Nine Charlotte-Area Food Challenges to Throw Down Your Gullet

The ultimate guide on where to chow down for prizes and more

All the way back to 1867, when a reporter in Illinois documented Dr. Henry Harmes’ disturbing feat of ingesting five dozen raw eggs in one 30-minute sitting, Americans have been consumed with food challenges. OK, that may be a little extreme, but there has for many years been a certain subset of overzealous restaurant patrons who take pride in completing food challenges, egged on only by the restaurants that supply them and maybe a few troublesome friends. Amateur and competitive eaters alike seek the specialized glory earned by finishing several pounds of food within a predetermined time limit for prizes and/or bragging rights.

According to Benny Pennello’s, an amateur eater is considered anyone who has not entered into a competitive eating contest nor won a cash prize for a food challenge and is not training for a competitive eating event, while a professional eater is a competitive eater (sponsored or non-sponsored), an aspiring competitive eater or anyone who has won a food challenge with a cash prize. Most challenges follow the same general rules: no bathroom breaks, no vomiting on the premises during or after the competition, no sharing the food with another person and no leaving the table area.

JackBeagles “Wicked Challenge”

Time Limit: 15 minutes

Criteria: Contestants must finish 1 pound of mac & cheese, 1 pound of waffle fries, 1 pound of pulled pork, and 1 pound of coleslaw all topped with JackBeagles’ Wicked hot sauce.

Prize: Winners get the meal free, a T-shirt, and a spot on the Wall of Fame.

Benny’s “The Benny’s Challenge”

Time Limit: 28 minutes

Criteria: Contestants must sign up for the challenge and pay a $35 entry fee before competing. There are no dietary substitutions. Contestants must eat an entire 28-inch pizza within the time limit.

Prize: Competitive eaters are eligible to win $100. Amateur eaters are eligible to win $280. Winners will also receive a “Benny’s Challenge” T-shirt, have their photo posted on Benny’s social media pages and have bragging rights.

Jukebox Pub Deli Grill’s “Fat Biatch”

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Criteria: Contestants must eat three Fat Biatch sandwiches within the time limit. The Fat Biatch has nacho cheese, beer-battered onion rings, crinkle-cut fries, a mix of bell-peppers and jalapenos, chicken strips, and shaved-steak on a bread bun.

Prize: Winners receive a $50 gift certificate to put toward the $40 meal.

Hwy 55’s “Hwy 55 Burger Challenge”

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Criteria: Contestants must finish around three and a half pounds of meat on a burger bun with at least four toppings, a side of fries, and a 24 oz. soft drink.

Prize: Winners get the $34.99 meal on the house.

Morgan’s Dairy Bar’s “Cow Pile” Ice Cream Sundae Challenge

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Criteria: Contestants must finish 25 scoops of ice cream with a maximum of eight flavors, which equals right around 5 pounds of ice cream. Contestants must also choose five different toppings.

Prize: Winners get the $49.99 meal for free. Location: 194 E. Dallas Road, Stanley (Gaston County)

Go Burrito’s “Monster Burrito Longboard Challenge”

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Criteria: Contestants must schedule this challenge 24 hours in advance. Contestants must finish five burrito tortillas filled with two scoops of four different meats (steak, chicken, shredded beef, marinated pork) on top of two scoops each of white rice, brown rice, pinto beans, and black beans. The burrito is filled with lettuce, pico de gallo, a spicy habanero salsa, sour cream, and topped with queso cheese sauce and red enchilada sauce, all weighing in at around 6 pounds.

Prize: Winners get the $30 meal free, a T-shirt, and a spot on the Wall of Fame. Losers get a spot on the Wall of Shame.

Cinnaholic’s “Monster Stack Vegan Cinnamon Roll”

Time Limit: 1 hour

Criteria: Contestants must eat 6 pounds of vegan cinnamon rolls topped with six big scoops and two smaller scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough.

Prize: Winners get the $95 meal free, a t-shirt, and a spot on the restaurant’s Wall of Fame.

Mac’s Speed Shop’s “Fatboy Challenge”

Time Limit: 1 hour

Criteria: Contestants must finish a 5-pound sandwich of red slaw, fried pickles, pulled pork, beef brisket, burger patties, applewood-smoked bacon, pimento cheese, queso blanco, and 3 ounces of their spicy Mac’s Burnout Sauce all inside a 1-pound sourdough bun and served with a half-pound side of macaroni and cheese.

Prize: A winning contestant’s $77 meal is free, and they receive a shirt and a place in the restaurant’s Hall of Fame.

Bad Daddy’s “Fat Daddy Burger Challenge”

Nearest participating location: 2211 E. Franklin Blvd., Gastonia

Time Limit: 1 hour

Criteria: Contestants must eat 7 pounds worth of burgers, comprising five stacked 10-ounce burger patties layered with nine different types of cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, onions, three types of bacon (eight jalapeno, eight Applewood smoked, eight breaded and fried) and topped with a 3-ounce slider. The burger also comes with seven sides including regular fries, sweet potato fries, fried pickles, onion rings, tater tots, fried deviled eggs, and Bad Daddy’s fried homemade chips.

Prize: Winners receive the $75 meal free, a T-shirt, and a photo on the Wall of Fame.

Whether you think the price of devouring a considerable amount of food is worth a T-shirt and a free meal or not, these challenges are in and around Charlotte, waiting to be conquered. Good luck and happy eating.

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Republish This Story This work by Queen City Nerve is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Featured Local Savings

Annie Keough

March 21, 2024