“Kandi & The Gang” premieres on Sunday, March 6th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
Bravo’s newest series follows the heart and soul behind the Atlanta restaurant Old Lady Gang (“OLG”). In the heart of the city, Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker run an ever-evolving restaurant empire.
Their Southern-eatery, OLG, named after the ‘Old Lady Gang’ consisting of Kandi’s mom, Mama Joyce, and Aunts Nora and Bertha, is busier than ever. The restaurant has been a fan-favorite with lines down the block and classic Southern dishes, but peeling back the curtains on this family-owned and operated restaurant reveals that mixing business and relatives can sometimes create a recipe for tension.
“Kandi & The Gang” chronicles Kandi, Todd and OLG’s dynamic staff as they face a much-needed change at the restaurant while juggling their career ambitions, larger-than-life personalities and personal lives. After being hit with a myriad of obstacles, Kandi and Todd step in with a plan to turn the tide. With tensions rising as family members don’t perform up to standards, a little tough love and a lot of restructuring will shake things up with the staff, whether they’re ready for it or not.
Kandi has been on reality TV for over a decade now, premiering on Season 2 of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” in 2009. With a few limited episode spin-offs, this is her first reality series.
UB has screened the first episode of “Kandi & The Gang” and to say it’s entertaining, is an understatement! Kandi‘s right hand man DonJuan Clark is on board, and well DonJuan is DonJuan.
Shawndreca Robinson is the first, and self-proclaimed original, hostess at OLG. She has a sharp tongue that can occasionally get her in trouble with management. In episode one, she exercises her right to speak her mind whenever something is brought to her attention. Which makes viewers understand immediately, why she’s always in trouble with management.
Phillip Frempong is brought in by Kandi and Todd to help get the OLG back in order, after various managers exited in the past year. The dialogue between him and Shawndreca is cringeworthy at times, when he’s trying to get her to understand her responsibilities. “I don’t go back and forth with hourly employees,” he states in one scene. With their dynamic, it’s gong to be interesting to see how they end up working together throughout the season.
Phillip states his reasons for coming to OLG was because he wanted to work for a Black owned business with opportunities. That sounds good and we need more of that, but the reality is more of “us” are running to and supporting white owned brands showcasing Black culture than our own! That’s another story, for another time.
Shardo Roles, Brandon Black, Dom’Unique Variety and Brian Redmond also bring the heat to “Kandi & The Gang” in episode one.
The ladies behind the restaurant Aunt Nora, Aunt Bertha and Mama Joyce are known for always bringing the comedy. Aunt Nora’s description is being Feisty, gives free Hugs and loves to Dance. While Aunt Bertha‘s list her as the Side-eye Queen, someone who Speaks her mind and Sassy! Mama Joyce‘s description is what we already know, she’s Wild, gets all the Tea and is the life of the Party.
One issue with episode one is, there isn’t enough of the OLG, we want more Aunt Bertha!
Every dish viewed looked absolutely delicious!
“Kandi & The Gang” is definitely worth checking out, there’s everything from comedy, great business lessons, to sexual tension and ghetto-ness left and right, which brings on drama!
UB has spoken with Kandi numerous times over the years, and in 2009 we asked her what made her wanna sign on for “The Real Housewives of Atlanta?” “Well initially I was suppose to be doing that show with Tiny and Toya. So basically I was already in the mind-state of doing a reality show. So I guess the producer of the show, just wanted it to be Tiny and Toya or whatever.” Kandi went on to say; “I was like alright, but of course after you sit there and I think we were working on it for like a month. We’re all excited about doing this reality show together and then it fell apart, well on my end. Then the following week, the people from the “Housewives” reached out to me to set up a meeting. And I just thought it was crazy, like maybe it was meant to be.”
“Kandi & The Gang” is produced by Truly Original, Kandi Koated Entertainment, T Tucker Productions with Kandi Burruss, Todd Tucker, Steven Weinstock, Glenda Hersh, Lauren Eskelin, Lorraine Haughton-Lawson, Julie “Bob” Lombardi, Camilo Valdes, and Ronica Wynder serving as executive producers.
UB Sneak Peak: ‘Kandi & The Gang’ to Premiere on Bravo | Meet the Staff
