Everyone thinks they like steak — right up until they have to eat nine pounds of it. Could you do better than Adam Richman did?
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00:00Everyone thinks they like steak, right up until they have to eat nine pounds of it.
00:05Could you do better than Adam Richman did?
00:08The 72-ounce steak challenge at the Big Texan Steak Ranch began in 1962 when owner Bob Lee
00:14organized a contest where the cowboys had to eat as many one-pound steaks as they could in an hour.
00:20One very hungry cowboy managed to consume five one-pound steaks before also asking for a baked
00:26potato, shrimp cocktail, salad, and bread roll. From that day on,
00:30anybody who finished the same meal in one hour gets it for free.
00:33When Adam Richman took on the 72-ounce steak challenge at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in
00:38Amarillo, Texas, he made short work of the meal, polishing it off in around 29 minutes,
00:43landing his name in the restaurant's Hall of Fame.
00:47Despite its name, cheesesteak isn't exactly a steak, consisting of thinly sliced steak,
00:53cheese, onion, peppers, and seasoning. Nevertheless,
00:56the 20-inch Philly cheesesteak at Tony Luke's in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a beast.
01:00The giant sandwich consists of 42 ounces of beef, 18 ounces of cheese, and 8 ounces of onion.
01:07Since Richman was present for the inauguration of the challenge,
01:10his goal was also to become the first person to appear on the restaurant's Wall of Fame.
01:14The only condition to win was to finish the meal in under an hour.
01:18The moment of truth came when Richman realized the cheese had started to
01:22gradually turn the sandwich into glue.
01:24It's just the hardest swallow ever. I feel like I've been cold cocked by some cold cheese."
01:32Despite the setback, the champ of competitive eating
01:35managed to bring the Tony Luke title home in under 28 minutes.
01:40The rules of the Great Steak Challenge at Steak & Main in Baltimore, Maryland,
01:44are simple. To succeed, hungry diners must devour five and a half pounds of food in under 60
01:49minutes, including an 80-ounce filet mignon, 26-ounce Delmonico, 12-ounce New York Strip,
01:5512-ounce veal chop, and 16-ounce combination of flatiron, potatoes, and vegetables.
02:01The winners receive $100 in cash and a free meal, while the losers owe the restaurant $140.
02:07You know what, this is one of my bigger challenges,
02:09but it's definitely gonna be one of my most delicious."
02:11Things weren't looking great half an hour into the battle, however, when Richman hit
02:15a meaty wall. When the stopwatch hit the 60-minute mark,
02:18he was left with three ounces of New York Strip on his plate. This time, the food had won.
02:24In 2010, Adam Richman set a new record on a special episode of Man vs. Food by devouring
02:30a 48-ounce steak in around 16 minutes at the Don Shula Steakhouse in the Alexander Hotel in Miami.
02:37In fact, he was one of the only people to ever finish the gigantic porterhouse in under 20
02:43minutes, beating more than 40,000 competitors who had previously waged battle against the huge
02:48cut of meat. While the food didn't stand a chance against Richman's hunger, the episode definitely
02:53captured the excitement and intensity of Man vs. Food, with the crowd cheering as the show's host
02:58powered through the colossal chunk of meat.
03:02The meal that took center stage in the Vodka Acosta Challenge weighed in at a truly whopping
03:07nine pounds. Whatever the exact weight, Vodka Brava's Vodka Acosta Challenge in San Juan,
03:13Puerto Rico, proved too much for Adam Richman to handle. The rules of the game were simple,
03:18devour the gigantic meal in 40 minutes and get it for free with $100 thrown into the deal.
03:24Unfortunately, it proved too much for Richman,
03:27who gradually succumbed to both the mammoth size of the meal and the Caribbean heat.
03:33In 2011, Richman found himself in Nashville, Tennessee, the capital of country music,
03:38guiding two hungry musicians, the Low Cash Cowboys, as they attempted to eat their way to
03:43fame in the Big Rooster Challenge at the Rooster's Texas-Style BBQ and Steakhouse.
03:48The duo huffed and puffed as they attempted to devour a 72-ounce steak,
03:52baked potato, salad, and two thick slices of Texas toast in under 60 minutes.
03:57On the line were a free meal and a picture on the restaurant's wall of fame.
04:01At the end of the day, the duo ended up demolishing
04:04three-quarters of their steaks and more than half of the sides in a tough loss.
04:09One of Richman's toughest battles was the Brahma Bull Challenge at The Rib Line in
04:14San Luis Obispo, California. The quest? To eat a sandwich with three pounds of tri-tip steak,
04:21nestled between a pound of sourdough bread, in under 42 minutes, which was the record at the
04:26time. This time, Richman was helping the self-proclaimed food performance artist,
04:31Nader Rida, complete the gastronomic feat. Rida also appeared in Season 11 of America's Got Talent,
04:37where he devoured a burger with a dog food patty and a beef bile dip.
04:42While Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, and Heidi Klum weren't overly impressed with the act and
04:47ultimately rejected it, Nader was more successful on Man vs. Food, making short work of the Brahma
04:53Bull Challenge in 40 minutes and setting a new record.
04:56In Montana, cows outnumber people by nearly two to one. Casey Webb found this out the hard way,
05:02when he took on a challenge to eat a 78-ounce steak, house salad, two bread rolls,
05:07and two pounds of mashed potatoes in under an hour. A victory would get Webb a free meal,
05:12an Everything is Bigger in Montana t-shirt, and a photo on the Bull Mountain Grill in Billings'
05:17Wall of Fame. A failure would cost him $110, and a spot on the restaurant's Wall of Shame.
05:24Webb's initial strategy was to tackle the gargantuan steak first and worry about the
05:28side dishes later. However, he switched it up at some point during the allotted hour,
05:33moving to the sides and leaving the steak for later. Unfortunately,
05:36the strategy didn't work, and Webb lost the challenge.
05:40I need to get your picture for the Wall of Shame."
05:45The Deadwood Legends Steakhouse got its name for a good reason.
05:48It's located in one of the most historic buildings in a town known for its gold rush history,
05:53the Silverado Franklin Hotel. We can't be sure whether Casey Webb stayed at the hotel,
05:58but we do know that he took on the Cowboy Showdown Challenge at its Deadwood Legends Steakhouse.
06:03The showdown involved a four-pound meal consisting of a bone-in 16-ounce buffalo
06:08ribeye steak and six side dishes. Webb embraced the challenge head-on,
06:13polishing off the meal in under 30 minutes, earning his place in Manverse food history.