Coffee for 100 Dollars and Giant Donuts: Crazy Food in the USA

A cup of coffee for 105 dollars, a loaf of bread for 60, ice cream for a thousand, and next to it a donut the size of a head and a steak that must be eaten in an hour to avoid paying. America can surprise at the table in many ways: with record prices, gigantic portions, and places that have become legends in their own right.

In this guide, we have gathered the most interesting such places and dishes. We checked exactly where they are, how much they cost, and whether they are still operating in 2026. Where the offer has already disappeared or we could not confirm that it is still available, we provide the price from a specific year. Prices in restaurants often change, so it’s worth checking them on-site or on the establishment's website before visiting.

Coffee for Over 100 Dollars

When a Pole in America hears that somewhere in San Francisco they sell a cup of coffee for over a hundred dollars, the first thought is simple: it must be a joke or a marketing gimmick. It turns out that it is not. Such coffee really exists, has its address, its price on the menu, and its – few, but real – customers. Moreover, in the history of the San Francisco Bay, there have been at least two places that sold coffee for 75–105 dollars per cup. It is worth distinguishing them, as they often get mixed up online.

The Wild Fox: 105 Dollars per Cup

The most likely candidate for the "café with coffee for 105 dollars" is The Wild Fox, a Japanese-style café located at 123 Battery Street in San Francisco's Financial District, about a block from the Embarcadero station, right next to the Japanese consulate. It is run by the couple Rich Lee and Liza Otanes, known in the coffee community from Spro Coffee Lab. The establishment took over the space of the former Illy café, which closed before the pandemic and stood empty for six years – the new owners rented it as part of the city’s Vacant to Vibrant program, which aims to revitalize vacant storefronts in the downtown area.

As for the opening date, sources vary. The local service 48hills reported in December 2025 that the café, then still a pop-up, had a "soft opening" on November 12, 2025. The San Francisco Chronicle in March 2026 stated that it had been operating since December 2025, while the industry service Sprudge in July 2026 quoted the owner saying they opened "in early 2026." It is safe to say: late 2025, with a full launch at the turn of 2025 and 2026.

The most expensive item on the menu costs 105 dollars per cup, and the San Francisco Chronicle described it as the most expensive cup of coffee in the San Francisco Bay. For comparison – regular drip coffee costs 4.75 dollars there, cortado 5.75 dollars, and hand-brewed coffees (pour-over) start at 9 dollars. Coffee from Guatemala costs 11, and from Colombia 16 dollars (prices from March 2026 according to the Chronicle). There is a chasm between "regular more expensive coffee" and the item priced at 105 dollars.

Where the 105 Dollar Coffee Comes From

This is not coffee from Panama or the famous Gesha variety, as one might expect. The beans come from Brazil, from the state of Minas Gerais, from the Cerrado Mineiro region, and were harvested in 2024. It won the Brazilian edition of the Cup of Excellence 2024 in the experimental category, with a score of 93.14 points out of 100. According to the official results from the competition organizer, Alliance for Coffee Excellence, it was the Arara variety from the producer Bioma Café, processed using anaerobic fermentation. The Chronicle explains that the coffee cherries fermented for 72 hours in oxygen-free tanks – a process that gives a more fruity, intense flavor.

With the same score at the top of this category were two batches of 90 kilograms each (marked as 1A and 1B), sold at an online auction. One of them was purchased by the Japanese roastery Glitch Coffee from Tokyo – for 104.10 dollars per pound, totaling 20,653.44 dollars. It is Glitch that roasts this coffee in Tokyo and ships it to San Francisco. Besides the house coffee, The Wild Fox imports coffees roasted in Japan, from roasteries Glitch, Oubaitouri, and Koloro, several times a week.

The auction price – about 104 dollars per pound of raw beans – does not yet explain the price of the cup. The café receives already roasted coffee, purchased from the Japanese roastery (with its margin), transported across the ocean, and used in portions of 23 grams per 12-ounce cup. Rich Lee estimated in a conversation with the Chronicle that the cost of one cup is "easily over 80 dollars." This calculation cannot be independently verified, so it should be treated as the owner's statement.

"These coffees are grown with competitions in mind, not as mass commodities," said Rich Lee to the San Francisco Chronicle.

How It Is Served

The 105 dollar coffee does not come from a large espresso machine. It is brewed manually using the pour-over method in a ceramic Hario Switch brewer. The staff first warms the brewer and carafes to ensure the coffee does not lose temperature. Interestingly, the beans are stored in the freezer and ground straight from there – the owners claim that frozen coffee retains freshness longer, and grinding it cold produces a sweeter drink with more pronounced acidity. Each drink comes with a card detailing the origin of the beans, the name of the roastery, and the roasting date.

How many people actually order such coffee? In March 2026, Lee stated that since opening, they had sold seven cups, the last one about two weeks prior. In July 2026, Sprudge reported that the Brazilian coffee for 105 dollars was still on the menu, alongside even five other coffees from the Cup of Excellence competitions at the same time, and hand-brewed coffees had been the best-selling item at The Wild Fox for six months. In early November 2026, the café made headlines again: according to First for Money, which cited a CNN video report, a reporter in a blind test preferred the regular coffee for about 5 dollars over the one for 105. This is a good warning – more expensive coffee does not necessarily taste better to everyone.

In practice, if someone wants to try it, it is worth asking at the counter whether this specific coffee is still available. Competition batches are small and eventually run out – and then a different one usually appears on the menu at a different price.

Klatch Coffee: 75 and 100 Dollars in 2019

Before The Wild Fox appeared, records in San Francisco were set by Klatch Coffee, a family roastery from Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California, run by Mike and Heather Perry. In the spring of 2019, Klatch opened its first café in San Francisco, at the corner of Franklin and Bush streets, with the support of local investor Bo Thiary.

By May 2019, the café had become famous nationwide. Klatch sold a cup of coffee Elida Geisha Natural 803 for 75 dollars. The name came from the price: at the Best of Panama auction in 2018, beans from the Elida farm reached a then-record 803 dollars per pound. Klatch purchased 10 pounds from about 100 available worldwide, which, according to Bo Thiary, co-owner of the San Francisco café, was enough for approximately 80 cups. The coffee was brewed manually, and pastries and a commemorative mug were included in the tasting. According to NBC Bay Area, the stock sold out by Monday after the weekend tasting.

