just closed its final location after just two months. If Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone, and Lorena Garcia all invested the same amount of money as Chipotle founder Steve… continue reading

The final restaurant opened as the prize for NBC’s America’s Next Great Restaurant has closed. Jamawn Woods’ Soul Daddy opened May 1 in New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis, but just 15 days ago, shut down the New York and L.A. locations. Jamawn was surprised by the first two closings, and this one surprised his… continue reading

Two of America’s Next Great Restaurant winner Jamawn Woods’ three Soul Daddy restaurants have closed, leaving just one location open. Both the New York City and Los Angeles locations closed forever yesterday, after opening May 1 following the lackluster and low-rated finale of the NBC reality competition. Jamawn actually learned of the closings late yesterday,… continue reading

America’s Next Great Restaurant concluded last night, at least for those not in the Pacific time zone, and the winning restaurant, Soul Daddy, opened three locations today: in L.A. at Hollywood and Highland, in New York City at the South Street Seaport, and in Minneapolis at the Mall of America. Like The Bachelor relationships, I… continue reading

I was really looking forward to America’s Next Great Restaurant, NBC’s reality competition that debuted last night. But it was pretty a freaking awful first episode. It should have been great: It’s a smart concept, 10 people competing to open a mini-chain of restaurants based on their original ideas. They’ll be challenged Apprentice-style, and also… continue reading