IKEA opening in Denver!

YES! The IKEA store in Denver won't open until the fall of 2011, but it's coming!

Here's a satellite photo from Google Maps of the plot of land upon which the store is being built.

When the store was announced, I deduced it would be built here but I thought it couldn't be here because it doesn't seem to me that there's enough space for an IKEA (they're BIG stores) and the parking lot (or parking structure) to go along with the store.

I will from time to time post some photos of the construction so you can watch the progress. The ground has already been broken and it is underway.

Rock the Tot #3

The 3rd annual Rock the Tot tater tot eating contest at Bar Louie started innocently enough...


But ended like this:


The tots were prepared MUCH better than last year when each basket devolved into a soupy mixture of cooking oil and potato pieces. Last year was more a hands-only potato soup eating contest.


But as you can see, the tots were almost perfect. Very oily but soft and pillowy potato puffs.




There were 8 of us eating. 2 guys puked during the 6-minute eating.

The trophy

Getting ready

Listening to the rules. 6-minutes of eating followed by a 5-minute waiting time.

1st basket set. Each basket was 1lb.



And we're off. Technique: single tot, two-fisted.

Ugh, woe is me

My 3rd basket. Ate 1/2 of it.

Weighing

Not gonna do it.



Just one touch of the hardware...



The 8 who ate.

This was maybe the contest non-win that really hurt. Most of the other contests I have not won have sort of been due to some factor beyond my control. Be it the other guy eating better than I expected, or some environmental factor, or whatever. But this tot contest was mine. I was ready - I had good practice runs, and I was ready. Going in, 3 pounds was so possible - both time-wise and capacity-wise. True, I did not do any practice runs over 90 seconds but I knew what was going on. Based on the totals at the Rock the Tot contests last year, 3 pounds would take it.

But I didn't swallow well from GO to STOP. Mouth stuffed all the time. My final second cram sucked because there was no room. I think I lost it there. Though the whole eat was pretty bad. Like last year, I did get 2nd. Last year was a heart break (losing by .1 ounce. Yes, .1 ounce!) but not winning this night really stings because I had great practice runs, I was ready, and there was a trophy up for grabs. Damn.

Winner had 2 pounds 10 ounces. I scored 2nd with 2 pounds 8 ounces. I am unsure of the other totals, but I know that nobody had over 2 pounds or less than 1 pound.

Damn.

Videos! One of the beginning. And the other one is the end of the contest. T-bonz was pissed at me. I deserved it!

Burger Challenge!

I wanted to get one more challenge in before Georgia. One more good stretch, and also it is always good to go into challenges with a confidence of completing the last eating challenge. And with a record above .500 - after this one, I am 21-20.

We head over to Fat Boy's Sports Bar and Grill for the Grand Slam Challenge. It's a burger, two 1-pound patties, toppings, big bun, along with 2 sides: baked beans and a large order of fries. 30 minutes.



They have a pay phone! A pay phone!

The Grand Slam Challenge.

The meat was really good. Cooked to a delicious medium. Nice grill marks on each patty. It definitely needs bacon though.

Eating the patty.

I decided to eat the one patty alone, then eating the other patty as intended, in the burger. In challenges I really prefer to eat it as intended. But I think I had to eat the first patty alone because the patties were really thick so to eat both patties in the bun as a double cheeseburger would just be too hard. So I eat one patty, and then the single burger.

The single cheeseburger

Greasy goodness!

Last single-patty bite



Digging in to the burger















Patties and bunage all done. Now on to my nemesis: french fries



Fries gone. Now the beans.



Call it.

This might be the saltiest eating challenge I've done. Day after: very thirsty and I think I'm retaining quite a bit of water.





Their prize is actually a good business concept. I had to pay for my meal, but I got a gift certificate for a free Grand Slam NEXT time. So six of one, or one half-dozen of the other. But they do get you - and more importantly your posse - in there again to spend some cash.

Next challenge will be Friday in Atlanta.

B3 vs. Whole Chihuahua

There is an eating challenge at Cantina in Atlanta. It is called the Whole Chihuahua, a 5 pound burrito. I might be attempting it. The eater has 90 minutes to eat the B3, Chihuahua time is 60 minutes. Let's compare it to the Big Badass Burrito at the Sahara Casino in Las Vegas:

B3:
Flour tortilla - 20 ounces
Rice - 18 ounces
Refried beans - 20 ounces
Cheese - 10 ounces
Lettuce - 6 ounces
Shredded meat - 12 ounces
Ranchero sauce - 5 ounces
Diced tomato - 2 ounces
Guacamole - 4 ounces
Sour cream - 6 ounces

Whole Chihuahua:
One pound of rice
One pound of beans
One pound of cheese
Two pounds of meat
5 Tortillas

KFC Double Down

It's finally here! Debut day for the Double Down sandwich at KFC!

Getting ready

Guapo and I are set. He ordered the combo meal with a fried Double Down. I got one fried Double Down and one grilled Double Down. Each sandwich is $4.99!

And for that $4.99 you get two slices of white cheese, two strips of bacon, and the special Colonel sauce, which are all in between two buns. The buns are not your run-of-the-mill bread. They're chicken breasts! Great concept, but this doesn't work for me.

Guaps snuck the first bite

I started with the fried Double Down. It actually wasn't too bad. The cheese wasn't too good, the bacon was flavorless, the sauce is like Thousand Islands, and the breast buns, though juicy (read: oily), were too thick and do not smoosh down the way bread buns do.

Oily?

So, each separate part of the fried Double Down is really less than stellar. On to the grilled Double Down to see if it's the same.

Uh, here it goes.

This look says it all.

Last bite. Couldn't come soon enough.

Actually the fried sandwich is "better", well relatively, than the grilled. But the official KFC nutritional information - calories - for these sandwiches has got to be WAY off. 540 for the fried and 460 for the grilled?!? My guess for the fried: 2 X 100 cheese, 100 sauce, 200 bacon, 2 X 300 patties. Um, that's 1100 minimum. Grilled, I would guess the same as fried except the patties are maybe 400 or 500. So 900 or 1000. No way they are 540 and 460.

Ugh.