Well, The Great Food Truck Race with robotic pitchman Tyler Florence ended last night. We've known about the winner for a while now — seriously, can any show or network even keep their own secrets these days? Anyway, it came down to two Los Angeles-based trucks in New York City. After winning every city challenge for the entire series, the banh mi-slinging Nom Nom Truck was defeated by the burger and fries outfit Grill 'Em All Truck, winning the $50,000 prize.
The final challenge was to make $500 in each outer borough, and then another $1000 in Manhattan. It is very hard to sell banh mi sandwiches in the Bronx generally, and to Yankees fans in particular, no matter how tasty your Vietnamese sandwiches are and how cute you are. Grill 'Em All was killing it anyway, already making quick work of Staten Island by reaching out to metal heads using the internet. Because there are a lot of those in Staten Island?
That night Grill 'Em All made it all the way into Manhattan, and was super-close to winning the whole thing until Mr. Florence bizarrely shut it down, citing "safety first" and the need to sleep. The next morning, another stunt: The trucks had to compete in a special contest judged by a "famous New York City chef," Nate Appleman, the famed hamburger and banh mi expert.
Except of course there's a twist. There's always a twist. Nom Nom had to make burgers, and Grill 'Em All had to make banh mi. The ol' switcheroo! So sneaky that Tyler Florence. He's been watching Top Chef. And here, this was the true moment of clarity for the entire season: While the Grill 'Em All guys were making the banh mi, they finally understood Nom Nom's dominance: "I can see why they've been winning this, it's the easiest sandwich in the universe to assemble." Burn.
Video: Nate Appleman on The Great Food Truck Race
So of course Nom Nom wins the challenge anyway and gets to skip Staten Island (lucky for them, they'd probably still be stuck in Staten Island today). So both trucks were in Manhattan, slinging their wares on the way to earning $1,000. Sadly, Nom Nom was no match for burgers and fries in a city flooded with cheap if steady Banh Mi sandwich shops. New York City is a burger town, after all. So hooray, Grill 'Em All wins! Florence is even annoying about just telling them they won.
Things we learned: beauty can only get you so far, Tyler Florence needs better ties, and it helps to have metal head friends on Twitter in Staten Island. And this race is anything but great.
Season two is casting right now.
Video: The Winners
· Nom Nom Truck Shills American Apparel Tanks [-ELA-]
· All Great Food Truck Race Coverage on Eater [-E-]