America's Next Great Restaurant

America's Next Great Restaurant
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes9
Production
Running time60 minutes
Original release
Network
ReleaseMarch 6 (2011-03-06) –
May 1, 2011 (2011-05-01)[2]
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

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.[3] 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.[4] The judges included chefs Curtis Stone, Bobby Flay, Lorena Garcia, and Chipotle Mexican Grill founder Steve Ells,[5] who were the investors in the winning concept.[6] The production company behind the show was Magical Elves, the same company that produces Top Chef.[7] The show, which has been described as a cross between The Apprentice and Top Chef,[6] premiered on March 6, 2011.[8] 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.[9][10][11][12]

Due to low ratings, on May 13, 2011, NBC cancelled the show after the first season.[2]

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.

  1. ^ Kitzie, Erin. "'AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT' WILL PREMIERE ON MARCH 11TH ON CNBC" Archived 2012-10-16 at the Wayback Machine. CNBC. February 11, 2011
  2. ^ a b "America's Next Great Restaurant: NBC Series Cancelled, No Season Two". TV Series Finale. May 16, 2011
  3. ^ MacIntyre, April. (2011-12-26). NBC Previews for Perfect Couples and America's Next Great Restaurant Archived 2010-12-28 at the Wayback Machine Monster and Critics. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Best, Jason. (2010-12-23). 'America's Next Great Restaurant' Video Sneak Peek Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Slashfood. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  6. ^ a b Vestal, Shannon. (2010-01-13). America's Next Great Restaurant Is "About the American Dream"[usurped] Yumsugar.com. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  7. ^ Vlessing, Etan. "Busy Magical Elves Headed to Banff for Keynote". The Hollywood Reporter. May 2, 2011
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Gorman, Bill. "NBC Announces The Winner Of 'America's Next Great Restaurant' On Last Night's (May 1) Season Finale Episode" Archived 2011-05-04 at the Wayback Machine, TV By the Numbers, May 2, 2011
  10. ^ Gorman, Bill. "TV Ratings Sunday: Bin Laden News Scrambles Ratings, But ABC Likely Tops The Night", TV By the Numbers, May 2, 2011
  11. ^ "Bin Laden death announcement preempts NBC programming", KPNX. May 1, 2011
  12. ^ MacKenzie, Carina Adly. "TV Ratings: President Obama's address turns Americans to their TVs", Zap 2 It, May 2, 2011