Show Winner Blames Chipotle for America's Next Great Failure

Jamawn Woods on the day he won thought he had it all.

Image: Courtesy of NBC

It was supposed to be America’s Next Great Restaurant, but as soon as NBC’s hit spring show went off the air, winner Jamawn Woods allegedly found himself with an inexperienced team and no backing, forcing him to close his three locations in just two months.

Now he wants someone with deep pockets to pay—Chipotle.

Woods tells TMZ that it was Chipotle, and its owner Steve Ells, one of the four judge-investors in his Soul Daddy chain, who were responsible to back up the franchise not only financially but also with input in hiring staff. That’s why Woods wants Ells to pay him at least one year’s salary of $46,000, and he may sue to get what he thinks is coming to him.

While NBC continues to refuse to comment on any further aspects of the show, SEC filings show that Chipotle had invested $2.3 million in a holding company set up to support the restaurant chain, and that Ells had personally put in an additional $220,000. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that if the three other judge-investors—Bobby Flay, Lorena Garcia, and Curtis Stone—each matched Ells’ personal investment of $220,000, overall, approximately $3 million went into the franchise’s spectacular failure.

Viewers may have caught the look of surprise on Woods’ face when he walked into one of his completed locations at the end of the final episode and saw a dramatically different concept than the one he had pitched all season. It was then that the initial signals of tension first came out, and were followed by a near gag order of Woods at media appearances following the season’s wrap.

News that the show wasn’t picked up for a second season started whispers that the concept—and business model—weren’t sound, and that surely financial issues were the root cause, since Restaurant pulled in great ratings and was a surprise hit for the peacock network.

It hasn’t been a very good year for Ells, whose Chipotle brand has been the subject of an immigration probe, lost a lawsuit over serving customers with disabilities, and is facing a class-action over wages. In this case, though, TMZ reports that the company is trying to hammer out a settlement.

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