EDITORS NOTE: This article originally appeared on Oakville News on Sept. 14.
Imagine this: you have 90 minutes to devour three slices of toast, three eggs, three pancakes, three slices of french toast, three sausages, three pieces of bacon, three slices of ham, three orders of hash browns, and 20 ounces of coffee or 10 ounces of juice. Could you do it?
Four long-time friends from Oakville certainly thought they could give it a shot on Sunday, Aug. 18 when they attempted the ultimate breakfast challenge at Mo's Family Restaurant on Speers Road.
How do over 30,000 calories fit on one table? Better yet, how do they fit into the stomachs of four college kids?
Mo’s "Ultimate Challenge" has been a menu staple for over a decade, with the promise that anyone who can finish the entire meal in under 90 minutes gets it for free. Fail to finish, and you’re stuck with a $60 bill.
For 19-year-olds Zack Brown, Will Graf, Will Stevenson, and Nick Hotoplaneu, this challenge was the perfect way to bond before heading off to school and work in the fall.
Before heading to Mo's, the group prepared in different ways—some opted for an early morning workout and a "light breakfast," while others arrived with empty stomachs, ready to go.
Once they arrived, it was all business.
"What can I get for everyone today?" said the waitress, "Can we just do four Ultimate Challenges?" Graf replied as staff looked back with a mixture of shock and curiosity.
Restaurant staff claimed they average about one or two people who order the challenge on any given week. One table ordering four challenges seemed unheard of before then, but it wasn't much of a problem for the kitchen who quickly got to work.
While they waited for their food, the boys talked strategy as they knew they would be on the 90 minute clock with an even smaller window before they would start to feel full.
Stevenson explained that making "triple decker" sandwiches out of the french toast, bread, meat and eggs would help clear up room from the start and everyone seemed to agree with that method.
This was also the first time any of them had eaten at Mo's, so they didn't know what to expect when it came to portioning to begin with.
When the four plates arrived, the boys couldn't help but laugh at what they'd gotten themselves into. Staff started the timer and the boys dug-in to their challenges, making quick progress from the jump.
About 25 minutes in, heads started to hang as the clock ticked and each of them began to feel "gross" and "stuffed."
Brown made it the furthest in, and the rest of the boys began chearing him on as the only hope of someone at the table finishing the challenge.
He was a little more than one and a half a pancake away from finishing the challenge before he called it, logging away several thousand calories and coming very close to finishing.
Other diners continuously passed by the table, taking photos, offering words of encouragement, advice, and some expressing concern.
Time would eventually run out with none of the four being able to take down the Ultimate Challenge but it was certainly a time all of these boys would remember and a fascinating story to tell as they went off to school and work in the fall.
The boys had their laughs and boxed everything up, satisfied that at least now they had lunch taken care of for the week.
