Bull Shed

The Bull Shed Bar & Grill is tucked away behind a series of hotels in Bakersfield. GPS isn't helpful, but there are plenty of signs. If you can find it, you might be able to take on their Big Bad Bull Shed Burger Challenge. You get 45 minutes to tackle a burger featuring 2.5 lbs of meat and 2.5 lbs of fries.

Winners get a shirt and a free meal, losers get a bill for $30 and a very full stomach. At the time I took this challenge, there were two previous victors. And for good reason! You've got a lot of starch to contend with, so I tackled the pile of wedge cut potatoes first.



The waitress was concerned that I wouldn't get to the burger in time, but 45 minutes is plenty. The fries tasted great. It wouldn't have been bad if this was a 6 lb fry challenge. Switching to the burger, I discovered a dense bun that tasted sweeter than brioche and burger meat that was well-seasoned.

Eating at a leisurely pace, the challenge was over in 32 minutes. I'd estimate the whole meal at just under 7 pounds. The heavy bread and vegetable toppings add considerable weight.

The restaurant was quiet when I visited on a Saturday afternoon. Some guys were playing pool on the far side of the dining area, and there were a few guys at the bar. It was nice to eat in peace for a change.

Maybe I would have tried their mechanical bull machine if I was there during its hours of operation. All I will say is they have a solid challenge going. They need to get more people in the doors! The environment was welcoming, the food was delicious, and the servers were attentive. I can't say that about every establishment.

Burritos in Bakersfield

La Mina Mexican Restaurant is a small restaurant chain located in Bakersfield. They have 6 locations last I checked. Some of these locations offer a burrito eating challenge. It's a good stopping point when you're visiting family in Northern California.

They feature the Arturo Grande Burrito, priced in June 2010 at $11.99 each. It's the biggest burrito on their menu. If a diner puts down two in one hour, they get a refund. If they can eat three, they eat for free and take home a $50 prize.


They look delicious. You get your choice of meat... I've learned to go with chicken because it seems to be the lightest. Their carne asada comes in thick chunks, and if you select ground beef they really load down your burritos with huge portions.

And that's where the difficulty of the challenge arises. The burritos really don't come in set sizes. I've taken the challenge three times, and every time the burritos have looked different. I've never failed this challenge. I also never took home the $50 prize. Getting past that second serving is hell.

Each burrito, filled with beans, meat, loads of rice, lettuce and tomato, must weigh in at 4-5 lbs. The staff couldn't even offer me a range. They remind me of the King Ranch Burrito at La Casa Garcia in Anaheim, though these pack much more rice.


Every challenge has gone differently. The pictured burritos were cleared in 33 minutes. That was my most impressive finish.

The third time I took this challenge resulted in a near-failure, because the kitchen decided to really stuff the burritos with rice and douse them in sauce.

The picture may not do it justice, but this burrito was significantly plumper than the ones above. Exploding with rice. Lots of beans too. I needed 58 minutes to clear both burritos it day. Almost didn't happen! It also didn't help that they refused to bring both burritos out at once.

My suggestion? Bring a scale. Someone needs to find out how much they're shoveling down on this one. The bet totally favors the house. At the Oak St. location they told me that I was the second and third successful finisher as of June 2010.

Now do I hear any takers for the $50 note?

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 ;(

Sushilicious?

A new eating challenge appeared on eatfeats this week. Sushilicious, a sushi restaurant in Irvine, has begun honoring customers who can consume more sushi than any diner before them.

The restaurant recognizes separate male and female champions. The (current) male record stands at 38 plates, while the female champion burned through 20 plates to claim her title.

If you can top the current champion, you get your entire meal for free - including all the plates you eat on top of the current record. There's a certain incentive to gorge on this challenge if possible.

It's an interesting challenge, because it's not strictly about time or speed. You just need to outdo the reigning champion in terms of volume. Obviously, eating quickly will help reach your goal in less time - and increases one's odds of being able to establish a truly impressive plate count.

It's a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, so the good thing is you'll always have food to grab. You won't be held up by prep times necessarily. As of this moment, patrons are only limited by a one hour time limit, whatever their stomach can hold, and how fast they can convey the food there.

The mystery factor is how much "food" might constitute a plate. This restaurant sells sushi rolls, hand rolls, nigiri, and other fare you find in sushi bars. Not all plates are equal in terms of weight or item count, but all plates will count equally toward your plate count. There's room for some eating strategy.

