Starting all the way back to the beginning Erik and I loved the idea of food challenges. We watched Man vs. Food all the time in the US; always excited to see what food challenge Adam Richman would be taking on. Also, as a kid my family was constantly driving across the US to a new duty station every couple of years for my father. We would always pass Amarillo Texas, and the Big Texan 72oz (2kg) Steak Challenge sign. I would always think, "Oh how I wanted to try and eat that much steak one day".😍
When we were imagining what the Cantina would be like, we both thought we definitely needed a food challenge. They are fun and stand out and can help a lot with branding. I remembered as a kid living in Novato in the early 90s and the fast food scene with Mexican food was just starting to grow. This one restaurant had a burrito which was called the Godzilla Burrito and as a 11 year old it was the biggest burrito I had ever seen. Erik and I thought, that's it...we will call it the Godzilla Burrito Challenge. The challenge would be TWO Godzilla (1.1kg each ) burritos plus beans and rice in 20 minutes. Was this actually doable, we didn't know, but we were certain that with a lack of food challenges in Sweden, someone must be willing and able to take on the challenge and hopefully conquer it. The winner would receive their meal for free and their picture on the Wall of Fame in the Cantina.
In our first week open we got our first Godzilla burrito order. We made a big production out of it, yelling for the attention of the Cantina and announcing the challenger and the rules to complete the challenge. We made sure the challenger understood that real effort was needed (we weren't just going to let them buy a big burrito and eat it at leisure). In the end, the first challenger, Robin, was a beast! He not only managed to eat both burritos including beans and rice, but he also did it in UNDER 20 minutes! Erik and I got pretty worried, maybe we had made the challenge too easy, were we going to lose a lot of money with this challenge? That first summer of 2015 we had 21 challengers to the Godzilla Burrito and still not another winner. Maybe it was just luck that it was the first one?
However, the summer of 2016 had only 12 challengers, and still no new winner. Several were close...but the beans and rice ultimately did them in. By 2019, guests were so daunted by the challenge that I had only 2 challengers and only 1 or 2 every summer since. Erik and I were so excited by this challenge but after 49 Godzilla Burrito challenges over the past 8 years it seems that only one has managed to defeat Godzilla and it's time for the Cantina to lay Godzilla to rest. We recognize the effort of ALL of the challengers who have braved Godzilla; below are just a few of the challengers. Who knows though what the future holds and what will emerge from the ashes of the Godzilla?