A Palos Heights native is the top dog in famous eating contest

By Jeff Vorva

For a while, it seemed impossible for Palos Heights native Patrick Bertoletti to win the Nathan’s Hog Dog Eating Contest.

After all, Joey Chestnut has made life difficult for his opponents year after year, winning 16 titles since 2007 and winning the title eight years in a row until 2024.

But Chestnut signed a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods – a vegan company – and neither Nathan’s nor Major League Eating officials liked that, and they excluded him from the July 4th competition.

This meant there would be a new champion and the impossible became possible, for it was Bertoletti who gobbled down 58 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to win the coveted Mustard Belt in Coney Island, New York.

Nicknamed “Deep Dish,” Bertoletti didn’t break any records on his way to the title, but he holds the 2014 world record for the most milk consumed in an hour – 2.5 gallons. He holds 31 world records in other food categories. He once ate a nearly 5-pound turkey in 12 minutes.

The 39-year-old Morgan Park Academy graduate had previously finished in the top three at Nathan’s event, but this was his first championship title.

“With Joey not here, I knew I had a chance,” Bertoletti said in an EPSN interview after the competition. “I was able to unleash something that I didn’t know where it came from.”

Bertoletti actually retired from the Nathan event for 10 years, but returned in 2022.

He is a chef and co-owner of Taco in a Bag restaurant in Chicago’s Lincoln Square.

FOOD RECORDS

Patrick Bertoletti of Palos Heights holds world records in more than 30 eating categories, including:

Pizza – 47 pieces in 10 minutes

Chicken wings – 1.8 kilograms in eight minutes

Grits – 21 pounds in 10 minutes

Jalapeno peppers – 275 in 8 minutes

Key Lime Pie – 10.8 pounds in 8 minutes

Kolaches – 44 in 8 minutes

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches – 42 in 10 minutes

Shoo-Fly Pie – 11.1 pounds in 8 minutes

Waffles – 29 waffles of 230 g each in 10 minutes

Whole turkey – 3.1 kg in 8 minutes