# Anyone here, or anyone you know ever taken part in a food challenge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815 "2010-09-06T17:00:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/1 "2010-09-06T17:00:28Z")
You know like the type you see on Man vs Food and similar shows on the Food Network and Travel Channel, where if you, say, polish off a 72 ounce steak or 100 hot wings in an hour your meal is on the house. So, who here has done it? What advice would you give to someone else doing it? And, most importantly, what did you feel like the next day? I’ve never done it, though there’s a place near where I live that has a steak challenge (can’t recall the exact weight though), and I’ve always been kind of curious to try it. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/2 "2010-09-07T12:56:04Z")
This place seems to come up whenever there’s a discussion about this: > **[Home of the 72oz Steak - The Big Texan Steak Ranch](https://www.bigtexan.com/)** > > The Big Texan Steak Ranch, world famous for of the free 72oz steak challenge. Historic Route 66 landmark and Texas icon. Only located in Amarillo, Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/3 "2010-09-07T17:49:35Z")
There was a restaurant in Springfield, IL called “The Den” and they had a particularly hot chili you could order and if you finished the bowl you got your name on the wall. I was working at the Secretary of State office at 2nd & Edwards and one of the co-workers went to pick up our order. I ordered the hot one and ate it all, but it only counted if you ate it in the restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/4 "2010-09-08T01:25:20Z")
In 1983 I was living in Houston, TX. I was a 20 year old kid. I went to this little hole in the wall seafood restaurant that used to be a boat. They were having a raw oyster eating contest. I love oysters, and so I joined. I was on my second dozen when I realized that I had to PAY for what I ate. What kind of a contest is that? I had no idea! I stopped at that point …I’m so glad that I did - had I not, I probably wouldn’t even be able to look at a raw oyster now without gagging. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/5 "2010-09-08T01:41:46Z")
I did. I lost. It was a local pizza place, and if you could eat one of their 12" pizzas, you could have it for free. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/6 "2010-09-08T01:46:01Z")
Back during the late seventies/early eighties, I took [the Pepsi Challenge](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E39QKERV30Q). Does that count? (Incidentally, I chose Coke as the superior tasting beverage. Which it, of course, is.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/7 "2010-09-08T02:23:39Z")
> [@](#): > > I did. I lost. It was a local pizza place, and if you could eat one of their 12" pizzas, you could have it for free. How thick was it, that that could possibly be a challenge? A normal 12" pizza is a rather large meal, but not extraordinary, and back when I was in high school I or any of my buddies could have easily done that and still had room for dessert. I’ve participated in a pumpkin pie eating contest, but there, the objective is speed, not total quantity, so it’s a little different. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/8 "2010-09-08T02:26:44Z")
I survived [The Habanero Hamburger](http://www.habanero-hamburger.com/index.shtml). It was realy one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life, and ever since, I’ve felt no need to prove my macho by eating spicy food. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-or-anyone-you-know-ever-taken-part-in-a-food-challenge/552815/9 "2010-09-08T03:37:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > I did. I lost. It was a local pizza place, and if you could eat one of their 12" pizzas, you could have it for free. > > How thick was it, that that could possibly be a challenge? A normal 12" pizza is a rather large meal, but not extraordinary. . . . THICK. Almost four inches thick. I finished all but one piece, but that was it. And, no, I didn’t know how thick it was ahead of time. All I new was 12". When my roommate and I were seated and saw the size of the pizzas coming out we both had a sinking feeling.