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by - January 15, 2008 - 3:38 PM
I recently read a story on Neatorama about a restaurant that’s making customers sign a waiver before eating anything doused in their signature hot sauce made with savina peppers. It’s similar to the challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings – a customer who wants to try “The “Blazin’ Challenge” has to sign a waiver and must finish 12 of the hottest wings offered in less than six minutes.
This made me think about other restaurants that offer their patrons a prize for finishing a certain helping of food. I hesitate to post these, because as soon as my husband sees the list he will take it as a personal challenge. Nevertheless, below are a few places where you can get your meal for free – if you’re up to the challenge of horking down ten percent of your body weight in half an hour.
The Beer Barrel Belly Buster
Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub
Clearfield, Pennsylvania
If you scoff at the idea of a quarter pounder, maybe Denny’s 15-pounder will wipe the smile off of your face. The 20-inch patty comes on a 17-inch bun and includes two onions, a whole head of lettuce, 25 slices of cheese, three tomatoes and lots of mayo, mustard, relish and ketchup. If you and a friend can get the whole thing down in three hours or less, you’ll get the $30 burger for free.
Apparently that wasn’t enough for Denny, though. Just last year, he introduced the 123-pound burger. That’s not a typo. One hundred and twenty-three pounds. It’ll set you back $379, but you get 80 pounds of meat, a pound of lettuce, ketchup, relish, mustard and mayo, 160 slices of cheese, five onions, 12 tomatoes, two pounds of banana peppers, 33 pickles and, of course, a 30-pound bun. [Image courtesy of Offroaders.com.]
12-Egg Omelets
Beth’s Café
Seattle, Washington
Looking for a hearty breakfast (and skyrocketing cholesterol)? Look no further than Beth’s Café in Seattle. They serve omelets in two sizes there – six eggs for the light eater, 12 eggs for the truly hungry. The omelets come with all-you-can-eat hashbrowns, too. (Note: no prize at this place, just an impressive bullet point to add to your eating resume.) [Photo courtesy of the Official Wedding Website of Jeff & Lisa.]
The Texas King
The Big Texan Steak Ranch
Amarillo, Texas
The Texas King is a whopping 72 ounces of steak. That’s four pounds. It will set you back $72, unless you can finish the entire meal – which includes the steak, a buttered roll, shrimp cocktail, a salad, beans and a potato – in which case it’s on the house. More than 7,000 people have succeeded at the challenge since it started in 1960. Frank Pastore, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, finished the entire meal in nine and a half minutes in 1987, which is the record so far. It wasn’t his first finish, though, just the fastest – he had completed the challenge six times prior to that.
Here’s a video of someone attempting:
Continue reading…
Comments (64)
Comment
There is a John Candy movie (The Great Outdoors?) that involves a backwoods restaurant with a huge steak challenge like this. Candy’s character eats it all, but the owner/cook is watching and tells him that he needs to eat the fat & gristle too. You can guess what happens soon after. I almost did the same.
There’s a place I visit semi-regularly for lunch — Marlin’s Roadhouse Grill — that has a burger with a three-pound patty. If you can polish it and all the sides off in an hour, it’s free. Otherwise it’s $25. I can’t finish off one of their regular burger platters (and I’m a big guy), so I won’t even think about the 3lb monster.
posted by Dave on 1-15-2008 at 4:02 pm
Dave —
Yep, The Great Outdoors. The steak in the movie was called ‘The Old 96′er’.
posted by EV on 1-15-2008 at 4:13 pm
I wouldn’t try the Monster Burrito Challenge until they told me what kind of monster they’re made from.
posted by Joe Maz on 1-15-2008 at 4:14 pm
Don’t forget about Chevy Chase setting the restaurant’s record for most ’sheep fries” eaten in one sitting… only to find out what sheep fries really are.
posted by Vitajex on 1-15-2008 at 4:19 pm
A friend of mine took the “Blazin’ Challenge” at Buffalo Wild Wings and 2 of the rules (aside from the waiver and time limit) are that you cannot drink ANYTHING or wide your face during the challenge. He said he was in the worst pain ever and is face was red and sore from having to leave the sauce on it. Also, if you win you get a T-shirt (which was the only reason he entered) but unfortunately the T-shirt is made for someone who is built like they enter eating competitions, so my slender friend can’t even wear it without looking like a weirdo.
