Transcription
Today we're surprising empty restaurants with a hundred friends. But first, I'm going to eat there alone. If the food is good, I'm going to invite my friends over and surprise the owner. This is like a dream come true.
The first restaurant we're visiting is called Joy House, located in DC's Chinatown, an area where restaurants have been closing at record high rates in the last few years with 50% less foot traffic. So, yesterday I actually called Joy House to see if the owner works there, but the person picking up the phone said that the owner actually hasn't been feeling well. I know that Joy House is a long-standing business here in the Chinatown community and they've been saying that the business hasn't been doing that well either. We got to support these small businesses. Let's get it. First stop.
Hello. What's like the number one favorite here? Kungpow chicken, jun chicken, shrimp fried rice. Okay, I'll do the kungpow chicken. How's business been these days in DC? A lot of people are saying DC is struggling right now. 50% less diners coming in. Is that true? Yeah, it's a 13. Oh, look at that. That was quick. Thank you so much. Cuz you know, best thing about Chinese takeout, they don't skimp on the white rice. Well, it looks good, smells good, but does it taste good? Let's see. That's the most tender chicken I've had. First spot. I think it got the pass for sure. Thank you so much. The food was so good. That's like honestly one of the best takeouts I've had. Yeah. I got to tell all my friends about this spot. Oh, are you the owner by any chance? No, I'm just working here. Oh, you just working here? Oh, okay. Okay. All right. Well, I'll see you soon. Okay. Thank you.
This is crazy. I brought the whole roster today. Let's get it. All right, guys. Come on in. Let's go. Yeah, let's go. I'm not sure is it enough to see. Dang, I've never seen a takeout spot this busy. In the beginning, she was so shocked to see how many people came to the restaurant, but now it looks like she was pretty excited. Literally an hour ago, I was the only one in here. But now, I can't even walk. Yo, I'm a little worried about my bank account, bro. You going to be disappointed at the second place when more people pull up. I was surprised at the number of orders and the worker was surprised at the number of people. So, this is like one of the busiest lines you've seen. So, I decided to help out. I'll call out the orders. Okay. All right. First orders out. All right. Got beef and garlic sauce. We got the uh Hunan beef in a bottle drink, right? Okay, I got you. How about steamed chicken dumplings, pan fried chicken dumplings, fried cheese, wanton, Hong Kong milk tea, and sweet and sour chicken. Oh, does he? I didn't realize some people wouldn't just order one meal. They were ordering even three at a time. Shout out to my man here. You pulled up to the pizza spot last time. Listen, anywhere Daddy Kim is, I'll be there. How's the food, by the way? Is it good? It's really yummy. It is so good. They're pumping these orders out really fast. You guys are good. She keeps going to check in on the status. She's so busy right now. She can't even take orders. Lowkey happy. You know, like Asian woman, a lot of times they try to contain their excitement. She's one of them. She's very happy. The kitchen was busy. The food was great. The people showed up and this restaurant finally looked the way it always should have.
I got chicken noodles, too. I got chicken lining. I got fried rice, Korean glass noodles. Yo, out of 10, what do you rate it? I'll give like a 10 out of 10. Nine. Good stuff. It's kind of chaotic in here. We got all the friends in here, but they got orders coming in through the phone. We got Uber Eats orders. They literally had a truck come in to restock some things. They brought in bean sprouts, carrots, and all that. It's crazy, bro. How long have you been working in the restaurant for? I've been working here a long time. Really? Eight years. How long has the restaurant been open for? It's a long time, but it's changed the ownership. How's the owner? How's the owner? Owner is good. I thought owner was sick or something. No. Oh, okay. You want to talk to him? Yeah. Yeah. Can we FaceTime? Can you face? I say the biggest customer came in. Are you sure you're not the owner? Okay. Yes. Oh, really? Yeah. Thank you. I saw you doing the next store. It's by your yourself is Yeah. Next door is by myself and Chris and my friend. Today we brought all the all the friends. How do you feel being a restaurant? Stressful. Yeah, it's very hard right now. Not much people here. Yeah. And then the people is no money because the economy is very very bad right now. Yeah. So, we're doing the like the lunch special. That one's a good deal. So, it's keep the the people come. It's very hot right now. Yeah. This whole time she was acting like she's not the owner, but in fact, she is the owner. What the heck? Thank you so much. You're amazing. Yeah. Hopefully, business pays off. Yo, I think that was a success. You saw the look on her face, but it's time to head to the next restaurant. Let's go.
