Man V Food Challenges That No Longer Exist

Adam Richman and Casey Webb let their stomachs lead them through the United States in their respective seasons of "Man v. Food." Both of these TV foodies had plenty of massive wins as well as some inevitable food fails. For the most part, fellow big eaters can follow in their footsteps to take on challenges, but there are certain challenges that are now lost with time. We've scoured past seasons of "Man v. Food" in search of challenges that no longer exist, and some may come as quite the surprise. There are a few reasons these impressive food endeavors are gone, seemingly forever. Either a former challenge spot has closed down shop for good, it no longer carries a menu item, or it created a one-and-done challenge just for its TV spot.

Whatever the reason, these sweet or savory food challenges were once the biggest, hottest, or all around most impressive of their kind. Before you head out on a food-led adventure to one of the spots you've seen glorified on your TV screen, though, make sure that what you seek still actually exists. These destinations, once crammed with cheering diners for the "Man v. Food" challengers, are no longer the home of food challenges that were featured on the food travel show.

It's not often that a challenger gets to actually select what they eat, but Lunchbox's Pick Your Poison challenge offered up three very different food items for Casey Webb to choose from. Would he guzzle down a massive 151 ounce milkshake, go for glory with an 8 pound sloppy joe, or take the fiery road with six "Death Wish" wings? Considering some of the easiest "Man v. Food" challenges saw both Adam Richman and Webb going the spicy route, it's no surprise he went for the latter.

Despite the excitement and creativity of having challengers "pick their poison," Lunchbox is no longer open for business. The Staten Island restaurant closed permanently a couple years after Webb bested their ghost pepper sauce covered Death Wish Wings. There seems to have been little announced about their abrupt departure, so we're not sure why the restaurant specializing in big food shut its doors.

The big eats destination seems to be missed, if comments on its last Instagram post are anything to go off of. Years later, loyal customers are yearning for the food challenges. Lunchbox had been around since 1999 and seemed to be beloved, but big eaters will have to go elsewhere to sate their competitive whims.

Lulu's Bakery in San Antonio really took the whole "Everything is bigger in Texas" saying to heart. It was one of the many Texas restaurants to boast big food with its massive, 3 pound cinnamon roll. Food bloggers and big eaters, Casey Webb included, traveled here to take on the cinnamon roll challenge and down the gooey pastry in under 30 minutes.

It was another food challenge that ultimately led to the bakery's downfall. Lulu's Bakery closed after a slew of bad press centered around the service they provided pro eater Randy Santel. As the popular food blogger explained it, he called ahead to schedule a "Texas Ranger" challenge attempt only to be turned away when he arrived. Though he never meant for the bakery to take such a hit over the situation, Santel fans left negative reviews and comments all over the bakery's socials. They closed permanently not long after.

Though no longer an official challenge, you can still get a large Lulu cinnamon roll from Lulu's own son. He makes Texas-sized cinnamon rolls with his mother's recipe at Green Vegetarian Cuisine, and they can be ordered for pickup or delivery. This means you could quite easily host your own cinnamon roll challenge right at home — though, victory isn't as sweet without a winner's t-shirt.

The second season of "Man v. Food" saw Adam Richman channel his inner Elvis at a retro style diner for the Johnny B. Goode challenge. One plate of chili fries, another full plate of a chili covered burger, and a 16 ounce milkshake made up the huge challenge. Richman defeated the two plates and shake, rolled to him by the roller skate clad servers, and earned himself a t-shirt.

Unfortunately, those hoping to nab themselves the same winner's shirt are out of luck. Rockies Diner closed up shop for good in 2020, claiming financial difficulties during the pandemic. They received an outpour of positivity from former patrons saddened by the news. The '60s inspired diner did fall into some hot water not long before, though, when the property was seized and shut down by police for failing to pay unemployment taxes. This initial shut down didn't seem to damper Rockies spirits, and the diner was back serving chili coated plates in under a month.