I'm considering visiting this place on Friday. The challenge plays to a lot of my strengths, especially in terms of mass consumption and distance eating. I also enjoy eating raw fish.

Here's to hoping I can set a new record!

Time Won't Stop

Once again, I have let my blog go unwritten for an extended period of time.... let me say that I am alive and well, and I am still consuming in considerable quantities. Sometimes life is a bigger distraction than we'd like.

Today, I am planning on visiting Sancho's Tacos in Hesperia to tackle their 4-lb burrito challenge. I found out about this restaurant from a recent posting in the EatFeats database. They opened shop in August apparently. I can't find anything about the rules or requirements - and the listed phone number doesn't even work - but finishers are supposed to get a free shirt and a refund on the meal. I will be reporting on this challenge this weekend.

And, in a first, I will list upcoming posts for this blog.... I will soon be reporting on a recent trip to Red Lobster, during which a friend and I took advantage of the Endless Shrimp special and each devoured 18 orders of shrimp over a two-hour period. Good times indeed.

There will be photos as well.

Breaking Some Eggs

The most famous breakfast-style eating challenge in Southern California has got to be the Broken Yolk Cafe Special, which you will only find at the Broken Yolk Cafe. This small chain has several locations throughout San Diego County, the newest of which opened shop a few months back in San Marcos.

I made my first and only attempt at this massive breakfast platter in October 2009, as part of a family celebration. We went to the location in Carlsbad, which is right along the coast of California via the Interstate 5. It was a beautiful city. I regret not taking any photos of the town - apparently the thrill of the insane meal was just too overbearing. What struck me as most memorable were the constant, and goregous, views of the Pacific Ocean.

Anyway, this breakfast was recently made famous by Adam Richman on Man V Food. Adam did it in the more popular Pacific Beach location. I opted for Carlsbad just because it was closer to home. It's pretty much the same huge dish regardless of where you go....

A dozen-egg omelet filled with mushrooms, cheese, onions, and bell peppers, buried in chili and cheese, served along with a mountain of home-fried potatoes and two infamously dense biscuits. I'm not sure if they're buttermilk. The whole thing comes out on a 15" pizza pan for presentation value.

And yeah, everyone in my party was shocked at the size of the meal in front of me. Including myself. I hadn't done a challenge in a few weeks, and I really wanted to do this one because it sounded especially challenging. This would be a feather in my cap.... a jewel in the crown.

Or a hole in my poor stomach. I didn't realize what I was getting into. This was easily 6-7 lbs of sustenance. The over-cliched power breakfast: eat this one and sleep for a week. I was told that only one other person had ever finished this breakfast special at Carlsbad. The manager was hopeful that he'd witness a second.

I couldn't disappoint, could I?

Well, let's just say that it wasn't easy. It was a real show-stopper, requiring every last one of the given 60 minutes. I started with the omelet, which was piping hot but really tasty. Mixing it up with the home fries and chili was a delicious idea given to me by another eater, and I have to give him credit because it really gave the meal some variety. The omelet totally vanished in about 15 minutes.

Getting through the home fries was a harsh tale. They became starchy, very difficult to chew.... and eventually they tasted like asphalt. I relied on ketchup and water to pack them down.

My biggest mistake was saving the massive biscuits for last. They had hardened by the time I powered through the eggs and potatoes. I'm not joking about this - they felt like damn rocks. I could have used them for paperweights or baseballs at that point. 

Dunking them in water to soften them was the only option left, but that just made them really doughy and nasty. I struggled to get through these incredibly tasteless, wet, heavy flour lumps. Somehow I got them down by the 60 minute mark.

Honestly, I was incredibly relieved to have finished. I was #2 in Carlsbad, I had my free T-shirt, and my name would be on the plaque of fame.... and best of all I could walk away from the table.

This was one of the toughest challenges I've ever come across.

....as well as one of the most delicious. You just gotta do it a little faster to appreciate it.

Miniature Fame

Frank's Famous Hot Dogs in San Luis Obispo, CA has a "Wall of Fame" in their restaurant dedicated to people who love eating sliders.

Sliders, or miniburgers as they known in this establishment, are simply smaller versions of the hamburger or cheeseburger. They have the exact same condiments you would find in the larger, older, more common burger. They're just more convenient, easier to hold, and pack fewer calories per unit.