posted by Marta on 1-15-2008 at 4:23 pm
Pointer’s Pizza in St. Louis makes a 28″ pizza called the Pointersaurus. If a two-person team can eat a two topping pizza (with one of the toppings being meat)the team wins $500. They’ll also deliver a Pointersaurus, of course you pay them for that.
posted by kayte on 1-15-2008 at 4:37 pm
that’s disgusting
posted by the creature on 1-15-2008 at 4:42 pm
Well, supersizedmeals has a site dedicated to just this topic and among other things has a guy eating a 72oz steak in 12mins. Pretty sick.
Additionally, a buddy of mine successfully downed 60 Chicken McNuggets in an hour. That was a blast to watch.
Why is this stuff so entertaining?
posted by Rnast on 1-15-2008 at 4:53 pm
I can eat fifty eggs… Cool Hand Luke
[Moving through the crowd, all excited about the record breaking egg eating about to take place]
Dragline (George Kennedy): Alright, stand back you pedestrians, this ain’t no automobile accident.
Dragline (George Kenndy): He beat you with nothin’. Just like today when he kept comin’ back at me - with nothin’. Luke (Paul Newman): Yeah, well, sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand…
I think I got off topic…
posted by Daniel on 1-15-2008 at 5:02 pm
My college is almost 300 miles away from Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub, but during my junior year, a 115-pound freshman girl drove up there with a couple of friends - and became the first person to actually finish off the Belly Buster!
posted by Liz on 1-15-2008 at 5:42 pm
Maybe one day, one of the loonies who attempt these absurd feats will qualify for a Darwin award. Myself? I favour the proven ‘eat less, live longer’ approach; I’ll just need to wait a bit longer to get where I’m eventually going, after I turn up my toes.
posted by Dunco on 1-15-2008 at 5:46 pm
What about the Ziggy Piggy from Bill and Ted’s Excellent adventure. I think that needed to be listed.
posted by Chris on 1-15-2008 at 6:10 pm
Touche, Chris, touche.
posted by stacy on 1-15-2008 at 6:20 pm
I love how the 12 egg omelet guy is wearing a fun run tshirt!
posted by Bernadette on 1-15-2008 at 8:33 pm
Anybody heard of the milk chugger challenge? Guys (becuase I’ve never know a Gal to try it) try to drink a whole gallon of milk in under 30 minutes without throwing up first. I’ll tell you what, when the person inevitably releases the milk so violently it comes out their nose, it’s quite entertaining.
posted by Tricia on 1-15-2008 at 10:41 pm
We’ve got a pizza challenge in St. Louis:
Pointer’s Pizza serves the Pointersaurus, a 36 inch diameter pizza. If you and a friend can eat the whole thing (with cheese and two meats) in 1 hour, you get your pizza for free and $500. I know people who have finished, but outside of the time limit. Add this one to your trip to Saint Louis!
posted by Kmanpat on 1-15-2008 at 11:16 pm
If I was hungry I would be able to eat that Pizza Party Belly Buster Pizza, plus about a quarter to one have of another one, and I’m a 150 lb. guy. When we get pizza’s delivered at home I usually eat one and a half large pizza’s with two toppings, in about an hour.
posted by Tdave on 1-16-2008 at 4:04 am
Tricia, one of my friends (a girl, actually) art professors had his class partake in a milk chugging contest. Not graded, of course. I’m fairly sure 75% of the class threw up.
Also, what about in the book Matilda when Bruce Bogtrotter steals a piece of Miss Trunchbull’s chocolate cake, and she forces him to eat the entire cake in front of the whole school?
posted by Lauren on 1-16-2008 at 8:24 am
And we wonder why the majority of Americans are overweight?!?!
posted by Kirsten on 1-16-2008 at 8:55 am
Kristen, I’m with you.
About 10 years ago I played a MWR tour in Korea. When I came back to the States I was in cultural shock because EVERYONE in the airports (almost) was fat! In Korea, with the exception of some elderly mama-sans, everyone was slender. I have pictures of my family that go back to before The War of Northern Aggression and none of them are fat.
