Big Texan 72oz Steak Challenge X 3

There's this place in Amarillo called the Big Texan Steak Ranch, and if you are driving into town, you will start seeing giant signs advertising their free 72oz steak hours and hours and hours away, so that by the time you get into town, eating steak at the Big Texan is all you can think about.  So, you stop and eat steak first thing.  Well, we have.  But none of us have ever attempted the 72oz steak challenge.

You see, if you can eat the 72oz steak, plus 3 shrimp cocktail, a salad, baked potato and a roll, all within an hour, it's all free.  Otherwise, you have to shell out $72 for the attempt.

I guess about a year ago, a competitive eater named Molly came into town and shattered the record for the fastest time.  And then she did the unthinkable, and ordered a second one.  She ate both within about 20 minutes.

This year, she decided to try for three.  And it wasn't a quiet affair at all, this time.  No, it was quite the production, so we decided to go and gawk.  And then eat a sensible amount of steak.

So, we gathered outside with the crowd to watch this guy sing:



He was pretty good, actually.  He sang some pretty funny songs about the whole free 72oz steak thing.



When we pulled into the parking lot, we were followed in by an ambulance.  I joked that they were there just in case, you know, for Molly.  I mean, eating that much can't be good for you!  And then it turned out that they really were on standby.  They even got the stretcher out of the ambulance and placed it right next to the stage, so it was less than 10 feet away from her while she was eating.  If that isn't a clear sign that what you are about to do might not be a good idea, I don't know what is.



These guys own the Big Texan.



Spoiler alert:

Molly ate the first 72oz steak and all the sides in 4 minutes and 18 seconds, faster than any of the other competitors.  She won $1,000 for that.



Spoiler alert #2:

Molly finished eating the second dinner in under 12 minutes.  No one else had finished theirs yet.



These guys had a hard time seeing over the crowd, so Kevin and I took it in turns to hold them.  And sometimes they just had to be set down.  Lex is about 50 lbs and Connor is about 60 lbs.  I felt like I was getting a workout just standing there.



I'm glad I married a guy who likes to gawk at people eating ridiculous amounts of steak as much as I do.



Connor said, "Give my your phone, Mommy."  And then proceeded to take a selfie with his brother to mark the occassion.

Spoiler alert #3:

Molly finished the third dinner at the 20 minute mark.  When we all started counting down to the 20 minute mark because it looked like she could do it, she ended up shoving about half a baked potato into her mouth at the very end.  It was...epic?  Gross?  I dunno.  But she did it.


Well, after all that hullabaloo, we headed inside the restaurant to eat our own dinner.

This moose is for you, Mom!



At the end of our meal, we got a piece of a Texas-sized carrot cake.  



Papa Kirk ate most of it himself.