Photos from Cypress Street Pint & Plate Nathan's Famous Hot Dog-Eating Contest

EVENT RECAP (photos by Dylan York) - On Saturday, June 15th, Cypress Street Pint and Plate and Major League Eating teamed up to host the city's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog-Eating Contest official qualifier.

A sanctioned stop on the 2013 Nathan’s Famous qualifying tour, a circuit of more than a dozen contests occurring in cities across the U.S. and beyond, the family-friedly event drew crowds from across Atlanta. The June 15th event featured a 10 minute all-you-can-eat Nathan’s hot dog challenge in which local eaters were pit against MLE professionals, including Eric “Badlands” Booker, Adrian Morgan and Atlanta’s own Damien Boykin and Paul Barlow.

While attendees prepared to witness top performers put down an incredible amount of hot dogs for a chance to compete on July 4, 2012 at the Nathan’s Famous flagship in Coney Island, NY, Executive Chef Richard Silvey served up delicious specialty Nathan’s hot dogs including: the Bacon Wrapped Dog - served with teriyaki and pineapple salsa; the Sonoran Dog - served with black beans, fresh avocado, pico de gallo and lime crema; and the Muffuletta Dog - with provolone cheese, pepperoncini and olive tapenade. To wash it all down, guests were treated to theme-appropriate cold brews on draught by Shmaltz Brewing Company, including the Coney Island Albino Python and the Mermaid Pilsner. 

After 10 minutes of fierce, gut wrenching competition, two contenders came out on top. In the male division, the number 6 ranked eater in the world, Adrian Morgan, took first place with 38 hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes. The winner of the women's division, Christina Ginn, will join Morgan in Coney Island on the 4th of July, where they will again endure a true test of the human spirit and will face the top competitive eaters in the world. Other notable competitors included Ronnie Hartman, an amateur competitive eater still on active duty, Paul Barlow, who retired from the world of competitive eating following the event, and Damien Boykin, currently ranked number 38 in the world and a local competitive eater that has participated in over 20 eating competitions across the South.

Top 5 Men:
1) Adrian Morgan  - 38 hot dogs
2) Ronnie Hartman - 16 hot dogs (active duty military)
3) Steve “Pi Guy” Martin-  15 hot dogs
4) Damien Boykin - 13 hot dogs
5T) Paul Barlow - 10.5 hot dogs, retired after contest

Top Women:
1) Christina Ginn

For more information about Major League Eating, the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog-Eating Qualifier Tour, Cypress Street Pint and Plate and other upcoming Cypress Street events, please visit http://www.ifoce.com/rankings and www.cypressbar.com.