A few months later, in the summer of 2019, Klatch raised the stakes. They purchased beans Elida Geisha 1029, the winner of Best of Panama 2019, for 1029 dollars per pound. The coffee came from the Lamastus family farms in Boquete, Panama, and was dried using a special anaerobic slow-dry method. In the competition, it received a then-record score of 95.25 points. Klatch announced ticketed tastings in Rancho Cucamonga and San Francisco, estimating the price of one cup at around 100 dollars. In online sales, an 18-gram portion of beans with brewing instructions and a cup cost 100 dollars. In September 2019, ABC7 conducted a blind test of "100 dollar coffee" from Klatch.

Important note: on Klatch's official website (as of November 2026), the list of cafés includes only locations in Southern California, and the San Francisco café is no longer listed. The prices of 75 and 100 dollars per cup refer to 2019. So if someone remembers "the 100 dollar coffee in San Francisco" from a few years ago, it might have been Klatch. As for the current price of 105 dollars – that belongs to The Wild Fox.

Why Coffee Can Cost So Much

On a daily basis, coffee is a commodity traded on the stock market. In August 2025, on the day of the record auction at Best of Panama, the price of coffee on the market was about 2.98 dollars per pound. At the other end of the scale are micro-lots from competitions, sold at auctions for several dozen or even hundreds of kilograms. Several factors contribute to their price.

• Variety. The most prized is Gesha (also spelled Geisha), a variety with floral, tea-like flavors, with notes of jasmine and fruit. The most expensive Geshas at auctions come from Panama, including the area around the town of Boquete.
• Competitions and Auctions. In competitions such as Best of Panama or Cup of Excellence, international judges evaluate coffees blindly, and the best lots go under the hammer. They are purchased by roasteries from Asia, the Middle East, and the USA, which then boast about the "winner" at their locations.
• Very Small Lots. The record batch from the Best of Panama auction in 2025 weighed 20 kilograms. When dozens of companies bid on such a small quantity, the price quickly rises.
• Processing. Experimental methods, such as anaerobic fermentation or slow drying without oxygen, change the flavor of the coffee and distinguish it in competitions.

The scale of these prices is impressive. In August 2025, at the Best of Panama auction, washed Gesha from the Hacienda La Esmeralda farm, rated a record 98 points, was sold for 30,204 dollars per kilogram. The entire 20-kilogram batch went for 604,080 dollars, after 549 bids, and was purchased by Julith Coffee from Dubai. The previous year's record was 10,013 dollars per kilogram, held by coffee from the Lamastus family farms – the same ones from which Klatch purchased beans in 2019. Not everyone is pleased with this: according to Fresh Cup magazine, the record also sparked criticism, with voices suggesting that such money could better support the needy communities of farmers.

This record coffee from 2025 went to Dubai, not to the USA. We did not find a reliably documented American café that sold cups from this batch in 2025–2026. In the United States, the best-documented example of coffee costing over 100 dollars remains The Wild Fox in San Francisco.

Other Drinks for a Fortune

Coffee is just the beginning. In America, where everything must be "the biggest" and "the most expensive," drinks have been created over the years that resemble jewelry more than something to drink. Some of them are indeed on the menu, some were one-time media showcases, and it's hard to say today if anyone still serves others. Below are the best-documented ones – with the year of the source and what is known about their current status.

Serendipity 3 in New York: Chocolate for $25,000 and a Milkshake for $100

Serendipity 3 is a New York institution that has been operating since 1954. The main location is on the Upper East Side at 225 East 60th Street, with a second location at 157 West 47th Street in Times Square. The restaurant is famous for its dessert-drink called Frrrozen Hot Chocolate – frozen hot chocolate, which is something between drinking chocolate and a thick milkshake. In the 2026 menu, the classic version costs $15.95, and alongside it are several variations: with peanut butter, mint, salted caramel, a vegan version with coconut, or an adult version with liqueur.

However, the most famous version of this drink was not cheap. On November 7, 2007, Serendipity 3 introduced the Frrrozen Haute Chocolate for $25,000 to its menu. The Guinness World Records recognized it as the most expensive dessert in the world. Its price consisted of:

• a blend of 28 types of cocoa, including 14 of the most expensive and rarest in the world,
• 5 grams of edible 23-karat gold on top,
• a cup lined with edible gold, at the base of which was an 18-karat gold bracelet with white diamonds totaling 1 carat,
• a gold spoon encrusted with white and chocolate diamonds, which the guest could take home.

The dessert was prepared in collaboration with the New York jeweler Euphoria New York. As can be seen, most of the price is for the jewelry, not the chocolate. In the current menu of the restaurant (as of 2026), this item is no longer available, so it should be treated as a story from 2007, not an order to be placed.

However, there is still a separate section in the menu simply titled "Guinness World Records," with a note that items must be ordered in advance. Among them is the drink: LUXE Milkshake for $100. On June 20, 2018, on American Vanilla Milkshake Day, Guinness recognized it as the most expensive milkshake in the world. According to Guinness, it contains:

• milk from Jersey cows, valued for their high fat content,
• ice cream made from Tahitian vanilla and Madagascar vanilla beans,
• clotted cream from Devon County in England,
• edible 23-karat gold,
• whipped cream from grass-fed cows,
• caramel sauce made from donkey milk, Venezuelan cocoa, and Piedmont hazelnuts,
• Luxardo cherries from Italy.

The milkshake was served in a special glass adorned with over 3,000 Swarovski crystals. This was the seventh Guinness record in the restaurant's history. In the 2026 menu, the LUXE Milkshake still appears at the price of $100, alongside the golden ice cream dessert Golden Opulence Sundae for $1,000.

