Glorious and grotesque, no foodie trend is more quintessentially American than the food challenge. Fifteen years after Man vs. Food’s debut, the trend has new life on TikTok. Yet, our edible Everest conquerors tend to be trained professionals, such as YouTuber Raina Huang, who traveled from Los Angeles to Cleveland this summer to become the first to tackle Pho Lee’s Pho Challenge. So, I skipped a few meals and set out to confront three of Cleveland’s most onerous culinary trials myself.
Greek Village Grille’s Mount Olympus ($55)
The Rundown: 1 pound lamb or beef, 1 pound chicken, 1 pound pork, 1 cup tomatoes, 1 cup onions, 1 cup tzatziki,
1 order of fries, 15-inch pita
Time Limit: 1 hour
The Prize:Free meal, T-shirt,
picture on the wall
My love for this Lakewood spot had me confident until I heard only four of 750 people have completed this challenge in 13 years. I targeted the French fries first because cold spuds are the worst, but I did a good job of mixing in veggies and tzatziki to cut the taste and protein, which fills you up quick. You know whether you’ll finish within the first five minutes, and like I expected, I added my mark to the wall of shame at the end of the lunch hour. greekvillagegrille.com
Pho Lee’s Pho Challenge ($50)
The Rundown: 1/2 pound rare steak, 1/2 pound meatballs, 1/2 pound brisket, 1/2 pound tripe, 1/2 pound tendon, 2 pounds pho noodles, 1 gallon beef broth
Time Limit: 45 minutes
The Prize: Free meal, $200 gift card
Like mountains, pictures of this ornate oversized tureen of Vietnamese soup don’t do it justice. On an 85-degree day in AsiaTown, beads of sweat poured from my brow as I gulped molten broth and shoveled noodles, which I perceived to be the most filling element, into my mouth. While bursting at the seams, rare steak went down easy, but nearly two pounds of tripe and tendon tripped me up. All in all, taste uniformity made this meal monotonous. 216-273-7093
Wild Eagle Saloon’s Hog-A-Sutra ($50)
The Rundown: 3 pounds spicy barbecue bacon, two burger patties with pepper-jack cheese, 2 deep-fried mac ‘n’ cheese balls, 1 pound cheese fries, 1 pound coleslaw
Time Limit: 30 minutes
The Prize: Free meal, beer mug, photo with Wild Eagle headdress, T-shirt
In some version of hell, gluttonous victims gorge on their favorite vices beyond the point of enjoyment. That’s sort of what eating three pounds of thick-cut bacon is like. I should have started there, but fearing lackluster fries, I inhaled those before mutilating the mile-high bacon burger with a fork and knife. Though I finished more of this downtown challenge than the others, I threw away a one-pound leftover box of bacon in the end. wildeagle.com
