Lubbock native Frankie Galicia takes part in historic Major League Eating egg roll contest

At Alcove Farms on Saturday in Lubbock, many firsts were made.

The first-ever World Egg Roll Eating Championship was held by Major League Eating, competitive eating’s global governing body. The winner, Geoffrey Esper, set the first-ever egg roll world record. Esper, the world's No. 2 ranked male eater by MLE, ate 32 ¼ egg rolls at the end of the eight-minute contest.

A first was also set for Lubbock native Frankie Galicia, who competed in his first major event in his hometown. Galicia competed in MLE events in the past, most notably the La Consteña Jalapeño Challenge in Laredo on multiple occasions.

But Galicia faced the most vigorous competition he’s ever gone against on Saturday.

Some of the world’s top competitive eaters participated in the event, including Esper, Miki Sudo, the No. 1 ranked female eater by MLE, and Nick Wehry, the No. 5 ranked male eater.

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While introducing him, Sam Barclay, the MC of MLE, declared he was representing the “pride of Lubbock.” He also, albeit comically, said he had zero chance of winning the contest. Barclay was right, as Galicia came last out of the 10 contestants. His total egg rolls eaten were not announced.

Afterward, Galicia was exhausted, but upbeat about his performance despite his finish.

“It was a pretty big competition,” Galicia said after the contest, gasping for air between words. “I thought I did pretty well against these top competitors. They’ve been doing it for pretty much their entire life, so I thought I did well.”

Like every competition he’s been in, Galicia’s strategy was to eat as many egg rolls at the start as possible. After eating half of an egg roll, which were dry due to the 103-degree heat, he would moisten them with water. The contestants weren’t allowed to dunk the egg rolls in liquid, similar to how contestants dip hot dogs during the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York, so they had to find other ways.

Many contestants, including Galicia, would drink something before eating. Galicia’s preferred liquid was water, which allowed not only the previous egg roll to be quickly swallowed, but also the next egg roll to be moist and wet once eaten.

“We had to bite it and then moisten it as we took the water in,” Galicia said. “I tried to take half of it down, and then moisten it to get the rest of it down.”

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Galicia also received local support during the contest, most notably from his wife Stephanie, who’s been to every competition Galicia has participated in. Before the contest, he received a message from Lubbock Mayor Tray Payne, who told Galicia to represent the city well.

He believes he did just that.

“Not a lot of people are picked for this kind of stuff, and I got a spot,” Galicia said. “The Mayor told me to represent Lubbock, … so I just wanted to go up there and do the best I could.”

The contest was jointly organized by MLE and Outlaw Egg Rolls, a local restaurant that provided the egg rolls for the contestants. Dozens turned out at Alcove Farms to watch the contest, battling the heat to see a world record be set in the hour-and-a-half long affair.

Barclay, who’s been the MC of MLE for 10 years, thought the event was a success.

“It was electric,” Barclay said. “The Outlaw egg rolls were far more demanding than the eaters would have expected. Next year, the number (of egg rolls eaten) will be much higher.

“Everyone that was here today witnessed history. People who didn’t come out, … missed that opportunity to see something truly amazing. We saw human beings push themselves to their personal limit, their sporting limits and their emotional limits in very demanding contest conditions. They should all be very proud of how they equip themselves today.”

Clark and Sandy Brazil, the co-owners of Outlaw Egg Rolls, started making the egg rolls at 9 p.m. Friday before finishing at 4 a.m. Saturday morning.

Clark would’ve liked to see a better turnout, but is happy with the contest overall, saying it was a “phenomenal event.”

The Brazils hope this is the start of an annual event in Lubbock and a part of MLE’s circuit, and want to hold next year’s contest on National Egg Roll Day — June 10, 2023. The duo wants to make the World Egg Roll Eating Championship a staple of Lubbock, which Barclay called the “epicenter of the egg-roll centric lifestyle.”

“I was hoping there would be more people,” Clark said. “But when people talk about it and see it on TV tonight, they’re gonna wanna come to next year’s contest. I would love to do this again.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock native Frankie Galicia in Major League Eating egg roll contest