Looking for a BIG burger?
If you're a BIG burger fan, then we've found the place for you. Just off the highway in the little town of Clearfield, PA, is Denny's Beer Barrel Pub. (I've also heard it called Denny's Party Keg, but I don't think that's the current name.) In any case, they claim to have a few of the largest burgers in Pennsylvania. After seeing a few of the "smaller" large burgers, I certainly wouldn't dispute it.
After driving around 5 and a half hours to get our hands on this Food Network featured burger, we were very excited to get rolling in order to break some records. While Denny's specializes in half pound burgers, they've got some eating challenges for those with bigger appetites. The first challenge, is their two pound hamburger. It's two pounds of meat, 12 slices of cheese, about 3 pounds of bun, and loads of other toppings including: ketchup, mustard, mayo, relish, onions, banana peppers, tomatoes, whole pickle spears, and lettuce. This burger is around $10, and if you finish it completely (without utensils) within an hour, you get a free t-shirt, a certificate, your name mounted on a plaque hanging on the wall, and the burger is half price. (You may omit any one topping from the burger and still have it considered a challenge.)
The second challenge, is the three pound baby boy. It's a three pound burger ($15), and the rules are the same as before, but you get an hour and a half to finish it. If you finish it in the time limit, you get a t-shirt, the certificate, your name on the wall, and the burger is free. (I'd like to note here that the record is held by a 90-pound tiny woman, and it's somewhere around 35 minutes.)
Their biggest challenge however, is the "Ye Olde 96er" which is a SIX pound burger. You get three hours to finish this $24 monster, and as of this writing, nobody has ever finished it. I suppose you get all the same stuff from before, but I imagine that you'd get a little something extra, as nobody has ever conquered it. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Now, the story of our experience... After our five and a half hour drive, we were seated in the very same booth where the challenge was held on the Food Network. We were excited, and upon much discussion whether the three of us should split the six pounder or get separate burgers, we decided on the latter. We each ordered the two pound, figuring that it was an easy task. The waitress asked what we wanted to drink, and things progressively got worse. Greg ordered a beer, Mel ordered a Pepsi, and I asked for a glass of water. The waitress returned, and brought Greg's beer, a CAN of Pepsi for Mel, and a BOTTLE of water for me. "What's with the bottle of water?" I asked. "I don't want bottled water. I asked for a glass of regular water. Bottled water doesn't taste like nothing." She explains that there's not much difference between their tap water and bottled water, so they're the same. Sure, they're the same... except for the fact that WATER IS FREE! "I don't want it. Take it back. Why can't I have a glass of tap water?" She explains again, that I can't have water because I didn't order another drink. "This is ridiculous. We've got TWO other drinks on the table, PLUS $30+ worth of food coming!" At this point, I decided to start another battle. "Why didn't you mention that this Pepsi was going to come in a can? I'm not going to pay for 25 cans of Pepsi. What do you have on fountain?" She explains that they have Coke on fountain. "Fine. We'll take that." I mean, seriously, we drove almost SIX hours for these burgers, and they've completely ruined my experience in less than five minutes. After more than an hour of waiting, the waitress decides to explain that someone else at the table could have asked for a glass of water, but I wasn't allowed since I didn't have another drink. My question was this: "WHERE WAS THIS INFORMATION AN HOUR AGO?" After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the burgers finally arrive. The challenge begins.
The challenge seemed possible at first, but there were some major obstacles to overcome. The first obstacle was a three pound bun, which was the size of a Frisbee. Sure, a two pound burger sounds easy, but these burgers were easily 7-8 pounds after you add up all the other toppings. Eating with your hands also added troubles to the experience. You weren't allowed to use utensils in the challenge, and this severely slowed you down. While tearing through the mess of toppings under the heavy lid of this monster, you start to notice something. You're not really full from eating, but you're tired of eating the same
thing over and over again. We ate piles of tomatoes, lettuce, bread, pickles, and finally the burger itself. I personally love burgers, but you really get sick of eating nothing but burger. After around a half hour, we decided that it was too much. None of us were full, but we sure were tired of eating. Actually, Greg even ordered a bowl of ice cream after tackling the beast of a burger. All in all, it was neat to see the giant burgers, but the experience was completely ruined by poor service. I'd probably give it another shot if we were already in the area, but I certainly wouldn't drive almost six hours for it again. For more information, visit Denny's website here.
-Greg Zieber ( )
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