Pulling a muscle might be a mild consequence of eating one of the burgers, which are veritable towers of beef, bacon, cheese, onion, tomato, gourmet sauce and bun, skewered on picks so they don't topple over.
Watching Joaquin, Arch and Aguirre enjoying the two behemoth burgers they ordered to share, California Grill Executive Chef Jessie Lopez gave insight into how much effort went into creating the Hucowamongous Burger.
"The name was already there really, because of the word 'cowabunga,' but it was a whole team effort, six or seven people including corporate, to think of it … it's really good," Lopez said, as he prepared to cook up more of the chunky charbroiled treats.
This is the burger's first year at the Orange County Fair, and from the start it proved successful, selling 25 on its first day. As of Tuesday night, 526 had been sold. And the buyers aren't quite whom you might expect.
"Oh, it's a big range of people. The most surprising one was a little old lady on senior day last week. She came up on a cart and she ordered one for herself. She just took it away," chef Jimmy Whitsitt said, laughing.
Not to be outdone by a "little old lady," Joaquin, Arch and Aguirre chipped away at the meaty marvels. In fewer than 15 minutes and just 20 to 30 bites, Arch finished off an entire Hucowamongous Burger on his own. According to his friends, this was par for the course for Arch.
"We've been practicing," said Aguirre, who punctuated the meal with booming renditions of what he calls "the two-pound burger song," — a ditty set to the tune made famous in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."
