Costa Vida Draws Top Talent

This Saturday, September 20th, Kobayashi is expected to be krushing the Krystals in Birmingham (feature on this site due Friday). Many of the world's other top Major League Eaters will be headed to South Portland, Maine, for the second annual Costa Vida World Burrito Eating Championship.

The competitive foodstuff will once again be Costa Vida’s notorious Big Kahuna burrito – an 18-ounce beast filled with rice, beans, sweet pork, and cheese, all blanketed by a fresh flour tortilla.

In only its second year, the Costa Vida contest boasts one of the best lineups of any MLE contest. Last year’s winner and the burrito world record holder is 4th-ranked Tim “Eater X” Janus, a face-painting eater who has been called The Whaler and Helen Haggerty among other things. X's challengers this time around include 2nd-ranked Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, a mohawked chef from Chicago who once ate 21 pounds of grits in 10 minutes.

Also competing will be the oft underrated “Humble” Bob Shoudt, who recently upset top-ranked eater Joey Chestnut in both ribs and chili spaghetti. Nipping at their heels will be Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, holder of 21 eating titles, whose 11.25 pounds of Costa Vida burrito in last year’s contest somehow wasn’t enough for a victory. Also vying for the $3,000 in prize money will be gravy specialist Tim “Gravy” Brown of Chicago, popcorn sarcophagus escapee Crazy Legs Conti, male model “Pretty Boy” Pete Davekos, and Eric “Badlands” Booker, who will perform from his competitive eating-themed hip hop album, “Hungry and Focused IV.”

“Like a storm makes people scatter, Kobayashi is pushing talent away from the Birmingham Krystal qualifier," said Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating. “While the best of the best will be in Chattanooga next weekend, this is the weekend for MLE fans in New England to witness the greatest gathering of gurgitators ever to compete north of New York."