Eating Challenges: Ever Done One?
Author: indianapoliseater | Filed under: Announcements/News
I don’ t think it is a secret around here that our staff likes to eat. I mean, why else would we have a food blog?! DUH! Anyway, one of the occasional by-products of eating and competitive human nature are eating challenges. You see them all the time on television, online, at your local bar, etc. There’s even a website called EatFeats in our blog links that updates the news and challenges throughout the country.
Since Man v. Food debuted a new season this past Wednesday (outstanding show) and the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is in a few weeks on July 4th, I thought it would be kind of fun to open our own little corner of the blogosphere to see what kind of eating challenges our readers and staff have done. These don’t have to be “professional” challenges per se, as I’m interested to hear some of the challenges that you’ve had amongst your friends as a bet or a “I bet you can’t eat…” type of thing. My only request is that they invovle either quantity of food (example: a two pound cheeseburger) or spice of food (example: super hot chicken wings) and were part of a competition against at least one other person (or thing in the case of a restaurant).
Since I’m the author of this post, I’ll start with some of the things that I’ve done in my “challenge” history:
*Fast Freddy’s Gorilla Burger: This was at a now defunct restaurant in a town next to my hometown and I did it when I was roughly 16-17 years old. The burger was two pounds of ground beef and every topping imaginable (avocados, tomatoes, onions, bacon, mulitple slices of cheese, pickles, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, mustard, mushrooms, etc.) on a bun. I took this challenge on two separate occasions and finished it both times. The prize was my name on a plaque on the wall.
*Last Man Standing Chicken Wing Challenge: This was in college and was between myself and two friends. We bought several bags of frozen wings on a random Saturday, cooked them in the oven and ate until we could go no more. Sadly, I lost this one as I only finished 51 wings for second place. The winner finished 54.
*Bub’s Big Ugly: I did this one along with wibia and we both finished it. You can read about it the details of it on their website. Sadly, this one was pre-blog, so we don’t have any documentation. Also, this is supposedly the one that Adam Richman did on Man v. Food for the Indianapolis episode that they taped last month. Apparently his challenge was to eat four of them and judging by a post that I saw on his Twitter page (since removed), I think he accomplished his goal. The episode will air in August. As for wibia and my challenge, we got our picture on the wall of Bub’s for one year as our prize.
*Wings Etc. Wall of Flame Challenge: We actually profiled this one for the blog as wibia and I both did it, so you can read about it here.
*Stanley’s Deli Fat Stanley Challenge: Again, this one was profiled for the blog, so you can also read about it here. Sadly, this restaurant has gone out of business, so any future attempts at this challenge by me or anyone else are impossible.
*Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nugget Challenge: This one is just one that two friends and myself made up one night while sitting in a bar. We went to Wendy’s at 2:00 a.m. (LOL), bought one hundred spicy chicken nuggets and bet each other that each of us couldn’t finish thirty of them. My two competitors did not finish as they only got into the mid twentys, but I did and kept eating to just to see how far I could go. I eventually made it to fifty and needless to say, I have had zero desire to eat a Wendy’s Chicken Nugget since that day (I used to ALWAYS get them).
I’ve had some other eating related feats but they can’t really be classified as “challenges” as I’ve defined it, so I’ll leave them out. So, what have you guys done? Fill us in! Don’t be shy or embarrassed to share!
-IndianapolisEater
Tags: big ugly, Eating Challenges, Fat Stanley, Food, gorilla burger, man v. food, spicy chicken nuggets, wall of flame, wendy's
I personally witnessed the eating of the 50 spicy nuggets. I had 25 and was a beached whale. I have no idea how you could have possibly eaten 50… It was one fun trip to Wendy’s though!
large amounts of straight wasabi with friends at sushi restaurants and also a who can finish a large pizza faster challenge amongst friends
This is seriously one of my favorite blogs ever, along with GrubGrade. You guys are always entertaining.
My experience with food challenges isn’t too impressive. I’ve done the standard “Blazin’ Wings Challenge” at BWW, and finished in 5:20. Not impressive at all, but I did it! It wasn’t the heat of the wings that slowed me down, but just trying to eat too fast. I can’t speed-eat, or I get sick.
