First Oregon Trail: Part 4

Here lies the final day of the first installment of "Oregon Mania" 2012. Four days, four challenges in the state of Oregon.

The main event, fittingly, was reserved for the last day. I would be visiting Church St Pizza with Aaron Wakamatsu and taking on a brand new pizza challenge. Aaron knew the owner of the shop and they had been discussing ideas for a challenge for some time. What they agreed upon was a true monster: a 28" pie with quadrants representing the four most popular pizza options they sold.

The total product weighed at least 12 lbs. There was a lot of meat on the pizza. One section was vegetarian, but even that one was stacked high with mushrooms and spinach.

The challenge rules were straightforward. I'd have 90 minutes to eat the whole pizza, crumbs and all, or I'd owe the shop $100. That was a bit costlier than most similar challenges. I thought there was definitely a bit of the wager element going on here.

But before I could fight my way across 12 lbs of pizza, Aaron had to contend with an incredibly spicy pizza. It was spicy as it was, but not enough for the "Spicochist." He added a number of hot sauces and pepper extracts, even complementing his beverages with them. Aaron won but it was a painful and pyrrhic victory.



It was a struggle all right. Things were okay in the beginning, as they usually are. I started strong and finished half in about 14 minutes. Then I became increasingly sluggish. The fuller you get, the slower you go, and I finally eked out the completion mark at 73 minutes. Sweet relief. No need to shell out $100.

Oregon Mania I was a complete success. All four challenges done, and a lot of other good food sampled. Aaron and I already began talking about a second Oregon Mania challenge adventure, which materialized late July. I'll be blogging about that soon.

Aaron also produced two videos commemorating the challenges/stunts we participated in over Oregon Mania and they're linked here.

The first trip was incredible. The second trip would be even bigger and bolder than the first!





First Oregon Trail: Day 3

The third day of Oregon Mania (a play on the annual WWE wrestling event) saw us take the pace down just a bit. We returned to Salem for a stop at Odd Moe's Pizza. This is the location off Lancaster. Owner Michael Sublett knew Aaron Wakamatsu well, heard of my eating antics, and wanted to design a challenge that I would inaugurate.

I remember it was a cool, overcast day. We arrived at the pizza place early, but there was confusion over meeting times. Michael greeted us in the kitchen, talked to us about his restaurant and cooking experiences, and generally seemed very enthusiastic about competitive eating and eating challenges. He was familiar with many of my YouTube videos too.

Odd Moe's Pizza already offered the Suicide Squeeze Wing Challenge, which was your standard hot wing challenge. Eat some chicken wings doused in Trinidad Moruga and Ghost chili sauces without water to get your name on the wall of fame.

Well, I wouldn't be getting away so easily. My challenge would include the 12 Trinidad Scorpion wings, but alongside it I'd also have a medium pizza loaded with toppings and a pint of ice cream. My task was to eat it as quickly as possible and set a house record for future champions to beat.

Michael called it the Triple Play Challenge, in keeping with the baseball theme present with the "Squeeze" wing challenge.

I needed 11 minutes, which became the standing record. For a new challenger to claim victory, they'll need to eat the whole challenge faster than 11 minutes. It's probably around 4 lbs of food total. The pizza was well-cooked, saucy, and the toppings were interesting. The wings were incredibly hot but the burn didn't sink in for several minutes. The ice cream at the end was very enjoyable.

I earned a spot on the wall of fame for my new record. It wasn't a very large meal, but we wanted to include Odd Moe's on our Oregon Mania journey and things worked out well. Owner Michael Sublett was thrilled we stopped by. So much so, that he gave me two bottles of hot sauce and some Mountain Dew as a parting gift.

Pizza Hut $6 Buffet

This offer's been available for years, but until last week it escaped me. A recent drive to Yucca Valley convinced me to change my mind, especially since it was over 100 degrees outside and my car's A/C fan stopped working. I needed to stay indoors awhile. And come on, it's Pizza Hut!

The basic propostion is simple. $6 covers unlimited access to all the pizza, salad, pasta, dessert (pudding and pizza) you could want. A drink is included so it's a great deal. It's a better bargain than KFC's $10 buffet in Banning though there you have more options overall and way more protein.

As far as pizza quality goes, my gut feeling is the buffet stuff is only slightly less tasty than the usual made to order pies. I detected two types of crust: thin and dusted with oil, and a thicker buttery crust. Both were enjoyable though the thinner crust would allow you to eat a lot more in one sitting.

They have 8 pizzas sitting in the station at one time. They alternate between 6 different types of pizza, it felt like, depending on customer request and actual demand. The only downside to this type of buffet are the slow moments when people aren't eating much and the food on the tray is getting old and cold. In terms of taste, I'd compare the Pizza Hut lunch buffet to Cici's Pizza. I prefer Cici's because they have more pies available at one time, more dessert pizzas, and their offer for all-you-can eat stands all day.