Las Vegas: Ono Cocktail for $10,000

In Las Vegas, the symbol of drink extravagance for years has been the Ono, a cocktail for $10,000 served at the nightclub XS in the Wynn Las Vegas complex. According to ABC News from November 2013, it was based on Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie from the 1981 vintage and Louis XIII de Rémy Martin cognac in the Black Pearl edition. The drink was intended for two people, and the price included jewelry: silver cufflinks with the XS logo for the man and an 18-karat white gold chain with a black pearl pendant for the woman.

Ordering it was a spectacle. According to ABC News, after placing such an order, a procession of 10 to 15 waitresses with lights would walk through the room, accompanied by special music. By November 2013, Ono had been ordered at XS 25 times. The cocktail was created so that XS could – as the marketing director of both clubs said – "outshine itself" after its sister venue Tryst, which had been serving the Ménage à Trois drink for $3,000 since 2005.

We found no current, reliable confirmation that Ono is on the XS menu in 2025-2026. Therefore, it should be referred to in the past tense: in 2013, it cost $10,000.

New York: Martini with a Diamond and Cognac for Thousands

The oldest of these legends is the Martini on the Rock from the Algonquin hotel on West 44th Street in Manhattan – the same place where the famous literary "Round Table" met with Dorothy Parker in the 1920s. In December 2004, the press reported that at the hotel, one could order a martini in which instead of an ice cube, there was a diamond at the bottom. Price: about $10,000. The order had to be placed at least 72 hours in advance, and then one would meet with the hotel jeweler to discuss the size and clarity of the diamond. It was served in the hotel’s Blue Bar. The then hotel director, Anthony Melchiorri, said he hoped that men would propose in this way.

As early as 2015, Untapped Cities noted that the drink was not on the hotel’s website, and all later mentions repeated old information. Therefore, it cannot be confirmed today whether the Algonquin still prepares it. It is a historical curiosity from 2004.

A much fresher example is the Crystal Elite from the bar in the New York hotel Baccarat, owned by the French crystal brand. In July 2024, Luxury Travel Magazine described it as a cocktail for $5,000, and in February 2025, VinePair ranked it at the same price at the top of its list of the most expensive cocktails in New York. It contains Rémy Martin Louis XIII cognac, a rare 1920 Bénédictine liqueur, organic lemon juice, manuka honey with saffron, and a bitter black truffle tincture from Périgord. The whole is served on ice cut into the shape of a gem, in a Baccarat crystal glass.

In comparison, in the same VinePair ranking from 2025, other "luxury" cocktails in New York cost significantly less: $65 for a cocktail at the famous Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel, $90 for a negroni from 1970s bottles at Dante, or $495 for a martini with rare vodka at The Polo Bar. There is a huge difference between them and the $5,000 cocktail.

Chicago: Martini for $13,000 with a Necklace Included

In September 2024, the Italian restaurant Adalina on State Street in Chicago introduced the Marrow Martini for $13,000. The drink itself is a martini made with Clase Azul mezcal, clarified water from smoked tomatoes, and lemon basil oil, served under a glass dome filled with smoke. It was created by Colin Hofer, who received the Sommelier Award in the Chicago edition of the Michelin Guide in 2022.

As you can easily guess, the price is explained by the addition: the drink is served with a diamond tennis necklace with 150 diamonds (totaling about 9 carats) in 14-karat gold, from the jeweler Marrow Fine, which has a store one floor below. According to CBS Chicago, the first customer was a man who ordered it to surprise his wife. The media called it "reportedly the most expensive martini in the United States," but no one officially confirmed this. We found no information on whether the Marrow Martini is still on the menu – it is an offer described in 2024.

What About the World Record?

Despite all these American drinks, the official Guinness record for the most expensive cocktail does not belong to the USA. It is held by Australian bartender Joel Heffernan and his cocktail "The Winston," prepared on February 7, 2013, at Club 23 in Melbourne, based on Croizet cognac from 1858. Guinness lists its price at around $12,500–$13,400, depending on the conversion. American establishments are eager to talk about "the most expensive drink in the country" or "in the world," but these are usually their own terms, not the official record.

Is It Worth It?

It must be said honestly that in most of these drinks, you pay for the story, jewelry, or rarity, not for the taste itself. The exception is competition coffee – here the price stands for the rare bean, but blind tests show that not everyone can detect the difference. For the Polish community in the USA, the simplest advice is this: if someone wants to experience "luxury in a cup" without spending hundreds of dollars, at The Wild Fox, hand-brewed coffees start at $9, and at Serendipity 3, the classic frozen chocolate costs a few dollars more. Let’s leave the items for thousands to those who want to tell something to their grandchildren – or propose to someone.

Bread, Donuts, and Desserts for a Fortune

New York has long been a city where ordinary food can cost as much as a week's groceries elsewhere. But there are also products here that even seasoned New Yorkers rub their eyes in disbelief. A loaf of bread for $60, ice cream for $1,000, a bagel for $1,000, and pizza for $2,700. Some of these items can be ordered today, while others are just legends from years past. Below we explain what is current, what was a one-time whim, and what exactly one pays such money for.

Loaf for $60: RYE by Martin Auer in SoHo

If someone has heard in recent weeks about "the New York bakery where bread costs a fortune," it almost certainly refers to RYE by Martin Auer. The bakery opened on September 10, 2026, at 285 Lafayette Street, on the border of SoHo and Nolita in Manhattan, and immediately became a topic of conversation in American and European media. The reason is simple: a full loaf of rye sourdough bread costs $60.

For this price, you get a really large loaf. The loaf weighs about 1.5 kilograms, or approximately 3.3 pounds. According to "The Korea Times," the bakery also sells halves for $30 and quarters for $15, and according to Euronews, one can also buy single slices with toppings, such as butter, chocolate cream, or caviar. When converted, it comes to about $40 per kilogram. In comparison, Euronews reminds us that an average loaf from a German bakery costs just over 5 euros per kilogram, while traditional sourdough bread in New York usually costs $10–20 each.

The bakery is run by the Auer family from Graz, Austria, which operates over 40 locations in Austria. In Austria, a comparable loaf costs about $16, according to "The Korea Times." So where does the nearly fourfold difference come from? The owners explain it with costs and location. The bread is made from organic rye flour, water, and salt, without yeast, using a sourdough that, according to the Korean newspaper, is over 50 years old. The dough ferments for up to 24 hours. "This is one of the most expensive cities in the world," Martin Auer said in an interview with the German agency dpa, advising critics to check how much it costs to live here. Additionally, there are import costs for ingredients and a two-ton oven, imported from Germany according to Euronews.

