The Pete and Elda's Challenge

Eight guys, including myself, went to Pete and Elda's Bar in Neptune, N.J. over our winter break from The College of New Jersey. We wanted to see if we were up to the Pete and Elda's Challenge: Win a free T-shirt if you can eat, by yourself, one extra, extra large pie!

We piled into an SUV and drove from our base in Toms River, the home of one guy's beautiful and generous family, to the bar in Neptune, about a half hour away. It was chilly outside on that January 6, 2006, evening, but the air was refreshing and kind of gnarly.

We got settled inside around 5:46 p.m. The mingling scents of fresh thin crust pizzas, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products heightened our sense of anticipation.

Some of us had been to Pete and Elda's before, and even completed the challenge, but for the rest of us this was our first time. I think I can safely say that we were all excited, but a little nervous, too.

What if I can't perform? Will that make me less of a man? If I can't finish the job, will they still respect me in the morning? Will I respect myself?

At some point, though, you have to stop thinking about it and just do it. And so, bite by bite, we began to devour our scrumptious pizza pies, washing them down with pitchers of Coke, Sprite, and ice water with five lemon slices.
It was not easy. Many of us struggled toward the end, and one guy even helped another by finishing a piece. This was, of course, in violation of the rules of the challenge.

As we were finishing, Scott said, "I taste blood." Some of the guys dabbed the roofs of their mouths with napkins and came up with red splotches. "The top of my mouth was bleeding," Tyler explained. The constant biting of the crispy crust, and the hot cheese and sauce had taken its toll. A little bit of blood the first time, I imagine, is normal.

The pizza, drinks, tip, and T-shirt came to $20 per person. We had stuffed ourselves to new and certainly unhealthy levels. We slurped icy drinks from Wawa after. We represented cities from all around the state that night: Whippany, Jersey City, East Rutherford, Jackson, Toms River, Point Pleasant, Scotch Plains and Medford, all sharing a taste of the good life in New Jersey.