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So, for this next spot, I actually got a DM mentioning that this restaurant is a staple in DC, but recently it hasn't been doing so hot, just like all the other restaurants in DC. It's a restaurant that serves food from Trinidad and Tobago. It's called Teddy's Roti. So, let's go check it out.
All right. I'm a food blogger and um we're just checking out some food and I heard this place serves really good food. What do you recommend? Bring it to me how you like it. Thank you so much. Are you guys the owners? Nice to meet you. Yeah. A lot of the restaurants in DC, they've been telling me it's been kind of hard. Yeah. But like 35 years. 35 years. Dang. Did you start it? My dad. Your dad started it? Oh wow. That's amazing. Yo, this is a curry goat roti. Actually, I don't know if I've ever had roti before. Oh my gosh, this is huge. Oh my good. They got like potatoes in here. Really tender. Go. Super good. I got to bring my friends. All right, let's go. I wanted to say the food was so good. I brought all my friends. We got a line outside for you guys. If you guys need some help, I can jump in the kitchen. LET ME KNOW. WE'RE READY. When we got here, honestly, it was peak lunchtime. Now, we got this place packed. We're here to support local businesses today. Oh, thank you. Yeah. Yo, so clearly it's really busy right now. I'm going to go see if I can help. Shrimp fries. Okay. See the flake? See the crisp? That is a perfect double. 100 out of 10. You can try it for yourself. 15 out of 10. This is probably some of the best juice I've had this year. Yeah. How do you feel right now? Is it okay? Yeah. Yeah. Has ever gotten this crazy before? Not as much as this. Oh, really? Let me know how I can help. I be spicy. Here we go. It got so busy, I had to jump in the back and help them deliver the food. Yes, sir. Really? There was a lot of work to do and the average check just kept getting bigger and bigger. Yeah, the average of these prices are pretty much double the Chinese takeout. But that just goes to show the quality. Hey, she got a phone order and she's taking real personal. You're a professional. This place is so crazy right now. People in the kitchen. We got people out front and then daughter came through to help. Shout out to all the people working in restaurants. This is insane. When you guys get busy, I don't know how you guys keep up orders like this. I got a beef patty. 5.5 out of 10. Wa. What is it? Out of 10. What do you guys rate it? Give it an eight. All right. Here. We got to get the check too soon. Oh, I'm ready. Are you sure? Yeah. Yeah. OKAY. How big is this receipt going to be? We're not done. Yo, this is crazy. This is honestly the biggest receipt I've ever held. You guys did a great job today. Like the same for the whole thing to you. Keep doing what you guys are doing and hopefully the word goes around even more. Thank you so much. You're welcome, brother. Yes, sir. All right. Success here, but we're not done. Let's go to the next spot. Teddy. Thank you guys. Thank you guys. The best rot in Washington. Big up Teddy's rotation. 3019 George Avenue Northwest.
This next spot is super interesting. It's a Thai restaurant called Givemeore Thai. And the owners actually sold their home, moved to America just to open this restaurant. Business has been slow for them since opening last year. So, let's go inside, see how the food is, and see if we can talk to the owner.
All right. How you doing? First time here. I wanted to order something good. What's like your go-to, you think? Another Thai basil with Friday. If you recommend it, let's do it. Do you like spicy or not spicy at all? Just regular spice. Is this a new restaurant, by the way? They opened since March last year. You said we. Are you the owner? I'm the owner. Yes. Me and my wife. Let's try the food, man. Thank you so much. Thank you. Dang, the guy looks really young and he's the owner. I'm really curious about his story. Actually, you said you opened up recently cuz I live around the area. I never heard about the spot. So, we tried to um advertise, but we didn't have the budget to do that much. Yeah. How is uh business these days? cuz I know a lot of the restaurants these days it's kind of it's been hard. Yeah, it's it's really hard for us. Are you from Thailand? Like did you move from there or what's the story? I moved from Thailand. Yeah. Just for the business. Yeah. So, you left home to move here to open the restaurant? Both of us have a decent job, but we want to try some What? So, what's the name of the dish again? Kapow Kai. Yo, I'm excited, man. Thank you so much. Thank you. Have a good one. You, too. Kapra Kai. Oh, give her a little smiley face just to have a good day. Oh, dang. Good. A little spicy sauce on the side. I can tell this guy knows what he's doing cuz the vegetables are cooked to perfection. Smoky sweet aroma from it cuz of the walk and a lot of flavor and umami. It's literally dinner time. 5:00. No one was in there. I think we got to bring in some of our friends. Hey dude, that was fire man. You like it? Seriously, I never had that food before. One of my favorite bites recently, actually. Thank you. Thank you. Yo, I'm going to call up a couple friends because um I have some friends that really like Thai food. Uh maybe you'll see me again sometime soon. Thank you. Thank you. What's your name? My name is T. My name is Danny, bro. