ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - World-famous professional eater Joey Chestnut is known for eating hot dogs, and scarfing down pizza - a lot of it.
During a trip to St. Louis' Salvage Yard Bar and Grill on Saturday, he competed in the Junk Yard Dog Challenge to eat an eight-pound deep dish pizza loaded with meats, sauce and cheese in 45 minutes.
That task was nothing for the competitive eater. Chestnut completed the entire deep dish pizza in just 12 minutes and 6 seconds.
FOX 2 - Photo
FOX 2 - Photo
FOX 2 - Photo
FOX 2 - Photo
FOX 2 - Photo
FOX 2 - Photo
FOX 2 - Photo
Chestnut is best known as a regular participant and champion of the July 4th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York. In the 2025 competition, he ate 76 hot dogs and buns over 10 minutes. Chestnut holds at least 55 competitive world eating records as of 2024, according to Sporting News.
Chestnut told Nexstar's FOX 2 this was his first time competing in an eating challenge in St. Louis and the first time he has ever done so for deep-dish pizza.
"I love traveling around and eating, and meeting people. So this is the best deal it could be," Chestnut told FOX 2. "I know how lucky I am. I'm going to keep doing this thing as long as I'm healthy."
A limited numbers of tickets were offered for fans to attend the event through a raffle system. Chestnut signed autographs and took pictures with dozens of spirited fans during his first event in St. Louis.
"I've actually never done any competitive eating in St. Louis. I've been out here a couple times, like judging [food] events. I'm really happy to be back here. People are always nice. I live in Indiana now. I love the Midwest. It's just a good vibe."
While competitive eating of all foods might seem the same to observers, Chestnut points out that there's different strategies for different foods.
"Pizza's a little weird. Every piece is different. So if I got a random deep-dish pizza, it would be completely different," Chestnut said. "The first half of the pizza will go pretty easily hopefully. The second half is where it becomes work. Hopefully I can convince my body to keep going."
Chestnut also spoke on his motivations and his gratitude for his career.
"I realize how lucky I am. I went to school for engineering, worked in construction management. That was real work, answering nasty emails and the traffic," Chestnut said. "Now, I'm really lucky. I get to travel around, eat food, see other people eat food. I like to compete and see a lot of happy people."