Reactions are mixed. There is no shortage of outrage online – one baker wrote that the price is "completely detached from reality." At the same time, queues form outside the store. For the Polish community, there is a certain irony in this: dark, sour rye sourdough bread is something many of us remember from home and something that is bought daily in Polish stores in the USA, without queues and for much less money. If someone wants to try it, it is wise to start with a quarter.

Serendipity 3: A Restaurant that Collects Guinness Records

When it comes to record-breaking desserts in the USA, sooner or later the name Serendipity 3 comes up. This café-restaurant from the Upper East Side, at 225 East 60th Street, has been around since the mid-50s and is primarily known for its "Frrrozen Hot Chocolate," or frozen drinking chocolate (we discuss record drinks from Serendipity above). Since 2024, a second New York restaurant has also been operating at 157 West 47th Street in the Times Square area.

However, the restaurant is also known for dishes that have made it into the Guinness World Records. The most famous of these is the Golden Opulence Sundae – an ice cream sundae for $1,000, prepared to celebrate the restaurant's 50th anniversary. According to The Takeout, this was in 2004, although other sources also mention later dates. The ingredients sound like a delicatessen catalog: three scoops of ice cream with Tahitian vanilla, melted Amedei Porcelana chocolate, candied fruits from Paris, dessert "caviar," and edible gold flakes. The dessert cannot be ordered on a whim – the restaurant's menu notes that record items must be ordered in advance.

Interestingly, the current menu of Serendipity 3 has a separate section titled "Guinness World Records," with a note that these items must be ordered in advance. According to the restaurant's website (as of November 2026), it looks like this:

Item	Menu Price (2026)	What is Known from Other Sources
Golden Opulence Sundae	$1,000	ice cream sundae with gold, record from the mid-2000s.
Le Burger Extravagant	$295	Guinness record announced in May 2012
Quintessential Grilled Cheese Sandwich	$214	toast with Caciocavallo Podolico cheese
Foot Long Haute Dog	$69	long hot dog in a luxury version
World’s Most Expensive Fries	$69	in 2021, record fries cost $200

The $295 burger is, according to Guinness, Japanese wagyu beef soaked in white truffle butter, James Montgomery cheddar cheese, black truffles, and a quail egg fried, in a bun sprinkled with gold, topped with blin, crème fraîche, and caviar. Meanwhile, the fries were recognized by Guinness in July 2021 as the most expensive in the world. They cost $200 at that time: the potatoes were blanched in Dom Pérignon champagne and champagne vinegar, fried three times in goose fat from France, sprinkled with truffle salt, Pecorino cheese with truffles, slices of black truffle, and 23-karat gold dust, and served on a Baccarat crystal plate with Mornay sauce. In the current menu, fries with the same name cost $69. The website does not provide their composition, so we do not know if it is the same record version or a simplified one – it’s better to ask when ordering.

It is worth remembering one thing: Guinness records in this category concern dishes available for regular sale and are sometimes surpassed by other establishments around the world. Therefore, Serendipity 3 is primarily a place where these records can still be ordered, not a guarantee that nothing more expensive exists today. For most guests, the visit ends up with regular items from the menu, and the "golden" dishes are viewed like exhibits.

Bagel for a Thousand Dollars

A bagel with cream cheese is one of the cheapest breakfasts in New York. Even more surprising was the bagel for $1,000 at the Westin New York at Times Square hotel in 2007. It was created by chef Frank Tujague. According to a description from 2017, when the bagel briefly returned to the menu (from November 1 to December 15), it was a regular locally baked roll with cream cheese infused with white truffle, Riesling jelly with goji berries, and gold flakes.

This story has a second layer: the proceeds from the sale went to charity. In 2017, all proceeds were donated to Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, the largest soup kitchen for the needy in New York. The magazine "Fortune," citing an estimate from 2014, noted at that time that for the price of one such breakfast, a New Yorker could eat a regular bagel with cream cheese every day for a year. In 2017, it was a temporary campaign. We found no confirmation that it could be ordered in 2026.

Record Pizza with Gold and Caviar

At the end of 2016, the restaurant Industry Kitchen at 70 South Street, near Maiden Lane, in the South Street Seaport area of Lower Manhattan, introduced the "24K Pizza" for $2,000. On the dough, caviar, French truffles, foie gras, English Stilton cheese, and 24-karat gold flakes were placed. Chef Braulio Bunay told the DNAinfo portal that the restaurant "takes pizza very seriously," and the dough rests for 48 hours before baking. According to DNAinfo, the pizza was on the menu since November 2016, and the price was inspired by the wealthy Wall Street, which begins a few blocks away.

Shortly after, the price increased. On April 24, 2017, the Guinness World Records recognized it as the most expensive pizza available for sale – at a price of $2,700. According to Guinness, the dough is black from squid ink, and on top is white Stilton, foie gras, and truffles from France, osetra caviar and Almas caviar, as well as 24-karat gold flakes. The pizza is still on the menu: the current menu on the restaurant's website (as of November 2026) lists "The Guinness World Record 24K Pizza" for $2,700, with the stipulation that it must be ordered 48 hours in advance. In comparison, a regular wood-fired pizza there costs $26–29.

Golden Donut from Brooklyn

In January 2016, all of America was talking about a donut for $100 from the Manila Social Club restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The "Golden Cristal Ube Donut" was a Filipino idea of luxury: a doughnut with champagne Cristal glaze, filled with ube mousse, a purple yam, and topped with 24-karat gold flakes. Local television stations, including ABC7 in New York, showcased it as one of the most expensive sweets in the city.

This is a good example of how quickly such curiosities age. All credible reports come from 2015-2016, and we found no current confirmation that the donut is still being sold. Therefore, we write about it in the past tense: in 2016, it cost $100.

