Couch Potato: 'Great Food Truck Race' back for second season

"The Great Food Truck Race" represents all that is good in reality television.

The show, which returned for its second season last week and will be back with a new episode at 9 p.m. Sunday, combines the racing-around-the-world stress of "The Amazing Race" with the foodie drama of "Top Chef."

Each week, teams of three bring their trusty trucks to a new destination, where they must sell their food to locals; the team that makes the least amount of money in that location goes home and, at the end of the race, the last men (or women) standing will go home with a cool $100,000.

The first episode found everyone racing 304 miles from Malibu to Las Vegas, and they quickly found out they’d have more to contend with than usual.

In the premiere, host Tyler Florence introduced the "Speed Bump," which is nothing more than a lame way for producers to manufacture drama.

Every week, the teams will be faced with a challenge that "is going to rock your truck," he told them. "We’re talking about problems and challenges that are going to make you rethink your menu, your strategy, your pricing. Everything."

For the first Speed Bump, the chefs had to finish up their second day in Vegas without propane. It was pretty anticlimactic, though, and didn’t harm anyone too much.

One villainous team quickly emerged: Lime Truck, a group of cocky, green bandana and purple pants-wearing guys from California.

"I laugh at other food trucks," one member, Daniel, said in the premiere. "We shouldn’t even come home if we don’t win first place because we’re so good at what we do."

Daniel and his teammates butted heads with the guys from Roxy’s Grilled Cheese, who are abrasive but still won me over with their Boston accents (what can I say? I’m a sucker for Boston boys).

And, wouldn’t you know it, the jerks from Lime Truck won the first leg (boo!), raking in more than $3,000, while Sky’s Gourmet Tacos, which struggled with a flat tire right out of the gate, was sent packing.

Here’s the lowdown on who is left:

The Lime Truck
The team: Jason, Daniel and Jesse, from Irvine, Calif.
The food: California beach cuisine 
The sound bite: "The recipe is simple. One part classically trained chef. Two parts unorthodox mastermind. Third part ridiculously good looks."

Roxy’s Grilled Cheese
The team: Brothers and former struggling musicians James and Mike and chef Marc, Boston
The food: Gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches
The sound bite: "We’re hostile. We get attitudes. We just yell at each other until we get the point." 

Hodge Podge
The team: Cleveland chef Chris, his sister Catie and his girlfriend Jacquelyn
The food: Classic/American fare
The sound bite: "I’m here to win it for my city. Once you’re a Clevelander, you’re always a Clevelander. I want to just show the rest of the country we’ve got a lot of stuff going for us, and that we actually do rock."

Seabirds
The team:Stephanie, Nicole and Raya, Costa Mesa, Calif.
The food: Vegan cuisine (no meat, no dairy, no eggs)
The sound bite: "We don’t want to be judgmental towards others. We just want to embrace everyone and educate them about the benefits of being vegan."

Devilicious
The team: Engaged couple Dyann and Mark and their best friend Kristina, San Diego
The food: Over-the-top comfort food
The sound bite: "We’re sarcastic, we’re sassy, we’re funny, we’re irreverent, we’re rude. We’re all the things that go along with being devilish."

Korilla
The team: Columbia graduates Eddie, Paul and Steve, New York City
The food: Korean barbecue
The sound bite: "When I smell (the food), I just think of my grandmother and all the time she spent prepping in the kitchen."

Café con Leche
The team: Lifelong friends Gabriel, Maria and Frankie, Los Angeles
The food: Cuban cuisine
The sound bite: "We have the passion and the power to really make this happen."