Eagle’s Challenge
September 23, 2009
Eagle's Challenge
Eagle’s Deli: This place is becoming a Boston institution that all Bostonians have to try. It is already well known amongst the Boston College crowd as the place to come if you have a HUGE appetite and want a burger. So some places just make a really big patty (See the Kookamonga) but Eagle’s Deli is one of those places that makes a standard ½ Lb patty and then stacks them higher and higher. They stack them all the way up to the Eagles Challenge which is 8 patties on one burger. That is crazy! Eagle’s deli has a saga on how the Eagle’s Challenge came into existence and it all started when the owner of Eagles Deli decided to make a double burger and called it the Godzilla Burger.
Now that is more than enough burger for me but not for Eagle’s Deli and so they doubled it to create the Cowabunga Burger with 2 Lb of meat and it is also server up with 2 Lb of fries. Now who was the first person to eat this burger is lost to time but Eagle’s Deli decided to make an even bigger burger at 3 Lb with 5 Lb of fries which was polished off by Shawn Reilly and then Paul Jones finished off the 4 Lb burger with 5 Lb of fries. And so we arrive at the 5 Lb Eagle’s Challenge with 5 Lb of fries. So far no one has yet to finish this behemoth but it will be named after the first person who does. To give you an idea of how great of a task this is lets get an idea of what people are attempting to eat, the Eagle’s Challenge is 5 Lb of Burger, 20 slices of cheese, 20 pieces of bacon, a giant pickle, and 5 Lb of fries. This is about 12 Lb of food! Over 1,500 have tried, none has succeeded.
Justin “Crazy Eater” Lallatin
Address: 1918 Beacon Street, Brighton, MA 02135
Phone: 617-731-3232
Map: http://tr.im/zwXp
Hell Fire Challenge
September 18, 2009
Hell Fire Challenge
SmokeEaters Hot Wings: Now eating something that is super spicy is one thing but restaurants are taking their challenges to the next level of craziness by adding another rule by having you wait for a certain amount of time without doing anything to ease the heat. That is just crazy!!! At SmokeEaters you can start with their entry level mild wings and work your way up through 6 other levels of heat all the way to the #7 Inferno. Now I will never even attempt the Inferno but if you are a real fire eater and want some more heat they have the Hell Fire Challenge. This crazy eats challenge is eating 12 wings that are equal to 6 habeneros in 10 minutes plus an 5 minute wait time before napkin or beverage.
This challenge is not even on the menu and so you have to be in the know to tackle the Hell Fire wings. The base for the Hell Fire sauce is the inferno sauce, which starts with their homemade sauce plus barbecue sauce, duck sauce (never heard of that!), a ton of dried cayenne pepper, 4 oz of dried habenero. For the Hell Fire Challenge they add even more dried habenero to bring the total to 6 oz! Oh did I mention that you have to lick all the sauce off of your fingers before they will even start the 5 minute waiting period. Of course they have you sign a waiver first and the final line on this states in bold print that you are admitting that you are an idiot. Got to love it.
Justin “Crazy Eater” Lallatin
Address: 2565 The Alameda, Santa Clara, CA 95050
Phone: (408) 241-2582
Map: http://tr.im/z4aZ
Texas Donut
September 15, 2009
Texas Donut
Round Rock Donuts: We all have our guilty pleasures and for me there is none is bigger than donuts! I love donuts and many times that I have gone to the store looking for something to eat and just bought 3 donuts with some chocolate milk. Round Rock Donuts has such good donuts that they were listed as one of the 10 best donut shops in the country by MSN city guides. The donuts here are made with farm fresh eggs and yeast which makes them light and fluffy and people have come to love their donuts. They are so busy that even though the store closes at 3pm during the week, there is a drive thru that is open until 9pm.
Now while being a donut shop rated as one of the best in the country may qualify them for crazy eats for me, they still have to meet the criteria. Everyone has heard that everything is bigger in Texas and this donut truly is and so they have named it the Texas Donut. It is so big that they use a bucket to cut it and regular donut cutters for the hole, so could you call a regular donut a Texas Donut Hole? This is the perfect name for a donut that is 14 inches in diameter and that weighs over 2 LBS. That is a crazy donut and some crazy eats! I think I am going to go out and get a donut right now.
Justin “Crazy Eater” Lallatin
http://www.roundrockdonuts.com/
Address: 106 W. Liberty, Round Rock, Texas 78664
Phone: 512-255-3629
Map: http://tr.im/yO1W
The Overstuffed Sandwich Challenge
September 12, 2009
Just ONE of the sandwiches!
Lucky’s Sandwich Company: A few years ago a guy stumbled into Lucky’s after a few too many drinks and with a huge appetite, he then proceeded to eat 3 of their 1½ LB stuffed sandwiches. Now that is just crazy and the owner thought so as well and so he created the Overstuffed Sandwich Challenge in honor of this guys feat. Now I have written about stuffed sandwiches before (see the post for Primanti’s Brothers) and so I am really looking forward to finding a place that makes stuffed sandwiches. Lucky’s Sandwich Company was opened in 2004 and with a simple menu of sandwiches, salads, chili, chicken tenders, fries, and wings. Oh and plenty of beer.