What You Pay For

When looking at all these cases, the pattern is similar. Edible gold has almost no taste in itself, but it looks great in photos. The real cost comes from truffles, caviar, foie gras, Japanese beef, champagne, and rare chocolate, along with crystal dishes, and sometimes even jewelry included in the price. The second ingredient is time: the dough for the bread from RYE ferments for up to a day, the pizza from Industry Kitchen requires a two-day notice, and the desserts from Serendipity 3 are made to special order. The third is marketing. The record price attracts television and tourists, who then order regular items from the menu. Some of these dishes, like the bagel from the Westin, were also a charitable campaign.

Gigantic Portions

The other side of American excess is not the price, but the size. In the USA, there is a whole culinary infrastructure of "challenges": eat within a certain time – you don’t pay or you get a t-shirt and a spot on the winners' list. Some of these places have been operating for decades and attract tourists from all over the world, while others have disappeared. Here are the most famous ones and what they look like in 2025–2026.

Bob’s Donuts – Head-Sized Donut in San Francisco

When someone talks about "giant donuts from San Francisco," they are almost certainly referring to Bob’s Donuts on Polk Street. It is one of the oldest donut shops in the city – it has been operating since the 1950s. The Ahn family bought it in the late 1970s and has been running it ever since. The location on Polk Street is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so you can come for a donut at six in the morning or three at night.

The most famous product is the giant donut. According to descriptions, it has the volume of about twelve regular donuts. A challenge has arisen around it: you must eat it in under three minutes. The winner receives a t-shirt and a spot in the "Hall of Fame," which is the shop's glory list. The challenge was invented around 2012. Neither the shop's website nor current press reports provide the price of the giant, so you need to ask on-site. The challenge was still in effect in 2025: for the opening of a new location in February 2025, a giant donut eating contest was planned, and the owners' daughter, Rebekah Ahn, told KTVU that three minutes is a goal that most people do not achieve. Some reports (for example, ABC7 from 2025) mention a two-minute limit, so it’s worth checking the current rules before attempting.

Important address change: for decades, Bob’s Donuts was located at 1621 Polk Street. On February 21, 2025, the family opened a new, larger location across the street at 1720 Polk Street, with a kitchen and seating (the old one was takeout only). According to the San Francisco press, the old location sold for the last time at the end of November 2025. The company also has locations at 601 Baker Street in San Francisco and in Mill Valley, but the classic 24-hour experience is on Polk Street. Besides the giant, it is worth trying their apple fritter, which is the second signature item of the shop.

Big Texan – 72 Ounce Steak in Amarillo

The most famous food challenge in America awaits in Amarillo, Texas, at The Big Texan Steak Ranch. The restaurant opened in 1960 along the historic Route 66, and in 1970 it was moved to the Interstate I-40 highway – the current address is 7701 Interstate 40 Access Road. The restaurant has about 650 seats, and next to it is a motel with horse stables.

The rules are outlined on the restaurant's website. You must eat within an hour the entire set: a 72-ounce steak (about 2 kg), shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad, and a buttered roll. You pay upfront 72 dollars. If you win, the money is fully refunded. Before starting, you can cut the steak and try one bite, and the clock starts only after the cooking level is accepted. After that, you cannot leave the table, and if anyone helps with cutting or eating – the contestant is disqualified. You do not have to eat the fat, but the judges evaluate it. If the contestant feels sick, they lose. Leftovers can be taken home, but they cannot be eaten or shared in the dining room. The official challenge takes place only in Amarillo, under the supervision of an authorized restaurant employee.

Statistics show how difficult this task is. According to the restaurant's website (data from August 3, 2026), there have been 102,756 attempts, and 10,716 people have won, which is about 10 percent – the restaurant itself claims 12 percent, which does not match its own numbers. The record holder is Molly Schuyler, a professional competitive eater. According to the restaurant's website, she ate the entire set in 4 minutes and 22 seconds (reports from 2015 state 4 minutes and 18 seconds). This same competitor also ate three such sets in under 20 minutes in one sitting. The steak itself is, according to the restaurant, 4.5 pounds of top sirloin beef. Previously, the record was held by Joey Chestnut, who in 2008 finished in 8 minutes and 52 seconds, and Frank Pastore, whose time of 9 minutes and 30 seconds from 1987 stood for 21 years. The history of the challenge dates back to the early 1960s (other sources state 1960, the restaurant's website says 1962). The restaurant's founder, Bob Lee, held a contest for cowboys back then, and the winner ate four and a half pounds of steak with sides in an hour. Lee promised that anyone who could eat the same amount in his restaurant would get a free meal.

Big Lou’s Pizza – 42 Inches in San Antonio

Pizzeria Big Lou’s Pizza at 2048 South W.W. White Road in San Antonio, Texas, is famous for its pizza with a diameter of 42 inches, or about 107 cm. According to the Narcity website (an article from 2019, updated in 2022–2023), this is the most popular item on the menu, and one slice is nearly 21 inches long, which is over half a meter. Prices at that time ranged from about 10 to 100 dollars, depending on the size and toppings. There was also a catch: you could only order a maximum of a 37-inch pizza online, and the largest only on-site. The pizzeria is still in operation – in April 2026, it was featured by local station KSAT as one of the institutions in the southern part of the city. This is more of a meal for a family gathering or party than a portion for one person. We were unable to determine the current price of the 42-inch pizza from a reliable source, and various listings provide very different amounts, so it’s best to ask when ordering.

Mallie’s – Burger Heavier Than a Car (Now Closed)

For nearly twenty years, Mallie’s Sports Grill in Southgate, near Detroit, operated, where owner Steve Mallie built increasingly larger hamburgers. The restaurant advertised "the largest commercially available hamburger in the world" weighing about 338 pounds (over 150 kg), which had to be ordered 72 hours in advance and cost 1999 dollars. In 2017, the restaurant made it into the Guinness World Records with a burger weighing 1796 pounds, or about 815 kg. One of its giants also appeared on the show "Man v. Food," where the team tried to eat a 190-pound burger in two hours and failed.

However, if someone is planning a trip to Michigan – it’s too late. According to the "Detroit Free Press," the restaurant closed on November 27, 2024, the day before Thanksgiving. The reason was a decline in customer numbers and the owner's desire to spend more time with family.

