Food
Top 10 Crazy Food Challenges in North America
Dining out can be an experience full of many factors. The obvious enjoyment of delicious food is number one for many. Admiring the décor or theme a restaurant has can also be something intriguing when it comes to eating out. Now, let’s not forget about one attraction that draws in the customers: the challenges! Take a look at the following 10 food challenges from around the world!
10. Mo’s Family Ultimate Breakfast Challenge
Coming from Oakville, USA, Mo’s Family Restaurant is proud to showcase their big breakfast challenge! Sometimes a heart start to your day full of bacon and eggs can really give you the right kind of morning energy. We are not so sure that this huge breakfast will leave you feeling great. Perhaps you will be biting off a lot more than you can chew in order to be declared the winner. This challenge comes in threes. Three eggs, three pancakes, three french toast, three sausage, three hash browns and wash it all down with either a 20 onze cup of joe or 10 ounces of any juice. Staying hydrated most definitely will be key in trying to get and keep all of this down. If you are able to get this hearty breakfast down within two hours, you get the meal for free. Many, many people have tried to get this meal down and few succeed. Bragging rights are a definite motivator when it comes to mustering up the courage to potentially clog your arteries for a picture on the wall of fame. Your photo will go on their website and you will definitely draw a crowd when the massive plate gets set down in front of you. This place has become the talk of the town and always draws in challengers. Whether you are a winner or an un-finisher, there is no doubt that this is an experience that you will never forget! Here’s to a really eye opening morning breakfast.
9. The Jumboli Challenge
Butte, Montana is home to some of the most beautiful sights in the entire world. Many tourists flock daily to this area to get a glimpse at the natural beauty that encompasses this beautiful town. Butte is not just home for the beautiful sights but also for a challenge that has become famous. It takes place at Trimbo’s pizza. The challenge needs to be done in one hour and is an individual experience. There are no teams or helpers that can make the challenge easier for you! That’s cheating…right?! One brave contestant must finish a stomboli. This is not your everyday stromboli though, it is 80 onzes! Inside this Italian specialty consists of mozzarella and ricotta cheese, pizza sauce, fried peppers and onions, black olives, mushrooms, spinach and then come the meats and to your imagination, more! This challenge is a little intimidating though because the rules consist of not being able to leave the table, you have to finish and you cannot vomit. Gross! The rules could be a bit too much for some people and extremely difficult for the average person to enter yet alone win. If you do manage to scarf this insane dish down you do get a reward. The prize consists of the stomboli being free, it’s cost is almost $30 USD. You also get a free t-shirt and your photo on the wall of fame. The stakes are high because if you do end up not being able to finish this crazy challenge, your photo goes on the wall of shame. Enter at your own risk!
8. The Pho Garden Challenge
In a weird sort of way, this is a refreshing challenge. Most challenges always consist of meats or fried foods so a big bowl of soup kind of separates itself from the others. In total the bowl is 4 pounds! Imagine coming out of a restaurant literally 4 pounds heavier just from one bowl of soup! Ick! Well to start off, there are 2 pounds of noodles and 2 pounds of beef. This challenge takes place surprisingly enough in San Francisco, California. California is usually thought of being quite a health oriented town but there are always some places that like to get a little crazy and step outside the box. This challenge needs to be finished within one hour, which is a very short amount of time for the amount that one needs to consume. Pho is a traditional Vietnamese dish consisting of noodles, broth, herbs and meat. It is a warm dish that is adored around the world. Soup can be really filling in general so adding all of these extra carbs into can really up the anty when it comes to trying to get it all down without feeling sick. Perhaps some of these challenges would actually be completed if the time restraint was not a part of the whole thing. The thing about these food challenges is that they are a great way to give promotion to your restaurant. Word of mouth travels and the crazier the challenge, the more tongues begin to wag and mouths swallow.
