Next up for Chestnut, Stonie — frozen waffle eating contest
You can’t get more San Jose than Joey “Jaws” Chestnut squaring off against Matt “Megatoad” Stonie in a frozen waffle-eating contest at SAP Center.
How on Earth did it take this long for someone to think of this?
Chestnut and Stonie, both San Jose natives and the No. 1 and No. 3-ranked competitive eaters in the world, now will vie for the waffle-eating crown — The Waffle Cone? The Syrup bottle?
Chestnut, as has been well-chronicled, has 52 eating world records, with an unprecedented 11 victories at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island since 2007. The only person to defeat him during that stretch was Stonie in 2015.
The latest eating contest will take place during the first intermission of Sunday’s 5 p.m. match between San Jose’s minor league hockey team, the Barracuda, and the Tuscon Roadrunners.
The Eggo waffle was invented in San Jose by Frank Dorsa, who began marketing it to grocery stories with his brothers, Sam and Anthony, in 1953. They sold the company in 1966 and it was acquired in 1970 by Kellogg’s, which maintained a plant for decades in San Jose off Highway 101 on — wait for it — Eggo Way.
The frozen breakfast treat joins fruit cocktail, orange sauce and Togo’s sandwiches as San Jose’s contribution to America’s culinary culture.
The two champion chompers will have a third person at the table — no, it’s not Eggo waffle fan Eleven from “Stranger Things” but Barracuda in-arena host Tanya Dubrul. They’ll have eight minutes to eat as many Eggo-style frozen waffles as they can. Will they be toasted? Will they eat them dry or drenched in syrup? The only thing we know for sure is that whoever wins will set the world record in the category because no one’s ever tried this before.
“This is not just about setting a new record,” Major League Eating Chair George Shea said.
“This is about hometown boys representing their hometown and seeking the bragging rights that accompany victory.”
The contest takes place on “408 Night,” and the Barracuda will wear jerseys with a logo based on
San Jose’s official seal. The first 4,000 fans will get a Waffle Eating Contest T-shirt. Go to sjbarracuda.com for tickets.