When Hot Dog enthusiast Takeru Kobayashi was not allowed to participate in last summer's Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest due to a contract dispute, he stormed the stage in a bizarre protest and ended up spending a night in jail. After that long night's journey into day, it seems he's decided to temporarily abandon the processed meat which he so dearly loves in favor of a different greasy treat: pizza. Kobayashi plans to eat a 12-inch pie on Saturday in Brooklyn, to try to break the world record, which was set in New Zealand in 2008 and stands at 1 minute, 45 seconds. Kobayashi previously beat his arch-nemesis Joey Chestnut in a pizza eating contest in 2009. more ›

In a promotional gimmick to rival the "Ole 96er" steak eating challenge in the classic 1988 film The Great Outdoors, local BBQ restaurant Hill Country is throwing down the goutlet with their "Feed Your Face Challenge." Think you're tough enough to consume a massive amount of meat, soft drink, and one cupcake in under 60 minutes with no bathroom break? If you pull this off, you'll not only eat $65 worth of food for free, but you'll also receive a Hill Country hat and T-shirt, plus an immortal photo of your bloated face on the "Wall of Cue!" Losers, however, "pay for their meal and carry their shame home." Hill Country says [pdf] your "opponent" consists of the following items: more ›

There are a lot of websites dedicated to snitching on fellow straphangers popping up lately. First there was Subway Douchery, then the N Train Gossip Twitter account that totally backfired on the author... and now we have Train Pigs. more ›

Staying in New York for Christmas? Greatest feeling in the world, isn't it? Perhaps the only greater feeling is knowing you don't even have to bother cooking. To that end, here are a number of last-minute dining options for those of you who just suddenly said, "The hell with it, why toil in the kitchen when I could spend the day viddying classic Christmas DVDs, like Die Hard?" more ›

It's been a while since we've had any quality rat rodeo video, so get some popcorn (or not) and enjoy this footage of big fat rats feasting in a Vinny Vincenz Pizza Truck parked in Chelsea. It's actually kind of cute how pumped these rats are about being alone in the truck, and, to be fair, it is pretty good pizza... which we will never eat again. more ›

Besides the sickening amount of mass-produced prole candy available this time of year, there's also an abundance of higher grade Halloween eating and drinking options. And so it begins; the long, downward holiday flab spiral that reaches its nadir around the first week of January when you have to start leaving the top button of your pants undone. Oh well, no use fighting it; here are some consumption opportunities we've been able to scare up:
• Through the weekend, the 2008 Vendy award-winning Treats Truck will be featuring Halloween specials including Halloween sugar cookies and Candy Corn Crispy Squares. (Keep apprised of the truck's whereabouts.)
• According to their website, "the ghouls of the cheese world" will converge at Artisanal Cheese on Halloween night. Fromager Waldemar Albrecht and wine professional Candela Prol will conduct a tasting of cheeses and wines "from remote and obscure places on a night that will be hauntingly remembered." Sure it costs $85, but freaking out about your budget is part of the Halloween fun.
• Sushi Samba's Halloween specials take their cue from the outrageous, stylized contortions of Kabuki characters, hence their "Spooky Kabooki" party on Friday at their Park and 7th Street location, with a costume contest that will send the most inventively dressed diner (out of all locations) on a weekend vacation to Las Vegas. Runners-up walk with $100 gift certificates, and special menu items include the Dracula dessert: Coca cola gelee, vanilla bean ice cream, raspberry foam and finish with berry blood drops & pop rock explosions.

Ten of the world's most competitive eaters faced off in Times Square yesterday for the Famous Famiglia pizza-eating contest, and Joey Chestnut, the reigning hot dog-eating champion, emerged victorious by consuming a record-shattering 45 slices in 10 minutes. Chicago's Patrick Bertoletti, who held the previous record at 22 slices in 10 minutes, placed second yesterday with 43 slices. To win the $5,000 prize, Chestnut ate nothing but protein supplements for two days and drank a gallon of water to stretch his stomach muscles before the contest, during which he took in an estimated 11,700 calories and 450 grams of fat. The Daily News was on the scene and reports that "he never appeared to chew." Contestant Adam Gertler hailed Chestnut as "truly a god among eaters. He could probably put an entire work boot in his mouth." more ›

The eyes of the Competitive Eating world (all two dozen of them) will be fixed on Times Square this Sunday for the first-ever World Pizza Eating Championship, set to kick off sometime between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Military Island. Trumpet flourish! Competitors will include Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, the 2008 Hot Dog Eating Champion; Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, "a mohawked chef from Chicago" (according to the press release; Tim "Eater X" Janus, the 4th-ranked burrito champ; and his roommate, Crazy Legs Conti. Victory Sunday (and a cut of $14,000 in prizes) will go to whoever forces down the most slices of Famous Famiglia pizza—but save your snobbish wisecracks about that chain's dubious quality; we all know how excited you'd get whenever the office would buy Famiglia for everybody, back in the Gilded Age when such breathtaking extravagance was the norm. [Via Slice.] more ›

A Queens woman has just joined the growing family of New Yorkers who've found foreign objects in their fast food. Last week a man found a serrated knife in his Subway sandwich, now a 25-year-old Julisa Caba says she discovered a metal screw when she bit into a McDonald’s apple pie. A Health Department spokesman tells the Daily News, “The McDonald's [on 21st Street in Astoria] will receive a full sanitary inspection, with additional focus spent on the possible source of the screw.” Franchise owner Michael Giunta may also be in trouble for failing to factor in the screw when displaying the apple pie’s calorie info. more ›

If "butter" flavored popcorn and Sour Patch Kids aren’t your ideal movie snack food, then you'll probably find the New York City Food Film Festival much more palatable. Starting Saturday at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, Queens, the festival will pair 18 movies with relevant munchies under the night sky. George Motz, who started the festival last year with chef Harry Hawk, says he wanted to create “a cinematic scratch 'n sniff where you can not only watch a food film but eat the food being shown in that film.” Which explains why Sweeney Todd isn't being screened. more ›

Therefore all qualifying rounds will last just 10 minutes this year, and the ultimate July 4th battle will likely be shortened to that time as well. The change has outraged reigning champ Joey Chestnut, who didn't edge out six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi until the last few minutes of last year’s contest. Chesnut calls the change “ridiculous.” more ›

The most eco-friendly way to eat on Earth Day – and any day – is by growing your own food, eating it raw and composting the scraps. But for those of us who aren’t urban farmers, there are some good green options happening on or around April 22nd. more ›

We hope the following doesn't put anyone off their appetite before they've even had a chance to tuck into their Thanksgiving feast, but we have to describe what champion eater Tim Janus managed to consume in a publicity feast for charity. In the course of 15 minutes, Janus gobbled down the following:A 10-pound turkey Four pounds of mashed potatoes Three pounds of cranberry sauce Two and a half pounds of green beans This was accomplished... more ›

It's no shock that many drivers aren't totally on the ball when driving, but it turns out that one in three New York drivers multi-task in their cars. According to a Hunter College study (PDF) conducted at 50 intersections in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, of the over 3,000 drivers observed, 23% were talking on a cellphone, 5.7% were smoking, 4.5% were drinking, 3.1% were drinking, and 1.7% were grooming. Time to quote Rihanna:... more ›