That Time A Michigan Sports Bar Sold The World's Largest Burger

Attempts to create the world's largest version of a favorite food are more common than you'd think. Whether it's the world's longest noodle, the world's largest cheesecake, or the world's largest sushi, somebody has likely been there, done that. Restaurants have also sought the spotlight by putting some of the world's most expensive items on their menus, including a particularly pricy hot dog, the spendy frozen hot-chocolate at Serendipity 3, and a premium ice cream that costs nearly $7,000. But there aren't many who try to do both, except Steven Mallie, owner of the now-shuttered Mallie's Sports Grill & Bar in suburban Detroit, who set out to create the world's largest commercially sold burger in July of 2017.

After four years of planning, Mallie cooked his whopping 1,774-pound burger on a specially-constructed grill, topping it with 300 pounds of cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and lettuce — all on a 250-pound bun. Ordering the burger would set you back nearly $8,000, and you had to order it with three days advance notice — no surprise, given that the behemoth burger took 16.5 hours to cook all the way through. No word on how much longer you needed if you wanted it well done.

Although Mallie's claimed his massive meat patty made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, the official title is held by Juicys Outlaw Grill, of Corvallis, Oregon, which put a 777-pound burger on its menu in 2011. Juicys, however, didn't snag its title until after it bested Mallie, who made it into the record book with a 165-pound burger in 2008.

Mallie set to break another record — for the world's largest delivery pizza – on Valentine's Day in 2021. The record for the 72-inch pie, which he delivered to his local fire department, doesn't seem to have been confirmed. The world's largest pizza, although not delivered, is the 68,000-slice pie created by Pizza Hut and YouTuber Eric "Airrack" Decker.

Mallie's liked to regularly challenge its customers with its large-size fare, like two-pound tacos, two-gallon sundaes, and one-gallon Bloody Marys –- all in the name of fun. As the bar owner told Smithsonian magazine, "I wanted to create a wow effect, where people jump up with their cameras to take pictures. I don't want a boring restaurant where you look at the wall. It's a fun atmosphere." Part of the fun was offering a cash prize of $100 to anyone who finished the sports bar's 10-pound Monster Burger. At the time of Mallie's closing in November, 2024, the nearly 1,800-pound burger was no longer on its menu.

There's no doubt Mallie won't be the last restaurant owner with a flair for dramatically large food. Even Gordon Ramsay got into the Guinness game, winning the record for the largest beef Wellington in 2023.