Some eating challenges are nearly as famous as the restaurants that offer them. Just think of the 72 oz steak challenge at the Big Texan in Amarillo. That promotion is larger than life. It's also claimed many souls. You have to stop for a second and remember that it is just a steakhouse with many sane culinary offerings.
It's not clear if Red Devil Pizza (in Granada Hills) rises to the same level of notoriety. Their 28" Belly Blaster pizza challenge is certainly notorious... advertised right in the store window with a large glowing neon sign. I'd say it is a locally famous challenge. The Wall of Shame inside the restaurant is absolutely overwhelming. It is no mean feat for two people to eat a 4-topping 28" pizza in 30 minutes or less.
The day of our challenge was interesting. First of all, it very nearly didn't happen. The person on duty said she couldn't make the huge 28" pizzas if the manager wasn't present. We explained that we had traveled a huge distance... finally light appeared at the end of the tunnel, and if we waited a few hours the manager would show and we could have our challenge.
Well, that was something. We killed time by bowling... conversation.... driving around Granada Hills. Three hours doesn't move along that easily!
When we arrived at the restaurant later that afternoon, the pizzas were coming out of the oven. We did the smart thing and paid for our food up front so we wouldn't need to waste time later. Victory would provide us with refunds, t-shirts, baseball caps, and gift certificates for more future pizza. You gotta have confidence in these things. Most teams fail horrendously, so the restaurant has a solid bet going.
But this wasn't supposed to be a gamble. This was a task we were prepared for.
Yeah, it's big.
We were making the challenge attempt in two separate teams. I was teaming with Stephen Obar, one of the new eaters I met in 2010. His previous eating experience includes becoming the third person out of thousands to successfully tackle Big John's Superburger at Big John's Cafe in Redondo Beach. He also made a valiant effort to take down the 8lb OMG Burger at The Catch in Anaheim. This man eats a lot! We nearly split this pizza down the middle. I've gotta invite him to some future eating events.
Our other team included Matt Stonie and an eater significantly faster than I. They were going for the restaurant record currently held by Damon Wells and Ben Monson... which then stood at 8:15.
They came incredibly close... finishing within mere seconds of a new record. Their time was somewhere around 8:20, which I still say is damn impressive. The current record for the pizza is held by Aaron Ybarra and Stephanie Torres, below the 8 minute mark. It's astounding what some of these competitors can do.
Our team finished in 23:12, which was all we were looking for. That was a hell of a lot of pizza. But, it tasted great. I liked the balance between firmness of crust, generosity of sauce, and density of toppings. If only I lived closer to Granada Hills, this place might be more than a challenge venue.
It's hard to complain about a good day.
