A petite woman stands over a 28-inch pepperoni pizza; looking down, she can almost see her reflection in the grease. Molly Schuyler, a 5-foot-5 woman with dark hair, bright blue eyeshadow and several piercings in each ear, was almost dwarfed by the giant pizza in front of her. A crowd had filled the Pizza Villa restaurant in Anna, Illinois, on Friday to witness Schuyler take on a challenge usually attempted by teams of men twice her size: She was going to eat an entire 28-inch pizza, by herself, in 45 minutes or less.
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Schuyler is a mother, bartender, competitive eater and content creator from Washington, D.C. Schuyler hadn’t been in the southern Illinois area for three or four years until Friday. She flew into Chicago and drove six hours south to Pizza Villa. She didn’t have a game plan and was fatigued from the travel.
“I haven’t even seen the pizza yet, honestly. I don’t know what I am getting, and I’m exhausted,” Schuyler said as she prepared for the challenge.
Despite her modesty, Schuyler dipped her toes into competitive eating in 2012 and has been competing ever since.
“I had been working at an Applebee’s back in 2012 and someone bet me I couldn’t eat a sandwich,” she said. “It was a five-pound burger, and it was fun. It kinda became a little game to see if I could do more. Then it became a career that paid more than working at Applebee’s, so it really worked out,” Schuyler said.
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Her favorite food?
“Anything that doesn’t have to be chewed. I can swallow most things whole,” she said.
Since 2012, she has also been posting to her YouTube channel Molly Schuyler – MOM VS FOOD – EAT LIKE A GIRL! that has nearly 300,000 subscribers. She even has her own Wikipedia page. When she isn’t competing and doing challenges, Schuyler works as a bartender and helps with rental properties.
“All I do is work … It sounds boring, but you know what, someday I’ll own the world, I guess,” she said.
Schuyler is the mother to four kids and seven cats.
Many in attendance were regular customers of Pizza Villa, but many were also familiar with Schuyler.
Seth and Joyce, who declined to give their last names, were eagerly waiting to see Molly take on the challenge. The two follow and cover the competitive eating scene. Seth is the founder of Food Challenge News, a news site that produces articles, interviews and podcasts about the competitive eating scene, and Joyce, Seth’s mother, helps produce the podcast and supports her son.
Seth said there was also an eating challenge in Mount Vernon, Illinois, at a restaurant called La Fuente; they hold the massive burrito challenge. But there are not many food challenges locally. The interview with Seth, however, was cut short when the cook brought out the 28-inch circle of golden glory.
People gathered around to take pictures of the pizza. Eyes widened at the size of the pie, and there was a buzz among all in attendance, and everyone was asking the same question: Do you think she can do it?
Schuyler set up her camera, and shortly after, the challenge began. She had five red transparent Coca-Cola cups full of ice water and determination. Her pace was quick; Schuyler would shovel one or two pieces into her mouth and drink some water. Although her pace did slightly slow at the halfway mark, she kept a consistent speed all the way to a clean plate, or clean a super-sized pizza box, in this case.
While she might not have seemed confident during her interview, Schuyler crushed the pepperoni pie in 11 minutes and 42 seconds. She won more than just bragging rights; her prize was a $1,000 check from the First State Bank of Dongola.
“I was expecting her to get it, but not anything like that,” Pizza Villa owner Josh Stegle said.
Stegle and his sister Jodie Dillow run the family pizza business. They said the only other victory over the challenge was a local three-man team called The Roaches, and Schuyler was the fourth pro to tackle the challenge.
Stegle said the challenge is attempted around 12 to 14 times a week.
“We’ve probably done over 60 challenges so far,” he said.
They plan to continue the challenge for anyone who wants to step up to the plate, and victors could get a prize.
“Since then, the pot is actually up to $700 from local people wanting to see it continue, if they beat their (The Roaches’) time,” Stegle said.
For a more casual eating experience, Pizza Villa also offers regular-sized pizzas, calzones and sandwiches.
Staff Reporter Brayden Guy can be reached at [email protected]
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