Coney Island serves as Joey Chestnut’s home court every summer. The Indiana native spends Independence Day at the Brooklyn amusement park as the favorite in the annual Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Last year, he downed 70.5 hot dogs and buns in a 10-minute span. It was short of the record of 76 he set in 2021, but still well ahead of the next closest competitor.
The 42-year-old master of mastication brought his talents to Las Vegas in January for Siegel’s Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Championship with $10,000 in prize money up for grabs. Chestnut defended his title in the competition, consuming 16 and 7/8 bagels with cream cheese in eight minutes in front of the famed delicatessen and bakery.
As a regular Sin City visitor, Chestnut felt right at home and spoke to Card Player about how to prepare to eat massive amounts of food, hitting the poker table, and some great places to grab a bite to eat in Las Vegas.
Bagels Are Hard On The Jaws
Card Player: How do you prepare for an event like the Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Championship?
Joey Chestnut: Like all the contests, I practice, prep, [go through a] practice contest, recovery, cleanse, then I do way more practice. In this contest, because it’s the first of the year, I prepared for about two weeks. For similar contests, I don’t have to practice as much. For the Fourth of July, it’s like eight weeks of training.
I try to do a simulated contest, line up the food, and set it up similar to the contest, which can be a little bit hard. I live in Indiana, so it’s kind of hard to get a real New York-style bagel. Because of the way they’re baked, it’s a little bit hard to get that kind of hard shell on store-bought bagels.
My fiancée helps me. She yells at me and keeps me focused when I get too lazy. Sometimes I videotape it. I just try to get some notes about what I’m doing. I’ll change my strategy a couple times and just try to make sure that I have a good technique going in, and that I’m comfortable with the food.
CP: What was the Las Vegas bagel competition event actually like?
JC: It’s been going for three years and this is the fourth. I competed twice before and got two wins, both of them pretty close. I think I only won by half a bagel both times. It’s a hard contest. Bagels are hard on the jaws. It’s not a capacity contest, which is where I really excel. Toward the end of the contest, you’re not full. Your jaws and your throat are tired.
Bagels – eat them in the morning, leisurely your whole life. Then it’s really hard to eat them fast. It’s not a food that you ever consider eating fast. Also, it’s just really hard physically. It’s hard to muscle them down. But I’m just excited. It’s the first contest of the year. I want to set the tone and just want to dominate. (Editor’s note: Chestnut would indeed, win the competition for a third time.)
The Food Capital – Las Vegas
CP: Do you enjoy competing in Las Vegas?
JC: Enjoy is an understatement. I love it, it’s great. I think it’s the food capital. It’s funny that you can get awesome New York bagels in Las Vegas, awesome food from all around the world. That’s one of the biggest battles because the day before the contest I do a cleanse where I’m not eating any real solid food. I’m just tortured to know that there’s so much good food all around and I can’t have it.
CP: When you do get to eat in Las Vegas, what are some places you like to eat?
JC: Piero’s, it’s one of the old Italian restaurants right next to the convention center – good seafood and Italian food. There are some great food trucks. The 303 food truck has been on my list for a long time and I want to go. There’s Red Dwarf pizza. It’s like a tiki lounge. That one’s always fun, really good pizza, flavored drinks. It’s a little bit off the Strip, but Sayulitas Mexican restaurant. They do a huge bacon-wrapped burrito.
CP: It really does seem like torture that you can’t eat before a contest.
JC: It also reinforces discipline. I think if you love something, you should be able to go without it for a little bit. It reinforces how much you love it.
It’s like people who can’t control their alcohol. It’s a good test to go without it, like ‘Dry January.’ It really tells you if you have a problem. There are times where I mess up on my diet, I start gaining weight, and then I start losing and have to reel it back in. Food is the best thing.
CP: How often do you get to Vegas as part of your eating travels?
JC: Usually at least once or twice a year. I did a poker tournament in November.
Hitting The Poker Felt
CP: How was that experience playing on the Celebrity Poker Tour?
JC: Gosh, I was nervous. I drank a couple too many Jack and Cokes. (laughing)
I think most of the people there had played multiple tournaments. It was my first real tournament, and I definitely had nerves. But looking back, I made some poor decisions. I also made some good ones, but I think nerves got the best of me.
If they give me the invite, I’ll be back. I think my nerves will be calmed down by then.
CP: Did you grow up playing the game?
JC: When I was younger I played and then I took a long break, and now once in a while I’ll play with friends in Indiana. We’ll go into their basement and play.
I’m not the best at bluffing, so people know if I’m [in the pot], I usually have something.
I think it’s like anything, if you’re good at something, there’s a natural ability that you can improve on. For me with poker, there’s not much natural ability. For competitive eating, I have a lot of natural ability that made it worthwhile for me to improve on.
The ‘Gift’ Of A Large Appetite
CP: How did you actually get into competitive eating?
JC: I tried to eat healthy during the week in college and then the weekends would be my reward days. My friends were really impressed [with how much I ate], and eventually they signed me up and made me do my first contest.
It was something I was kind of embarrassed about. But once I did it I was like, ‘Oh my God. I don’t have to be embarrassed.’ It was crazy, people were cheering me on, beating these guys who weren’t used to losing. So, it was perfect. It was unbelievable.
It’s definitely some sort of gift. Once I started looking at it as kind of a sport, and really breaking it down, I really started to take off. I was never waking up and eating 70 hot dogs. It was a slow progression of getting better and practicing and trying to control a lot of variables. I remember the first time I ate 20 hot dogs in a contest. I felt really full. Now it’s learning how to prepare and build that tolerance, pushing myself harder. Hopefully I’ll be pushing close to a record next fourth of July.
[Editor’s Note: Check out his list of records from Major League Eating.]CP: What’s the vibe like with you and other competitive eaters?
JC: We’re kind of frenemies and kind of a fraternity at the same time. We go around to these cities and awesome events and usually we try to hang out afterward. But we’re also very competitive.
When it comes to the competition, we’re not just trying to push ourselves to a number, we’re trying to push each other past our level of comfort. It’s not the food that hurt me, so and so made me eat too much.
Hot Dogs And Cow Brains
CP: Do you eat hot dogs outside of training or competition, or are you sick of them?
JC: No, I still love them. I was just at Costco and I had to have one. (laughing) That’s like the best hot dog on the planet. I still love hot dogs. I got lucky that the biggest contest is hot dogs.
CP: What’s your favorite food?
JC: I’m not married to one food. I get cravings. For instance, I love good Mexican food – burritos or good tacos or chile rellenos. I love good prime rib, just slow cooked perfectly where the fat turns into butter. There’s not usally carbs in the house, so it’s a really good weekend where there’s no contest. I love good pasta. Bread and butter, oh my gosh. Good salted butter on warm bread. How could you not be happy? A hot dog and beer at a baseball game in the sun – that’s great.
CP: What’s a food you hate?
JC: The cow brain taco contest – that was rough. The taste was really metallic. That was gnarly. People were getting sick on stage. I don’t have any desire to eat cow brain ever again.
CP: Do you ever think about what a unique life you live?
JC: The whole thing is crazy. I got lucky, because I went to school for engineering. I never thought that I’d have a job where I get to make people happy by eating. Now almost every day there’s some sort of fan mail of people telling me that they look forward to seeing me compete. I’m very happy.
Follow Chestnut on Twitter/X @joeyjaws and visit his website joeychestnut.com.
- Photos courtesy of Celebrity Poker Tour, Joey Chestnut