Cinnamon Rolls: From Three Pounds to Half a Ton

Americans love cinnamon rolls, and some of them are of unbelievable sizes. In San Antonio, a legend was the café Lulu’s Bakery and Cafe, which sold cinnamon rolls weighing three pounds (about 1.4 kg) since 1992 – the size of a dinner plate. It started as a joke by owner Lulu and her son Mike Behrend, and ended with a visit from Adam Richman from "Man v. Food." The café itself closed during the pandemic and has not returned. However, the roll has survived: according to The Takeout in 2025, Mike Behrend sells it at his second restaurant, Green Vegetarian Cuisine in San Antonio, and ships it across the USA. Prices were not provided in this source.

The world record, however, is on a completely different scale. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest cinnamon roll in the world weighed 521.5 kg (1149.7 pounds). It was baked on April 10, 2018, by Wolferman’s in Medford, Oregon, to celebrate the launch of their five-pound cinnamon rolls.

Voodoo Doughnut and the End of the "Tex-Ass" Challenge

The Voodoo Doughnut chain, which started in Portland, Oregon, and is famous for its quirky donuts, ran its own challenge for years. You had to eat the "Tex-Ass" donut – according to the weekly "Willamette Week," a glazed giant weighing half a pound (about 230 g) and five inches in diameter – within 80 seconds. The prize was a sticker and a free donut, which then cost 4.50 dollars. This was the case until 2017.

In April 2017, at the Denver location, 42-year-old Travis Malouff choked during an attempt and died on the spot. The Denver coroner's office cited choking due to airway obstruction as the cause of death. After this tragedy, Voodoo Doughnut suspended the challenge in all seven locations in the USA and at the branch in Taipei, Taiwan. We found no information about it being reinstated, and the current website of the chain does not mention either the challenge or the "Tex-Ass" donut. The chain is still in operation, but this specific attraction is no longer available.

Before You Try – A Few Practical Tips

The story from Denver reminds us that food challenges are not just fun. Eating against the clock means swallowing large bites without chewing thoroughly, which poses a real choking risk. Anyone who wants to test their skills should eat with someone nearby, drink, and not get carried away by the audience. Even the Big Texan rules explicitly provide for a container in case the stomach rebels.

• Call ahead. Record-breaking dishes often require advance ordering (for example, at Serendipity 3), and prices change.
• Check the address. Bob’s Donuts moved across Polk Street, and some famous places, like Mallie’s or Lulu’s café, no longer exist.
• Count the extras. In the USA, tax and tip are added to the menu price. With a dessert costing a thousand dollars, that’s already a significant amount.
• You don’t have to spend a fortune to see a legend. At Serendipity 3, you can order something ordinary from the menu, at RYE a quarter of bread, and at Big Texan, you can eat a normal steak and just watch the challengers at the special table.

The Strangest and Most Legendary Places

Not everything that is crazy in American cuisine is measured by price or portion size. There are places that have become legendary because they have survived for over a hundred years, because they had a dispute with a neighbor over a single sandwich, because a government agency uses them as a measure of catastrophes, or because they established a cemetery for ice cream. Below is a selection of such addresses – with information on what is still operating in 2026 and what has already become history.

Katz’s Delicatessen – A Legend of the Lower East Side

At the corner of East Houston Street and Ludlow Street on New York's Lower East Side, at number 205, there operates a delicatessen that claims to be the oldest in New York. According to the chronicle kept by Katz’s, the business was founded in 1888 by brothers Morris and Hyman Iceland. In 1903, Willy Katz joined, and the sign changed to "Iceland & Katz," and in 1910, his cousin Benny bought out the Iceland brothers. Culinary historian Robert F. Moss points out, however, that according to documents from Ellis Island, the Iceland brothers arrived in America only in 1902 – thus, the date 1888 is a company tradition, not an indisputable fact.

The star is the pastrami on rye bread, hand-sliced. The scale is impressive: according to reports based on local data, Katz’s sells about 15,000 pounds (approximately 6,800 kg) of pastrami, 8,000 pounds of corned beef, and 4,000 hot dogs weekly. In the delivery service, a pastrami sandwich cost $28.95 in November 2026 – the price on-site may differ, and the stationary menu does not list prices in the online version.

The establishment also has its rituals. Upon entering, everyone receives a numbered ticket, on which employees add orders at subsequent stations. Those who lose it pay a $50 fine – this discourages swapping tickets for cheaper ones. During World War II, when the owners' sons served in the military, the establishment popularized the slogan "Send a salami to your boy in the army," which still hangs on the walls (sources vary on who came up with it). The table where Meg Ryan played the famous scene in the movie "When Harry Met Sally" (1989), ending with the line "I’ll have what she’s having," is marked with a plaque.

Pat’s vs. Geno’s – The Cheesesteak War in Philadelphia

In South Philadelphia, at the intersection of 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue, two establishments face each other, locked in a decades-long dispute over who makes the best cheesesteak – a sandwich with thinly sliced, fried beef and cheese. Pat’s King of Steaks (1237 E Passyunk Ave, at 9th and Wharton) claims that its founder, Pat Olivieri, invented this sandwich in 1930. According to the story described by the establishment itself, Olivieri ran a hot dog stand at the Italian Market, and one day he cooked chopped meat for lunch and put it in an Italian roll with onions. A taxi driver who bought hot dogs from him every day demanded the same sandwich and reportedly said, "Forget the hot dogs, sell this." Cheese was added later. The establishment is still run by the Olivieri family.

Across the street shines the neon sign of Geno’s Steaks, founded in 1966 by Joey Vento. Both establishments are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and both attract tourists who often order from both to settle the dispute themselves. In Pat’s price list (as of November 2026), a regular cheesesteak costs $19, a double cheese version $20, and with mushrooms, peppers, and pizza sauce up to $22.

It’s important how to order, as the line moves quickly and no one likes indecisiveness. Pat’s instructs on its website: first, say if you want it with onions (“wit”) or without (“wit-out”), then choose cheese – Cheez Whiz, provolone, American, or Cooper Sharp. Then prepare your cash. "Cash is king" – card payments incur an additional fee. So, a local-style order sounds like "one Whiz wit," meaning one with Cheez Whiz and onions.

