The Pub's Tim Radigan Makes an 8-Pound Burger

Welcome back to Chef in the Kitchen, a recurring Eater photo feature where we boldly go where few diners have gone before — into Las Vegas restaurant kitchens — to get a sneak peek of the chef du jour hard at work.

Grid View

• The Pub executive chef Tim Radigan shows the four-pound beef patty.
• The four-pound patty.
• The burger patty goes on the grill.
• Tim Radigan cooks the burger.
• Five saute pans on top of the burger help seal in the flavor.
• Tim Radigan flips the burger with two spatulas.
• Tim Radigan sears the burger.
• The seared burger.
• Tim Radigan arranges 10 slices of cheese on the burger.
• Out of the salamander.
• Out of the salamander.
• The burger with 10 slices of cheese.
• Tim Radigan slices the one-pound bun.
• Tim Radigan slices the bun.
• The bun and toppings await.
• Carmelized onions go on top of the burger.
• Lettuce goes on top of the jalapeños and carmelized onions.
• Tim Radigan with the final burger.

[Photos: Paul Olguin]

Only one person has completed the eight-pound burger challenge at The Pub at Monte Carlo. Anyone who can eat the hefty hamburger along with a 32-ounce beer boot (or root beer boot) in 45 minutes or less sans a bathroom break gets a nifty T-shirt and kudos on the wall of fame.

"Everything is big in Vegas so this challenge seemed better," says executive chef Tim Radigan, who originally offered a similar challenge with 50 sliders.

Radigan says that more than 100 people have attempted the $29 challenge since it launched eight months ago, and only one has completed it.

The burger itself is a mere four pounds, pressed into a 10-inch round and seared for 10 minutes on each side. Radigan stacks five saute pans and a cookie sheet on top of the massive burger to help it sear. Two spatulas and a cookie sheet help him flip the burger, seasoned only with salt and pepper. Another five minutes in the oven followed by five minutes in the salamander with 10 slices of cheese finishes off the burger.

The bun weighs another pound, and the toppings make up the rest of the weight. Tomato, lettuce, jalapeños, carmelized onions, The Pub’s secret sauce and a giant pickle round out the toppings.

Radigan says when the burger comes out of the kitchen, people follow it to the table to take pictures and cheer on the challenger.

The lone winner of the challenge was a 67-year-old man from Henderson who polished off the massive burger in 24 minutes and 47 seconds. He was still hungry and requested some ice cream, so Radigan put together nine scoops of ice cream with chocolate syrup, which he also finished. "He said he’s done a lot of food challenges where it was about the quanity of the food instead of the quality," Radigan says. This burger is a duplicate of the Pub Burger on the menu.
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