What is this mania that requires we supersize everything? I go to a restaurant and tell the server up front that I’ll need a go-box before I order because I know I can’t finish what’s in front of me. Heck, I often order off the kids’ menu because I know the portions will be smaller - I get the kids’ meal at Burger King because I can finish the Junior Whopper (barely).
When did we go from prosperous to obese? Or is that a silly question? In some cultures, being fat is a sign of prosperity…
For the record, I’m 6′2″ and weigh 175. And I often feel I’m fat.
posted by Doc on 1-16-2008 at 9:16 am
I was at the Big Texan Steak ranch a few years ago while driving cross-country. We stopped there at around 11 am for a steak (you just have to) and there was a skinny guy in the middle of the 72 oz steak. We asked our waiter about his chances and he said, “Oh, he’ll finish - he’s German.” He told us that he had never seen a German fail to finish, and they often (I’m sure jokingly) ask for more! As for my steak, it was 12 oz, cooked perfectly and delicious.
posted by JD on 1-16-2008 at 9:30 am
In Ocean City, Md there is an ice cream place called King Kone, home of the Gorilla Sundae. They claim its the largest sundae on the East Coast (no idea if thats true or not). Anyway, the sundae is 10 huge scoops of ice cream, 4 scoops of toppings, half a can of whipped cream and 2 whole bananas. if you eat it all by yourself you get your name on the wall of fame, and put into a drawing for a large stuffed gorilla. ive done it twice. i gotta tell ya, eating ice cream never seems like a big challenge, but after all the ice cream, those bananas are hard to put down! also, no matter how hot it is outside you are freezing!
Also there is a place in Disney World, the Beach Club hotel, that has an ice cream place where they serve a sundae called the Kitchen Sink. They call it that because it is literally everything in it, AND the kitchen sink. it is served in a mini sink. it has i think every flavor of ice cream they have plus every topping all in one… my family of 6 couldnt even finish this thing off, working together!
posted by Sean on 1-16-2008 at 10:06 am
This is the extreme food at Benchwarmers, a resturant in Ithaca NY.
It’s even bigger than you think!
The “Fat Chick”
Eat the whole thing in under 30 minutes & get a free t-shirt!The “Fat Chick”
20oz of breaded chicken breast, way too much grilled bacon, loads of melted monterey jack cheese and a mound of sauteed onions served on a toasted kaiser roll with what can only be described as an excessive amount of French-fries. Eat the whole thing in under 30-minutes & get a free t-shirt!
posted by bribriny on 1-16-2008 at 11:29 am
On the travel channel there is a top ten list of the best places to pig out, the menu includes steak, icecream, omlete, burgers, oysters, pancakes, southern food, pizza, wings and sandwiches
it was a fun show
posted by Lindsey U on 1-16-2008 at 11:40 am
When I was younger, my mom use to make me drink glasses full of milk because it was “good for me.” While I didn’t feel all that great afterwards, I guess I do have pretty strong bones and I’ve only had one cavity in my 27 years of life. Of course, now I’m semi-lactose intolerant because I stopped drinking milk after I went to college. I can have milk products in certain quantities but drinking milk straight up is not so fun for me anymore!
posted by CK on 1-16-2008 at 12:07 pm
can’t forget spikes junkyard dogs in providence, ri. eat more than the reigning champ and you get your money back (i think it was at 16 dogs last time i was there). you have 90 minutes and can’t throw up — which also means no going to the restroom. i think after dog number 4 they give you bucket in case you hurl…
posted by theloniousd on 1-16-2008 at 3:37 pm
In Colorado there is a Pizza chain called Beau-Jo’s where you buy the pizza by the pound not the size. They have a pizza, where if you and a friend eat it all, you get the meal free, a t-shirt for each of you, and $100 in cash. This pizza weight 13-16lbs. It is an amazing thing. And their pizza is wonderfully tasty.
posted by Lee on 1-16-2008 at 3:54 pm
There is a pizza company called American Pie in Orlando that has a cool challenge. It’s a 29 inch pizza and if 2 people can eat it in 29 min. its free.