20 slices of pizza for $6 is an unbeatable deal. That seems to equate about two medium pizzas, and that more than sufficed for my food needs for the whole rest of the day. It also provided great fodder for my blog, which has gone lonely lately. It's nice to have something new to write about.

Oregon Mania

This weekend, I return to the state of Oregon. Hadn't been there since the Summer of 2009. Back then, I ventured North to visit a relative. Eating big was hardly on the agenda, and the one challenge I attempted defeated me.

2012 is a bit different. On the heels of Randy Santel's dominant visit to Washington state, I will make my way back to Oregon. There are two items on the agenda. Meet Aaron Wakamatsu, fellow foodie and all-around good friend, and to eat like a freak.

My roadmap is pretty much set. I'll be tackling several major challenges near Salem and Portland.

1) China Blue Lucky Seven Chicken Dinner (7 lbs)
2) Mad Greek Deli 24" sandwich w/fries (6 lbs)
3) Odd Moe's Pizza Triple Play Challenge (4-5 lbs)
4) The Legend 5 lb Poutine Challenge
5) Church St. Pizza 28" Pizza Challenge (10+ lbs)
6) Voodoo Doughnuts' Texass Doughnut (~ 1 lb)

There may be a heat challenge or two thrown in alongside that. What follows should be interesting blog and YouTube material. See you soon.

Team Pizza Preview

Haven't written anything in awhile. Fixing that now. I've completed a few big challenges recently. Last week, I raised the Denny's pancake gauntlet set by Johnnie Excel from 41 to 43 cakes. Two nights ago, I joined "Furious" Pete at the Brand Steakhouse in Las Vegas and we ate 120 oz steaks. I became the first person to complete the 120 oz steak challenge for a second time. Yesterday, I joined "Juan More Bite" Rodriguez and we became the first and second guys to complete the 4-foot burrito challenge at Coconut's Beach Bar and Grill in Vegas. Juan holds the record at 16 minutes, and I trailed behind at 24.

All that aside, I'm excited for the future. I'm excited for pizza. This Thursday, a team of High Desert eaters is coming back together for another pizza challenge. John Rivera of Joshua Tree will be coming out to Rancho Mirage to join me for a massive 20" BBQ Cheeseburger Pizza. The challenge is hosted by Waters Cafe inside a casino.

What does it weigh? Who knows what it weighs. I've seen different notes, going anywhere from 6 lbs to over 10 lbs. We won't let those questions get us down. Our goal is to be the first team to defeat this challenge under the 30 minute limit.

It's gonna be cheesy, it's gonna be greasy, but most of all it's gonna be good.

Making a Claim

 

 Some companies offer bold words. The La Pizza Loca chain claims that their 32-slice "La Gigante" is the world's largest delivered pizza. It says so right on the box.

 

It's definitely a sweet, saucy deal at $10. What's less certain is if the advertising rings true. Big Mama and Papa's Pizzeria in Hollywood offers both 36" round and 54"x54" square pizzas for delivery. Red Devil Pizza in Granada Hills offers up a 50" round. Those seem to be serious rivals for the world title. 

Well... they all make great food. I was just struck by the wording on the package. Maybe some committee of weights and measures will resolve this issue for us.

Souplantation: The Land of Bottomless Carbs

Last week, I visited Souplantation in the city of San Bernardino. I'd previously visited another location of the restaurant in Fullerton, but the experience was very similar. The decor of the restaurant is bright and quiet, with clean tables and a selection of buffet foods that tilt heavily to the side of carbohydrates.

Arranged like a soup kitchen with a long salad line, this is the Land of Carbs! Soups, salads, breads, pastas, potatoes, and soft-serve ice cream, all on an unlimited tap. It's not bad at all, but if you want more meat you better go elsewhere. The food tastes a bit better at Souplantation, but I prefer the wider selection at Hometown Buffet. Souplantation may offer Dreyer's brand soft-serve, but I think the no-name version at other buffets goes down just as nicely.

 

My meal included a heaping plate of salad, two baked potatoes, three bowls of soft-serve ice cream, a plate of pasta with tomatoes, two bowls of soup (beef chili was awesome - vegetable barley was okay), four muffins (pecan, blueberry, and oat bran), two chocolate brownies, and four plates of cheese bread (which looks and taste a lot like thick-crust pizza). I drank two cups of Diet Coke with my meal. I felt very full afterwards, but I must admit I felt okay until I drank that second glass! 

My favorite of the meal was the Pizza-ish bread, which tasted way better than some other legitimate pizzas I've eaten. The only gripe I had was the thickness of the bread. Then again, there was a very bready aspect to the entire meal at Souplantation. This place must make loads of money, considering how inexpensive white flour must be. 

Carbs, carbs, and more carbs! 

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.