Krystal Square Off
Encyclopedia
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and as sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating
International Federation of Competitive Eating
The International Federation of Competitive Eating, Inc. is an organization that supervises and regulates eating contests across the globe, acting as a central resource for the sport. Top events include the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, La Costena "Feel the Heat" Jalapeno Eating Challenge, and...
(IFOCE). In this event, contestants ate as many Krystal
Krystal (restaurant)
Krystal is an American fast food restaurant chain known for their small, square hamburger sliders with steamed-in onions and 24/7 business hours. Krystal is often described as the Southern equivalent of the Midwest American hamburger chain White Castle...
hamburgers as possible in eight minutes.
The sole difference between the hamburgers consumed for the Square Off and the hamburgers purchased from Krystal restaurants is that the pickles were removed from the hamburgers consumed for the event to minimize the risk of choking.
The Krystal Square Off consisted of a qualifying tour and a world championship. In the qualifying tour, amateur eaters competed with professional eaters for a spot at the world championship. In 2004, the first year of the event, local amateurs Sam Vise and Jeff Hicks defeated professionals to earn a position at the world championship.
The two-minute qualifier record stands at 39 Krystals eaten by "Humble" Bob Shoudt in Nashville, 2007.
Citing "significant" demands on company resources, the company cancelled the event in 2010, looking to shift its "marketing focus and efforts" to new products and new store locations.
List of winners
| Date | Name | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | November 13, 2004 |  Takeru "Tsunami" KobayashiTakeru Kobayashi is a Japanese competitive eater. He held the world record for hot dog eating for nearly six years, and holds several other eating records, including four Guinness Records for hot dogs, meatballs, hamburgers, and pasta.... |
69 | 46 | 41 | 38 | World Record |
| II | November 19, 2005 | Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi |
67 | 62 | 56 | 51 | |
| III | October 28, 2006 | Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi |
97 | 91 | 76 | 65 | World Record |
| IV | October 28, 2007 |  Joey "Jaws" ChestnutJoey Chestnut Joseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut is an American competitive eater. The , engineering student is currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating... |
103 | 95 | 94 | 74 | Current World Record |
| V | September 28, 2008 | Joey "Jaws" Chestnut |
93 | 85 | 84 | 76 | Kobayashi finished 3rd |
| VI | September 27, 2009 | Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi |
93 | 81 | 76 | 71 | No Dunking World Record |
History
- 2004: Kobayashi consumed 69 Krystals in the 8-minute contest, pocketing $10,000 in prize money. Second place went to "The Black Widow" Sonya ThomasSonya ThomasSonya Thomas , also known by her nickname The Black Widow, is a top-ranked Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating competitive eaters such as Ed...
who ate 46, pocketing $5,000. - 2005: Kobayashi consumed 67 Krystal hamburgers in the 8-minute contest. Second Place went to Joey Chestnut (62) of San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. Sonya Thomas (56) took third. "Humble" Bob Shoudt (51) of Royersford, PennsylvaniaRoyersford, PennsylvaniaRoyersford is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, northwest of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. The town drew its name from the location of a ford across the Schuylkill River, which happened to be adjacent to land owned by the Royer family...
took fourth place. Prize money was $10,000, $5,000, $2,500, $1,500 respectively, for the top four positions. - 2006: The event, taking place at the First Tennessee Pavilion, was televised live on ESPN 2 for the first time. Kobayashi and Chestnut both topped the event's world record near the midpoint of the contest, with Kobayashi (97 Krystals) taking the victory. Patrick "Deep Dish" BertolettiPatrick BertolettiPatrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti is an American competitive eater from Chicago. He is ranked second in the International Federation of Competitive Eating...
