Gianfranco Conte and his two sons, Gabriel and Riccardo, natives of Milan, Italy, did one of the most San Juan Bautista things possible. On July 30, they participated in the JJ’s Burger Challenge. After a grueling 19 minutes and eight seconds of eating, eating, and more eating, Gabriel, 19, came up victorious as his father and older brother went down in defeat.
JJ’s has offered the challenge since the diner was founded in 2004. The terms are simple: you have 20 minutes to wolf down two double burgers made with four one-third-of-a-pound patties. They are topped with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and thousand island dressing and served with four orders of french fries and a 32 oz. milkshake.
If you win, your food is free. If you lose, well, you owe Jesus Zavala, owner of JJ’s, $59.95 for the attempt.
But winning the challenge was not quite that easy. To prepare for it, Gabriel passed on dinner the night before and breakfast that morning to ensure his stomach was empty. And he came prepared with a plan: when they were given the signal to start, all three men broke the burgers down to their component parts and ate each one separately.
“I started with the meat,” Gabriel said. “Then the bread and the vegetables. I had a problem with the french fries—there were a lot of french fries. And the milkshake was the hardest part. Very cold. Freezing. It was almost too much.”
Gabriel’s accomplishment is a rarity, Zavala said.
“A lot of people try it, and a lot of people fail,” he said. “Maybe 1% can finish it. They’ve gotta be pretty much empty when they get here. They need to be hungry, hungry.”
Some people have completed the challenge in an almost legendary style. About six years ago, for example, Jonathan Turpin, on his way to a wedding at Jardine’s and dressed in a very dapper suit, stopped by long enough to knock off the challenge in 12 minutes and 56 seconds. In his photo on the Wall of Fame, he is holding up his phone to display his record time, his suit still immaculately clean.
Gianfranco, 55, and Gabriel were in town visiting Riccardo, 23, who has been living in San Juan Bautista with his grandparents, Eleanor and Pasquale Conte, for the last six years. Riccardo attended Anzar High School, graduating in 2020, and now, after two years at Gavilan College, will be studying energy engineering at UC Berkeley.
Gabriel had never tried anything like this challenge before, but it was one of his goals during his visit. “My brother spoke about this challenge,” he said. “I liked it, I tried it, and I won it.”
Finishing his burgers but faced with an indomitable mountain of french fries, Gianfranco dropped out first at around 15 minutes. Riccardo struggled on gamely to the end, but left behind one partially eaten hamburger patty and a whole lot of fries.
Gabriel, after catching his wind and regaining his composure said he was pleased overall with his achievement.
“It was a very good hamburger, and it was very difficult to do,” he said, “But I might try it again. Why not?”
Riccardo, who had not seen his brother for a year and a half before this visit, said that he was surprised at his achievement.
“I did not know before that he had the capability to do something like this,” he said. “I am very proud of him for taking this challenge on.”
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