March 9 (2010-03-09) – November 17, 2010 (2010-11-17)
Food Wars is a weekly Travel Channel series hosted by Camille Ford that debuted on Tuesday, March 9, 2010.[1] The show featured restaurant rivalries in cities around the United States, with loyal fans cheering for one of two restaurants that serve one of the city's signature dishes. A blind taste test with five tasters was conducted at the end of each show to decide which restaurant's version of the dish was better.
The show aired 1 season from March to November 2010. It was cancelled and not picked up for any further seasons.
Format
In each episode, Food Wars travels to a particular U.S. city and finds two restaurants who are top-rated rivals serving the same dish, one symbolic of the featured city (e.g., Buffalo wings in Buffalo, New York). Ford visits both restaurants, tries the dish in question and talks with owners and fans. The show presents a history of each restaurant and origins of the rivalry.
At the end of each episode, a taste test is conducted with the judging panel. Each judge tastes a sample of each dish and votes for his or her favorite. The restaurant that receives more votes is declared the winner of that food war. At the beginning of the series, the panel consisted of two "super fans" - one of each restaurant's most loyal customers and fans - and three impartial judges consisting of local personalities and/or critics. In this format, the judging was done via a blind taste test, where the identity of each sample was not revealed until after the judging. Beginning with the fourteenth episode the taste test format changed. The superfans were dropped and host Ford joined the taste test panel with two other locals. The panel is no longer blindfolded; they know whose dish they are tasting and can ask the owner questions.
Episodes
Food Wars debuted on March 9, 2010 with two back-to-back episodes that premiered at 10:00 and 10:30 PM EST, featuring buffalo-wing restaurants in Buffalo, New York and Italian-beef restaurants in Chicago. Further episodes aired on Wednesday nights at 10:00 PM EST.
Food Wars traveled to Buffalo, New York to pit Anchor Bar against cross-town rival Duff's to decide which serves the city's best Buffalo wings. The show was filmed in late December 2009.[2]
Food Wars traveled to Chicago to settle a rivalry between two Italian-beef sandwich restaurants: Al's #1 Italian Beef and Mr. Beef. In a lopsided victory, Mr. Beef soundly defeated Al's 4-1.[3]
Food Wars' visit to Pittsburg, Kansas pitted fried-chicken rivals Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's against each other. The episode was filmed January 15–17, 2010.[4]
In Lockhart, Texas, Food Wars featured the barbecue rivalry between Kreuz Market and Smitty's Market, which resulted from a family feud between brother and sister.[5] Unlike other episodes which taste-test a single food item, this week's challenge featured both beef brisket and smoked sausage from each restaurant, which according to one judge's commentary caused voting confusion.
Two Minneapolis favorites battled it out in this episode. Each restaurant claims to have invented the city's signature Jucy Lucy (or Juicy Lucy), a hamburger that boasts melted cheese cooked inside the meat patty. This installment was filmed February 8–10, 2010.[6]
Food Wars' excursion into Tucson, Arizona featured two purveyors of the Sonoran hot dog, a hot dog wrapped in bacon and topped with pinto beans, chopped tomatoes, both fresh and grilled onions, mustard, jalapeño sauce and mayonnaise. This episode was filmed January 28–30, 2010[7] and in a Food Wars first, both opposing superfans (who happen to be brothers) voted for the same competitor, BK's Sonoran dog.
