Coming Up Short

A commenter on Eatfeats wondered if I've ever lost an eating challenge. There have been a few. In all but one case, I've managed to go back and avenge my defeat. Over time, my speed and capacity skill set have improved and that has led to stronger results.

I've never lost a heat challenge. I've never lost the second or third challenge I've attempted on the same day.



My challenges are lost when the time limit is excessively short or when I choke (literally). Rice has posed the greatest difficulty for me where speed eating is concerned. The Bikkuri Don, a 5 lb sashimi and rice bowl available at Wakasaya in Los Angeles, proved elusive for me within the 15 minutes. Last month, I conquered it in 10. That's evidence of progress.

The team 36" pizza (in the video at the top) met its end when I returned with Johnnie Excel as my partner the following month. Aaron Ybarra is an excellent speed eater, but the pizza was simply too massive for us to complete as a team. I'm also suspicious that the crust was thicker when I tried it with Aaron. 



File photo courtesy J. Excel's Facebook

To date, the sole challenge that has eluded me is the 3-foot Philly cheesesteak at Big Mike's in Hermosa Beach. My old stab at that behemoth sandwich came in November 2010. The last bite was in my mouth at the 30 minute mark but the manager refused to take it. I think I'm due for a rematch.

A future post will discuss that 3-foot sammich in detail. There's tons of photos, as well the story of a friend who completed it right after I failed and made me look like a chump. Such is life.

Hope everyone's ready for a new year!

Froyo and the Freak Attack a Six Stack

Mmmmm.... pancakes! A couple months ago, Aaron Ybarra and I met up for a pancake challenge in downtown Fullerton. Heroes Bar & Grill is known better for its nightlife, but on Sunday mornings they tempt us mass consumers with an offer for free breakfast.

That's a stack of six large pancakes. Of course, everything Heroes serves is large. Their nachos or chili cheese fries could easily pass off as challenges. All their beverages come to the table in huge glass mugs. The pancakes are just following a set reputation for grandiosity.

The challenge is simple. Eat all six pancakes, a cup of fruit, and two strips of bacon (I subbed more fruit) in one sitting and your $12 meal is free. There's no time limit. We were confident that we'd finish, and it turns out that didn't need more than 20 minutes when it was all said and done.

Of course, Aaron and I aren't strangers. We've done plenty of challenges together. We clashed in at least two contests. So for this challenge, we decided to do something special and create a "how to" video regarding  approaching a challenge like this one.



The video process is a bit frustrating. You don't always remember that you're on camera while eating. There's moments where I look messy. We stopped to give little hints, and there is some humor going back and forth between "Froyo" and the "Freak." Hopefully you like the finished product.

We left the place feeling not quite stuffed, but fluffy. That's pancakes for you. 

2011 Rock The Tot

Three hours after finishing the Killer Burrito at Chile Red, it was time for a tater tot eating contest. The location was Bar Louie in Arcadia, some 30 miles from Rancho Cucamonga.

The contest is held annually in April at every Bar Louie location in the United States. Every location crowns a champ, and the champ with the highest total is declared the national champion.

The staff was incredibly pumped up for the contest. There was a small crowd gathered, and a long table across from the bar was arranged for the participants to stand behind. We would have 6 minutes to devour as many tater tots as possible. They provided us with ketchup, water, and a paltry amount of napkins.

The contest format played to the absolute opposite of my strengths. 6 minutes is a sprint. I'm more of a marathon runner, from an eating standpoint. All I could hope was that I would be able to outlast the local competition, and that there were no Johnnie Excels hiding in the woodwork.

As a side note, Excel dominated the contest at the Anaheim location with a winning total near 5 lbs. You can read a summary of his contest experience here. He had a close battle with Aaron Ybarra, another talented eater with speed skill.

So... 6 minutes to get through as many 1 lb baskets of tots as possible. That's the gist of it. The bell rang and we were off.

My strategy was CRUSH-BITE-DRINK-SWALLOW. The manager was doing play-by-play commentary during the contest and said he had never seen anyone eat the tots like that before.

Well, it worked for me that night. I was the only competitor (out of 8) to finish two baskets and start on the third. The winning total was 2 lbs and 6 ozs, a low figure when compared to other tot-rockers across the United States. Second place finshed two baskets (2 lbs), and third place was right on his heels.

The $250 Bar Louie gift card, restaurant t-shirt, and makeshift title belt were a nice score.

It was a very exciting night. And a damn close finish. I'm hoping to come back to next year's contest and put up a considerably better total in the 6 minutes.

No pre-contest burrito next time!

Day of Defeat, Part One

36" of pizza, one topping, one hour. Big Mama and Papa's Pizzeria in Hollywood, CA offers a hefty challenge to two brave souls up to the task. $200 on the line for the winners.

This was totally unplanned. Spur of the moment. Spontaneity in action. After watching the "Gang of Four" (Torres, Stonie, Gilbert, Excel) battle the Grand Sicilian 54" x 54" pizza for 75 minutes, Aaron Ybarra and I felt the urge to participate. Perhaps it stemmed from revenge for what had happened to the previous team.

