Dayton-area restaurants throw down the challenge to diners with big appetites

Just how bad for you is it?

Most rational folks know that gorging on a massive amount of food at one sitting can’t be a good thing, health-wise. But how bad can it be? We asked Dr. Susan E. Williams, director of the Center for Nutrition and Metabolic Medicine for Kettering Health Network-Greene Memorial Hospital. Here’s what she had to say:

“It appears that even short-term overeating leads to insulin resistance in the fat cells, and is more likely to lead to obesity. The second issue is the elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoproteins levels in the blood, which occurs almost immediately after consuming a meal and will last for many multiples of hours as the body strives to ‘clear’ the blood.

“For a young healthy individual who occasionally or rarely engages in such behavior there may be no long-term consequences; but the same cannot be said for the chronically ill or ‘repeat offenders.’ ”

Many have tried. Few have succeeded. Some have failed spectacularly — but we won’t get into that.

“Man vs. Food”-type eating challenges have attracted many brave Miami Valley souls who can’t resist the taunting message thrown down by a handful of local restaurants and pubs: “Betcha can’t eat this.”

“Betcha I can!” comes the reply. Only usually, um, not.

We wanted to explore the ample underbelly of local eating challenges, so we published a solicitation a few weeks back inviting readers and restaurant owners to let us know about their favorites. The response was almost as robust as some of the dishes served. Almost.

The granddaddy of local food challenges — based on longevity, level of challenge and potential reward — has to be the “Bill Clinton Divorce Finale” burger offered by Voltzy’s Hamburger & Root Beer Stand in Moraine.

The gargantuan Clinton burger consists of 14 pounds of ground beef, a half-pound of onions and 20 slices of cheese on a one-pound bun. If one person eats it all in one hour, the burger is free — and Voltzy’s owner Rick Volz will pay the bloated diner $100.

Thus far, in the 15 years or so the challenge has been offered, Volz hasn’t had to part with any of his cash. The failure rate is 100 percent.

“I’ve had guys in here who were six-feet-six and 350 pounds who couldn’t get very far,” Volz said. “A woman who was about 6 feet tall and weighed only about 110 came closest. She ate about three-fourths of it.”

Tom Combs, co-owner of Pisanello’s Pizza in Franklin, said at least 120 pairs of diners have taken on The Reaper, a 28-inch pizza, and only eight teams have successfully consumed it in 30 minutes in one sitting. That meant they got the $54 pizza for free.

The pizza normally can feed 10 to 12 people, Combs said. Competitors must order at least three toppings, and green peppers and onions don’t count — they’re too wimpy. Among the successful competitors in recent weeks were two members of the Franklin High School wrestling team who celebrated the end of the season — and the end of having to make weight — by taking down The Reaper, Combs said.

Johnny Rivera, whose Johnny’s Slice of New York pizza restaurant in Centerville offers a Brooklyn Brawler Challenge, has seen a half-dozen two-person teams succeed in polishing off the eight-pound, meat-stuffed pizza within 30 minutes. But another 400 or so teams tried and failed since 2004.

“We once had five challenges going on at the same time,” Rivera said. “They were all skateboarders, high-school and middle-school age. They could barely roll home on their skateboards. They were lying around the parking lot for a while.”

Here are some of the Miami Valley restaurants that responded (or their customers responded) to our “food challenge" solicitation.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2258 or mfisher@coxohio.com.