America's Next Great Restaurant (2011– )

Contestants vie for the opportunity to see their original restaurant concept be realized with the opening of a restaurant chain in three locations: Hollywood, Minneapolis and New York City.... See full summary »

Stars:

Bobby Flay, Lorena Garcia, Curtis Stone

Cast

Series cast summary:
Bobby Flay	...	Himself (9 episodes, 2011)
Lorena Garcia	...	Herself (9 episodes, 2011)
Curtis Stone	...	Himself (9 episodes, 2011)
Steve Ells	...	Himself (9 episodes, 2011)
Joey Galluzzi	...	Himself - Financial Advisor (9 episodes, 2011)
Sudhir Kandula	...	Himself - Software Sales (9 episodes, 2011)
Jamawn Woods	...	Himself - Self Employed Cook (9 episodes, 2011)
Stephenie Park	...	Herself - Attorney (8 episodes, 2011)
Krystal Seymour	...	Herself - Bartender (7 episodes, 2011)
Greg Westcott	...	Himself - Bartender (7 episodes, 2011)
Sandy Digiovanni	...	Herself - Bartender (5 episodes, 2011)
Eric Powell	...	Himself - Financial Manager (5 episodes, 2011)
Alex Terranova	...	Himself - Restaurant Manager (4 episodes, 2011)

Storyline

Contestants vie for the opportunity to see their original restaurant concept be realized with the opening of a restaurant chain in three locations: Hollywood, Minneapolis and New York City. Funding the restaurant concepts are four accredited investors: chefs Bobby Flay, Lorena Garcia, and Curtis Stone, as well as Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. Flay, Stone, Ells and Garcia also serve as mentors, working with the competitors to further develop their ideas. Each contestant's concept is put through rigorous business and cooking challenges to determine whether it has what it takes to become America's next great restaurant.

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | food | entrepreneurship | competition | non fiction

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Genres:

Reality-TV

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 March 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Magical Elves Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

My 383rd Review: Competent first show - but maybe needs more?

The premise, design a fast food concept, and as a prize get three full-fledged restaurants, is an amazing reward offered to the contestants of the latest reality competition "America's Next Great Restaurant".

We jumped straight in with episode one without understanding how the final 25 were chosen with the elimination of 25 to the final 10. The contestants offering Thai, and Indian, Middle Eastern, and every type of food imaginable. Only one of the contestants, the waffle and wings man, shone as having a strong back story, and for my money, he had heart and seemed a genuinely nice guy. He and the man with Grandma's meatballs are memorable. The others are fairly indistinguishable and it will be a problem to see how they will establish themselves as something more than just the Taco Guy or the Ex-Barmaid etc;

No doubt there will be Trump like challenges every week etc; and though that may be fun I hope we will also get a good insight as to how some of the world's greatest cash cows got their push.

All in all, the first episode felt too rushed, and we need to feel more, I hope that this food show has heart and energy enough to carry it through, but on a first serving I, for one, am not 100% convinced.

Re-edit: having watched episode 2 I would downgrade this even more. Despite the idea of a chef to work with, and a logo specialist, it fell very flat. I normally like reality shows with a competitive edge, but this somehow doesn't inspire me to want to see who'll stay and who'll go. I might watch the final, just to find out, but otherwise it just ain't cooking for me.