posted by DeezNutzz on 1-16-2008 at 4:24 pm
in st pete Florida theres a place called American pie and you and your friend have to eat a 29 in pizza in 29 min and you get water and you have to keep the pizza down and if u able to eat it all u get the pizza free
posted by Tony on 1-16-2008 at 4:49 pm
there are people starving in Africa and you think this is entertainment?
posted by DaveUK on 1-16-2008 at 4:55 pm
i kno the dj in the spicy icecream lol, Jamn 945 in Boston lol, hes always doing those crzy stunts
posted by Dr. Boubouns on 1-16-2008 at 4:58 pm
#20 I’m 6′0 150 pounds and I can easily down 4 double cheeseburgers and a large fries from mcdonalds, If you can’t down a junior whopper, you’re the freak, not me.
posted by James on 1-16-2008 at 5:38 pm
Spike’s hot dogs in boston/cambridge give you an hour and a half to eat as many footlong hot dogs (with hero rolls as buns) as possible. If you can eat more than 7, you get your money back, a t-shirt, and your photo on the wall. You can’t leave, throw up, or goto the bathroom in those 90 minutes. Succeeded once back in ‘02 and gave up hot dogs for the next 2 years or so.
posted by JK@MIT on 1-16-2008 at 5:43 pm
Pizza Machine in Springfield, IL has a 40 inch pizza challenge. Two people in one hour and it’s on the house.
The restaurant is in a warehouse with the kitchen up top, and they lower the pizza to the tables below on crane, its pretty awesome.
posted by TJ on 1-16-2008 at 6:12 pm
“# DaveUK Says:
January 16th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
there are people starving in Africa and you think this is entertainment?”
I know, isn’t cool not to live in one of the worlds sh!t holes?
posted by Lisa D on 1-16-2008 at 6:33 pm
DaveUK: are you saying we should watch people starve in Africa for entertainment? You’re sick!!
Or should we send them the spicy ice cream? I’m sure they’d enjoy that.
posted by DaveUS on 1-16-2008 at 6:46 pm
No Eagles Deli in Massachusetts?
This list is lacking.
posted by Joao on 1-16-2008 at 7:19 pm
I used to be a homeless rodeo clown but now I am a world class magician !
posted by FPM on 1-16-2008 at 7:22 pm
Sigh. I miss Beth’s. Need to go back to Seattle soon.
(We usually split the 12-er three ways, and I’m a big fat guy.)
posted by Big Mike on 1-16-2008 at 10:49 pm
Moose McGillycuddy’s in Lahaina/Maui has a 12 egg omlet challenge where if you eat the whole thing plus hashbrowns in 30 minutes, you get your name on their wall of fame and a shirt.
Surprisingly, I finished in 17 minutes and even more surprisingly, I could have probably eaten a half of another.
posted by Rob on 1-17-2008 at 1:03 am
At Tony’s I-75 restaurant in Birch Run, Michigan, ALL the portions are oversized. Twelve-egg omelets, BLT sandwiches with one pound of bacon each, banana splits that could easily feed five people. They get a lot of truckers and hunters in there, which is how they happened to eventually develop their tradition of enormous portions of food. But the food is surprisingly good and reasonably priced.
posted by Jill on 1-17-2008 at 1:18 am
Yeah, “Doc” lighten up. . . but not too much, you sound anorexic.
I’m a big American guy (6′3″ 200lbs) living in Guangzhou, China, where the people are smaller than the northern Chinese (and Koreans). My little Chinese fiancee (5′0 90lbs) can sometimes eat me under the table when we eat out.
My students and Chinese friends are usually a lot smaller than me, but Doc, a lot of it is genetics and body type.
You need to relax.
I’m pretty sure America’s problem isn’t with competitive eating, or having nice meals that we enjoy eating, but because of the lack of exercise, convenience food and too much sugar.
posted by Johnny I. on 1-17-2008 at 3:59 am
Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, PA is owned by my wifes uncle. He has the huge hamburgers, but he also offers so much other food. They also do catering. Everything I have ever eaten there is simply fantastic and Denny is a great guy to BS with.
posted by Ken Emmerick on 1-17-2008 at 6:40 am
Many in our generation grew up thinking the challenge was the large steak. We ate a huge amount of beef until we learned better. Ummmmmm, Nebraska grain fed beef - yummmmm.
posted by Joanna Bosko, Hoover, AL on 1-17-2008 at 7:54 am
There’s a place in Phoenix, AZ called the Heart Attack Grill. It’s not really like a 30-lb burger or anything, but the novelty is something. This is their ENTIRE menu:
Single, Double, Triple, or Quadruple Bypass Burger (1/2 lb each)
Steak fries fried in Lard
Coke or Sprite
Marlboro Reds or Camel Dead Heads
That’s it. If you eat a Quadruple they’ll wheel you out to your car in a wheelchair.