[The next post will be dedicated to the effort they made against the 54" x 54" pizza. It's a longer story, I've got a few reflections to make, and I don't make to leave anything out simply because of space concerns]

In terms of surface area, a 36" pizza is equal to roughly two 25" pizzas. Weight is, of course, a whole other matter. This would not be a simple task. Then again, it's not often that you find a restaurant willing to shell out $200 on a challenge.

The pizza came out scalding. After appropriate cooling time, we dug in. Toppings were split down the middle, one-half with black olives and one-half with tomatoes. Olives appeared to be a terrible choice, because the cooks really piled them on. The sodium factor was appreciable too. I liked the parts with tomato much more.

Aaron shot out the gate, per his style. I ate in much more paced fashion, but faster than my regular rate. This was probably a mistake. Going faster usually causes me to feel full earlier, but it's an acceptable strategy if you can finish the challenge item under 20 minutes.


This thing was just too damn huge. I managed to take my half, but Aaron hit capacity several minutes early and our chances were basically written off. I knew there was no way I could take the 3-4 pieces my partner left behind in the remaining minutes. Aaron ran out of room, but I ran out of time.

The manager taunted us by throwing the prize money on the table during the challenge. He even doubled it in the last ten minutes, but I gave off my bluntest comment of the night: "You could put $20K on the table, this isn't gonna make us go any faster."

Well... back to the drawing board! It was incredible to team up with Aaron again, hopefully we get another chance to eat on the same side again one day.

All that salt!! My mouth felt burned afterward. I guess we were all a little burned that day.

Big Rocco

Some pizzas are so massive they have their own life story. The 8 lb Big Rocco Stuffed Crust Pizza might have its own gravitational pull as well.

Maybe the truth is a little of both. On December 13, four of us were mystically pulled to Chicago Rocco's in San Diego to attempt this heretofore unconquered eating challenge.

As to the story, the owners told us that they named this pizza after their son - Rocco - who weighed 8 lbs at birth. I like that little detail. It really breathes some life into an otherwise standard pizza challenge. There's something neat, and equally perverse, about trying to eat the weight of a newborn in pizza.

If anyone is suspicious, 8 lbs is a standard marker for 2-person pizza challenges. Luigi's at the Beach (also in San Diego) claims that their 30" cheese pizza clocks in at 8 lbs. Original Grazianos, a chain that runs challenges at various Southern California locations, claims that their monster pizza runs 8-10 lbs.

Expecting one person to consume 8 lbs of pizza is no small feat. The pizza is only 12" wide, but it is 3" high and loaded with all the cheese you didn't ask for. It looks intimidating as they bring it out of the oven and set it on the table.

You get to pick six toppings (or stuffings?) from the menu. Picking lighter toppings will backfire, as it did with all of us, because they will add as much cheese and sauce as necessary to bring the total weight up to 8 lbs. Eat it all and it's free. Otherwise, pay them $35.

There's no time limit on this challenge. You get to take as long as you like. Of course, that's not always an advantage. Anyone who's ever tried to leisurely coast thru 7-8 lbs of food will find it gets increasingly painful as time wears on. It pays to "speed eat" sometimes.

Due to transportation issues, we arrived in two groups of two via different freeways. We agreed that the team arriving first might as well just begin the challenge. So, Manny Blitz and I dug in.

The pizzas were cut into 8 massive slices. The first 3-4 slices tasted delicious. Rich. Things got incredibly difficult once we passed the 50% point. I knew I would beat this thing, but it would be a battle. A long battle.

Our second team, composed of Aaron Ybarra and Stephanie Torres, arrived about 25 minutes after we had started. Soon enough, they were tearing through their own massive stuffed pizzas.


Though Manny and I started the challenge first, Aaron and Stephanie blasted through their pies with speedy technique. I hoped, somewhat legitimately, to become the first to finish this huge pizza. That honor instead went to Stephanie, who finished her pizza in approximately 36 minutes. The staff treated her to several sodas on the house after her big win.

I continued eating. It was considerably difficult because all the grease was getting to me... I don't think I ever needed to eat so much damn cheese in all my life. Along the way, Manny threw in the towel after eating about 6/8 of the total pie. He fought valiantly toward the end.

Pushing myself hard, I finished the last morsel of greasy pizza at 88 minutes. A win is a win! That makes me the second person to conquer the Big Rocco... considering the oily brutality of the challenge, it's an honor I should wear with pride. It really tested my endurance for distance eating. My only regret is not finishing within the hour mark I'd set for myself.


Strategy is all-important. Manny and I both employed a "slice by slice" method, but that was clearly not the way to go. You needed to get through the cheese before it hardened - and before your body began to reject all the grease. Our fellow eaters handled it the right way.

Though Aaron eventually gave up, he ate about 7/8 of the pie. No matter what else I can say, the man is fast! He's got a bright future in speed eating. The Big Rocco seems to be just a bit above his current stomach capacity.

It would have been cool to have gone 4 for 4 that night, but 2 for 4 is a decent result given the immense difficulty of the challenge. Most restaurant challenges do not approach the 8 lb mark, and for good reason.

It was a thrill to win, but the next day hardly felt glamorous ;(