Last summer Mark Burnett's reality series "The Restaurant" served up piping hot plates of ratings for NBC. This spring, the network is looking for an early seating at Rocco DiSpirito's restaurant, launching the new season of the series on Monday, April 19.

Season two of "The Restaurant" will slide into the 10 p.m. ET slot after "Las Vegas," taking over when the limited run of "Average Joe: Adam Returns."

In the first season, viewers got to watch celebrity chef Rocco start a new restaurant from scratch. There were problems with the setting, with the staff and with the food, but viewers seemed to enjoy the chaos. "The Restaurant" drew 7.8 million viewers per episode, solid numbers for the summer months.

This time around, much of the drama will come from the conflict between Rocco and his financier Geoffrey Chodorow over the operation of Rocco's on 22nd. The New York papers were full of scandalous descriptions of Chodorow taking over the restaurant and charging Rocco with mismanagement. That will play out over the course of the six hour-long episodes.

"This show and its star Rocco were clearly one of NBC's break-out hits this past season," says Jeff Gaspin, executive vice president, alternative series, specials, longform and program strategy, NBC Entertainment. "We feel our viewers are hungry to find out what has happened to Rocco, his beloved Mama and their colorful staff."

Returning "characters" on "The Restaurant" will include Mama DiSpirito, General Manager Laurent, Captains Uzay and Emily, Waiter's Carrie and Al and Chef Tony.