More recently, my friend Marco and I teamed up to tackle the “Suicide Burger” at The Burrow bar and restaurant in Linden, IN. Marco and I had no intention of going it alone with this burger, so we were automatically out of the competition. Regardless, here are the stats: Six 1/2 pound patties, 20 strips of bacon, 6 slices of cheese, and a 1/2 pound of fries. This thing was a true monster. It was a comical sight, coming from the kitchen with a metal kebab skewer stabbed through the burger to keep it from toppling over. The thing was a foot tall, easy. Anyway, we ordered an extra bun and split the burger and fries. I ate every bit of my burger and fries, and Marco finished about 1/3 of his food. It was a lot of fun, and the burger was actually really, really good. I’ll go back for a normal burger again someday.
@Grover: LOL, yes, you were one of the three participants and you shouldn’t be ashamed of 25. That’s more than most human beings can do.
@Blake: LOL to challenging each other with Wasabi. I love it.
@AdamBomb: First of all, thanks for the compliments. I do have a couple of things for you though:
1. What does Blazin’ Wings Challenge entail? I might be interested in doing that one.
2. That suicide burger sounds freaking awesome. I’m not sure I’d drive all the way to Linden to try it, but if I was ever in the area, I would definitely give it a shot. I’m not entirely sure I could do it, but I think I’d have a pretty good shot given the right circumstances.
I haven’t… YET… I’m down I-70 here in St. Louis and I’ve really been wanting to tackle the Pointasaurus Challenge — $50 for a 10 pound 28″ two meat-topping pizza. Finish it (and keep it down) in 1 hour and get a refund AND $500… I’m still looking for a suitable partner to take on the challenge.
I’ve never personally attempted it, but I’ve watched many people agonizingly try to defeat the “Monster Challenger” at Polito’s Pizza in Oshkosh, WI. I know its not from your neck of the woods, but it is pretty much impossible. NOBODY has completed it to date.
Your prize for defeating the monster: $500.
Check it out here: http://www.politospizza.com/ (scroll down on their homepage for videos)
Friends and I ordered four banh mi each from Saigon (two of each kind). We tried to eat them all. I managed to take all four down and my two friends each got through three and change.
It didn’t seem like a lot when we ordered, but that is a lot of bread to eat at one sitting. A serious carb coma ensued…
We used to have a near weekly pizza eat-off at a Pizza Hut down on the Levee at Purdue when I was in school, but 2 mediums was really about all I could get down. Once, at work, we tried a hot sauce eating contest from one of those hot salsa catalogs. That ended poorly. Everyone could eat the hottest salsa on a chip, so we kept doing rounds. I didn’t have enough real food in me, and I ended up getting sick before the day was out. That was the last time we tried that at work.
I wonder why Adam R. seems to so often wear jackets in his episodes? That would seem to really throw off my eating pace and style……
@Mike N.: I’ve actually seen that one on the shows that the website mentions before and it is absurd. I am confident in my eating abilities, but in order for me and a partner to finish that, it would have to be a partner of Joey Chestnut-like abilities.
@Zachary: That one sounds a lot like the one that Mike N. mentioned, although they allow two people to finish that one. I can’t imagine how that Polito’s place can even offer a challenge like that for only one person. It’s no wonder that no one has ever beaten it.
@Condimentality: I admit that I had to look up what exactly banh mi is and once I saw it, I was impressed. You ate four sandwiches! I like it!
@Indy Grub Review: All I can say is LOL to the hot sauce version of Russian roulette. Awesome.
At the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill there is a restaurant called Banditos that has a 5-pound burrito challenge called “El Gigante.” I attempted this with a buddy of mine last fall. It was his second attempt (he failed on his first try), and my first time. He managed to finish the entire burrito, earning a picture on the wall and a t-shirt that said “I conquered El Gigante.” I failed miserably, as I could only down about 4/5th’s before I wanted to die. I then went back to my buddy’s apartment and lay on the couch for the next 6 hours, trying not to puke.
@John: Great story and I LOVE the add-on at the end where you spent six hours on the couch trying not to puke. LOL. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t done that before after a couple of buffet trips I’ve made.