Eaters are honored on the Wall of Fame if they can manage to eat 10 miniburgers (or more) during a single dining visit. They also receive a free t-shirt advertising Frank's, and of course, all the glitz and glamour that goes with completing an eating challenge.... and maybe some bragging rights. If you're the kind of person who likes to brag about mass consumption.

One special mass consumer is honored as the reigning miniburger eating champion.... the record as of my January 2010 visit stood at 26 miniburgers. Beat the record by one burger and you become the new champion. Not only do you get your name and picture mentioned in a special slot.... you also get a refund for your entire meal. That's a heck of an enticement! At $1.39 per burger, a new champ would be looking at $40 of free food. Not bad.

I was not in a position to make the attempt, but I gladly went for the 10-on-the-wall. The burgers were moist, juicy, and flavorful. I ate mine with all the toppings - lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheddar cheese - and did not regret my experience at all. It took me 20 minutes to fully consume the burgers, which were slightly larger than what I would call miniburgers. The staff was incredulous that I had finished so quickly.

My picture now adorns their wall, lost in an anonymous sea of fellow challenge winners. Obviously, it's not a very difficult feat. One day I will go back and lay claim to their championship title. Just 27 burgers to go, right?

San Luis Obispo has not seen the last of me.

The Joys of Raw Fish

Sushi Delight is a small Japanese restaurant in Lomita, California... right along the Pacific Coast Highway. It was tough to find because of all the nearby construction that was happening. Let it be known that GPS is not really so helpful when the roads are being torn up!

I still managed to find my way there one Friday evening. Pictured above is their massive "Godzilla Roll." It resembles chunks of burrito more than any real sushi dish... but it really is 4 lbs of sushi! Priced at $34.99, it is currently only available as a single-diner challenge item. Five guys can't just walk in there and hope to share a bargain sushi meal, because as we know, legitimate sushi does not come cheap!

The Godzilla Roll was huge. This was not my first time dabbling in raw fish, but I'd never gorged on it before hitting this challenge. I remember tearing through spicy tuna, shrimp, lobster, and at least a dozen other ingredients. The mixture of flavors may not have been optimal, but it was a hell of a lot of food!

Even a single portion of the roll looks huge. I tackled 12 of the 14 sections in 30 minutes. You get an hour for this challenge, so I was making excellent time. The taste became increasingly bland as the time wore on, but I made the all-clear at the 39 minute line. I think using a fork was a smart move, but I probably could have done better if I used my hands.... then again, I was in a classy restaurant. No need to look like a savage while virtually inhaling raw seafood.

The management came out to congratulate me on my performance. They could not believe I had really eaten the whole dish.... which, at that point, was a familiar story I was used to hearing! Sometimes you can't help but impress.... I was the 4th person to accomplish this task, out of dozens of attempts. I received the meal for free and got a nifty T-shirt advertising the restaurant and its massive Godzilla Roll.

Anyone who thinks they can destroy 4 lbs of sushi in 60 minutes needs to get to this place! The staff was friendly, the decor was relaxing, and the challenge item was unique.

Like I always say: food always tastes better when it is free!

History is Written.... in Pizza

 
Pizza is one of those foods that people just love. It's junk food. It's comfort food. It is convenience: tomato sauce, cheese, and bread, in one easy-to-carry package.

It's one of those foods that people often eat in large helpings. But, anyone who claims to have eaten a lot of pizza - and there's a people out there who claim this - needs to stop by Big Mama & Papa's Pizzeria in Los Angeles to put their experience into perspective.

This pizza chain sells a 'pie' that is a whopping 54 inches by 54 inches. It's a square, technically, so math geeks would cringe at me calling it a pie, since pies are round... but I digress.

This massive pizza is called the Grand Sicilian. It begins with over 29 lbs of dough.... add the necessary fat, layers of sauce and cheese, and any other toppings you like, and you're looking at a culinary monstrosity that easily tops the 50 lb mark.

Their website claims it is the largest deliverable pizza in the world. I'm not here to debate that statement. I do know it would take a flatbed to bring this beast to anyone's house.

Any party or social gathering would be well-fed if they ordered this thing. It is cut into roughly 154 squares, and if you offered every person 2-3, you arrive at the website's suggestion that it would feed 50-70 people. Yikes!

The Hollywood Blvd. location is bold enough to offer up this pizza as a team eating challenge. It began as a 4-man affair: put it away in two hours, and you get the pizza free ($250 value), along with a $1000 bounty.

