Representing the Hub City: Local eating competitor Frankie Galicia hopes to make waves at Major League Eating contest

Most people can give you a detailed description of what inspired their career of choice.

Frankie Galicia's story is simple.

While running an errand in Amarillo, Galicia and his wife, Stephanie, stopped by The Big Texan Steak Ranch, known for its 72-ounce steak challenge.

Galicia thought he could complete the challenge, consisting of eating the steak, a bread roll, a baked potato, a salad and a shrimp cocktail in one hour. If completed, the participant gets the $72 meal for free.

Galicia completed the challenge in 45 minutes, and it inspired him to pursue competitive eating.

“I ended up knocking that out, and that set me up for the rest,” Galicia said. “I just started looking at opportunities to compete.”

Known as “Freight Train Frankie,” the Lubbock native will compete in Major League Eating’s first-ever Outlaw Egg Rolls World Egg Roll Eating Championship on Saturday.

In his five-year eating career, he’s accomplished several feats. He’s eaten a three-pound burrito in under 10 minutes, 16 hot dogs in 10 minutes and has competed in the La Consteña Jalapeño Challenge, a MLE contest, in Laredo on multiple occasions.

In March 2017, Galicia took on the “Chicken Fry Challenge” at Kendall’s Restaurant in Noble, Oklahoma, consisting of eating a large chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, a biscuit and a cinnamon roll in an hour. He completed the challenge in 48 minutes, becoming just the 28th person to do so.

In May 2018, he won $500 for completing the Magnolia Blossom Festival Beef Challenge in Magnolia, Arkansas, by eating a 64-ounce steak, a 10-ounce baked potato, a roll and a salad in just 32 minutes. Galicia, who is the last person to complete this challenge, regards this as his biggest accomplishment.

In Lubbock, he’s the longtime record holder of Fuddruckers’ three-pound burger challenge, eating it in under 30 minutes. Galicia has held the record for the past four years.

His biggest challenge is preparing himself for these eating contests.

Starting a few days before the event, he’ll eat large meals and drink several gallons of water to stretch his stomach, eating his final meal at noon of the day before the event.

“I try to stretch out my jaw and stomach, just to see how much food I can put into my mouth,” Galicia said. “We also wet the food with water to make it softer as it goes down. The faster you can move, the faster you can put more into you, too. So I automatically start doing that just to get my body prepared for what is coming.”

Galicia, along with several MLE competitive eaters, will be eating egg rolls competitively for the first time. It will be hosted by Outlaw Egg Rolls, owned by Clark and Sandy Brazil, who wanted to expand into competitive eating to grow their business.

The eight-minute competition, starting at 1 p.m. at 7919 4th St., will be the start of an annual egg roll eating contest in the Lubbock area.

“We wanted to draw more attention to us and draw more attention to Lubbock,” Clark said. “We want to let people know that Lubbock has more going for it than wind and dust.”

Because this is the first egg roll eating contest, a world record will be set Saturday for the most egg rolls eaten in eight minutes. Competing alongside Galicia will be Geoffrey Esper, the No. 2 competitive eater in the world, and Nick Wehry, the No. 6 competitive eater.

“As the local hero, he’s got everything to fight for,” said Sam Barclay, the MC of MLE. “He’ll be eating for not only himself and the Galicia family, but for the pride of Lubbock. These other top eaters from all over the country are coming to Lubbock not only to eat his egg rolls, but to steal his pride.

“If I know Frankie Galicia like I know, he will not take a backward step in coming forward when it comes to his approach on Saturday.”

Galicia is one of the underdogs in Saturday’s contest, but will be competing in front of his wife and friends in a major competition for the first time. Stephanie has made shirts for the group and has done everything she can to help Frankie prepare.

“She’s my biggest cheerleader,” Frankie Galicia said. “She helps me get ready for what I’m about to do. She’s watching everything that goes on and records everything I eat beforehand. She knows I’m pushing myself, and automatically finds a way to support me.”

Even if he doesn’t win, getting to compete in his hometown for his loved ones will be a win for Galicia.

“I’d say I have a pretty good support system,” he said. “Now that the event is local, I’ll have a big crowd that’s going to be showing up at this major league competition.

This is the first time that everybody that has supported me will be able to see me do this, which is really cool.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock eating competitor Frankie Galicia hopes to make waves