Game, Set, Match, Burrito? Eating Competition in East LA

Heavy as a newborn baby, larger than forearms, and costs approximately a Jackson . . . that can only mean one thing in Los Angeles, the over-five-pounds Manuel's Special Burrito at El Tepeyac Café in East Los Angeles; where, as mentioned last week, Binary Tastebuds faced off against Choisauce to see who can eat the most or finish the fastest, with the loser paying the El Tepeyac bill AND a no-limit-set dinner at Rivera.

Here's the monstrous burrito, with my camera case for size comparison. Yeah, it's as wide as my camera is long!

The contenders holding their precious burrito babies (that they'll soon eat like Cronus!)

And three witnesses (left to right): Danny of Kung Food Panda, Evelina of Two Hungry Pandas, and Alan of Liquored on Life (Panda?), were there too, with more normal-size (though still unusually large) portions of and burrito, quesadilla, tostada and horchata. Conbon was there too, but she only shared a jamaica with me as we observe the showdown.

At first, both contender seem to be going strong, with Mr. BT taking the silent 'n steady route while Choisauce was texting and craptalking during the nosh fest, which he occasionally reciprocated.

But after 20 minutes, the gap quickly widened . . .

and it soon became clear who's taking the Rivera prize and who's footing the bill.

Here's the winner with her paper crown, ladylike mouth wipe-age, and declarations of "I WANT DESSERT!"

Final victory/loser pose (or in Binary Tastebud terms, the zero and the one)

And the three witnesses with their half-eaten "normal" sized plates. Conbon and I actually had a taste of each, they weren't bad, but we can't imagine finishing even the regular portion all by our lonesome, let alone the Manuel's Special (meant for four people.)

Still-sweets-craving Choisauce begs to differ; in any case -

Congrats (and oh yeah, A for Effort, Mr. BT), and I am soooo glad I don't have to see either of you in the next 24 to 48 hours.

More photos (and videos) here on my flickr. And in case you want to tackle the Manuel's Special yourself . . .

El Tepeyac Café
812 North Evergreen Ave
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 268-1960