Both closures were followed by an outpour of love for the diner from the Boise community. Rockies Diner had stood strong with high energy for over two decades, and seemed to be a staple that created many memories for many, something viewers saw a little bit of on "Man v. Food." Sadly, the Johnny B. Goode challenge departed with Rockies Diner and is out of grasp for any would-be challengers.

The majority of "Man v. Food" challenges feature foods that would feed an entire family, but the Demon's Delight challenge came in a much smaller package. The 10 piece sushi roll looked pretty standard, apart from the hellish habanero sauce that coated its crown. The sushi roll was paired with a side of "Death Sauce," which was as hot as it sounds. The sushi was to be eaten after a bowl of miso soup that had participants practically breathing fire. Casey Webb completely obliterated this fiery challenge, downing the bowl of "lava" in just a few seconds! Those looking to follow in the champion's footsteps, though, will come up quite short.

This sushi shortage is due to Superb Sushi no longer being in business. Around a year after "Man v. Food" featured this sushi joint in the Boise episode the owners announced their retirement and that the restaurant would be closing. Superb Sushi was known for its sushi challenges, as the restaurant had the La Bomba Roll Challenge right next to that of the Demon's Delight. Sushi lovers will be bummed they have to find another spot to feed their competitive spirit, though.

When we ranked "Man V. Food" dessert challenges from best to worst, Kirby's Kupcakes secured a spot as one of the worst food challenges the show has devoured so far. The Goliath Cupcake was massive, sure, but the creativity of the challenge and how it was crafted fell short. Apparently we weren't the only ones who thought so, because the bakery has since closed its doors, the oversized cupcake disappearing along with it.

Kirby's Kupcakes earned itself some solid press when it was featured on "Man v. Food" for its 2 ½ pound cupcake offering. This cupcake was basically the size of 22 regular cupcakes, which makes it a pretty colossal "Man v. Food" food challenge. It's not just the novelty that added value to this challenge, but the fact that all cupcakes were made fresh daily. The cupcakes themselves, no matter the size, were made in-house as well as reportedly very tasty. Despite their ability to satisfy a sweet tooth and the exposure of the TV show, the bakery couldn't keep its doors open. There is no indication of what caused the shop to close down nearly a decade after its establishment, but those with a sweet tooth and a penchant for a food match will sadly have to look elsewhere.

We love a creative plate, and that's just what Sota Hot and Cold in Saint Paul, Minnesota offered up with its Holy Crêpe Challenge. Three massive, freshly made crêpes were completely loaded with 25 rolled ice creams, a few heaping helpings of fresh fruit, and a smörgåsbord of toppings to make up this sugar loaded challenge. This "Man v. Food" dessert challenge was way too sweet for Webb, and he was unable to tackle it. Bad news for those hoping to best his performance, though, because the Holy Crêpe challenge is no more.

Though it regularly rolled out unique and interesting flavor combinations and customizable ice cream, the rolled ice cream and frozen yogurt shop is now permanently closed. Sota Hot and Cold's Instagram is still intact, and the shop's last Instagram post references the pandemic for its lack of reopening. However, the post was hopeful for an eventual reopening, which has since dissolved. Sota's Facebook page is no longer active, and all signs lead to it being gone for good. Sorry ice cream lovers, those of you with a massive sweet tooth will have to go elsewhere for a hulking, 4 pound plate of dessert.

A lot of people find key lime pie to be utterly drool-worthy, and a 3 ½ pound key lime pie would be downright irresistible. Well, pick your jaw up off the floor, because this big hunk of key lime pie is not available for sale at The Fish House. In fact, it never really was. We called the Florida Keys restaurant to inquire about the challenge. There were no other documented challenge attempts nor any information on its website pertaining to it. The restaurant informed us that the challenge was actually created solely for "Man v. Food" and has not been tried by anyone other than Casey Webb.

Unlike a lot of the restaurants on this list, though, The Fish House is still very much open and can feed you. It does have the smaller, human sized version of the key lime pie that is made with the same recipe of the supersized version. Have a slice, or three or five, to simulate your very own key lime pie challenge.

To be fair, though, just one slice of this dense pie may be enough to satisfy. There's likely a reason the massive version of the pie hasn't been remade. Probably, eating that much key lime pie filling would turn a person off the otherwise delicious dessert for quite some time.

