“Restaurant Startup” is on a quest to discover, invest in and launch America’s next great culinary concepts. Restaurateur and TV personality Joe Bastianich and chef and restaurant operator, Tim Love, vie against each other to invest their own money in food concepts they believe will make them millions. Each week, two teams pitch our investors, Bastianich and Love, for a shot at launching a temporary version of their great concept for a restaurant or a specialty food shop.

The chosen team is given the keys to a working restaurant on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. They get 36 hours and $7,500 to put their dream to the test and launch a pop-up restaurant; come up with a branding campaign; and write a business plan. Under the watchful eye of Joe and Tim’s culinary consultant, Waylynn Lucas, the aspiring food moguls open their doors, serve their food and test their concept on the public. At the end of the process, our two investors will decide whether or not they will put their own money on the line to make someone’s dream come true and, hopefully, make big money for themselves.

07/15/14: RESTAURANT STARTUP #102 – A Truck Load of Money

Bastianich and Love are fascinated by the ever-growing success of food trucks. First up, they hear from Baby’s Badass Burgers, owned by two women, with a ton of experience in the Los Angeles food world, who want to evolve their sexy burger food truck into something bigger, something that can be franchised. Then, they hear the single ingredient concept of Bacon Bacon, where Jim, the owner, has created a massive following in San Francisco, with his bacon themed menu. But can one of these successful concepts translate into a brick and mortar restaurant?

The series premiere of CNBC’s “Restaurant Startup” will air on July 8th at 10PM ET/PT. The season consists of 8 one-hour episodes.