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Phantom Gourmet: Great 8 Food Challenges

You'll never know how big your appetite truly is until you put it to the test. These are the eight most deliciously daunting food challenges Phantom has ever found in our area.

"San Juan Challenge"
Rose Alley Ale House, New Bedford

Kicking off the Great 8 is Rose Alley Ale House in New Bedford. Any good ale house needs to have some good wings, and Rose Alley's boneless beauties can be coated in eight different dry rubs and tossed with over a dozen delicious sauces. True hot heads will want to take the "San Juan" Challenge, and try to eat as many super-spicy wings as they can in twenty minutes to earn a spot on the Wall of Fame. But be warned, these wings are seriously obscene.

"It's a habanero based sauce. It's almost like a paste, and it will knock you right out, probably ruin your weekend."

"The Challenge Burger"
Pub 97, Groveland

Pub 97 in Groveland is a casual pub and restaurant that serves 97 specialty burgers all featuring chargrilled, half-pound Angus patties. If you want to make a little hamburger history, put on your loose fitting pants, and order The Challenge Burger.

"It's six patties, so three pounds of ground beef and three pounds of French fries. You get an hour to eat it. If you eat it, the burger's free and you get a $25 gift certificate. Many have tried, but no one's finished it. People have come close, but no one's finished it."

"B's Belly Buster Challenge"
B's Breakfast, Burgers & Beyond

Another Great 8 winner is B'z Breakfast, Burgers & Beyond in Smithfield, Rhode Island. This cozy spot serves breakfast all day, so you can fill up on Portuguese Eggs Benedict and gut-busting chicken fried steak and eggs at any time. But there's no morning meal more intimidating than "B'z Belly Buster Challenge", which gives customers 45 minutes to finish nine eggs, and a whole lot more.

"You're going to get eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, corned beef hash; you're going to get beans, toast, home fries.

Some have come close... most have failed.

"Eagles Challenge"
Eagles Deli, Cleveland Circle

Eagles Deli in Cleveland Circle is the ultimate place to pig out. The sprawling menu of burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches has so many variations on Super Size, that ordering becomes a feat in itself. But for a true challenge, try the Eagles Challenge - a 6 pound burger topped with 24 strips of bacon, 24 slices of cheese, 5 pounds of fries, a deli pickle and a fountain soda to wash it all down.

Watch: Food Challenges, Part 2

"10 Gallon Burger"
Clyde's, Walpole

Clyde's on Route One in Walpole carries a burger so big, grown men hide their face in fear. Weighing in at more than two pounds, the 10 Gallon Burger takes two spatulas to flip, is topped with five slices of cheese, smothered with piles of beefy chili, and served on a custom baked oversized roll, along with a mound of fries, and a whole pickle. Finish it all in thirty minutes and you get it for free.

Winners get their picture on the Wall of Fame, losers end up on the Wall of Shame.

"I've worked here for seven years and in the time that I've worked here, two people have finished the burger."

"Hell Night"
East Coast Grill, Cambridge

A few times a year, the craziest heat-seekers from all over the East Coast head for the East Coast Grill in Inman Square Cambridge for an insane event that they call "Hell Night".

It's when they take spices that, "we know are hotter than you're gonna get really at home, and we take those spices and we create incredible dishes. They're hot. We're talking over one million Scoville units of heat in some of our dishes."

(By comparison, Jalapeno peppers are rated between 2,500 and 8,000 Scoville units.)

Max's Big Ass Burger Challenge, Phantom Gourmet
The Big Ass Burger Challenge at Max's in Dartmouth includes a towering bacon cheeseburger, a huge helping of chili cheese fries, and a tall, thick chocolate milkshake. (Image: Phantom Gourmet)

"Big Ass Burger Challenge"
Max's, Dartmouth

Max's in Dartmouth serves the kind of food you crave, like hot dogs and fries, and burgers piled with all of the good stuff. But out of all the burgers they make at Max's, there's one that requires a maximum appetite: The Big Ass Burger Challenge. Only three customers have completed it, and no one has done it faster than local legend Randy Canario.

"The burger itself, which is pretty much a tower of meat, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion straws, it's actually very delicious," he said. "Behind it is the chili cheese fries, and those are awesome. I mean, I'm not really even a fry guy, but those are some really, really good fries."

And it's finished off with a tall, very thick chocolate milkshake.

"Cadillac Burger"
Cruisers Malt Shoppe, Gardner

Rounding out the Great 8 is Cruisers Malt Shoppe in Gardner. The quirky malt shop is straight out of the 1950's, serving up big burgers, banana splits and breakfast all day long. For lunch, Cruisers challenges their customers with a burger so big, it would be a feat to eat. It's called the Cadillac Burger, but with 3 pounds of beef topped with 8 slices of cheese and a side of fries that weighs in at a pound, it should be called the heart attack burger.

"If you can finish it in an hour you get it free, and you get your name on our wall. If you cannot finish it you owe us $19.99."

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.

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