BURGER CHALLENGE
The Backyard Grill is known for its delicious burgers. We cook ‘em how you like ‘em over a mesquite fire. Our burger story begins in 2001 when The Backyard Grill opened its doors. On the original menu there were only 5 burgers: Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Bacon Cheeseburger, Mushroom Swiss Burger & the Chili Cheese Burger. It was nearly two years later when our first signature burger was born: THE M.O.A.B. BURGER (Mother Of All Burgers). This mouthwatering burger had a ½ lb. juicy patty, sliced bacon, American cheese, Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms, jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion with mayo and mustard on a fresh bun. This burger was intended to be our signature burger… until the Fall of 2007.
That was when we introduced THE BIG DADDY. This daddy had TWO ½ pound burgers with double the fixins’ that the MOAB had. In the beginning, we used to time guests to see how fast they could eat The Big Daddy. My best time was 8 minutes… which I was very proud of for about a week. When the time to finish The Big Daddy approached the 2 minute mark (this included the fries), we knew something had to be done.
In the Fall of 2008 we introduced THE GRANDADDY. This tower of meat has FOUR ½ lb. patties with the same fixins’ as The Big Daddy. We still kept time, but this one was more of a challenge. The average time to eat The Big Daddy was about 25 minutes, but it could be done by most who attempted it. Everyone who finished The Big Daddy or The Granddaddy had their picture taken and they were posted on the wall by the front door. We still take the pictures, but they are now all downloaded on the television on top of the BYG Texas Store.
In the summer of 2010 I was watching Man vs. Food and I thought it would be funny if we got them to come to Houston and visit The Backyard Grill. We were told that The Granddaddy was not big enough to make the show.
Not big enough? The Granddaddy was 2 lbs of beef with 4 slices of cheese, 4 slices of bacon, mushrooms and jalapenos…how could this not be big enough? After much discussion, we know what we had to do….MAKE IT BIGGER. We decided that whatever we did it would be difficult to eat. So, rather than go higher we went wider. On June 30, 2010, THE BEAST was born. The Beast has 4 lbs of ground beef, 8 slices of bacon, 4 slices of American Cheese, 4 slices of Swiss Cheese, mushrooms, jalapenos and the rest of the veggies on a 12 inch bun. EAT THIS! Many brave men have stepped up to the table to defeat The Beast only to be turned away. If anyone eats it in less than one hour it is FREE! Could it be done? I wasn’t going to try it. I’ll split it with you (we call that a Beast Feast).
On Mother’s Day, May 8, 2011, a Nicole Doty walked into The Backyard Grill and ordered The Beast. The staff was in shock. They asked her if her guests would be arriving soon to have the Beast Feast. She told them that it was all for her. She finished it in 40 minutes. The staff asked her to sign her ticket so we could get her name. She signed the ticket as asked and wrote something on the top as well. After she left, the staff laughed as they read her quote which is now posted on the wall: TWAS BEAUTY THAT KILLED THE BEAST!
As of May of 2012 The Backyard Grill has sold:
TOTAL BURGERS: 219,050
TOTAL BIG DADDIES: 2462
TOTAL GRANDDADDIES: 210
TOTAL BEASTS: 89
