The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island has gotten stale as an un-dunked hot dog bun now that Joey Chestnut just keeps winning and winning. (His latest record, set last month: 72 dogs in 10 minutes. Yawn.) But wait, here’s a new form of competitive gorging we can get behind: Twin Suns Deli, the New Orleans-tinged deli opened in part by Montana Masback of Montana’s Trailhouse, is hosting a muffuletta eating contest in which average joes (sloppy joes?) will compete to devour the monstrous Italian deli-meat sandwich.
In case you haven’t had the pleasure of lining up at Central Grocery in New Orleans for a muffuletta, it’s basically a stack of meats and cheese, topped with olive salad and stuffed in a big ol’ Sicilian sesame loaf the size of a frisbee. The Big Muffuletta at Twin Suns (made with sopressata, mortadella, and provolone) is gigantic enough to feed a family of four, but at this competition, it’ll be man against muff.
The contest’s entry fee is $25, which might end up being a steal, depending on how much you can eat– the Big Muffuletta normally costs $40, plus, according to the talking ad below, there’s a prize at stake. Factor in the cost of Tums, though, because you’re gonna need em. And don’t underestimate how hard it’s going to be to speed-swallow that crispy bread. Sign up or just watch from a safe distance ($1 of every drink goes to the Food Bank For New York City) outside of Darlings and Twin Suns, at 244 Himrod Street, on Sept. 9.