Last Saturday, a bold three of us attempted the Gena’s Restaurant pancake challenge: eat three of their whopping pancakes in one sitting, and you’ll get your picture on the wall. Over the years many have attempted it; only 14 have succeeded. Some strategies we discussed:
- don’t use too much syrup (the advice given by the servers)
- listen to relaxing music ahead of time
- drink water
- drink coffee
- put something in the pancakes (blueberries, chocolate chips, etc)
- use whipped cream instead of syrup
- vary the texture of the pancakes (this is what really did us in: the constant texture of the pancakes. Your body just gets sick of it.)
- order something salty to go with it: bacon, eggs, etc
- order the pancakes to go (they appear smaller that way), but then stay to eat them
The four of us made a valiant effort, but alas, none of us succeeded. The servers from Gena’s brought the pancakes out one at a time. We delightfully sank our teeth into the first pancake, everyone eating at a moderate pace. Contrast that with the second pancake, in which we all slowed down or ground to a halt. We even took the suggestion of the servers and all ordered blueberry pancakes. They said we can add anything to the pancakes, and a little bit of tart fruit seemed to make sense.
Megan making steady progress.
Chip taking one for the team.
Jeremy is defeated.
I am overcome by pancakery.
The taste of defeat is the taste of pancakes.
Just looking at this makes me feel ill.
All of our third pancakes to go.
The final tally:
Chip: 1.1 pancakes
Jeremy: 1.2 pancakes
Megan: 1.5 pancakes
Nick: 1.5 pancakes
Jeremy certainly led the pack with his “in it to win it” attitude, but I think Megan gets the victory here. She calmly ate half the challenge, then stopped while she was ahead. She probably could have kept going, but she wisely quit.
As a Diabetic I'm about to go into shock just reading your article. Karl
if it was not so far away… I would own that pancake challenge.
I actually waited tables at this place about 15 years ago. Awesome regulars and good food.
April showers bring May flowers...................................................
This must happen again! @CMHTobias wants a shot. Thanks for doing this Nick!
Nick, some of my bicycle riding friends would laugh in the face of such a challenge ! Not I but one long haul biker got arrested at an all you can eat buffett in Colorado ! He had a hollow leg and boy can he eat ! Particularly carbohydrates ! He was theatening to clean the place out! Pancakes looked good !