Ultimate Slider Challenge
Takeru Kobayashi first stunned the competitive eating world when he downed 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2001, doubling the previous record of 25. Try to turn a few heads yourself with these nine food-eating challenges.
1. Ultimate Slider Challenge (Citizens Kitchen & Bar at Mandalay Bay)
Sounds easy to eat 24 sliders in 24 minutes, but the Citizens’ Ultimate Slider Challenge comes with a downside: Lose and your photo goes up on the wall of shame, and you owe $40. Eat them all—pickles, cheese and special sauce included—and get it for free, plus a mug shot on the wall of fame.
2. Seven-Second Beer Challenge (Todd English P.U.B. at The Shops at Crystals)
Pick a beer, any beer, and if you can down a pint of it in seven seconds, it’s free. Bartenders come armed with seven-second hourglass timers. Slam that pint down and hit it on the bar in those seven ticks and the beer is yours. Sound easy? You’d be surprised.
3. Quadruple Bypass Burger (Heart Attack Grill at Fremont Street Experience)
Those who weigh more than 350 pounds eat for free at Heart Attack Grill, which prides itself in “fighting anorexia” with its high-calorie dishes. The 9,982-calorie Quadruple Bypass Burger comes in at 3 pounds and features four meat patties, four slices of cheese, 20 pieces of bacon, red onions, tomatoes and special sauce.
4. Cowboys From Hell Wing Challenge (Gilley’s Saloon, Dance Hall & Bar-B-Que at Treasure island)
This one is tough. Finish 12 hot wings bathed in a mix of ghost peppers, habaneros and Frank’s Red Hot in four minutes, and you’ll get a 40-ounce Gilley’s Beer Boot and your picture on the wall of fame.
Sorbet Flavors
5. Rick's Tasting Game (RM Seafood at The Shoppes at Mandalay Place)
Can you figure out what all 16 flavors of sorbet are with Rick’s Tasting Game? Each scoop comes in its own cup, and one is vanilla bean. That leaves you with 15 more to guess, and it’s not easy. While chocolate, banana and garlic might show up; others could be Thai tea, cherry or bananas Foster. Guess all 16 and $18 will be knocked off your bill.
6. Eight-Pound Burger Challenge (The Pub at Monte Carlo)
Only two people have ever completed The Pub’s Burger Challenge, and that’s because you only have 45 minutes to finish this 8-pound hamburger on a giant bun with 10 slices of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños and caramelized onions. Don’t forget the 32-ounce boot of beer or root beer. The $29 burger is free if you finish. Plus you get a snazzy T-shirt.
7. Death Wings Challenge (Diablo’s Cantina at Monte Carlo)
Bring on the heat with Diablo’s Death Wings challenge. The chicken wings come doused in Diablo’s Death Sauce, a sinister blend of habanero chili purée and ghost chili extract. You have 20 agonizing minutes to devour 20 of these hot, hot, hot wings. The winner lands not only free wings, but also a T-shirt and photo on the wall of fame. Losers, you’ll have to pay and join the hall of shame.
8. Taco Challenge (Mercadito at Red Rock Resort)
One hour sounds like a lot of time to down tacos, but when you have to eat 32, that task becomes daunting. Mercadito sets the timer and provides the corn tortilla tacos. Find room or fork over $40 for failing. Winners get their check zeroed out, a $200 gift certificate and an invitation to compete with all the winners in the fall for the grand prize of tacos for life. Why 32? Partner Alfredo Sandoval once ate that many at the Chicago outpost.
9. Big Dog Daddy Challenge (Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill at Harrah’s)
The 6-pound-plus Big Dog Daddy challenge brings 100 ounces of burger, a bun, cheese, toppings, a pound of fries, a quart of beer and, of course, an order of Twinkies. Named for Toby Keith’s album of the same name, those who finish this task in one sitting earn a spot on the wall of fame and a custom Big Dog Daddy T-shirt.
