How did Wichita’s team do on the first episode of Food Network’s ‘Great Food Truck Race’?

The first episode of “The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Gulf” aired on Sunday night, and Wichita’s team is still in the game.

Not only that but Argentina’s Empanadas, which was selected to compete on the 17th season of the Tyler Florence-hosted Food Network show, finished fifth overall on the season premiere.

In case you missed Sunday’s episode, here’s how it went down:

The Argentina’s Empanada’s team, made up of business owners Carolina Brandan and Chad Freeman and their friend and fellow Wichitan Paola Mentis, met up with eight other teams from around the country outside of the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Host Florence, who had just explained to the television audience that the truckers all would travel 1,400 miles and through nine different cities during the season, was there to meet the teams. The one that makes the most sales by the end of the race will win $50,000, he told them.

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All of the competitors are brand new food truckers, Florence said, and the show custom made deluxe trucks for each to use during the race. The nine teams of three people each had five minutes to inspect their new rigs before the race began, and all were rather excited. The Argentina’s Empanadas truck was baby blue, as were their team uniforms, and featured the Argentinian flag.

The Wichita team is competing against:

Bao Bei from Washington, D.C., which serves bao buns and other Taiwanese street food dishes

Wally’s Waffles from Chicago, which serves “unique waffle creations” made on Belgian Liege waffles

Down to Get Tacos from Gilbert, Arizona, which makes tacos, quesaritos and more and is known for its barbacoa

Cooks with Passion from Atlanta, which serves “Caribbean New South cuisine”

Kalye from New York City offering “authentic Filipino flavors”

Fishnet from Baltimore, which serves fresh fish prepared in a variety of ways

SoLA Po’Boys from Los Angeles, which makes po’boy sandwiches with “razzle dazzle”

Plates on Deck from Lakeland, Florida, which serves “eclectic soul food”

The Wichita team a got lots of screen time in the premiere episode, and when it was first introduced, Florence quipped:

“So there’s lots of empanadas in Wichita, Kansas?”

“No, we’re the only ones,” Brandan replied.

“The only ones?” Florence said. “Shocker.”

The teams’ first challenge was to prepare a “blast off” dish for Florence that showed him what they were all about. They had 40 minutes to complete their dishes, and the winner would get $300 toward their till.

Argentina’s Empanadas prepared a matambre a la pizza, which features a flank steak topped with mozzarella, marinara sauce, tomatoes, olives and chimichurri sauce and served with golden potatoes. When Florence eventually tasted the dish, he liked it, calling it “delicious” and saying it had a “nice little mashup of different flavors.”

The top three teams in that challenge were Down to Get Tacos in third, earning $100; Plates on Deck in second, earning $200; and Cooks with Passion in first with its shrimp-and-grits burger. That team got the $300.

Florence then instructed the teams to board their trucks and head to their first stop: Discovery Green park in downtown Houston, where they were to set up side-by-side and start selling to the public. Wichita’s team got a quick start and had a line of people waiting to get their empanadas, which Mentis enthusiastically hawked to passers by.

The bottom two teams after the first day of Houston sales were Kalye from New York City and Bao Bai from Washington, D.C. The two each had to prepare a “Hail Mary” dish, and a food trucker from a previous season served as the judge. She sent Kalye from New York City home.

Afterward, the remaining teams had to split into squads. The top two sellers from the day — Wally’s Waffles and Plates on Deck — chose teams, and Wally’s Waffles picked Argentina’s Empanadas second. The next day, the teams were told, each would have to create a dish and quickly sell five of them. Whichever squad had all four of its teams each sell five of its dishes the quickest would win.

Argentina’s Empanadas was the first team on the “Stripes’ squad to get to five sales, despite a little mix up in delivering orders to customers. Still, their squad finished just behind the “Stars” squad in selling out the fastest.

The teams then gathered, and Florence announced that Wally’s Waffles had sold the most food overall, making that team the champions of the first leg. Wichita’s team finished fifth with sales of $1,435.

Bao Bei again finished in last place but was saved from elimination and will be able to compete next week, when the teams travel to Galveston.

Back in Wichita on Sunday, the Argentina’s Empanadas competitors gathered with friends and supporters at Pumphouse in Old Town to watch the episode. This morning, they were up at 4:30 a.m. “knocking out two caterings.”

The next episode of the nine-episode season, titled “Justin Time” airs at 7 p.m. Sunday on Food Network. Those who missed the premiere episode can still watch it online at watch.foodnetwork.com

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