Man vs. Food – Episode 2-1 Review

Welcome to Man v Food v Blog! I’m Rob Blatt and I’ll be chronicling the adventures of Adam Richman on the Travel Channel.

The Challenge

In this episode, Adam travels to Amarillo, Texas to take on the Big Texan Steak Ranch’s 72 oz. steak challenge. The Big Texan is located at 7701 E Interstate 40 in Amarillo. The 72 oz steak is sort of an American eating legend. Everyone knows that this kind of food for free challenge exists, but I don’t think that many people know where it originated. Here’s the story according to The Big Texan’s website:

“The FREE 72-oz. steak came to life not long after Bob Lee opened the doors to the Big Texan Steak Ranch. In those days, cowboys still worked the area ranches and came into town on their days off to get a good meal and have some fun. Both of those needs could be fulfilled at the Big Texan. One day a cowboy came through the front door bragging that he was so hungry he could “eat the whole, darned cow”. Bob grinned as he put the first one-pound steak on the grill and the contest was on. When the cowboy finally yelled, “calf-rope” he had consumed 4.5 pounds of tasty Texas beef. Bob vowed from that day forward the dinner would be served “free” to anyone who could complete it in one hour.”

While the steak might be free if you eat it in under an hour, it costs $72.00 if you can’t finish it. The current record for speed belongs to American hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut who ate the 72 oz. steak dinner in under 9 minutes. Also, you can follow them on Twitter @thebigtexan

The steak is sirloin that’s been dry aged for weeks. The fat’s had a chance to change the flavor of the beef while being dry aged. On the grill, special seasoning with sea salt, garlic black pepper, dill and other seasoning.

Amarillo’s food

The first stop is the Coyote Bluff Cafe, which sells two to three hundred burgers a day! The Coyote Bluff Cafe is known for the Burger From Hell. The burger is half pound burger with tabasco, habenaria sauce sauteed jalapenos, lettuce tomato and gilled onion, but the ingredient list is only the beginning. The burger is seasoned on the griddle until browned the it’s steamed by placing a small metal bowl over the burger to let it steam and cook through. The burger is topped with a cup of jalapeno peppers, then the cayenne and habanero sauce is added with a handful of cheddar and mozzarella and steamed once more. What else could accompany the burger but chili cheese fries? Two pounds of fries, one pound of cheese and fresh green chilis.

Out second stop is the Stockyard Cafe, which is attached to the Amarillo Stockyard Auction. the highlighted food is the chicken fried steak. They use a lean cut of beef that gets tenderized three or four times before being seasoned with salt and pepper before being washed in a mixture of fifteen eggs to one gallon of buttermilk and then it’s breaded with flour and grilled over butter.

Along the way

We meet the ladies of the Route 66 Roller Derby, who are dining on the Burger from Hell at The Coyote Bluff Cafe.

The Shirts
In the Stockyard Cafe, Adam’s got a Matt’s El Ranchero/a> Out of This World shirt on from Austin, TX.

At the Big Texan for the challenge, Adam is wearing a shirt from Amy’s Ice Cream in Austin, TX

The Results
About 48,000 have attempted the challenge and only 8,000 have succeeded.

Adam goes head to head with Sharky and Coach Nate from Route 66 Roller Derby. Everyone takes their first bite to make sure it’s to their liking and dive in, seemingly literally. Adam uses condiments for lubrication to let the steak go down easy and then he ate the starches last to let him finish the steak in time. At 51:44, he was about half way through, making this challenge seem relatively easy. With 35:43 to go, Adam finishes the steak and is onto the sides. The sides stand no real chance against Adam and it’s a victory for man after 29:30!

The Spoils
A free dinner, a shirt, a certificate and a place in history.


As I cover the episodes, I’ll be placing pin points on a Man v Food Google map.