The Waffle House Index – A Bar That Measures Disasters

Waffle House is a chain of cheap, 24-hour breakfast bars, primarily spread across the American South. It is known for almost never closing its doors – and that’s why it has become an unofficial measure of natural disasters. The idea of the "Waffle House Index" was proposed by Craig Fugate, former head of FEMA, the federal emergency management agency. In an NPR broadcast, he explained it succinctly: "If Waffle House is open, everything is fine."

The scale has three colors. Green means the establishment is open with a full menu. Yellow – the establishment is open but with a limited menu due to power outages or supply issues. Red – the establishment is closed, and since Waffle House has closed, the situation must be serious. The chain has its own crisis procedures: before Hurricane Florence in 2018, company spokesperson Pat Warner told NPR about "jump teams," crews with generators and fuel supplies that move into the disaster area to get the grills running again as quickly as possible. "If we open quickly, it’s a good sign that the community will recover quickly too," he said. However, it’s worth noting that this is a curiosity, not an official tool: FEMA itself emphasizes that it uses many other indicators to assess the situation after a storm.

In-N-Out and the 100 Patty Burger

The California chain In-N-Out has a short official menu and a famous "not-so-secret menu," from which you can order, for example, a 4x4 burger – four patties and four slices of cheese. This limit has its legend. According to a description on Chowhound, on Halloween 2004, a group of friends in Las Vegas ordered a 100x100 burger: one hundred patties and one hundred slices of cheese. It was recorded on the receipt as "double" with 98 additional patties and cheese, for a total of $97.66 including tax. This burger had about 20,000 calories. This stunt is said to be the reason the chain limited the largest burger to 4x4. The company does not publicly confirm this, so it’s more of a well-documented anecdote than an official story. Today, a 100x100 burger cannot be ordered.

Heart Attack Grill – The "Hospital" Restaurant That No Longer Exists

For years, a must-stop for tourists in Las Vegas, it is now history. Heart Attack Grill, a restaurant in the Neonopolis complex in downtown, built its entire brand on jokes about unhealthy food. Waitresses were dressed as nurses, guests who did not finish their meals received a spank with a wooden paddle, those weighing over 350 pounds (approximately 159 kg) ate for free, and anyone who ate the "Triple" or "Quadruple Bypass Burger" was wheeled out of the establishment in a wheelchair by a "personal nurse." The most famous item was the "Octuple Bypass Burger," which the media reported contained about 19,000 calories. It wasn’t always funny – in 2012, as reported by CBS, one guest suffered a heart attack after eating the "Triple Bypass" burger.

In May 2026, the restaurant was closed. Owner Jon Basso did not renew the lease, and in a statement that now hangs on the establishment's website, he blames casinos and "corporate greed" for making Las Vegas too expensive for the middle class. The owner of Neonopolis confirmed the closure, pointing to a decline in tourist traffic and high costs. The establishment had been operating in Las Vegas since 2011, previously in Arizona. Basso announced that he is looking for a new location, but as of now – November 2026 – there is nowhere to eat a "bypass" burger.

Fortune Cookie Factory in a San Francisco Alley

In a narrow alley, Ross Alley, in San Francisco's Chinatown, at number 56, the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory has been operating since 1962. It is a tiny factory where fortune cookies are made by hand on a cast-iron, rotating wheel with baking molds. According to the owners, up to 10,000 cookies are produced daily. You can peek in to see workers quickly wrapping slips of paper in still warm, soft dough circles, try an unwrapped cookie, buy a bag as a souvenir, or order cookies with your own text. In addition to the classic ones, there are chocolate, strawberry, and green tea versions. The factory is open daily from 9 AM to 6 PM.

The biggest surprise, however, is the origin of the cookies. They are virtually unknown in China. New York Times journalist Jennifer 8. Lee, author of the 2008 book "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles," pointed out that fortune cookies originated in Japan and were brought to America by Japanese immigrants. "People think of them as Chinese, but they are actually thoroughly American," she summarized in an NPR interview. In her book, she also described how in 2005, lucky numbers from cookies led to wins for 110 Powerball lottery players, and that the vast majority of fortunes in the U.S. come from two sources: Wonton Food in New York and one author working in a California magazine.

Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard in Vermont

On the hill behind the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory in Waterbury, Vermont, there is a real graveyard – with granite tombstones, dates of "birth" and "death," and humorous epitaphs. It holds flavors of ice cream that have been discontinued. The graveyard was established in 1997 and started with four tombstones: Dastardly Mash, Economic Crunch, Ethan Almond, and Tuskegee Chunk. Over time, more were added, including Oh Pear (1997), Urban Jumble (2000–2001), and Makin’ Whoopie Pie (2002–2003).

Company spokesperson Sean Greenwood, who held the official title of "Grand Poobah of Publicity," recited in 2012 to an NPR reporter the epitaph of the Rainforest Crunch flavor (1989–1996) roughly as follows: "With a heavy heart and a deep sigh, we bid farewell to Rainforest Crunch – this nutty brittle from exotic lands stuck to our braces." He also shared that fans come here with flowers, and some kneel at the tombstones. Flavors disappear for various reasons – because they didn’t sell well, because an ingredient became too expensive, or because production became too complicated. The factory in Waterbury, according to Tasting Table, is visited by over 350,000 people annually. Before visiting, it’s worth checking the current tour guidelines on the company’s website.

State Fairs – Fried Butter and Fried Kool-Aid

Summer and fall state fairs are an American celebration of everything that can be thrown into a deep fryer. The most famous are the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, where since 2005, the Big Tex Choice Awards have been given for the most creative fried dishes. The king of this competition is Abel Gonzales Jr., whom the Dallas Observer humorously dubbed the "Fried Jesus." In the first year of the contest, he won with a fried sandwich of peanut butter, jelly, and banana, in the second year with fried Coca-Cola, and in the third year with fried raw cookie dough. In the fifth year, in 2009, he triumphed with his most famous invention: fried butter – frozen balls of butter in batter, briefly dropped into hot oil.