Actually, once while in college, I drove all of us to the local Ryan’s Steakhouse buffet but had to have my friend drive me home as I laid in the back seat because my stomach was so full that I couldn’t sit up straight. LOL, funny story now, but definitely not one of my prouder moments.
@indianapoliseater: I just read the Flat Stanley post, very impressive if not a bit scary. Really a blizzard afterwards? How? I would get down 2 chips, bite of pickle and maybe 2 small bites of the sandwich and be too full to go on. A guys eating ability (and ability to stay slim in the process) amazing me.
@Zach.. love how that guy int he video calls those guys “Girl Scouts”… ha ha … thanks for sharing.
@indianapoliseater
Actually, the Polito’s Monster Challenge is also a 2-person team challenge. No 2-person team has ever defeated it.
They had a special charity Monster Challenge last year, where the Army, Navy, and Marine’s recruiters faced off to see who could finish the Monster the quickest. They had 3 people on a team, and 1 team actually managed to finish the entire thing.
I still think it’s almost impossible for the average 2-person team to finish it though.
At chepe’s mexican grill, I ate a 1 ft 5-6 lb burrito and got a free shirt out of it. I’m like 5’6″ and 135 lbs and the staff totally didn’t think I could do it. In fact, they even said they had a shirt in stock for me when i finished the burrito. Lo and behold when I actually finished it, I had to wait like 30 min for them to get a shirt from the other branch of the restaurant. The burrito itself kinda sucked. In the end, it was kinda like eating salt.
pic of burrito
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/3KRFiiWszHbuKuTMcSVn7Q?userid=9IqLo4q-SseUKgOkAChEsQ
me after I finished the burrito
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs234.snc1/8117_1142693575381_1468710210_30439025_5803808_n.jpg
my review of the burrito
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chepes-mexican-grill-cumming#hrid:LI3cqb29KzBmbaqh12bNmQ
I’ve been looking for a partner for the Carnivore Challenge in Georgia. So if you’re from the greater Atlanta area, just send me an email =D
@indianapoliseater:
The Buffalo Wild Wings challenge is not really that difficult, but it’s fun. You have to eat 12 traditional wings with their hottest sauce in 6 minutes or less. No drinks during the challenge.
Regarding the suicidal burger, yeah it was crazy. A lot of fun, but I couldn’t come anywhere near eating the entire thing. I really pushed myself to the limit eating just half of the burger! If you ever decide to try this one out, let me know and maybe we can meet up at the restaurant!
aint saying a thing. except… on t.v. alot of infomercials for cooking tools, and weight loss programs I have eaten a 22 oz steak. but just because i paid for it, and by god i’m gonna eat it. get my monies worth. really pretty stupid. but I have eaten three hot dogs at a ball park, or a giant tub of popcorn at a movie theater. and a 32 oz soda. and a giant candy. I would not do that at home. kind of stupid. but we all have, i guess. I like deviled eggs. 2or3 are great. but 9? not so much. and yes, done that.
For poker night, it is my tradition to bring a White Castle Cheeseburger Crave Case for everyone to snack on. Six guys can polish that off rather easily. Someone dared me to eat a single case on my own. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to do it before the last hand of the night was dealt. That was a year or so ago. I haven’t touched sliders since. Maybe soon. Maybe.
@Cornjob: I actually have a standing bet with one of my friends that I could finish a Crave Case (I believe I can), but I just haven’t had the nerve to take the plunge quite yet. Speaking of Sliders, did you know there is a such thing at some White Castle locations called a “Crave Crate” that consists of 100 Sliders? LOL, I love it.
@AdamBomb: Hmmm…twelve of their hottest wings in six minutes. I think I can do that one, although the biggest problem with me attempting that challenge would be that I would have to go to Buffalo Wild Wings and that is upsetting. I am not a big fan of that place.
I was driving down to Noblesville yesterday and saw a sign for a place that said they were going to have some sort of eating challenge called the Junkyard Dawg challenge or something. The billboard said opening soon and I don’t remember what the place was called. Anyone know what I’m talking about?