Big D's Pizza

Sometimes life is a series of random circumstances. A coworker looked up the website for a small pizza parlor in San Dimas and inadvertently discovered that they had an eating challenge.

My reputation for doing this stuff is not a secret. I called for details and learned that this challenge was as-of-yet undefeated. That added a bit of incentive. It was probably high-difficulty.


It's simple, really: eat one of their large 20x20 square pizzas in 45 minutes and it's free ($20-25 if you lose). Winners also get their name on a plaque and take home a free t-shirt. When I walked in Friday night, the plaque didn't exist yet.

Mathematically, a 20x20 square pizza works out to 400 square inches, or slightly bigger than a 22.5" round pizza. That's huge. Typically, solo pizza challenges don't run bigger than 18" or 20".

But surface area is one thing, and weight is another. I was told this was a 6-7 lb pizza (all depending on whom I asked in the restaurant), of which 4 lbs were just dough. Given my past experiences, I knew it would be close.

Breads and other starches aren't my friends. This pizza boasted a thick crust.


It needed several minutes to cool. 45 minutes would pass quickly, so I decided to go as fast as I could in the beginning.

Doughy.... chewy.... I worked my way around the entire crust to eliminate the largest, breadiest section of the pizza first. About 15-16 minutes in it was more than half gone.

Then, predictably, things slowed down. The staff was convinced at this point that I could be their first winner, but they didn't feel that way when I first showed up. Admissions didn't come til later.

But... it was still a haul. Every remaining piece was a tedious, dry-mouth fight. Lots of chewing. Lots of water. Tension.

My colleague encouraged me to finish the last few pieces while Devo's "Whip It" was still playing over the sound system, but it wasn't happening. The cheese was now like asphalt.

Still, I appreciated the 80s soundtrack that accompanied me through my food fight.


All clear at 42 minutes. And dehydrated. Lots of water would follow those 24 squares of pizza.

It was a fun evening all around. This challenge just needs a little more publicity... I'm sure they'll be getting more takers (and winners) in the near future. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. There were doubts swirling in my mind (and stomach) at the end.

The proof is in the pictures.