That's a lot of money to put up, but then again, it's a lot of pizza! Especially considering that the challenge must be done with one topping.... when you're talking about loading 2,916 square inches with an extra layer, you add substantial weight. The restaurant thought had a safe bet going.

And they were right! There were no successes. Not even close. So it was upped to five men..... then six.

On October 3, 2009, I joined five other big-eating individuals in an attempt to take down this challenge. We would be making eating history. We would be the first to tame this raging cheese monster.

We were amazed at the vast size of the thing when it came out to our table! It was as big as a chunk of sidewalk. A small person could crawl under it and use it as a blanket. It could have probably fed an entire elementary school - and then some.

We ate like threshers for a solid two hours. It tasted much better in the beginning, as most eating challenges go. It was incredibly rock-hard after it cooled down. In the end, the pizza proved victorious. There were 23 squares left - we had come closer than any team thus far. We made history alright, just not the particular kind we were looking for.
 

 All six of us left the restaurant feeling very full and a little bit disappointed... so close but not close enough!

I would actually need to rest on the sidewalk (read: lie down) before finally getting in my car for the drive home.

 

There is one piece of silver lining: I set a personal record for consumption. My scale at home told me that I had packed in an extra 17 lbs of weight. Even accounting for the liquids I drank, it was remarkable.

It would be a long time before I'd want to eat pizza again.

A Reflection on Eating Challenges

A few days ago, I decided to compile a list of all the eating challenges I’ve ever attempted in the past few years. I thought about posting it here in its entirety, but I felt that it would bore most people out of their minds.

My goal is to entertain people with pictures and stories of what I do. I don’t really need to toot my own horn. I know that I’ve completed many challenges. I know that some of my successful challenges were supremely difficult.

Then again, the whole point of having a blog dedicated to eating challenges is to toot my own horn. I want my “accomplishments” to be known. I don’t want people coming away thinking, “This guy just started. This guy’s unknown. He hasn’t done anything worth my attention. Why should I read anything he has to say?”

Sigh… it’s a balancing act on my part. I imagine at some point in the future I will post my challenges list, in whole or in several parts. For now I would like to take a moment and reflect upon what I do.

To put it simply, I like to test my ability to consume large portions of food. Restaurants help this habit along by offering ridiculously oversized meal items that I happily order and try to consume.

Whatever the psychology behind it is, I feel a sense of accomplishment at being able to completely devour meals that 4-6 persons would find difficult to share. I could call it finding my skill – my niche. A few weeks ago, while at a buffet, I casually noticed that I consumed more food than the family of six seated next to me.

So why do restaurants offer these oversized meals at all? Why do they present “eat-it-all-and-it’s-free” promotions?

 

"521 Burger"

Obviously, nobody needs to consume 44-oz of hamburger meat in sitting…. or 6 pounds or burrito. There’s no way your body can make use of all the nutrients contained in the food. In most individuals, the result would be digestive issues and weight gain. The vast majority of eaters would not even succeed in the task at hand.

Eating establishments sell monumental portions, I believe, to generate business. There’s a chance that people might come from miles away to visit a restaurant that sells a humungous hamburger or a mountainous ice cream sundae. I can testify from experience to this possibility!

Secondly, the “eat-it-all-for-free” promotion is usually a sucker’s bet. Very few people are capable of finishing the portion sizes presented by a restaurant for a challenge. The eating establishment makes lots of money on the failed trials. Successes are few and far between – the free food actually given out pales in comparison to the generated business. Restaurants potentially make a killing off eating challenges. At the very least, it’s a good advertising gimmick.

 

I don’t mind so much, because I’ve actually managed to eat many a meal on the house.

Of course, I don’t need the incentive of a free meal to take on an eating ‘challenge.’ I’ve consumed some meals for small prizes, such as a free hat or t-shirt, or my picture on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The restaurants get an even better deal here, since the ‘free’ merchandise or a photograph is less costly than the food they sell.

I’ve also consumed many grotesque meals that did not offer a prize of any kind. I consider any huge item of food a challenge! I could probably conclude that eating is a bit like the sport of hunting: the thrill is in the chase. We eat for the sake of digestive conquest. There’s no greater motivation required.

At this point, I’ve attempted 61 total ‘challenges’ and completed 55 of them for a total success rate of 90.2%. For me, failure to consume has been a rare event. I see failure as an enticement to push harder next time around. And I always do.

Many challenges still lie ahead of me.

I have not yet begun to eat!