pigging out

I’m re-re-re-watching “10 Best Places to Pig Out” on Travel Channel.

Now I’m all for eating comfort food.  Tacos are my comfort food, and whenever I really feel down, I try to get to Taco Bell to have 3 or 4 tacos. 

But the food served at the top ten places are insane.

A 72-ounce steak dinner in Texas, where if you finish the steak (and it’s fixing) and it’s free.

Think about it.  72 Ounces.  That’s a freakin’ HUGE steak.  I mean, the largest steak I’ll eat now-a-days is maybe a 6 ounce, and to me that’s a lot of food.

But forget the huge-ass steak.  If you are a sadist or masochist, try the 911 Wingers at Cluck-U, a chicken wing franchise near a lot of major colleges and universities.  6 chicken wings are soaked in a sauce made from 16 different peppers (including the habanero). Eat 6 in 5 minutes, and you get a t-shirt and your picture on the “Wall of Flame”. The kicker? You have to sign a liability waiver before taking the challenge.

Well if you don’t like wings, how about a pizza?  Pointer’s Pizza in St. Louis, Missouri, and it’s called the Pointersaurus. It’s a 28-inch pie. 4.5 pounds of dough, 2 pounds of cheese, and 3 pounds of meat.  But again there is a challenge.  Finish the pie with a friend in under 60 minutes, and walkaway with 500 dollars.  It’s a 50 dollar investment, too.

I could go on, but my point is this. Why is it that places will concoct these insane food items?  I mean I understand that some people are into these food competitions.  But to try to consume that much food?  It really makes me kinda sick to my stomach.  I think it’s because I’m not the kind of guy that likes to waste food. Don’t get me wrong, the food they show on the program LOOKS like really fantastic comfort food.  But can you imagine the carbs/calories/sodium in some of these?  Since being diagnosed, I really have to look at food differently.  5 years ago, when I watched this the first time, I really wanted to go to Eagle’s Deli in Boston to have one of their burgers. Or to Pittsburgh, to the Primanti Bros. for one of their insane sandwiches.

Now?  I would still go to these places, but not for their signature sandwiches.   Maybe for a smaller version of the food, at least to say “I was at Eagle’s Deli”, or “I was at Lambert’s Cafe”.