On the West Coast, a similar fame was gained by Charlie Boghosian, known as "Chicken Charlie." In June 2011, at the San Diego County Fair, he debuted his fried Kool-Aid – dough balls with Kool-Aid drink powder, deep-fried. Lines formed at the booth. Boghosian also fried Oreo cookies (his favorite invention), Klondike bars, Twinkies, and even cheeseburgers from the White Castle chain.

Regional Oddities – Rocky Mountain Oysters and Scrapple

Those who order Rocky Mountain oysters in Denver will not receive seafood. These are bull testicles, sliced thin, breaded, and deep-fried. The most famous address is Buckhorn Exchange, a restaurant opened in 1893 and considered the oldest in Denver, with walls full of stuffed animals. In July 2026, its director Anthony Perez told Denver7 that guests first ask in disbelief if these are not oysters from the sea, and then they try them anyway – and that the dish is currently the best-selling item on the menu. Chef Cesar Garcia revealed that before slicing, the skin is removed to prevent them from being chewy. The restaurant also boasts that it has alcohol license number 1 in Colorado.

On the East Coast, in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, scrapple is eaten for breakfast – a traditional dish of Pennsylvania Germans, known as Pennsylvania Dutch (including Amish and Mennonites). It is a type of loaf made from leftover pork and offal cooked with cornmeal, wheat flour, or buckwheat flour and spices, cooled in a mold, and then sliced and fried until crispy. Scrapple even has its own festival: the Apple-Scrapple Festival in Bridgeville, Delaware, whose 34th edition took place on October 9–10, 2026, and according to the organizers, attracted 15,000 to 20,000 guests. In the same town, the RAPA factory has been operating since 1926, which the festival organizers call the largest producer of scrapple in the world.

Polish Legends – Paczki in Hamtramck and Pierogi Fest in Whiting

For Poles in the USA, one of the most surprising traditions is American Paczki Day. In Poland, paczki are eaten on Fat Thursday, while in the USA – on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, known as Fat Tuesday. The capital of this celebration is Hamtramck in the Detroit metropolitan area, a city with deep Polish roots. The most famous bakery, New Palace Bakery on Joseph Campau Avenue, opens at 3 AM on Paczki Day. Reporters from WXYZ, who covered this celebration on February 17, 2026, noted that the first person stood in line at 12:15 AM, nearly three hours before opening, and the line stretched along the entire block. Some come straight from night parties. The bakery introduces a new flavor each year – in 2026, it was "Cinnacream" in the style of a cinnamon roll – alongside classics with custard and raspberries. They sell paczki in boxes to keep the line moving faster, and the family of the owners admits that on this day they cannot count how many they bake.

In the summer, the center of Polish celebration moves to Whiting, Indiana, by Lake Michigan, near Chicago. Pierogi Fest attracts nearly 300,000 guests annually, according to the organizers, and is the third largest festival in the state. The 2026 edition took place from July 24–26, as always on 119th Street. It is a tongue-in-cheek event: the mascot Mr. Pierogi, life-sized walking Polish pastries, ladies dressed as grandmothers (“buscias”) in house dresses and headscarves, and the “mower brigade” – men marching with lawnmowers in sandals and socks, like their fathers. In 2025, as reported by CBS Chicago, over 75 food stalls and two beer gardens operated at the festival. The organizers tell the official legend: Mr. Pierogi claims that the festival was created in the mid-90s when Mrs. Pierogi left him for Mr. Kielbasa.

Interesting Facts

• Americans consume about 20 billion hot dogs annually, according to estimates from the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, which is about 70 per person. In stores alone, they buy 350 million pounds, equating to about 9 billion hot dogs.
• The records for the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest, held on July 4 at New York's Coney Island, are 76 hot dogs with buns in 10 minutes (Joey Chestnut, 2021) and 51 pieces among women (Miki Sudo, 2024). In 2026, Chestnut won for the eighteenth time with a score of 66, and Sudo for the twelfth time with a score of 38.75.
• The largest pizza in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, was created on January 19, 2023, in Los Angeles. It measured 1,296.72 square meters and used 6,193 kg of dough, 3,992 kg of cheese, and about 630,496 slices of pepperoni.
• The largest gingerbread house in the world, according to Guinness, was built in Los Angeles on December 18, 2025. It had a volume of 1,269.67 cubic meters and was a replica of the McCallister family home from the movie "Home Alone," built for the 35th anniversary of the film.
• Hershey reports that it produces over 80 million Hershey’s Kisses chocolates daily – about 60,000 per minute. The chocolates have existed since 1907, and until 1921, each was wrapped in foil by hand.
• For the centenary of Hershey’s Kisses, the company showcased a giant chocolate weighing 30,540 pounds (approximately 13.9 tons), equivalent to over 3 million regular ones.
• For Ronald Reagan's presidential inauguration in 1981, three and a half tons of red, white, and blue Jelly Belly jelly beans were sent to Washington, D.C. The blueberry flavor was developed in 1980 to include a blue color from the flag among the jelly beans.
• Reagan began eating jelly beans in 1966 when he was running for governor of California – they helped him quit smoking cigars.
• Hawaiians, according to Hormel, consume nearly 7 million cans of Spam annually – per capita more than in any other state. The trend began during World War II when Spam, which does not require refrigeration, was sent to soldiers on the islands.
• In 2001, the Utah state senate passed a resolution recognizing Jell-O as the state’s favorite snack by a vote of 25 to 3. Moments earlier, Salt Lake City had taken the title from Des Moines, Iowa, for the most Jell-O consumed per capita.
• The powdered drink Kool-Aid was invented in 1927 by Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. The packet cost 10 cents, and during the Great Depression, the price was lowered to 5 cents. Today, Kool-Aid is the official drink of the state of Nebraska.
• The famous butter cow at the Iowa State Fair, sculpted since 1911, weighs about 600 pounds (approximately 270 kg). According to the organizers, it would be enough to spread on about 19,200 slices, and the average person would eat that butter over two lifetimes. A large portion of the butter is reused for up to 10 years.