I almost forgot the best part. The waitresses are all dressed in Naughty Nurse outfits. There’s mirrors all over the place and picture taking is encouraged.
Ain’t America great?
posted by Scott Mehring on 1-17-2008 at 8:27 am
For a 12 egg omelet that’s free (if you eat it) the Broken Yolk in San Diego. You have to eat the omelet,half a pizza pan of home fries, and two biscuits in one hour. If you eat it you get your name on a plaque.
posted by George on 1-17-2008 at 8:32 am
Absolutely disgusting. A person would have to have distended their stomach by consistent over-eating, and here these restaurants are baiting these fat-asses with eating disorder to eat more… ugh
posted by Arby on 1-17-2008 at 10:57 am
Johnny I,
I agree with most of your points: 1) a lot of whether we are fat or not is related to *what* we eat and genetic predisposition, not necessarily the quantity or size of servings; 2) yes, small people can often eat larger ones “under the table”, as you say - the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating champ three or four years’ running is a little Japanese guy (can’t remember his name although someone will); 3) And yes, we (Yanks) don’t get enough exercise and our diet is high in fats and sugars, all of which contribute to obesity.
Much of our traditional diet goes back to the days when most of us lived on farms and you *needed* 3000+ calories to get thru working from dawn to dark behind a mule-powered plow or piloting a hoe thru endless rows of potatoes or cotton. Most of us don’t do that anymore. Heck even the farmers have CD players and AC in their tractors.
When I was a kid (1950s), I was told to eat everything put in front of me because there were starving children in Europe. I remember getting my chops busted once when I told my grandmother that if they were hungry over there they were more than welcome to my brussel sprouts, green beans, and the other half of the chicken on my plate. Grandma was never much for sarcasm and I doubt she knew the meaning of the term “irony”.
As someone observed, there is widespread malnutrition in Africa. There is also the same situation in West Virginia, New York City, Philadelphia, LA and many other locales in the USA.
The problem with hunger is not where you live, but that it exists at all.
We grow enough food in the US and Canada to feed a sizeable percentage of the world’s population. And every year we pack it up and send it where it’s needed and it either sits and rots on a dock or railroad siding or is hijacked by gun-toting hooligans who sell it to buy ammo for their AK47s. *This* is the inequity of the situation.
And no, 6′2″ and 175# is not anorexic. My BP is 85/50, my lipids test under 100, and other than prostatin, my blood work comes back as belonging to a 30-year-old… and I’m 58. If it weren’t for this damned COPD (thanks, Uncle Sam and Agent Orange, with a lot of help from the tobacco companies) I could run anybody 1/3 my age into the ground without breaking a sweat.
Johnny I - I’ve read that obesity is a (pardon the pun) growing problem in China. Is this true (from your observations) or another example of the media and politicians lying to us? Or is it (conversely) just a city thing and the folks living in the country have stayed slim? These are honest questions. Thank you.
“Doc” Stuart
posted by Doc on 1-17-2008 at 11:37 am
Not sure if it’s still open but, TC’s Top Dog in Daytona had a hot dog with everything challenge. They had about 50 different toppings including chocolate syrup and sprinkles. If you could eat the entire thing I believe it was free and you got your picture on the wall.
posted by Toby on 1-17-2008 at 11:59 am
pardon me while i just PUKEEE!!!!!!!! hollyyyyyyyyyy doodlesss that’s just SOOO totally nuts for anyone to attempt to eat that big of a food item !!!! sheeshhhhhh !!!!
posted by amy on 1-17-2008 at 12:47 pm
doc, lots of people have problem with impulse control where food is concerned. kind of like you with cigs, i’m guessing.
