Take The Challenge To Devour A 10-Pound Meatball Sandwich At Bartolini's In Illinois
By Melissa Mahoney|Published April 09, 2021
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Melissa Mahoney
Author
I'm an east coast girl living in a west coast world. I grew up in New England before moving to SoCal for several years. I then lived in NYC or a year before moving to AZ in 2009. I worked in the entertainment industry for many years of my adult life and have a deep love for photography, writing, and traveling around the U.S. as well as to far-flung locations around the world. Travel is my life and writing about it is a dream!
When you’re craving Italian food, the Prairie State has more than enough restaurants where you can find a mouthwatering deep dish pizza, pasta, calzones, and other specialties. But if you’re in the mood for meatballs, there’s no place that makes them better than Bartolini’s. Not only is this family-owned restaurant known for its meatballs, but it’s become famous for its meatball sandwich challenge.
Since 1995, the Bartolini family has been serving up incredible deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas; all kinds of pasta including ravioli and gnocchi; calzones stuffed with sauce, cheese, and your choice of other ingredients; and veal, eggplant, and chicken parmesans.
But do you have what it takes to participate in Bartolini's Meatball Challenge? This 10-pound sandwich is made with five pounds of the world-famous meatballs topped with 1.5 pounds of red gravy, 1.5 pounds mozzarella, and one pound of peppers (hot or sweet) all stuffed into a three-foot-long Turano bread loaf that weighs a pound.
If you finish it all, you get it for free. Don't worry, you don't have to have to eat this all by yourself. You can have a team of up to four people to join in on the competition.
To up the ante, if you beat the record for the one-person challenge, you win the Bartolini Bounty of $2,500!
And if you are unable to finish this 10-pound monstrosity of a sandwich, the price you pay is only $59.99, which isn't bad considering the number of ingredients that go into making it.
Will you order the 10-pound meatball sandwich and take part in Bartolini's Meatball Challenge? If not, there are plenty of other delicious options to order off the menu!