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Yeah. I'll see you around. All right. Thank you. Have a good day, man. I brought my friends. Oh, this much. It was good. I told you my my friends have to come through. Let me call my wife out. ALL RIGHT. YEAH. YEAH. Come in, guys. How you doing? My name's Danny. T was talking about you guys story. you guys to move to Thailand to open up a restaurant here. He's super brave and it's amazing. So, we're just trying to support today. If you need help, I'll jump in the kitchen and then I'll help you out however you need. You guys okay? Dang, it's crazy. He had to turn off his online ordering. Yo, Skiesburgger, if you're in the DMV, check them out. Oh, man. Okay, it's a ton of work, guys. Anything I can help with? So, when you guys woke up today, did you think that you'd uh have a lot of customers coming at once like that? No. No, not like this. All I hear is ding ding ding. This is like a dream come true. Thank you very much, man. Hey, bro. I told you the food was so good. She's a professional on the walk. What was your name? Pamley. Hamley. You're amazing. Damn. I'm actually getting put to work. Sorry, man. I didn't prepare this much. It's a lot of work. Timer, timer, timer. First order's coming up. Let's get it. Of course. Got another big order. Wow. I did not think the pineapple would be like that good together, but it's really good. How is it? Excellent. 10 out of 10. What' you get? High wings. And what's it on a scale of 1 to 10? Like, what do you rate it? 1 through 10. 10. It's fantastic. Becoming best. All right. Very good. Yo, you got the wings. fire. This is another big wave of orders right now. I don't know where these people are coming from. I think people are already calling their friends to come through. Hey, we need a lot of food. Y Thank you. All right, here we go. This one's done. They always like the smiley face, so I'm going to do it with them. Bust 10 out of 10. Probably the best beef tattoo that I've had around here. It's really good. N out of 10. Yo, my back is really sore right now. I can't believe people do this every day, man. Respects to the chefs out there as my own recipe. Your recipe is fire, man. How did you come up with that? It's um secret. Secret. They really want to put a lot of love and care to each dish. They don't want to make any shortcuts. You know, they have all these orders coming in. They're taking their time making sure every meal is good. They're doing their tasting as they go. They know what they're doing. The food is really good. All right, enjoy, man. Thanks for waiting, man. So, appreciate you doing this. Yes, sir. Hey, what do you guys think of the food? Yeah, man. You got to fill up those muscles, bro. Shoulders look like a freaking Goku, bro. What do you rate the pai out of 10, bro? 11. 11. Hey. Okay. Okay. We got to go see if we need any more help. Man, I was talking about how this is some backbreaking work and giving a lot of credit to restaurant people, but yo, this is how you know it's real, bro. They got a bottle of ibuprofen in the kitchen. After finishing up the last few dishes, it was time to check in with T and see what the total cost was. All right, we're about to see the damage that we made today. It's going to be a lot of money. Can I also add tip on top of that or no? Just put $1,000. No, no, seriously. Put I'm I'm going to tip you anyways. This is already too much, man. No, dude. Come on. Seriously, don't Oh, come on. You got You didn't have to do that. Done. Yeah. Let's get that receipt. Here we go. Thank you again. I mean, this is how we do in America. She's still um new with the the language. Oh, yeah. Hey, you're great. You did amazing. After talking with T and his wife a bit more, it really reminded me how important it is to support local businesses. They along with the owners at Teddy's and Joy House left everything behind in their home country just to pursue their dream of cooking for people. T said they average a few orders a night and he would often dream of having a lunch or dinner rush someday. Hopefully, this is just the start for them and inspires more people to support local businesses. Anyways, if you guys made it this far, I just want to say thank you. Your support is what makes this possible. So, make sure to subscribe to follow along for more. Yo, that was like a movie. We went in there, we saw that they needed help, understaffed, only two people working, and then we jumped in and try to help as much as we could. Honestly, I probably got in the way more than anything, but we made it happen, bro. One last reminder to sign up with the QR code on screen or checking out the link in the description below. Earn some cash in your free time, and if you sign up and play your first game, you'll earn a $10 bonus that can probably go towards your next meal.