7. The Kitchen Sink Challenge
Now here’s a fun change, not all challenges need to revolve around a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal! The Kitchen Sink Challenge is a dessert challenge! This challenge is literally presented in a specialty made sink with the works! First there are 3 bananas that are sliced, then you have 8 scoops of ice cream! These 8 flavors are entirely up to your choosing, so we guess there is a little bit of freedom when it comes to another crazy challenge being presented to the public. After these hard ice cream flavor decisions have been made, top on 8 servings of whipped cream, toasted almonds and cherries. What is great about this ice cream combination challenge is that it can also be just a celebratory dessert shared among friends, families or if you’ve indulged in a little p-o-t. The most recent winner was able to finish the challenge in an astonishing 20 minutes and 37 seconds! Think about how crazy that is! Maybe the contestant just really downed it all and hoped for the best. It is really rare that the average person can actually get that amount of ice cream down! Wow, this was really a great accomplishment in the world of food challenges. A definite perk about winning this challenge is that you will receive FREE ice cream for one entire year! The only question remains is would one really want to have anymore ice cream after completing this over the cherry top ice cream challenge?! We’ll see!
6. Mick and Angelo’s Man vs Food Italian Challenge
Sometimes it seems like taking part in an Italian feast is a challenge in itself. Depending on the household your regular Sunday dinner could be considered a challenge. Imagine holidays! Now that is a feast and most definitely a challenge. In Niagara Falls, Canada there is a restaurant that hosts a very Italian challenge. You have an hour and a half to finish an array of carbs consisting of spaghetti, sausage, lasagna, chicken parmesan, cheese manicotti, cannelloni, garlic bread, vegetable soup and finish it all off with an apple crisp. If you really want to know how much all of this adds up to, it’s 7 pounds! It really sounds impossible, it must be one of the most filling challenges we have seen yet. Before partaking in this insane challenge, one must go through a checklist of regulations and sign off that they agree to do this. If by some miracle someone actually completes this challenge, they go home with a free t-shirt, a free meal (estimated $40) and their picture on the wall of fame. The stakes are high with this challenge because if you fail, you do not go unforgotten. Your photo goes up on the wall of shame full of failures! So not only with your stomach hurt, so will your pride if you lose. This challenge was actually featured on the wildly popular TV show: Man versus Food. Good luck to all of the new comers who think they have a chance at beating this challenge!
5. La Poutine Champ Challenge
This next challenge takes place in Thunder Bay, Ontario at a place called La Poutine. If you do not know what poutine is, it is a Canadian delicacy consisting of French fries, gravy and cheese curds. It may sound kind of gross, but we guarantee it is one of the most delicious concoctions ever. Poutine has evolved over the years and different kinds of poutines now exist. You can get some with different kinds of meats added to it, you can change up the shoestring fries to have sweet potato or waffle fries, the options are endless. La Poutine’s challenge actually does not even involve eating a poutine, to our surprise. You have to attempt to get a 6 inch, 1 pound burger with everything on it. We are talking tomato, lettuce, condiments, onion cheese, bacon, mushrooms and more than 2 buns! On top of this, you can’t leave out 2 pounds of French fries, and wash it all down with a 35 oz. milkshake. If you don’t think that this is bad enough, this all has to be devoured in 30 minutes! If you really love fast food, this challenge could be inticing for your future because if you succeed you automatically get a 10% discount for life! After eating something insane like this, you would think that the person would never want to look at a burger and fries combination again in their lives. To each their own, but we can’t imagine that there are too many winners to this one!
4. Classic Burgers’ Belly Buster Challenge
Okay, so burgers seem to be a really popular menu item choice when it comes to putting together a food challenge. Perhaps the fact that you can make them so large easily and load them up with toppings is one of the reasons why they are seen frequently in challenges. This next challenge comes all the way from Moncton, New Brunswick at Classic Burgers. The challenge is called Classic Burger’s Belly Buster Challenge. Well, that sounds appealing, no? It is a 10 pound burger AND fries with a massive knife sticking out of it. When you actually see the plate in person, it literally is bigger than most contestants’ heads! The burger is 5 pounds and the fries are another 5 pounds. You only have one hour to try to get this all down. This challenge is actually one of the biggest and hardest burger challenges in Canada to date! It Maybe he seems like the fries are actually the hardest part of the challenge. They fill up more than half of the plate. The one thing that is kind of a downer about this challenge is the money that you would lose if you are unsuccessful in completing it. You will have to pay $59.99 for this meal if you do not finish! That is quite the price tag for a burger and fries, don’t you think? Joel Hasen is the first person to ever win this challenge and it seems that he did it with ease. Maybe he prepared himself and did not eat for a week before doing this challenge!
