Season 4 begins in Beverly Hills, where the eight competing teams are instructed to prepare a signature dish that must be sold for at least $20. Later, they are given a second challenge to complete in San Francisco.

The seven remaining teams are unable to restock their supplies when they arrive in Portland, Ore.; and later, they are told geoduck must be their main ingredient in all menu items.

The six remaining teams travel to the mountains of Pocatello, Idaho, where they are told to remove all starches from their menus. Their next challenge finds them digging up spuds at a local farm and using what they collect as the main ingredient in their recipes.

The four remaining teams enter the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Challenges include serving food on a stick and cooking with Spam.

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel judges a pizza challenge. Later, the teams must incorporate hot dogs in all of their menu items.

In the fourth-season finale, the last leg of the race sends the remaining teams all over the East Coast, beginning with a stop in Annapolis, Md., followed by a crab challenge—and a surprise elimination—at a Chesapeake Bay wharf. Afterward, grub is sold in the suburbs of Virginia; and the winner is declared in Washington, D.C.