You can’t help but smile when you see some version of tater tots on a menu. more ›

There was a hungry horde at Bar Louie in Chinatown yesterday for the bar's 2nd Annual "Rock the Tot" tater tot eating competition. The competitors, some in costume and most rocking tot-themed aliases (Fire Tot, Tiny Tot, Spudley Do-Right and Ace of Tots, just to name a few), ate as many tots as they could stand in a six-minute period, which, it turned out, is a lot more than we imagined possible. Despite bringing along their own sign-toting cheering squads for moral support, many of them looked worse for wear by the end—especially Ace of Tots, who lost his tots just minutes after his heat ended, disqualifying himself. Most of the contestants consumed between one and two pounds of tots, but the winner, James Besser, scoffed at most of them, consuming 2.8 pounds of tots for a new Bar Louie D.C. record. To you, sir, we say ... congratulations? more ›

For some reason, there's a convergence of eating contests tonight. Perhaps it is the work of the nefarious International Federation of Competitive Eating. (Yeah, there is one, and apparently they have safety standards that don't appear to include Lipitor.) First, via the WBJ, there's a tater tot eating contest at Bar Louie in Chinatown ... "contestants will have six minutes to eat as many tater tots as possible. The winner gets a $250 Bar Louie gift card, a tot-tastic trophy, a party in his/her honor, and free tots for a year." 8 to 10 p.m. Next, the Rock and Roll Hotel is hosting a wing eating contest from 9 to 11 p.m., featuring a regular wing contest and a hot hot hot wing eating contest, with prizes ranging from $50-$100. $10 gets you all you can eat wings, plus $2 PBRs during the contest. Go for the spectacle, we suppose, but if you think you might want to compete, here's a few tips for competitive eating. more ›