If there's one place in the United States you can turn to in order to have a one-of-a-kind experience, it's Las Vegas. The Vegas strip has seen so much change over the years, that we're not really surprised that the oversized burrito featured on "Man v. Food" is no longer there. Back in the second season, Adam Richman took on a 6 pound burrito at NASCAR Café. Richman was famously defeated by quite a few burrito challenges, and this behemoth certainly had him rolling out of Vegas without the glory of a win.

Though he was once there among the losers, Richman's photo on the Wall of Shame is no more. NASCAR Café was located within Vegas' iconic Sahara Casino, which was closed in 2011. The casino was reopened a couple years later under a different name, but the food options within changed. Though currently the Sahara's name has been reinstated, the NASCAR Café remains permanently closed.

The good news? There are plenty of other themed establishments all around Las Vegas. The bad news, however, is that this NASCAR hot spot seems to be lost with time, its Big Badass Burrito Challenge gone along with it. Some of the other burrito challenges that did Richman in are still around — but you'll have to hop around the country to find them!

Adam Richman headed over to Philly for one of the city's signature dishes — a Philly cheesesteak, but one of gigantic proportions (or, portions). Tony Luke's offered one tasty sandwich consisting of cheese, steak, and grilled onions. Richman downed the five pound sandwich with many compliments to the chef, and was the first person to tackle the Ultimate Cheesesteak. There's a short list when it comes to winners, because the challenge wasn't a long running one.

Thanks to some family based legal issues, Tony Luke's is now Tony and Nick's Steaks. Though the cheesesteak shop is still open under a different name, there is no mention anywhere on their site or socials that the challenge is still active. So, we gave the shop a call and an employee confirmed that there currently is no Ultimate Cheesesteak challenge for big eaters to tackle.

There's good news and bad news on this front. The bad news is that you're not going to be able to take on a five pounder like Richman once did. The good news, however, is that Tony and Nick's Steaks are slinging the same cheesesteaks as they did when the OG "Man V. Food" host undertook the challenge. That means those savory bites he was raving about could very well still be in your future.

We've seen big food challenges as well as challenges that test the taste buds come across the "Man V. Food" table. The Atomic Ghost Wings Challenge at The Pizza Pit combined both of these difficult challenges with a huge portion of incredibly spicy wings. Casey Webb took on 4 ½ pounds of wings doused in ghost pepper sauce at this New York pizza place. This challenge sees only 10% of participants emerge victorious, and Webb was not among the winning minority. He only was able to eat 21 of the 24 Atomic wings before the 15 minute timer ran its course.

Unfortunately there's no way for foodie hopefuls to attempt this double threat of a food challenge, as it appears as though The Pizza Pitt closed during the summer of 2023. Google has not updated this closure as of the writing of this article, though its website has disappeared and it hasn't had any reviews or posted to its social media since July 2023. Though there was nothing subtle about the Atomic Wings Challenge itself, The Pizza Pit's departure seems to have been a quiet one.

A wings challenge with a killer view of a live baseball game truly seems like a dream come true to some big eaters. Game Seven Grill was a baseball's throw away from the Arizona Diamondbacks' Chase Stadium in Phoenix. The sports grill was home to one major league hot wings challenge, which consisted of just eight wings. The challenge here came into play with the sauce, made from ghost peppers and habanero peppers.

Unlike most wing sauces, these Hottest Wings in Baseball had a thick, dense sauce that seemed to stick to the mouth. Casey Webb is no stranger to challenges based on heat, but he did seem to have a little trouble with this one. Webb ate seven wings, but couldn't get past the heat to beat the six minute timer. Despite the exciting challenge and the killer view of the stadium, Game Seven Grill no longer exists, so challengers will have to look elsewhere to beat a "Man V. Food" host's challenge attempt.

The Phoenix staple closed down in 2021, along with another stadium bar. The two favorites were dismantled and renovated to make room for new food accommodations for Chase Stadium. Sadly, none of which have these deadly Scoville scale wings on their menus.