MONEYMAKERS
Brandon Holcomb was teary-eyed after the Fiery Punishment eating contest—and not just because he only finished in third place. MIKEY’S LATE NIGHT SLICE
GOING DOWN IN FLAMES WHY DOES MIKEY’S LATE NIGHT SLICE (LNS) KEEP MURDERING CUSTOMERS’ TASTE BUDS with “the hottest pizza in the world”? “Part of it is because I must be some kind of sadist,” says Jason Biundo, co-owner of LNS, with five restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, and one in Cincinnati. “But I’m also proud of how [the Fiery Death pizza] has gained a life of its own in the 10-plus years since we started it. Folks ask about it all year long. When it finally comes around, people travel from all over to feel the burn.” The pizza comes laden with ghost, scorpion and reaper peppers and a Puree Scorpion Pepper Pizza Sauce. LNS revived it in October for an eating contest in which competitors raced to finish three slices and a raw Carolina reaper pepper. But the pie’s not quite as awful as it sounds. “I made sure that, underneath the flames, it was as tasty as anything else we put out there,” Biundo says.
Chad Springs won the Fiery Punishment contest with a record time of two minutes and 41 seconds, earning a $200 LNS gift certificate, concert tickets and swag. MIKEY’S LATE NIGHT SLICE
DECEMBER 2023 | PMQ.COM
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