Fans pack in to watch professional eater take on first of 3 crazy Wichita food challenges
One gazillion Wichita calories down. Only two gazillion Wichita calories to go.
On Thursday evening, professional eater Randy Santel — a YouTube and Facebook star with more than 2 million followers — arrived in Wichita to begin his three-day tour of obscene public eating and easily completed his first food challenge: downing a mega meal at Wichita’s Pizza Ranch, 2121 N. Tyler, in less than 45 minutes.
And he didn’t even need all 45 minutes to polish off the feast set before him at the restaurant as fans packed into a private banquet room to watch and to cheer him on. In fact, it took Santel longer to set up and test all of his cameras than it did for him to finish a whole broasted chicken, a medium supreme pizza, sides of mashed potatoes and gravy and potato wedges, a whole half-cherry, half-blueberry dessert pizza, a giant chocolate chip cookie, and two tiny bowls of vanilla soft serve — which were thrown in at the end for good measure.
His final time: 33 minutes and 20 seconds. And he could have done it in under 30 minutes, he told the crowd, if he hadn’t been so chatty while he ate.
Santel now has only about 17 hours to digest before he’ll be at it again. He’ll be at Wichita’s Doo-Dah Diner, 206 E. Kellogg, at 1 p.m. Friday, when he’ll take on a punishing plate of breakfast items Chef Patrick Shibley will prepare for him.
Santel, a 34-year-old Springfield, Missouri, resident who over the past 11 years has attempted more than 1,000 food challenges in all 50 states and in 37 countries, is touring around the Midwest trying to rack up wins before he retires from his unusual profession to pursue a career as a dietitian.
His stop in Wichita will also include a 2 p.m. Saturday visit to Nortons Brewing Company, 125 St. Francis, where he’ll take on the Munchie Monster Challenge, consisting of a four-patty burger that has a grilled cheese sandwich in the middle and full Monte Cristo sandwiches as buns, a double order of loaded Ranchero chicken fries and a side of bacon crack — all of which he has to eat in 40 minutes or fewer. Spectators are welcome at each stop.
Santel’s crowd on Thursday at Pizza Ranch was standing room only and filled with adoring fans who obviously follow his online eating exploits closely. About 60 people packed into a small private dining room to watch him take on the challenge, and another 40 or so pressed their faces against the windows and watched from outside. Many arrived early or stayed after to chat with Santel and get an autograph.
As he ate, bobbing his head and chewing with enthusiasm, the spectators filmed Santel with their phones, yelled encouragement and chanted his name. “Randy! Randy! Randy!”
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His win at Pizza Ranch, which was his 994th career win, earned him the right to not pay the $31.99 bill, a “sweet T-shirt” with the words “I hear ya cluckin’, big chicken” printed on the back, and the promise of his photo being the first posted on Pizza Ranch’s “wall of fame” that will include everyone who finishes the same challenge in under 40 minutes from now on. All three of the restaurants Santel visited will allow members of the public to take on the challenges in the coming weeks.
Santel, who says he’s motivated partly out of a desire to help restaurants get publicity, filmed his eating challenge and also broadcast it over Facebook live. He recruited a spectator who said she had photo skills to help him set up and operate his gear, and he filmed his own B-roll afterward.
Before he started, he strapped on knee pads and actually knelt at the table rather than sit while he ingested food with impressive speed. His growing belly, he told the audience, makes it uncomfortable for him to sit while he eats.
Six minutes and eight seconds in, he’d sucked down half the chicken and half the pizza, praising every bite as he went. To demonstrate how much he loved the restaurant’s chicken gravy, he shot it like a drink when he was finished with his potatoes. Occasionally as the challenge went on, he’d grunt, shake his head and stretch his arms. But he remained chatty and amiable and never broke a sweat.
After he polished off his final bite of cookie, Santel wiped up the crumbs from the table, dabbed his mouth with a napkin and took a final drink of water before stopping his timer and pumping his arms up into his signature victory pose.
“There it is!” one fan shouted, and the crowd erupted as Santel seemed to stifle a belch.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 8:36 PM.
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