Stuff your face: The Big Fat Ugly eating contest

Fat Sandwich Company is located at 502 E John St #2 in U of I’s Campustown. Their menu is well-developed, and consists primarily of insanely designed combination sandwiches. Most sandwiches consist of three to five ingredients (not including the bread). Items include chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, burger patties, bacon, ranch, jalapeño poppers and many others.

This event marks the first Fat Sandwich Big Fat Ugly eating contest. There were 5 contestants — and each signed a waiver, then were each given the seven pound Big Fat Ugly sandwich, plus as much soda or water they wanted. They were allotted 15 minutes to eat as much as they could. Whoever ate the most won a prize basket. 

Check out the chef preparing the Big Fat Ugly for the contestants. There are 28 ingredients(!): two rolls, four cheeseburgers, double cheesesteak, chicken cheesesteak, gyro meat, grilled check, bacon, sausage, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese bites, fried mushrooms, jalapeno popppers, pizza bites, onion rings, hash browns, mini corndogs, American cheese, mayo, ketchup poppers, pizza bites, hashbrowns, and ketchup. Whoa.

The final product was huge. You couldn’t hold it in one hand. The chef said to me “here’s the best part” as he cut the monster in half. 

Here were the contestants, listed from left to right: Micheal (general manager of Fat Sandwich); a competative eater from Chicago; a U of I freshman (first time at Fat Sandwich); some other contestant; and a little brother of a U of I student (approximate age was nine years old). 

Contestants ate enthusiastically for the first five to seven minutes.

 

Honestly, I was a little worried about the youngster. His mouth was so full that he might have choked — but he remained calm, and ate on. 

 

 

By the tenth minute, it was clear that the competative eater would win the competition. By that time, everyone was rooting for him to complete the challenge. The challenge hasn’t been completed in three years — though many have tried.

 

 

His strategy seemed to be to eat the protein first and then tackle the carbohydrates like french fries and buns. He did some dipping in his drinks and plenty of thirsty swallows. He kept his eyes closed and was shaking with intensity.

 

 

He ended up not finishing the Big Fat Ugly but came very, very close, although, he did win the contest between the rest of the participants.

 

 

You don’t have to wait until next year to participate in the Big Fat Ugly eating challenge. You can walk into Fat Sandwich during open hours and order one. But take it from me — don’t stumble in there minutes before closing time demanding the biggest sandwich they serve. They’ll make it, but they wont be happy. If you do decide to take the challenge, you have 15 minutes to do so. If you complete it, you get a t-shirt and the sandwich is free.