Question of the Day - 11 February 2013

Thanks to all those who responded to our not-so-subtle recent hint in "Today's News" to give us an excuse to update our previous QoDs on Las Vegas food challenges. It turns out that there have been significant changes since our last major revisit, which was back in March, 2011, so here's a timely update:

Gone from the list are: the hot dog challenge at Longhorn (the burger challenge remains -- see below); the "Hot Taco Challenge" at Kady's at the Riviera (venue has closed); the "Colossus Burger Challenge" at Emily's Cafe at Club Fortune; the original Nectaly's 120-ounce ribeye challenge at Herbs & Rye (see below); the "Bugsy Challenge" at Flamingo's Burger Joint (venue has closed); the "Texas Three-Pound Challenge" at Bally's Tequila Bar; the "Four-Pound Burrito Challenge" at Diablo's Cantina (see below); and the "Firecracker Burger" challenge at Aria's short-lived SkyBox Grill (the bar's still opene), which came and went before we learned of it, but apparently came with a waiver and consisted of an 8oz burger with Bhut Jolokia chili pepper (rated the world's hottest back in '07) blended into it, spiced up some more with pepper-jack cheese and salsa. The prize for completing it was ice cold beer of your choice on the house.

On the other hand, new to the list -- or at least new to our list are:

• Born and Raised Tavern (7260 S. Cimarron Rd.): Take the "Bar Gamble" and eat 15 sliders (choose from beef, chicken, turkey, pork, or salmon) in an hour or less and win a T-shirt; fail and get a $50 bill. (The menu warns: "Vegas wasn't built on winners.")

• rm Seafood (Mandalay Place): For a novel twist on the standard gorge-yourself food challenge, here you can try out "Rick’s Tasting Game," which features a scoop each of 16 different ice cream and sorbet flavors, ranging from savory to sweet. Identify all of them correctly and it's on the house; otherwise, it's $18. (This challenge has been around for awhile, but we hadn't heard about it the last time we covered this topic.)

• Citizens Kitchen & Bar (a newbie at Mandalay Bay): Chef Brian Massie's at it again, with his second Las Vegas food challenge (see below). The new "Muffaleta Challenge" is a gargantuan $135 sandwich, designed to feed six people; if one guest finishes it solo, however, Chef will tear up the check.

• Anime Ramen (#101, 4355 Spring Mountain Rd): Whoa, this is one of the crazier challenges out there, but you can actually win real cash. The "Sumo Bowl" challenge starts out with a big bowl containing four regular servings of noodle soup. You pay $40 to enter the contest, of which $5 goes into the pot, which is yours if you finish the bowl within and hour. The jackpot resets each time at $150, and the most anyone has won to date was a massive $540! Note, however, that the challenge gets harder with each successive failure, because they add more noodles. Currently, there's $230 in the pot, but you now have to finish SEVEN servings of ramen noodles to win.

• Herbs & Rye (W. Sahara at Valley View): This restaurant used to have two ribeye challenges: the "King Kong" 60 ouncer, with three sides, for $160; and the former Nectaly's, which weighed in at 120 ounces, plus three sides. If you finished that monster solo, it wasn't just on the house -- they'd actually pay you $200! But upon a recent online-menu check, we see that they are now just touting a 60-ounce "Nectaly's Challenge," which still comes with three sides. Billed as a "steak for five," it's now priced at the much-reduced price of $85, and is on the house if you can manage it all by yourself. The big boy has evidently been discontinued but fear not, carnivores! Read on for details of another 120-ouncer you can set your sights on.

• Naked City Pizza (inside Moondoggies bar): This pizza-joint-inside-a-bar concept, which has been featured by Food Network and for which we have an exclusive LVA member deal at couponsinvegas.com, boasts a Frickin' Huge Pizza Challenge, which is actually a two-person contest, so bring a hungry friend. Your mission: to complete a house "Frickin' Huge EL Pizza," which must have four toppings on it (you can do half-and-half if you and your partner have different tastes). The pizza has a pre-cooked weight of 10 lbs and if you conquer it within the 30-minute window permitted, it's on the house, plus you win a t-shirt and a photo on the Wall of Fame. Lose and you get a bill for $37.50 and a spot on the Wall of Shame. The record to beat, set last November, was just over seven minutes.

• Rounders (west-side locals bar with locations on W. Flamingo and Blue Diamond): This popular bar has a kitchen at both venues and is home to the "Atomic Wing Challenge." Eat 12 of their hottest wings in 15 minutes and they're on the house, plus you win a commemorative tee shirt and a spot on the Wall of Flame. Be warned: The wings are coated liberally with a SUPER-hot blend of ghost chilies, habaneros, and jalapenos and are described on the menu as "seriously hot. Eat at your own risk. Management assumes no responsibility.

