Bonus Episode: The 72 oz Steak Challenge with James Webb
Wise About Texas
Ken Wise
5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2023
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo is world famous for its 72 oz. steak challenge. If you can eat a 72 oz steak (that's 4 1/2 pounds!), and all the sides, you get it for free and all the accolades that accompany such a tremendous accomplishment. Many have tried, but only a few have done it. However, Wise About Texas was lucky to be in attendance when an Australian competitive eater named James Webb completed the challenge in six minutes and twenty-eight seconds. That's the second fastest time in history!
James went on to finish a strong third in the annual Nathan's Famous hot-dog eating contest on July 4, 2023. In this interview, James talks about his road to becoming the number one competitive eater in Australia and one of the top 10 in the world. He also gives some tips and tricks for winning your own eating challenges, and maybe at the Big Texan! So grab a snack and check out this bonus episode of Wise About Texas.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Howdy and welcome to this bonus episode of Wise about Texas. This is your host, Ken Wise, and we got a fun little |
| 0:13.9 | bonus for you today. When I was growing up in the 70s, one of our normal family trips |
| 0:21.2 | was to Colorado and we would always spend the first night in Amarillo and go to eat at Big Texan steak ranch which is probably well known to most of the listeners of this podcast. |
| 0:31.4 | It's a very I don't know how to even describe it. It's a |
| 0:35.9 | tourist attraction restaurant, arcade fun, place, bar, it's all of those things. |
| 0:41.8 | It's a great place and it's a great Texas tradition to stop there. |
| 0:46.8 | And so a buddy of mine and I were headed to Colorado in early June. |
| 0:51.0 | We stopped there and we're eating and somebody was setting up for the 72-ounce steak |
| 0:56.8 | challenge. |
| 0:57.8 | So they've had this challenge for many, many years and the deal is if you can eat a 72 ounce steak, that's 4.5 pounds for those of you at home, |
| 1:06.9 | and a shrimp cocktail and a roll and a |
| 1:13.3 | big potato and maybe a couple other things, then you get the meal for free. So it's one of these food |
| 1:16.4 | challenges a lot of places around the country have them, but I don't know that |
| 1:19.2 | any has a 72-ounce steak and certainly has not been not the track record of the big |
| 1:26.9 | Texan steak ranch. This challenge has been around ever since I've been going |
| 1:31.0 | for the past probably almost 50 years now. |
| 1:35.0 | I even tried the challenge when I was in college in the 80s and failed miserably. |
| 1:39.0 | I got, as I recall, I got the sides eaten in most of the steak, but there was plenty of steak left and I just couldn't do it. |
| 1:46.0 | So a buddy of mine and I are sitting there and this guy comes in and he sets up a camera and they have a little stage on the first floor of the restaurant |
| 1:54.9 | where the people that are taking the challenge go up and eat on this stage and so you got the |
| 1:59.3 | added pressure of everybody watching you and they make a big deal about it and they announce it and all that and he's |
| 2:05.0 | setting up this camera and he's getting and this guy's really fit and lean and I thought well you know |
... |
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