johnny’s absolutely right–it’s the junk white flour, sugar, and corn syrup we put in everything. plus, this country has gotten absolutely ridiculous about avoidance of physical effort–myself definitely included. i’ve lost 150 lbs from my formerly morbidly obese self and it took busting ass, not going for a 10 min stroll and calling it a workout.
was in beijing a year ago. definitely less fat people than the us. on the other hand, i’ve been on two indian reservations in the last 18 months and holy cow, the poor people there’s body types make dallas look like a health nut commune.
posted by Dave on 1-17-2008 at 1:37 pm
For everyone who put that kids in africa are starving, why don’t you sell your compiters to buy them food, or even contribute part of your income? I’ll bet you wont, and never have, beacause you only pretend to give a crap.
posted by Fatty on 1-17-2008 at 1:38 pm
can anybody defeat my record of 406 fish sticks?
posted by g-man on 1-17-2008 at 1:41 pm
There’s a place in Boston called the Eagle’s Deli and you can buy a five pound burger with five pounds of fries and if you finish it in an hour it’s on the house. If you fail you go to the wall of shame.
Also, there’s a place called Spike’s Junkyard dogs where there’s an eating challenge but i think it’s only free if you break the record which is like 14 hot dogs (really big ones) in a half hour.
posted by ben on 1-17-2008 at 2:30 pm
I am a girl and my friends and I tried the gallon of milk challenge. We guzzled the milk in ten minutes and then vomited the aforementioned milk all over our local park.
posted by Sarah on 1-17-2008 at 5:52 pm
look yall i weigh 231 pounds and im the fastest runner at my school (grade 7). hey hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by yo mama on 1-17-2008 at 7:07 pm
Quaker Steak and lube atomic wings. You have to sign a waiver to get them, and they are spicy as hell. I only managed two before my eyes were watering so bad that I went to wipe them, got sauce in my eye and eended up on the floor screaming.
posted by Steve on 1-18-2008 at 3:43 am
I would not be able to do the milk thing. I have a gag response just smelling milk. When I was a teenager I tried drinking it for the health benefits by putting chocolate in it. I’m lactose intolerant, I need to take three Lactaid tablets before eating pizza.
Try not to be too jealous (haha), but during the holiday’s when I’m eating Christmas cookies, cake, candy, leftover turkey, ham, etc. I actually LOSE weight. I think my metabolism speeds up. My weight dropped 8 lbs. during nov./dec.’07 without me trying, but it’s creeping back.
posted by Tdave on 1-19-2008 at 2:48 am
P.S. In my Jan.16 comment “have” should be “half”.
posted by Tdave on 1-19-2008 at 2:57 am
I would just like to point out that 72 ounces of beef works out to four and a HALF pounds, not just four. Four pounds would be 64 ounces. Okay, through being pedantic now.
posted by Gerald on 1-20-2008 at 6:54 pm
Is Ben and Jerry’s still doing the Vermonster challenge? If I recall correctly, it’s 20 large scoops of ice cream (multiple flavors) with toppings, and if one finishes the entire thing, he gets it for free and a certificate of some kind. I don’t know if this is at all locations, or just at the original store, and maybe it’s just an occasional promotion; I’m honestly not sure.
posted by Gerald on 1-20-2008 at 6:58 pm
Actually, portion sizes DO have a lot to do with the obesity problem in the US. Has anyone seen SUPERSIZE ME? I guess it´s not so bad to overeat on certain occasion (say, Christmas or Thanksgiving) but to make this a habit is a real problem.
Of course, what you eat is critical but people should learn MODERATION. You can eat a little bit of pizza or fries every once in a while as long as your regular, everyday meals include lots of salads, fruits, etc.
One other tip: eat slowly (as in, very small pieces and chew a lot). You´ll have the feeling that you´re eating more than you really are PLUS you´ll be able to stop when you start to feel satisfied instead of going straight from hungry to absolutely stuffed.
posted by GTT on 1-22-2008 at 11:20 am
I just finished the 72oz steak in under 9 minutes…Cheers!
My user name on youtube is furiouspete123, check it out! :)
posted by Peter Czerwinski on 2-2-2008 at 1:18 pm
This list is the best diet aid ever! I now never want to eat again. :)
posted by Al on 2-26-2008 at 1:56 pm