3. Inferno Curry Challenge
This challenge is extra special because not only is it a large amount of food, it is majorly hot and spicy! When it comes to having spice, some people can handle only a few bites and then the begging for a pitcher of water and wildly fanning your tongue ensues. The Inferno Curry Challenge takes place in Las Vegas at the Mint Indian Bistro. This challenge was born in 2014 and actually ended up being the most spicy challenge in Vegas. The challenge happens every year for the month of October and the prizes are actually pretty nice. If somebody wins the challenge they receive their picture on the Wall of Flame as well as a $50 gift certificate and a chance to win 12 free entrees for the year if their name is picked in the draw. Over the years, this restaurant has uped the anty with this challenge. They have added even more spice to the curry. The dish now has two additional peppers that combined have a higher SHU than ghost peppers. The two new peppers are the Carolina Reaper and the Trinidad Moruga Scorpian Chili. These are the top two hottest chillis to date. This challenge sounds really intimadating and actually kind of dangerous. It is really important to know how your body reacts to extreme foods and to always take precaution when entering these risky competitions. It is not impossible as we know, but it can definitely can impact you both physically and psychologically so be warned!
2. Rick’s Tasting Game
Now this challenge is a bit different from all of the rest we covered. There is a more of a fun element to this challenge and sweet on the tongue rather than scorching your taste buds or hurting your stomach from excess. This challenge takes place again in Las Vegas. 16 different kinds of ice and sorbets are given to the challenger alongside a blindfold. The challenger must correctly identify each flavour correctly. You would think this would be easy, but it actually is really difficult and people rarely get all 16 flavors correct. Sometimes the staff will throw the challenger a bone and let them know of the flavors, then it is on them to get the rest of the 15 right. Seeing the reactions to some of the flavors can be pretty funny. Imagine the surprise of tasting a garlic flavored ice cream or olive oil ice cream. We can trust that nobody is craving to finish the garlic flavored dish or asking for seconds. It is usually a unianimous “ew” or “yuck” once the contender tastes it. SOme other flavors included in the challenge are: banana bread, irish coffee, strawberry swirl and honeydew. You would think that these flavors are pretty recognizable. It is refreshing to see a challenge that can be done individually as well as in a group. This challenge does not leave you on the ground begging for it to end, but is more of a fun group activity that is full of surpises!
1. Rim Reaper Hot Wings Challenge
When you think of an Irish pub, visions of live bands and draft beers come to mind. As bland as traditional Irish cuisine can be, this bar knows how to spice things up! Introducing the Rim Reaper Challenge: 12 chicken wings smothered in a sauce so spicy, it will make your eyes bulge. The sauce includes the ghost pepper which has been one of the world’s hottest and most expensive peppers according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The pepper is over one million Scoville units and guaranteed to leave you with a flaming taste in your mouth. If you finish all twelve of these wings within one hour you are declared a winner. The prize includes your name on the wall of flame as well as a t-shirt and yes of course bragging rights. A little fear is instilled in you before beginning the challenge because you basically have to sign your life away. A waiver declaring you agree to this challenge and are fully aware of the heat factor needs to be read and signed by the contestant. With several locations, this bar has crowned quite a few winners and has made a good reputation when it comes to serving up something fun and hot! Are you up to the challenge? Do you think you can handle this type of heat? If so, McKibbins Irish pub in Montreal has got the right flavors for you. Swing by and see what the fuss is all about, we double dare you!