Joanna Wallace | For Times Leader
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Jason Peters proudly displays his empty container and sports a bacon crown after winning the bacon-eating contest at the Anthracite Cafe in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. The contest was part of the restaurant’s seventh annual Bacon Week, which ends Tuesday.
Joanna Wallace | For Times Leader
Lyle Newell, left, Jason Peters, Joe Polasky, Matthew Scott, Joe Bekamich compete inthe bacon-eating contest at the Anthracite Cafe in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. The contest was part of the restaurant’s seventh annual Bacon Week, which ends Tuesday. Also competing were Dominic Totino and Don Morgan.
Joanna Wallace | For Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — The smell of bacon filled the air. A large aluminum tray filled with 2 pounds of crispy goodness sat in front of each of the seven contestants for the second annual bacon-eating contest at Anthracite Café.
The event was part of the restaurant’s seventh annual Bacon Week, which started Feb. 18. With a bacon-centric menu, from Asian-style pigs in a blanket to bacon gyros, the restaurant event is popular with pork fans.
The contestants had 20 minutes to complete their huge servings of bacon. The contest started at 2 p.m. Kevin Sickle of Kingston, a contestant from last year, came to support his friend Matthew Scott, one of the seven competitors.
“Last year they had so much bacon; no one even finished theirs,” Sickle said. The crowd filled the restaurant with the children standing in front to cheer on the contestants and count down the remaining minutes.
Jason Peters of Bear Creek Township emerged as bacon-eating champion. He polished off his tray of bacon with minutes to spare. At one point during the competition, he even reached over to his neighbor’s tray and ate some of his bacon too.
When asked if he knew he would be the champion, Peters said, “Yeah, I felt pretty confident when I got here seeing some of the regulars.”
When the timer had finished, all of the remaining bacon was weighed per contestant. Most of the other contestants had a pound or more of bacon left. Anthracite Café cooked 55 pounds of bacon for the event. The leftovers were sent home with the participants.
Bacon Week continues through Tuesday. For a menu and more information, visit anthracitecafe.net.