, of ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
also broke the previous world record, finishing third with 76. The winners split a $30,000 purse. An amateur event, dubbed the Krystal Sackful Challenge, was held prior to the main event. It featured two-person teams chosen from the audience, eating as many Krystals as possible in two minutes. The winners of the inaugural challenge were Matt Alling, 24, of BirminghamBirmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
and Bruce Clements, 23, of ChattanoogaChattanooga, TennesseeChattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
. - 2007: Joey ChestnutJoey ChestnutJoseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut is an American competitive eater. The , engineering student is currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating...
devoured 103 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes to win the Krystal Square Off IV World Hamburger Eating Championship. The battle for second between 22-year-old Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti and "Humble" Bob Shoudt, 41, ended in an upset. Shoudt, ranked seventh in the world, consumed 95 Krystals to edge out Bertoletti, the number two ranked eater in the world. Chestnut won $10,000 and a Krystal Square Off champion's belt and trophy made out of crystal. Shoudt's runner-up finish earned $7,500, while Bertoletti third-place finish earned $3,500. The winner of the first three competitions, Takeru Kobayashi, did not participate due to a jaw injury. - 2008: Joey Chestnut defended his title successfully, eating 93 Krystals. Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti finished second with 85. Takeru Kobayashi scored 84, 13 fewer than his 2006 total, to place third.
- 2009: This edition featured a revised ruleset. First, eaters were no longer allowed to dunk their hamburgers in liquid in an effort to eliminate “detritus” during the competition. Also new this year, every eater was given five Big Angus Burgers at the start of the competition in addition to their tray of Krystal hamburgers. Each Big Angus Burger consumed added five hamburgers to an eater’s total count. Takeru Kobayashi defeated reigning champion Joey Chestnut with a score of 93 (68 Krystals, 5 Big Angus Burgers), earning the $20,000 top prize. Chestnut was second, with 81, and Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti finished third, with 76.
- 2010: Event cancelled in August 2010 as the company changed its "marketing focus and efforts" to new products and new company-owned restaurant locations.
100 burgers or more ("The Double Tre Double Deuce")
- Joey "Jaws" ChestnutJoey ChestnutJoseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut is an American competitive eater. The , engineering student is currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating...
(San Jose, CA) - 103 (#1 2007)
Bobby Vereb (Gainesville, Fl)
90 burgers or more ("The Triple Tre")
- Takeru "Tsunami" KobayashiTakeru Kobayashiis a Japanese competitive eater. He held the world record for hot dog eating for nearly six years, and holds several other eating records, including four Guinness Records for hot dogs, meatballs, hamburgers, and pasta....
(Nagano, Japan) - 97 (#1 2006) - "Humble" Bob Shoudt (home page) (Royersford, PA) - 95 (#2 2007)
- Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti (Chicago, IL) - 94 (#3 2007)
70 burgers or more ("The Double Tre and a Half Deuce")
- Tim JanusTim JanusTim Janus is a competitive eater from New York City known in the competitive eating community as "Eater X." He is a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating , and is one of the most colorful IFOCE characters, both literally and figuratively. He always performs in contests...
(New York, NY) - 74 (#4 2007)
60 burgers or more ("The Double Tre")
- Hall Hunt (Jacksonville Beach, FL ) - 63 (#6 2008)
- Sonya "The Black Widow" ThomasSonya ThomasSonya Thomas , also known by her nickname The Black Widow, is a top-ranked Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating competitive eaters such as Ed...
(Alexandria, VA) - 62 (#1 Chattanooga, TN qualifier 2006)
50 burgers or more ("The Deuce Tre")
- Juliet Lee (Germantown, MD) - 55 (#7 2008)
- Chip Simpson (USA) - 55 (#5 (tie) 2006)
- Rich "The Locust" LeFevreRich LeFevreRich LeFevre is a competitive eater from Henderson, Nevada . Rich and his wife, Carlene LeFevre, are said to form the "First Family of Competitive Eating" in spite of having normal weights and ages around 60, and are both top ranked members of the International Federation of Competitive Eating...
(Henderson, NV) - 53 (#6 2007) - Eric "Badlands" BookerEric BookerEric "Badlands" Booker is an American hip hop artist and record-holding competitive eater.-Competitive Eating:Booker trains for competitions by trying to stretch his stomach and develop jaw strength...
(Copiague, NY) - 51 (#2 Nashville, TN qualifier 2008) - Juris Shibayama (Murfreesboro, TN) - 51 (#2 Nashville, TN qualifier 2008)
- Crazy Legs ContiCrazy Legs ContiCrazy Legs Conti is an American competitive eater. He is currently ranked twentieth in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.-Early life and career:...