Now I wondered why this place is called Lucky’s and I found out that it is named after a former part owner of the Cubs who was the man who got Wrigley Field built. There are 17 different sandwiches to choose from and I want to try the Fredo, which is ham, salami, capicola and swiss, just because of the name. I don’t know if it is named for Fredo Corleone but I just want to try it. If that is not enough I can even add extras such as doubling the meat, adding a fried egg, or other things. This all sounds so good to me but of course this isn’t good eats, it is crazy eats and so the crazy thing here is the overstuffed sandwich challenge. They give each person an hour to eat the 3 sandwiches of your choice and if you eat the sandwiches in under 30 minutes you don’t have to pay for them, a little incentive to eat fast. Each sandwich is made on thick sliced french bread with your choice of meat, cheese, an egg, tomato, coleslaw, and two handfuls of fries. Finish them all in less than an hour and you get your picture on the wall.
Justin “Crazy Eater” Lallatin
Address: 3472 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60657
Phone: 773-549-0665
Map: http://tr.im/yweB
XL 28″ Party Pizza
September 9, 2009
New York Pizzeria 28" Party Pizza
New York Pizzeria: This place looks like your normal New York theme pizzerias with the pictures of New York and famous New Yorkers on the wall but there is something crazy here. I went into this place the other day to get some of their great New York style thin crust pizza to go. We were talking to the waitress trying to decide what pizza we wanted when we looked over and saw one of the cooks pull out this huge pizza from the oven. We looked at the pizza and our first reaction was “that is some crazy eats!” This was their XL 28” Party Pizza.
You can get this crazy sized pizza to go or eat it there but the best part is that this pizza is delicious. They are not just making a crazy sized pizza for the fun of it but they are making some great pizza. The parents of the waitress who helped us are true New Yorkers and she told us that it is the best New York pizza that she has ever had outside of NYC, so that is a good sign. Just like a good Italian restaurant you get some great breadsticks, which are delicious and are made from the pizza dough, with some olive oil to dip it in. They have a menu full of great Italian food, which I will have to try out soon, if you are not in the mood for pizza. Don’t want a whole pizza? then get the giant pizza by the, but this is like eating 2/3 of a medium pizza so only get one slice, maybe even to share. If you and your friends want to try and eat a giant 28 inch pizza this is the place to go.
Justin “Crazy Eats” Lallatin
They have multiple locations in the Houston, TX area.
Burritozilla!
September 5, 2009
Iguana's Burritozilla
Iguana’s Burritozilla: They have an open mic! How many places do you see today that have an open mic? That is one reason this is a total college hang out. Oh, they also serve up great Mexican food. So look forward to having some fun here with the crow from San Jose State as your munch on your burrito and listen to some budding talent on the mic. As for the food this place serves up my kind of burrito. I grew up about 2 hours north of San Jose and so I am a stickler as to what I want in my burritos and for me the best burritos start with cheese, bean, rice, meat (my personal favorite is al pastor), pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. I either like to pick them up to eat them or you can throw some sour cream, pico de gallo, and guacamole on top. Make me hungry just thinking about it! I love a good taqueira.
But what sets this place apart from all the other Mexican places is their Burritozilla. This is a crazy sized burrito that is made with not 1 tortilla but 3, and all told it is over 17 inches long and weighs in at over 5 LBS! That is some seriously crazy eats! Usually the places that have huge burritos are burritos in name only because there is no way you are going to pick it up to eat it, they usually lay the tortilla on top like a blanket. Not Iquana’s, they wrap it up like a real burrito that you can pick up and eat. I am always on the lookout for some great Mexican food and this place looks like it fits the bill.
Justin “Crazy-Eats” Lallatin
Address: 330 South 3rd Street, Suite A, San Jose, CA 95112
Phone: (408) 271-9772
Map: http://tr.im/wHXj
The Double Bypass Burger
September 2, 2009
Double Bypass Burger
The Vortex Bar & Grill: First impression of this place is that the front entrance has been styled like a giant skull with psychedelic red vortex eyes. The craziness doesn’t stop with the décor that is more like your local fun house than a place to get some good grub and some crazy eats. The burgers here have been voted the best in Atlanta and so this places draws the crowds and people love the place for all these reasons and plus for the waitresses all dress hot.
This place is great for the burger lover who doesn’t just want to stop at a bacon cheese burger. They even have an Elvis burger that has a crazy combo of bacon, peanut butter, and fried bananas. The King would have loved this burger. If you want unique but you don’t want to go totally crazy you can get the bacon blue cheese burger or a chili verde burger.
You want to go really crazy and you already have an appointment to see your cardiologist then why not get the Double Bypass Burger. This thing is crazy goodness that will make you want more. It starts off like all their burgers, a 1/2LB patty. Then add 3 fried eggs, 4 slices of american cheese, 6 slices of bacon. Now this all sounds good but not way over the top crazy, just a couple extra eggs and slices of bacon. Vortex takes it over the top by forgoing the bun and instead they make two grilled cheese sandwiches and slap all that good fillings in there. That is some crazy eats!
Justin “Crazy Eater” Lallatin
http://www.thevortexbarandgrill.com/
Address: 438 Moreland Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30316
Phone: 404-688-1828
Map: http://tr.im/xJ1c
Crazy Eats: Enjoy the crazy fun of going out to eat 