And here are the old stalwarts that have stood the test of time:

• Graziano's Pizza: This challenge, it turns out is, like Naked City's, intended for two people (one foolhardy soloist tried it once and, not surprisingly, only made it halfway through). It's a 10-pounder ($47-worth) with 13 toppings (you can skip a maximum of two toppings if there's something you can't stand, but you must have at least 11) and, in order for it to be free, the two of you must finish in 45 minutes. According to the helpful member of staff we spoke with, "You are rewarded with a stomachache, a free t-shirt each, a photo in the hall of fame, and -- here's the best bit -- two large pizzas (so you can bring your friends back to brag about your accomplishment.)"

• The Longhorn Casino (5288 Boulder Highway) serves a one-pound "Monsterburger" that costs $9.99. You still pay if you finish it (there's no time limit), but you do get a certificate.

• At the gourmet end of the spectrum, Brand Steakhouse at the Monte Carlo is home to Chef Brian Massie's "Ultimate Steak" challenge. An entrée available for two (40 ounces for $92), for four (80 ounces for $178), and for six (120 ounces for $267), it's served with potato gratin and two signature sauces and if you eat the 120-ouncer all by yourself, and within an hour, it's on the house. A few people have completed the challenge, but when we once asked Chef Massie if he'd ever tried it himself, he replied in the negative and that he had no intention of ever attempting it.

• Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill (Harrah's) boasts the "Big Dog Daddy 100 oz. Challenge." The dish features a 32-oz. Angus beef burger, 10-oz. burger bun, four ounces of cheese, four ounces of lettuce, tomato, and onion, and a 2-oz. pickle, not to mention 16 ounces of seasoned freedom fries and 32-oz. Coors Light, for $35.99 (it was $29.95 last time we researched this). If you finish it all by your lonesome, however, you're awarded with a t-shirt, a photo on the inevitable Wall of Fame, and a Twinkie (which the waitress said you don't have to eat right then on the spot, which is thoughtful.) There's no fixed time limit, within reason -- they estimate it will take between 90 minutes and two hours.

• Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo Cantina in the Miracle Mile Shops entered the food-challenge fray back in 2010 with their "Can't Drive 55" Dollar Nachos. This "appetizer" is piled high with 20 toppings, including chipotle sauce, queso, mixed cheese, black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, poblano peppers, pickled and fresh jalapenos, taco meat, carnitas, fajita chicken, carne asada, shrimp, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and pico de gallo. It's available on request for $55, but if you can finish the eight-pound dish solo in less than 55 minutes, it's free, plus you'll be inducted into Sammy Hagar’s Macho Nacho Hall of Fame and receive a complimentary Cabo Wabo T-shirt.

• Hot heads can check out the "Death Wing Challenge" at Diablo's Cantina at Monte Carlo: Eat 20 "Death Wings" with Diablo's signature XXX-rated hot sauce in 20 minutes and be immortalized on the Wall of Fame. (The former 4-pound burrito challenge, which filled the gap left by the passing of the NASCAR Cafe and its famous burrito dare, has now been discontinued. But for those curious, it came with a choice of beef, chicken, or pork, plus beans, cheese, and red rice, for $40, and you received a free t-shirt for devouring it solo.)

• Take the "Devo Hat Challenge" at '80s-themed I Love Yogurt (11700 W Charleston): Eat 100 ounces of frozen yogurt and toppings in 30 minutes and it's free, plus you get your photo on the wall; fail, and it's $19.84 (geddit?).

• Pho 87 Vietnamese restaurant (3620 S Jones Blvd.) challenges diners with a HUGE bowl of pho, consisting of two-and-a-half times their regular large size pho, including 1.5 pounds of beef and 1.5 pounds of noodles . It's $30 to order but if you finish in the allotted 87 minutes with no outside help, it's free, plus you keep the bowl, an $87 prize, your face on a billboard, and more!

• LBS: A Burger Joint (Red Rock) has both a six-patty challenge and an eleven-patty challenge. If you finish the "baby" challenge, which also comes with 1 1/2 pounds of fries, in one hour (no leaving building), it's free. This has been achieved by many. However, finish the eleven-patty monster (to date, only four have accomplished this), then not only is it free, but you're awarded with $100 and you get to rename the challenge and join the ranks of "Heroes of the Hamburger".

Today's QoD caught the eye, via Twitter, of one of Las Vegas' legendary food-challenge experts, so thanks to Miki Sudo both for the compliment, and for the heads-up that a) LBS no longer allows successful challengers to rename the burger (shame), and b) that Pho 87 has imposed a 1987 second time-limit on it's "Phozilla" challenge, which now also features a progressive jackpot. In addition, thanks to the reader who wrote in with this addition to the list, which we'd somehow forgotten about: "Just wanted to add that Mint Indian Bistro at 730 E. Flamingo has had a challenge for a while where you get a free meal plus a gift certificate (and your photo on the wall) if you can finish 'just' one bowl of a few of their special 'inferno' curry." Shame on us, because Mint rocks and QoD is, essentially, a curry-eating Brit Chick, so expect a review very soon from us (me!) of the only Indian restaurant to make the "Essential 50" list in Eating Las Vegas 2013.