(New York NY,) - 50 (#2 Knoxville, TN qualifier 2008) - Erik "The Red" DenmarkErik DenmarkErik "The Red" Denmark is an American competitive eater and a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington and is nicknamed after Erik the Red, the Viking who founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland.-Competition and...
(Seattle, WA ) - 50 (#3 Memphis, TN qualifier 2008)
40 burgers or more ("The Double Deuce")
- Tim "Gravy" Brown (Chicago, IL) - 45 (#2 Atlanta, GA qualifier 2008)
- Jim "Buffalo" Reeves (Buffalo, NY) - 44 (#3 Atlanta, GA qualifier 2008)
- Arturo "The Natural" Rios (NJ) - 44 (#9 2006)
- Allen "The Shredder" Goldstein - 42 (#2 Atlanta, GA qualifier 2007)
- Seaver "The Achiever" Miller (Ashburn, VA) - 41 (#3 Memphis, TN qualifier 2006)
30 burgers or more ("The Tre")
- Dale Boone (Atlanta, GA) - 38 (#12 2006 finals)
- Elizabeth Canady (Bradenton, FL) - 38 (#2 Jacksonville, FL 2007)
- Ron Koch (Las Vegas, NV,) - 37 (#8 2005 finals)
- Justin Mih (Boston, MA,) - 36 (#13 2006 finals)
- Eric "Steakbellie" Livingston (Drexel Hill, PA) - 35 (#4 Atlanta, GA qualifier 2008)
- RJ Frasca - 35 (#3, Jacksonville, FL qualifier 2009)
- Sam Vise (Union City, TN) - 35 (#10 2005 finals)
- Micah "Wing Kong" Collins (Drexel Hill, PA) - 33 (#5 Atlanta, GA qualifier 2008)
- Lynn Curley (Nashville, TN ) - 33 (#2 Nashville, TN qualifier 2004)
- Charles "The Godfather" Hardy (Brooklyn, NY) - 33 (#6 (tie) 2004 finals)
- Ed "Cookie" Jarvis (Nesconsett, NY) - 33 (#6 (tie) 2004 finals)
- Chris Abatsas (TN) - 32 (#2 Chattanooga, TN qualifier 2006)
- Nathan Biller (Briarwood, NY) - 32 (#5 Nashville, TN qualifier 2008)
- Pete "Pretty Boy" Davekos (Boston, MA) - 32 (#3 Knoxville, TN qualifier 2008)
- Russ Keeler (PA, USA) - 31 (#2 Perry GA qualifier 2007)
- Rick Petralia (Chattanooga, TN) - 31 (#3 Chattanooga, TN qualifier 2009)
- Dave "U.S. Male" Goldstein (Voorhees, NJ) - 30 (#5 Knoxville, TN qualifier 2008)
- Cade Hardin (Huntsville, AL) - 30 (#3 Nashville, TN qualifier 2004)
- Carlene LeFevre (Henderson, NV) - 30 (#2 Perry, GA qualifier 2004)
- Kevin Ross (Temecula, CA) - 30 (#3 Nashville, TN qualifier 2007)
- Loren "Bubba" Yarbrough (Newnan, GA) - 30 (#13 2005 finals)
25 burgers or more ("A sackful +1")
- Shaun Kesler (Chattanooga, TN) - 26 (2005 Atlanta, GA qualifier)
See also
- Competitive eatingCompetitive eatingCompetitive eating, or speed eating, is a sport in which participants compete against each other to consume large quantities of food in a short time period. Contests are typically less than 15 minutes in length, with the person consuming the most food being declared the winner...
- Krystal (restaurant)Krystal (restaurant)Krystal is an American fast food restaurant chain known for their small, square hamburger sliders with steamed-in onions and 24/7 business hours. Krystal is often described as the Southern equivalent of the Midwest American hamburger chain White Castle...
- Nathan's Hot Dog Eating ContestNathan's Hot Dog Eating ContestThe Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual American competitive-eating competition, which is run as a publicity gathering event by Shea Communications. It is held each July 4 at Nathan's Famous Corporation's original, and best-known restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in...
- Wing BowlWing BowlWing Bowl is an annual eating contest founded in 1993 by Philadelphia talk-radio hosts Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti as a celebration of gluttony. The contest was first broadcast on WIP ....